Zephyr Detour Master Thread

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J

Jeff

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Dear all,

I am french and I come the 18th to Chicago where I want to ride train to California. I have seen different routes to reach it: the C.Zephyr train and Southwest Chief... Initialy I wanted to ride the Zephyr but has it has to detour and will avoid The usual route from Denver to Salt Lake City, I am thinking to take the southwest chief... But do you have any suggestions between both (and the C.Z detour) to help me to choose ?

Thank you very much,

Jeff
 
Depending on where you're going in California AND your budget, it may be possible to take the Empire Builder to Portland and then connect to the Coast Starlight down to California for not too much more time or money. I would prefer those routes over either the detoured Zephyr or the SW Chief. Look into that option. If that isn't possible, I can tell you that the detoured Zephyr does go through some scenic prairie in Wyoming and it's was non-stop from Denver to Salt Lake City for us. It's just that it isn't the scenery of going through the Colorado River gorges. On our trip a couple of years ago there were a large group of Brits in the bedrooms and they were so mad of the route change that they all got off in Denver.
 
If you are going during the Zephyr detours, you should go for the Empire Builder. If you can't, then you might as well take the SWC.

You should have booked your tickets a long time ago. In America, ticket prices get crazy high as you get closer to your travel date. Sometimes it may suddenly drop to the lowest prices, and then bounce back up high when someone books the cheap ticket. For future reference, I suggest that you book Amtrak tickets at least five mounths in advance, even more in advance than airline tickets. You can then easily find Sleeper tickets almost as cheap as the airlines.
 
Does anyone know when the Zephyr Detours are? My wife and I are taking the Zephyr from Chicago to Emeryville on August 4th. We had been looking forward to the Colorado route.
 
Steve P. said:
Swadian Hardcore said:
Check the Amtrak website. I would actually want to take the CZ on the detour because it is an rare oppurtunity.
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Thanks for your reply. Good point about the rare opportunity.
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You can drive most of the detour route on Interstates 25 and 80, which the track(s) parallel for most of the way. It may be rare track mileage in terms of passenger train service, but that still doesn't make it anything other than a tepid substitute, scenery-wise, to the regular route which can be seen only by train or by foot (or maybe a mule or horse if you can find one brave enough to pass through some of the canyons and passes where the railroad surveyors somehow engineered a line). It's not serendipity that the Amtrak route takes the former Denver and Rio Grande Route and not the UP City of San Francisco routing. Amtrak knows which route is far more scenic and awe-inspiring. Rare trackage and $3 will get you a cup of coffee in a Starbucks, that's about all, IMHO

Here's hoping you are NOT on the detour when you travel! Good luck!!
 
Jeff said:
Dear all,
I am french and I come the 18th to Chicago where I want to ride train to California. I have seen different routes to reach it: the C.Zephyr train and Southwest Chief... Initialy I wanted to ride the Zephyr but has it has to detour and will avoid The usual route from Denver to Salt Lake City, I am thinking to take the southwest chief... But do you have any suggestions between both (and the C.Z detour) to help me to choose ?

Thank you very much,

Jeff
Click to expand...
Although some are disappointed that the California Zephyr will be detouring through Wyoming instead of running its usual route, it will still be a beautiful ride, just beauty of a different type. However, the Southwest Chief is a great alternative if you would rather not ride the detour. Either train will get you to California in fine fashion, and you'll no doubt enjoy either route. I'll be riding the Southwest Chief around that time myself (not sure exactly which day) just to enjoy a short section of the route: over Raton Pass between Trinidad, Colorado and Raton, New Mexico, then back again! Good luck with whichever train you choose, and have an excellent trip.

EDIT: And Jeff, welcome to the USA, where with occasional exceptions we're generally not rude and ignorant.
 
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Thank you all for your answer, actually I will go to San Jose, CA. I will check the Empire schedule if I can make it.

@ whoozon1st thank you for your welcoming message, but no worries, I actually know a bit from USA, it's my 3rd trip in one and half year;-) and I was always welcomed by nice people:)
 
guest said:
Steve P. said:
Swadian Hardcore said:
Check the Amtrak website. I would actually want to take the CZ on the detour because it is an rare oppurtunity.
Click to expand...
Thanks for your reply. Good point about the rare opportunity.
Click to expand...
You can drive most of the detour route on Interstates 25 and 80, which the track(s) parallel for most of the way. It may be rare track mileage in terms of passenger train service, but that still doesn't make it anything other than a tepid substitute, scenery-wise, to the regular route which can be seen only by train or by foot (or maybe a mule or horse if you can find one brave enough to pass through some of the canyons and passes where the railroad surveyors somehow engineered a line). It's not serendipity that the Amtrak route takes the former Denver and Rio Grande Route and not the UP City of San Francisco routing. Amtrak knows which route is far more scenic and awe-inspiring. Rare trackage and $3 will get you a cup of coffee in a Starbucks, that's about all, IMHO

Here's hoping you are NOT on the detour when you travel! Good luck!!
Click to expand...
Looks Like I'll be on the Colorado Route. Anyway thanks for all the great advice!
 
