Tell me about the California Zephyr
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Corn and the inside of your eyelids as you sleep through the night.
Aloha
When I saw "guest"'s reply I thought he was being a little snippy, but it seems you will travel a lot at night. I saw by the schedule you leave 2 something and arive 7 something in the morning. If you go to my photo gallery California Zephyr and look in reverse order you will see some pictures I took about 2 weeks ago on my trip. There are some more that I will add later as I have time.
Enjoy your trip, I did mine even though I was very late arriving in Chicago, but not as late as NativeSon5859.
When I saw "guest"'s reply I thought he was being a little snippy, but it seems you will travel a lot at night. I saw by the schedule you leave 2 something and arive 7 something in the morning. If you go to my photo gallery California Zephyr and look in reverse order you will see some pictures I took about 2 weeks ago on my trip. There are some more that I will add later as I have time.
Enjoy your trip, I did mine even though I was very late arriving in Chicago, but not as late as NativeSon5859.
G
Guest
Guest
Depending on date of travel you will see either corn, the harvest, empty fields or snow.
Iowa is the most boring state on Amtraks list. The one highlight for your day one once you leave Chicago is in Omaha, if you are still up. To the right of the train there is a Centennial and a Big Boy parked next to a historic rail station. Now that I think of it, in Burlington to the left of the train there is an old steam also, but it's not anywhere as impressive.
Iowa is the most boring state on Amtraks list. The one highlight for your day one once you leave Chicago is in Omaha, if you are still up. To the right of the train there is a Centennial and a Big Boy parked next to a historic rail station. Now that I think of it, in Burlington to the left of the train there is an old steam also, but it's not anywhere as impressive.
- Joined
- Feb 18, 2003
- Messages
- 8,522
Chicago to Denver? Boring? Maybe to some. But not to me.
Beauty and interest are personal things and while the trip from Chicago to Denver lacks mountains and the in-your-face majesty of the Rockies or the Sierras, there is much beauty to be seen and much of interest to be experienced. You simply have to look a little harder. It is there. You and your son will travel across the great heartland of the country. And you will move between and worlds and lifestyles.
Leaving Chicago you will race through the western suburbs on the tracks of the old Burlington Route railroad. The Burlington was the first railroad between Chicago and Denver and trains have traveled the very same route you will be riding for over 120 years. Today railroads enter and leave cities through the worst possible routes. These tracks were the lifeblood of an industrial age that is long gone, and the remnants of those past days are sometimes not very pretty.
Very quickly, however, the vista will change from junkyard to Home Depot and Target to farms. Often times you will see in the distance what appears to be a cluster of skyscrapers built in the middle of nowhere, but as you get closer you will see that these “skyscrapers” are huge grain silos built along the railroad for transport.
Look carefully at the small towns you pass through. They are almost self-contained worlds. You can see them from 35,000 feet, but on a train you can see the stores, the homes, the churches, the people. These are real towns. If the train pauses at a town for a few minutes, hop off and look around. Take in the view of a place you may never set foot in again.
But what about scenery? Well, the one conventional highlight is the crossing of the Mississippi. This should occur around dinner time and, with some luck, you might be dining while crossing the river. In this area the Mississippi is a nice size river, but not the huge river that exists to the south. But crossing the Mississippi still has that symbolic meaning of being the border between the east and west. In reality, Iowa looks much the same as Illinois, but fear not. The west will arrive in due time.
For me the highlight of traveling from Chicago to Denver is to notice the change in the land as you head west. In Illinois and Iowa the land is lush and green. Farms border the tracks with the huge irrigation machines tracking great circles and squares. And who eats all that corn? Shortly after crossing the Mississippi, night falls. Omaha arrives in late evening, the only city you will pass between Chicago and Denver.
During the night lights appear in the distance and roads are passed with the sounding of the train horn and the bells of the crossing signals. Traveling at night on a train is a unique experience. You are a pocket of life racing through a dark and sleeping landscape.
