Any new info

[greg1956a]

Has anybody been on the CZ/SWC/CS.I'm going on Oct 19 would like to hear about it any problem how was the scenery and how was the service

Thanks

Greg

 

[Gingee]

What is that?

 

[SarahZ]

CZ = California Zephyr

SWC = Southwest Chief

CS = Coast Starlight

 

[greg1956a]

You got it Sarah Z

 

[MooCow]

Everything has changed since people posted comments and trip reports here. The scenery, especially, has been extensively revised.

 

[greatcats]

Your question is very general, but I will try to give you some kind of answer. ALl three are beautiful trips in their own way. Most would give the California Zephyr the award for the best scenery. Service? For the most part, I think highly of Amtrak employees. However, the service has a reputation for being uneven and a subpar employee can put a bad flavor on the trip. A few months ago I had to make a complaint about a less than stellar sleeper attendant. If you are taking sleepers, you have a right to expect good service. Go at the trip with an adventurous attitude. You may expect something to go wrong or not work as intended. There are opportunities to meet other travelers and enjoy crossing the country in a leisurely manner. The food is pretty good, but don't expect elegant cuisine. If you would be a little more specific with your questions, we can give you better answers.

 

[the other mike]

Woodland Scenics has introduced a new line of rock molds and has used California as a testing area. There has been a hold-up on finishing the product because BNSF can't haul enough hydrocal to the site because of all the oil trains.

 

[SarahZ]

Everything has changed since people posted comments and trip reports here. The scenery, especially, has been extensively revised.

Be nice. <_<

Greg - I've never been on the CZ, but I hear it has the best scenery of any Amtrak route (though I'd argue the Empire Builder could give it a run for the money).

I ride the SWC every year, and it has beautiful scenery as you travel through CO and NM. The Raton Pass and Glorieta Pass are breathtaking. If you're traveling WB, you'll get to see them in daylight. If you're traveling EB, it might be a bit too dark that time of year.

I'm not familiar with the scenery along that route once you get west of Albuquerque, as that's our stopping point, but I've heard very good things about western NM. I believe portions of AZ are in darkness on the WB trip, but I'm not sure about EB. I think others can chime in about that. Most people I talk to on the forum take the SWC between L.A. and Chicago and have more experience with that portion.

Also, I've always received very good service on the SWC. For some reason, I always seem to get the L.A. crew going both directions, and I really like them. Steve usually does the announcements, and he's hilarious, and we had a couple of very good servers in the diner (though I can't recall their names, unfortunately). Our SCAs were Anna Maria and Julio, and they were excellent.

 

[Ryan]

As far as recent issues, the trains in question seem to be doing reasonably well. The western end of the SWC got clipped for a few days within the last month due to some flash flooding issues, but that's been well resolved and there aren't any outstanding Empire Builder-like systemic delays happening.