Are the detour dates for the California Zephyr firm? We are trying to squeeze in DEN-SLC and the dates we can go are right up against detour dates. Anyone have any experience with the dates changing at the last minute? If they don't stick to the published dates, I'd rather not gamble and put the trip off until another time.

Does this train detour much in the winter? I would think it would be worth it to see it in all seasons.

Thanks,

JP
 
Jeff said:
Thank you all for your answer, actually I will go to San Jose, CA. I will check the Empire schedule if I can make it.

@ whoozon1st thank you for your welcoming message, but no worries, I actually know a bit from USA, it's my 3rd trip in one and half year;-) and I was always welcomed by nice people:)
Click to expand...
If you go to San Jose, I would probably suggest the Southwest Chief to the Coast Starlight in LA. Riding along the coast is one of the most spectacular rides in the nation in my opinion. If you ride the Empire Builder to the Coast Starlight, you'll miss the best scenery going through the Cascades in Oregon. It'll be dark going south. You'll still get to see the mountains of Glacier National Park though if you take the Empire Builder.

And even if you take the California Zephyr, you'll still get to cross the Sierra Nevada range between Reno and Sacramento.
 
saxman said:
And even if you take the California Zephyr, you'll still get to cross the Sierra Nevada range between Reno and Sacramento.
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An often-overlooked part of the route when people get caught up in describing the scenery through the Rockies.
 
Thank you for your answer. Well as my trip is short I will fly unfortunately... But for sure I will do a train trip for my next trip:) Have a nice day.

Jeff
 
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New member here... looks like an active group!

I'm going Omaha-SLC round trip, headed west from OMA, departing late Saturday the 19th, which works out great since I get to go out on the WY route and back on the 'traditional' route the next weekend. I am curious to see where the route is. Will have various GPS-enabled devices with me to check progress along the way.

I was trying to gauge, given the apparent lack of stops between DEN and SLC, what the arrival time in SLC might be-will it differ significantly given the lack of stops? I figure I can look at the arrival times online starting on the May 16 run, but I was debating changing my rental car reservation pick-up time if we arrived significantly earlier than advertised. Any thoughts?

If anyone else here will be taking this route through Wyoming this Sunday, maybe we can talk trains... my travelling companion is a train buff too (possibly more so than me), so I know he'd be eager to talk to any rail fans from this forum who might be on board.
 
mcsittel said:
New member here... looks like an active group!

I'm going Omaha-SLC round trip, headed west from OMA, departing late Saturday the 19th, which works out great since I get to go out on the WY route and back on the 'traditional' route the next weekend. I am curious to see where the route is. Will have various GPS-enabled devices with me to check progress along the way.

I was trying to gauge, given the apparent lack of stops between DEN and SLC, what the arrival time in SLC might be-will it differ significantly given the lack of stops? I figure I can look at the arrival times online starting on the May 16 run, but I was debating changing my rental car reservation pick-up time if we arrived significantly earlier than advertised. Any thoughts?

If anyone else here will be taking this route through Wyoming this Sunday, maybe we can talk trains... my travelling companion is a train buff too (possibly more so than me), so I know he'd be eager to talk to any rail fans from this forum who might be on board.
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I took the Wyoming detour back in 2007. As I recall, we left Denver on-time, and got into Salt Lake City about three hours early. The primary reason for the early arrival is that the Wyoming route is much faster. Lots of running at maximum speed.

Back then I threw together four PDF's that show the Wyoming detour route including detailed maps, mileages, elevations, track plan, intermediate point timetable (based on the old UPRR trains), communications frequencies and detector locations. The times at various locations were just for my use to compare our 2007 trip with times for 1963 trains. We did a pretty good job matching the old UP Domeliner times.

It appears I can't upload files as attachments (I thought I could), but if you (or anyone else) are interested in the Wyoming route PDF's, drop me a PM with your e-mail, and I'll shoot them off to you. They are about 500kb each, print to letter size, landscape.
 
PRR 60 said:
It appears I can't upload files as attachments (I thought I could), but if you (or anyone else) are interested in the Wyoming route PDF's, drop me a PM with your e-mail, and I'll shoot them off to you. They are about 500kb each, print to letter size, landscape.
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Now you can Bill. :)
 
AlanB said:
PRR 60 said:
It appears I can't upload files as attachments (I thought I could), but if you (or anyone else) are interested in the Wyoming route PDF's, drop me a PM with your e-mail, and I'll shoot them off to you. They are about 500kb each, print to letter size, landscape.
Click to expand...
Now you can Bill. :)
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Thanks, Alan!

Here are the PDF's for the Wyoming detour route.

1 Denver Laramie.pdf

2 Laramie Wamsutter.pdf

3 Wamsutter Evanston.pdf

4 Evanston Salt Lake City.pdf
 

Attachments

  • 1 Denver Laramie.pdf
    413.2 KB · Views: 67
  • 2 Laramie Wamsutter.pdf
    361.3 KB · Views: 48
  • 3 Wamsutter Evanston.pdf
    395.7 KB · Views: 50
  • 4 Evanston Salt Lake City.pdf
    426.4 KB · Views: 59
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