Southwest Chief or California Zephyr (Again)

[LinPhil]

I'm either going to take the Southwest Chief to Flagstaff and fly home from Salt Lake (Have to use Airline credit) or ride the California Zephyr to Salt Lake and fly home from Flagstaff. The Chief is about $200 more expensive, but I've only taken it from Chicago to Kansas City. I've already taken the Zephyr round-trip before, so I know it's scenic. Should I pay the extra for the Chief or just ride the Zephyr again? I just feel like the Chief costs more money and isn't as scenic, but I've never been on It before past Kansas City.

Thanks

 

[Bob Dylan]

I'm either going to take the Southwest Chief to Flagstaff and fly home from Salt Lake (Have to use Airline credit) or ride the California Zephyr to Salt Lake and fly home from Flagstaff. The Chief is about $200 more expensive, but I've only taken it from Chicago to Kansas City. I've already taken the Zephyr round-trip before, so I know it's scenic. Should I pay the extra for the Chief or just ride the Zephyr again? I just feel like the Chief costs more money and isn't as scenic, but I've never been on It before past Kansas City.

Thanks

Except for Raton Pass to Albuqurque, theres not alot to see on the Chief since most of the Route will be in the dark except for the above.

Not worth the $200 IMO, I'd ride the Zephyr myself!

 

[TRoberts]

I've ridden both routes and I would choose the Zephyr.
I have enjoyed my trips on the Chief, particularly Raton Pass and the Semaphore Signals which I've heard are on the way down. But the Zephyr has much more spectacular scenery and $200 is $200.

 

[neroden]

IMO, the interesting parts of the Chief's route are from Kansas City to Albuquerque, so... save your money and take the Chief another time.

 

[Lonestar648]

I have ridden both routes. Also I have taken the CZ in summer, fall, and winter. For me it is an easy decision, I would always take the CZ over the Chief. I like the Chief, but it’s scenery is like said above limited to New Mexico, and even then not as spectacular as the Zephyr.

 

[niemi24s]

One daring move might be to check out the route for yourself using Google Earth and the scrollable topographic maps available at MyTopo Search

FWIW, although the SWC can be $200 more than the CZ, that's only because of the fare buckets offered on the day you looked. When comparing the two trains for the trips you mentioned and finding the lowest fares for one adult, Roomette and Bedroom fares on the SWC are only $96 and $95 more expensive than the CZ

 

[jiml]

If only the Zephyr still split at SLC and you could still get to Southern California.

 

[railiner]

If only the Zephyr still split at SLC and you could still get to Southern California.

Why not take the Zephyr to SAC or MTZ, and connect there? Takes longer, but is possible...

 

[LinPhil]

One daring move might be to check out the route for yourself using Google Earth and the scrollable topographic maps available at MyTopo Search

FWIW, although the SWC can be $200 more than the CZ, that's only because of the fare buckets offered on the day you looked. When comparing the two trains for the trips you mentioned and finding the lowest fares for one adult, Roomette and Bedroom fares on the SWC are only $96 and $95 more expensive than the CZ

I travel with a family and the last time we rode the California Zephyr we dumped about $2500 on it. I feel like I should just give the Chief a try. The $200 is in a voucher anyway, so it would just sit there.

 

[niemi24s]

FYI, here are the current low bucket fares for one adult in Roomettes, Family Bedrooms and Bedrooms (with the Adult railfare to add for each additional adult):

• SWC - $578, $817, $945, ($220)
• CZ - $482, $721, $850, ($193)

But each of these accommodations has five different fares (buckets) with the highest being about 2X the cheapest. That can lead to some seemingly bizarre comparisons between trains. F'rinstance, a high bucket Bedroom for one adult on the CZ is $850 more than a low bucket Bedroom on the SWC! Guess what I'm saying is it's difficult to draw conclusions about fare differences unless all the different price levels (buckets) are known. All those fares are for CHI - FLG and CHI - SLC.

And please don't ask why they're called buckets.

