Twin Star Rocket
Service Attendant
And glad you did! [Detour lasted long enough to plan a trip or you knew about it in
advance to plan a trip.]
advance to plan a trip.]
Tehachapi detour on the Coast Starlight 6 years ago. At the time I was living in San Diego, so it was fairly easy to get there - being that the detour was southbound, I took the overnight bus-train combo up to Emeryville and then the detour+Surfliner to return. Had a number of railfans on the trip that provided commentary on the detour in the Sightseer Lounge (including at least one member of this forum). Loved the mountain scenery on Tehachapi Pass...
I also took the CZ Wyoming detour returning from the PortlandGathering 2 years ago, but found that to be less interesting - though Tehachapi is probably the most interesting of all the detours. I think I would have probably enjoyed taking the more direct Empire Builder (which I've never done) home more - I guess I don't appreciate flat scenery as much as some people...
The Southwest Chief did detour through Amarillo in Spring 2016 after #4 derailed. I was on the 1st #3 on the detour.I wish, that's for sure! The southern Wyoming reroute of California Zephyr trains that sometimes will occur, I've wondered about. Also, have Southwest Chief trains ever had to reroute through Wichita, Amarillo, and Clovis? As I remember, that was once proposed as a reroute for the SW Chief years ago, if it had to stop running through Garden City, Raton, Lamy(east of Santa Fe), etc.
The Tehachapi detour(and including this, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tehachapi_Loop ), sounds like it would've been amazing to see if you were on one of the rare Coast Starlight trains using that detour! I'm jealous you got to go through that area, and thanks for posting your story of this. Did you take any pics, going through that area? And what approximate time of day(IF you remember), did your train pass through there?
By the more direct Empire Builder route, how does that differ from the Empire Builder route Amtrak uses today? I know on old maps and timetables, that it used to run through Breckenridge, Morris, and Willmar, instead of via Detroit Lakes, Staples, St. Cloud, etc.
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