Year 4, Day 156 “Living the Dream”. Thursday, 10/03/2024. Day 23 of 25-day Alaska to Las Vegas. We boarded the Southwest Chief 4 at 4:30pm yesterday for our 43 hour trip. The Southwest Chief is a long-distance Amtrak route that connects Chicago with Los Angeles. Trains stop near the Grand Canyon and in Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona and California. We are expecting this journey to be epic with spectacular views of deserts and mountains. Red Cap service delivered us to our car from the Metropolitan Lounge in Los Angeles Union Station.
We are in car 430 roomette 2. This roomette is exactly the same as the one we had on the Empire Builder. We were on our way out to the west Coast at the start of this vacation. The first thing we notice is our windows are squeaky clean. In fact, this train seems a lot cleaner than the Empire Builder. Again, there is no Wi-Fi and in a lot of areas there will be limited cell phone coverage. The train has Superliner rail cars which are two levels tall.
We are told that New Mexico and Colorado are the states with daytime views and the best scenery. Our first stop is Fullerton, California at 6pm. Passengers were getting on only. Meals are served in the Dining car. Breakfast starts at 6:30am and there are no reservations needed. Lunch and Dinner are by reservation only. We departed Los Angeles station at exactly 5;22pm. I have noticed that Amtrak is very timely. About 30 minutes into the journey we passed a lot of pumping oil wells. The Los Angeles area has over 20,000 active, idle or abandoned oil wells. In early 2023, the city and county voted to ban new oil wells. Studies showed health problems in residents living nearby. I thought they were really cool until I realized about the health issues.
Second stop of the evening was Riverside, California at 7pm. We had a 6:30pm dinner reservations. The menu is the same as on the Empire Builder. The dining car is one car back from our car. We sat at a table by ourselves. We did not have to share.
The employees on this train are so much more professional than the Empire Builder or the Sunset Limited. The train is full to capacity. At 7:30pm we stopped at San Bernardino. California. We are close to the front of the train, and we heard that whistle blow all night long. We passed over into Arizona during the night. At 4am we are in Williams, Arizona and it is 46 degrees Fahrenheit. While eating breakfast we pass Houck, Arizona and it is 56 degrees Fahrenheit. Route 66 runs through Houck. The population for Houck is 1,024. We see a lot of free roaming horses and rock ledges/ mountains.
We ate breakfast with a couple. They were traveling from Tijuana, Mexico to their home in Indiana after being away for a month. The man had cancer tumors removed there. In his home in Indiana the doctors told him there was no hope for him to survive. At 7:50am, the conductor announces that we have entered New Mexico. He asks everyone to please set their watches ahead one hour.
We got off the train for a fresh air break in Gallup. NM. There is a long brick sidewalk running down along the train. We took a few quick pictures, including a picture of our train car attendant. Your dedicated First-Class attendant greets you during boarding and provides turndown service, assists with meals, helps with luggage and is there for all your needs.
We sat in the Observation car for a few hours. Driving through New Mexico there are a lot of plateaus fairly close to the tracks. While we are sitting there, we were fortunate enough to see a small landspout. It is a weak and short-lived variation of the tornado. It’s similar to a dust devil.
We got off the train at Alberqurque, NM at 11:30am to 80-degree sunny warm temperature. This was a 40-minute stop, and I was able to film the length of the train. There are ten train cars. From front to back, there is the engine car. Next, the generator car, and the baggage car. Then, two sleeper cars, the dining car, and the lounge car. Finally, there are three coach cars.
After lunch we sat in the observation car and looked at scenery. We have met so many nice people already. There are a lot of very friendly Amish people and also retired Amtrak employees riding this train. Amish people don’t fly, and retired Amtrak employees ride the trains for free. At 4pm we are in Glorieta, NM. The pine trees and gorges are beautiful. We’ve spent a lot of time today sitting by the side on an extra track. We were waiting for Freight trains to go by. They have the right of way.
Things to ponder today! Have to leave you thinking.
Clear Rain ponchos: https://amzn.to/3Z0chtf Never go on a cruise or actually never go anywhere without some clear ponchos. It is nice to stay dry. Two of these stay in my backpack, two in my car, and two in my suitcase. That is how passionate I am about having them.
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