SWC, CS&CZ, or 422 TE? LAX-CHI

[norfolkwesternhenry]

I am thinking about taking a trip to los Angeles next year, flying there and taking the train back, but which train? I have narrowed it down to the SWC, 422 TE, or CS to Emeryville, then CZ to CHI. I have taken the TE San Antonio to CHI, and the CZ Denver to Salt Lake City, but that trip I was too long ago to remember much. They are all new routes, except SAS-CHI Here are my reasons for each:

SWC: 1. Route of the Super Chief, one of my favorite trains

2. 90MPH, I like speed, and riding the old ATSF main line is on my priorites

3. Raton Pass, as BNSF is pressuring Amtrak to shift the SWC to another pass, since they don't want to maintain Raton Pass for what it currently is, passenger only, and I would like to see it before it is eventually abandoned, however far down the line it may be.

4. full dining car, as well as the CS, CZ and SL, the SWC has a full diner, where the TE has a CCC, although I can't remeber if it is just the CONO with microwave meal service.

CS & CZ: 1. route of the old SP coast daylight, as well Donner Pass, although I would have preffered the Feather River canyon, I havenever ridden Donner Pass in real life, but I have done it many times in TS2017.

2. full diners, same as SWC reason #4

3. P. P. C., I have always wanted to ride in the PPC, ever since I found about it.

422 TE: 1. Three nights, no transfers

2. taking the SL to SAS, new route

3. Southerly route, close to Mexico, warm, just so long as the AC doesn't give out.

 

[Steve4031]

Best imho is cs and CZ. If you can get a roomette in the cs you would have the ppc. Imho the CZ and cs are the 2 most scenic routes.

If you can swing it, spend 2 nights in Bay Area. Find a cheaper hotel along Bart route and take that to San Francisco.

Good luck

 

[bmjhagen9426]

I personally recommend taking the SW Chief, as it is a direct route, and great scenery (Raton Pass, Semaphores, wig-wags, Harvey House, and what not)

 

[ParanoidAndroid]

Beware the PPC might be "out of service" because of some various dumb reasons. But don't worry, scenery is great anyway from Oxnard to San Luis Obispo.

CZ has great mountains.

SWC has the red mountains east of Gallup and the shop stands at Albuquerque. Don't forget the short (30 second ish) canyon section just north of Lamy.

Anyone know which section has the semaphores? I was on high alert from Raton to Trinidad but I didn't see any

 

[picnic42]

Two years ago we took the Cardinal from Cincy to Chicago (coach) to transfer to the SWC to LosAngeles, and enjoyed a nice Roomette... it was 12 hours late coming into Anaheim. We LOVED taking this train! We had designed an extra day into our schedule in case we were late. The scenery was outstanding! Later in the week we took the CS in coach seats to San Fransisco for two days... That is another scenic train with very good service! We then took the CZ from Emeryville to Chicago... this train was awesome! We enjoyed the scenery immensely from our very nice bedroom. We loved overlooking Denver from high on the mountains as we headed East. It was a terrific trip. This train too was about 7 hours late, so they bussed us to Indy to catch the Cardinal back to Cincinnati in coach.

The highlight of the trip was actually both the SWC and the CZ... the scenery was the best! The CS was very good... but we favored the mountains on the other two routes.

This year we took the Texas Eagle from St. Louis to San Antonio... Again we enjoyed a nice roomette. For the most part the scenery did not compare in any way to the SWC, CS, or the CZ. We did enjoy the ride tho.... The dinning was not the greatest... but was good and there were no complaints.

Our next trip will involve the Empire Builder and either the SWC or the CZ to make a nice big circle... just for the ride. Again I would design an extra day into the schedule at each transfer point.

Ralph & Peggy

 

[PaulM]

The fact that you would consider anything other than the SWC means you aren't in a hurry and cost is not a consideration. If it were me, I would definitely take the CS-CZ option.

As I'm sure you know, his requires an overnight stay somewhere between Emeryville and Sacramento. My favorite is Davis; but Emeryville's scheduled arrival time of 9:54PM is better than Davis's 11:25.

 

[Philly Amtrak Fan]

I tried Amtrak's schedule page and Amsnag. It looks like you can't book the CS/CZ together without a Thruway Bus (either Pacific Surfliner to Santa Barbara to bus to Emeryville or bus to Bakersfield to San Joaquin to Stockton to another bus to Sacramento to CZ!) Ironically you can book the CS and EB connection even though it's only a 1:13 layover.

 

[brianpmcdonnell17]

I think the most scenic routing is the CS-CZ. However, the SWC is 86 hours round trip vs 75 for the CS-CZ one way. Therefore, if you are flying because of time I would recommend the SWC round trip over any route one way.

 

[brianpmcdonnell17]

I tried Amtrak's schedule page and Amsnag. It looks like you can't book the CS/CZ together without a Thruway Bus (either Pacific Surfliner to Santa Barbara to bus to Emeryville or bus to Bakersfield to San Joaquin to Stockton to another bus to Sacramento to CZ!) Ironically you can book the CS and EB connection even though it's only a 1:13 layover.

The CZ/CS connection is overnight in both directions when coming from the south on the CS. I can't think of any where in the system where they allow overnights on a single ticket. However, you can connect CS/CZ if coming from the north on the CS.

 

[KauaiJohn]

I would do CS all the way to Portland, then Empire Builder to Chicago.

 

[Philly Amtrak Fan]

I would do CS all the way to Portland, then Empire Builder to Chicago.

Or in Henry's case, to Minneapolis. Even better.

 

[KauaiJohn]

Yes, Minneapolis better still, Oceanair restaurant not to be missed.

 

[ehbowen]

As far as I am concerned the only wrong choice is the Texas Eagle...the route has virtually no scenery. I would take it (and have) if I needed to get from Point A to Point B, but it sounds as if you are looking for a good time.

Southwest Chief and Coast Starlight/California Zephyr are both great rides. No wrong choices there. Edge in scenery and train time to the CS/CZ; history, atmosphere, speed and scheduling (and probably cost) favor the SWC, in my opinion. Pay your money and take your choice.

 

[tomfuller]

Would you consider flying to PDX or SEA and taking the CS southbound to Sacramento? Have breakfast in SAC and then take the CZ to CHI.

In March 2015, I took the CS south from Oregon to SAC and the CZ east to Galesburg IL GBB. I rented a car for a week at Enterprise and got AGR points.

I returned the car in GBB and took the SWC back to Los Angeles and the CS back home to Oregon.

For breakfast in New Mexico I was lucky enough to be seated at the table with Mark Murphy (Amtrak VP - long distance routes). He was on his way to Los Angeles for a

rail meeting.

I do like the scenery on the CZ from Green River Utah all the way into Denver.

The eastbound and westbound CZ trains meet within an hour east of the Glenwood Canyon which is about the best scenery that Amtrak passes in daylight. Ruby Canyon is

also great.

 

[norfolkwesternhenry]

I would do CS all the way to Portland, then Empire Builder to Chicago.

Or in Henry's case, to Minneapolis. Even better.

already have done the EB west of MSP twice, want to try a new route