When dawn breaks you are in western Nebraska or Eastern Colorado. The look and feel of the land has changed dramatically. While you slept you have climbed several thousand feet in elevation yet there is not a mountain in sight. But the land has taken on a harsh look with sparse and rugged vegetation and deep erosion escarpments. Areas of dead flat land mingle with hills and small gulches. Brown and tan have replaced green as the predominant colors. You have left farm country and are now in the prairie. Huge ranches raise cattle on this dry land. Look for the herds grazing on the open range. Nearby roads are bounded by the grated cattle guards. The towns are much more widely spaced now. Fewer people need fewer services. Hop off some more times if possible and feel the difference in the air.
But the prairie is about to end abruptly. If it is clear, as you approach Denver, you will see off to the right what appear to be small clouds lying low just above the horizon. Travel a little further and those “clouds” will be revealed as the snow caps of the massive Colorado Rockies and the Continental Divide. This nearly two-mile high wall of rock and snow is the end of the Midwest. Other than the oceans, there is no more clearly defined border of land features in the country than the Colorado Rockies. Look at the mountains and think of what the pioneers thought when confronted with that barrier without the benefit of the railroad or Interstate 70. It is an imposing sight.
You enter Denver much as you left Chicago: through the northeastern suburbs and past the junkyards and trash piles of the city. But there is a difference. Chicago is east. Denver is very clearly the west. Sagebrush blows across nearby highways. The mountains loom ever nearer. You will even see some oil wells pumping some $50 per barrel crude out of the ground. For you the difference will be more meaningful than for most people who travel between these two cities. Those scenes you witnessed the past afternoon, evening, and that morning very clearly defined your passage in ways that no two hour plane ride at 35,000 feet could ever do. You were not just picked up and dropped off. You traveled and experienced the ride from east to west.
You see, the east does simply end and the west begins. It is a gradual transition and you and your son will experience it first hand.
Chicago to Denver? It is a great ride. Enjoy!
Beauty and interest are personal things and while the trip from Chicago to Denver lacks mountains and the in-your-face majesty of the Rockies or the Sierras, there is much beauty to be seen and much of interest to be experienced. You simply have to look a little harder. It is there. You and your son will travel across the great heartland of the country. And you will move between and worlds and lifestyles.
Leaving Chicago you will race through the western suburbs on the tracks of the old Burlington Route railroad. The Burlington was the first railroad between Chicago and Denver and trains have traveled the very same route you will be riding for over 120 years. Today railroads enter and leave cities through the worst possible routes. These tracks were the lifeblood of an industrial age that is long gone, and the remnants of those past days are sometimes not very pretty.
Very quickly, however, the vista will change from junkyard to Home Depot and Target to farms. Often times you will see in the distance what appears to be a cluster of skyscrapers built in the middle of nowhere, but as you get closer you will see that these “skyscrapers” are huge grain silos built along the railroad for transport.
Look carefully at the small towns you pass through. They are almost self-contained worlds. You can see them from 35,000 feet, but on a train you can see the stores, the homes, the churches, the people. These are real towns. If the train pauses at a town for a few minutes, hop off and look around. Take in the view of a place you may never set foot in again.
But what about scenery? Well, the one conventional highlight is the crossing of the Mississippi. This should occur around dinner time and, with some luck, you might be dining while crossing the river. In this area the Mississippi is a nice size river, but not the huge river that exists to the south. But crossing the Mississippi still has that symbolic meaning of being the border between the east and west. In reality, Iowa looks much the same as Illinois, but fear not. The west will arrive in due time.
For me the highlight of traveling from Chicago to Denver is to notice the change in the land as you head west. In Illinois and Iowa the land is lush and green. Farms border the tracks with the huge irrigation machines tracking great circles and squares. And who eats all that corn? Shortly after crossing the Mississippi, night falls. Omaha arrives in late evening, the only city you will pass between Chicago and Denver.
During the night lights appear in the distance and roads are passed with the sounding of the train horn and the bells of the crossing signals. Traveling at night on a train is a unique experience. You are a pocket of life racing through a dark and sleeping landscape.
