Got a favorite detour you have ridden?

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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.
 
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...
 
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 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.

I do seem to remember hearing Texas Eagle at one time had a branch that I think ran southeast from Longview, and went through the College Station and Bryan area(near Texas A&M University) en route to Houston. That probably would've been interesting to ride on, before that was turned into a thruway bus route into Houston to this day. Maybe also the former CONO route, in northern Mississippi that ran through Grenada instead of Yazoo City(route used today): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_.../media/File:City_of_New_Orleans_shift_map.svg

Plus, sometimes I wonder about the old Three Rivers train route. It's too bad places like Youngstown and Akron no longer have direct train service: http://www.timetables.org/full.php?group=20041101&item=0071
 
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 Southwest Chief did detour through Amarillo in Spring 2016 after #4 derailed. I was on the 1st #3 on the detour.
 
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.

My Coast Starlight went through Tehachapi in the later afternoon - as I recall it was light until we got to about Lancaster. Don't have any pictures unfortunately, though the trip log is still up.

By "more direct Empire Builder route" I just meant taking the standard Empire Builder route from PDX, as opposed to taking the CS to SAC to connect to the detoured CZ (which is what I did). The Wyoming scenery was somewhat interesting, though I think riding the Empire Builder for the first time would have been more exciting (and less tiring, as going via the CZ took an extra day).
 
My favorite was riding the Crescent between Birmingham and Atlanta on the CSX, former SAL line. I rode this 2 or 3 times. In fact, it became a regular event in the winter or spring to reroute on this line when the Southern/NS was doing annual trackwork. It was 30 min faster than the regular route even with a backup move in Atlanta and 10mph in both Atlanta and Birmingham for the first couple of miles. Of course, most of the route is now a rail trail.

Bob
 
Tehachapi last year was great...
Other's in the past, included Omaha to Chicago on the UP, Kansas City to Galesburg on the former BN, and several shorter ones here and there over the years....
 
There have been several detours over the years within Texas.
Ones I've ridden:
Taylor to Ft. Worth over the Katy (pre-UP merger)
Texarkana to Corsicana over the Cotton Belt
Jefferson to Dallas over the KCS and Santa Fe
Corsicana to San Antonio via Hearne over the SP Dalsa line
San Antonio to Taylor via Smithville over Katy/UP
Both lines between San Antonio and San Marcos: Katy and MP

Ones I've not ridden:
Across the Panhandle via Amarillo over the Santa Fe
Ft. Worth to El Paso via former T&P
Ft. Worth to Texarkana via former T&P Transcon line through Paris
 
Wyoming detour's my favorite. Antelope and Bison!

I have suggested in the past that this should be the regular CZ route (it's over an hour faster than the regular route) and that a separate train should run from Denver to the Ski Areas. You'd probably have to lose Green River and the Salt Lake-ski areas traffic, but you'd gain reliable timing on Denver-Ski Areas, which would probably be a net benefit.
 
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