 

[niemi24s]

Here is a chart showing the fares for one adult for your routes:

Estimated fares are in square brackets. For additional adults, add the Coach fare followed by the > symbol, discounting as appropriate for children. When comparing fares between two routes consideration should be taken for portion of the route traveled:
• For the SWC, your portion is 75% of its whole route and the fares are 93% of those for the whole route
• For the CZ, your portion is 66% of its whole route and the fares are 85% of those for the whole route.

How's that for some useless information, eh?

 

[Charles785]

In the chart above showing fares for the Southwest Chief and California Zephyr, what does C, R, FB, and B mean?

 

[Sauve850]

In the chart above showing fares for the Southwest Chief and California Zephyr, what does C, R, FB, and B mean?

Coach, roomette, family bedroom, bedroom

 

[niemi24s]

FWIW, fare bucket charts for a few additional partial LD routes are available here... Long Distance Train Coach & Sleeper Fares (Buckets) ...as well as those for whole LD routes.

 

[neroden]

I have ridden both routes. Also I have taken the CZ in summer, fall, and winter. For me it is an easy decision, I would always take the CZ over the Chief. I like the Chief, but it’s scenery is like said above limited to New Mexico, and even then not as spectacular as the Zephyr.

I actually think Kansas is gorgeous. It's sepia-toned, just like in The Wizard of Oz.

 

[MARC Rider]

Except for Raton Pass to Albuqurque, theres not alot to see on the Chief since most of the Route will be in the dark except for the above.

Not worth the $200 IMO, I'd ride the Zephyr myself!

Don't forget that it also crosses Glorietta Pass. I couldn't tell which is "more scenic," as I've only ridden the Chief (to Lamy). I would guess that the Zephyr has more variety of scenery, as it crosses the alpine Continental Divide, and then passes through the semi-desert on the West Slope on it's way into Grand Junction. The route of the Chief is almost all semi-desert mountains, very interesting, and if you can get access to the railfan window at the end of the train, you can see the last working semaphore signals on a mainline railroad in the US. There was a semi-significant Civil War battle in Glorietta Pass, which was more or less a Union strategic victory that put the kibosh on Confederate hopes of dominating the southwest.

 

[tomfuller]

I have ridden both routes. Also I have taken the CZ in summer, fall, and winter. For me it is an easy decision, I would always take the CZ over the Chief. I like the Chief, but it’s scenery is like said above limited to New Mexico, and even then not as spectacular as the Zephyr.

A few years ago I rode the CZ east as far as Galesburg IL. I rented a car there and drove about 2700 miles in 20 states in a week. I returned the car where I rented it and then caught the SWC out of GBB to LAX. On the morning we were going over the Raton Pass I went for breakfast in the dining car. I was seated at a table with 3 other guys. One of the guys was Mark Murphy who was at that time the Amtrak VP in charge of long distance routes. We had a good discussion about the future of Amtrak as we were passing semaphore signals.
For scenery, you can't beat the CZ even though the beauty of the Glenwood Canyon has been marred for many years by this summers horrible wildfire.
On another trip, my wife and I took the CZ eastbound from Winnemucca to Chicago in a Roomette on Amtrak Guest Rewards points. If you can tolerate riding in coach, the cheapest per mile deal is a 15, 30 or 45 day USA Railpass. I've used several 30 day passes over the past 19 years.

 

[neroden]

I prefer the Chief, but that's because when I was a kid we drove through the Colorado Rockies repeatedly, so I'm sort of bored with them. If you haven't seen them before, the California Zephyr is definitely a good show.

 

[tgstubbs1]

If you make any stops, say at Dodge City or Santa Fe, the Chief has that.

The Zephr is more scenic but I enjoyed the Chief both times I took it, especially between Trinidad and Albuquerque.

 

[Lonestar648]

The CZ has more seasonal changes than the Chief like the changing Aspens, the blowing snow, etc. to be honest, I enjoy all the western LD train routes. There are areas along every route that make taking that train special. You can’t go wrong with any route selected, I cherish the memories from each trip.