From what I hear, it seems to me that Long distance Amtrak trains are VERY popular, selling out sleepers and so on. I don't understand why states who benefit from these trains would turn their backs on them back in was it.. 1996? Or earlier? I know there's a general lack of equiptment, but seriously, why cancel these routes when they fill important gaps, and when there are so few long distance trains????

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Originally posted by barrydraper:
Maybe an answer to the original question? The Desert Wind originally operated between Los Angeles and Ogden. The Pioneer operated between Portland and Ogden. Both trains made connections with the California Zepher at Ogden, and had through cars to Chicago. Later, Amtrak changed the timetables to show both the Desert Wind and Pioneer as operating all the way to Chicago, but there was only one train that combined the cars of all three from Chicago to Ogden. After the California Zepher was rerouted on the Rio Grande the connecting point of the three trains was changed to Salt Lake City. As someone else said, the Pioneer and Desert Wind fell victim to Congressionally mandated cost cutting.

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Unfortunately the new quad-weekly schedule was difficult to work around (i.e. worthless for some quick weekend trips) and ridership dropped off even more than they had hoped.

I look forward to the return of LA-Las Vegas service (Auto Club now has drawn the UP line on their maps and identified it as "Amtrak"), but hope the service is faster than the 7 hours or so it used to take. The line is somewhat longer than parallel I-15.

And the earlier comment about freight traffic is still true, though UP now routes some of that traffic on the (SP) Sunset line.

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Originally posted by vline:
Hi, when I was in your country in '95 I travelled on the then combined California Zephyr/The Pioneer/The Desert wind from Chicago to Las Vegas where I had an Amtrak Vacations overnight stay at Luxor Casino in Las Vegas Boulevard, commonly known as the "strip". The Pioneer section was dropped off at Denver & travelled north to just outside Cheyenne to a bus stop rail station & on to Seattle, a great trip if I do say so. I can't recall the name of the stop outside Cheyenne, unless I look at my old schedule which is at home right now. The Desert Wind section which comprised a sleeper, diner type cafe car & a couple of saloon cars travelled overnight to Las Vegas from Salt Lake City after being detached from the California Zephyr, arriving at about 8.30 AM, making a convenient connection for any one staying overnight in 'Vegas. It ran 3 days a week but was slow travelling through the Sierras into Los Angeles. I think it was due to arrive in Los Angeles at about 3.30 PM. Fortunately I have a large part of The Pioneer & The Desert Wind filmed from my video camera & the beautiful scenery I travelled through the day I travelled from Lss Vegas to Los Angeles the car was approx. 50% occupied. I hope I have helped you, Mike in Australia.

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Originally posted by vline:
The Pioneer section was dropped off at Denver & travelled north to just outside Cheyenne to a bus stop rail station... I can't recall the name of the stop outside Cheyenne.

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[I hope this works this time]

I believe it was called Borrie or Borie.

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Originally posted by Kent Loudon:

I believe it was called Borrie or Borie.

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