When dawn breaks you are in western Nebraska or Eastern Colorado. The look and feel of the land has changed dramatically. While you slept you have climbed several thousand feet in elevation yet there is not a mountain in sight. But the land has taken on a harsh look with sparse and rugged vegetation and deep erosion escarpments. Areas of dead flat land mingle with hills and small gulches. Brown and tan have replaced green as the predominant colors. You have left farm country and are now in the prairie. Huge ranches raise cattle on this dry land. Look for the herds grazing on the open range. Nearby roads are bounded by the grated cattle guards. The towns are much more widely spaced now. Fewer people need fewer services. Hop off some more times if possible and feel the difference in the air.
But the prairie is about to end abruptly. If it is clear, as you approach Denver, you will see off to the right what appear to be small clouds lying low just above the horizon. Travel a little further and those “clouds” will be revealed as the snow caps of the massive Colorado Rockies and the Continental Divide. This nearly two-mile high wall of rock and snow is the end of the Midwest. Other than the oceans, there is no more clearly defined border of land features in the country than the Colorado Rockies. Look at the mountains and think of what the pioneers thought when confronted with that barrier without the benefit of the railroad or Interstate 70. It is an imposing sight.
You enter Denver much as you left Chicago: through the northeastern suburbs and past the junkyards and trash piles of the city. But there is a difference. Chicago is east. Denver is very clearly the west. Sagebrush blows across nearby highways. The mountains loom ever nearer. You will even see some oil wells pumping some $50 per barrel crude out of the ground. For you the difference will be more meaningful than for most people who travel between these two cities. Those scenes you witnessed the past afternoon, evening, and that morning very clearly defined your passage in ways that no two hour plane ride at 35,000 feet could ever do. You were not just picked up and dropped off. You traveled and experienced the ride from east to west.
You see, the east does simply end and the west begins. It is a gradual transition and you and your son will experience it first hand.
Chicago to Denver? It is a great ride. Enjoy!
One thing to be prepared for on the Zephyr, unless they've done massive track repairs in the last year or so, is an extremely rough ride in Nebraska and eastern Colorado. A ride so rough, it seriously feels like you're going to derail. It can be fun, as long as you're not trying to balance a full glass of wine in the dining car.
sutton8596
Service Attendant
- Joined
- Feb 12, 2003
- Messages
- 107
ha! It's always a rough ride through Nebraska at night! Don't worry about it; it's normal. The smart engineer just wants to get out of Nebraska as quickly as possible (I'm from Omaha). 
battalion51
Engineer
PRR, have you ever considered becoming a promo writer for Amtrak. What you wrote seriously could sell just about anyone on that trip. Bravo. B)
NativeSon5859
Conductor
The ride through Nebraska was probably the roughest stretch of track I have ever encountered. It was really hard to sleep through it actually. It literally slammed me into the wall on numerous occassions.
That being said, it was an interesting part of the trip (DEN-CHI). Once we got to OMA we had to take a UP detour through Iowa since the BNSF tracks got flooded. We ended up being 19 hours late, and I loved every minute of it.
The scenery was pretty much fields, more fields, a small town, etc....still, it was an interesting part of America to see. And of course, the only way to see the true America is by rail.
Enjoy your ride on the Zephyr. For me, it was the train trip of a lifetime.
That being said, it was an interesting part of the trip (DEN-CHI). Once we got to OMA we had to take a UP detour through Iowa since the BNSF tracks got flooded. We ended up being 19 hours late, and I loved every minute of it.
The scenery was pretty much fields, more fields, a small town, etc....still, it was an interesting part of America to see. And of course, the only way to see the true America is by rail.
Enjoy your ride on the Zephyr. For me, it was the train trip of a lifetime.
Thank you all for your replies and a special thank you to PRR 60, this was just the information I was looking for. You would make a great travel writer. We live in the UK and have visited the US many times. We have done most of the East coast and the West Coast. I have also spent time in Chicago but I normally fly from place to place . This time I wanted to see the true America (as NativeSon put it). I'm sure my son and myself will have a great adventure.
Thanks again
Tracy
Thanks again
Tracy
