Amtrak's Southwest Chief: Chicago to Los Angeles
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- Опубліковано 26 сер 2024
- Come along with us as we climb aboard Amtrak’s Southwest Chief for an amazing, 3-day adventure across America. Beginning in Chicago, Illinois, our train will take us over 2,200 miles to Los Angeles, California, on the former route of Santa Fe’s Super Chief streamliner. From Illinois farm country, transitioning to Kansas prairie, we thunder across Colorado, and head over the Rocky Mountains on the steep grades of Raton Pass. Then it’s down through New Mexico on scenic tracks that today are only used by Amtrak. Seemingly frozen in time are relics from Santa Fe’s heyday, including semaphore signals and long stretches of jointed rail, as we pass the historic landmarks of Wagon Mound, Glorieta Pass, and Apache Canyon. Soon we make it to California, running over Cajon Pass before making our grand entrance into famous Los Angeles Union Station.
With vantage points inside the train and along the tracks, I captured the entire experience on the Southwest Chief, carefully edited from hours of footage over more than a year of filming. I hope you enjoy this video!
The adventure continues in California - be sure to check out my other videos documenting trains in the Los Angeles area:
Amtrak's Pacific Surfliner: Los Angeles to San Diego
• Amtrak's Pacific Surfl...
Los Angeles Metro: The Red Line Subway
• Los Angeles Metro: The...
Downtown on the San Diego Trolley
• Downtown on the San Di...
Trains in Fullerton, California - October 2014
• Trains in Fullerton, C...
If you'd like to see many other full-length train videos, don't forget to subscribe to my UA-cam channel at:
/ everywherewest
Also follow my Facebook page at:
/ bobbyharveyvideo
Copyright © 2016 Bobby Harvey. All Rights Reserved.
This guy is pretty bad ass. Gets out the train to film then catches back up for interior shots!
I picture the scene early in the first Superman movie (1978) where a young Lois Lane looks out of her passenger window in amazement as a teenage Clark Kent races alongside the train on foot, accelerates, and outruns it to the crossing, complete with a Road Runner-esque cloud of dust billowing up behind him. ua-cam.com/video/2AmY_TaUh8M/v-deo.html
I like how you kept the ambient background noise in. It really gave me the feeling of being there.
@Hello Richard Paris, How are you doing?
There's no other way to see America than on a comfy train!
Thanks for sharing your train 🚆 ride experience with us. I am definitely looking forward to taking some cross country train rides in the near future. I have enjoyed the ride from the comfort of my couch 🛋.
I love watching videos like this because it makes us feel as if we are actually a passenger on the train ourselves without leaving home, lol
@Larry Butler have you ever had someone do that to you. You seem to have some experience with the rickety shit
I took this train and it was a fantastic experience of a lifetime. We were treated like royalty. I saw magnificent scenery and I met very interesting people from all over the world.
I remember the trip I took with my parents on Amtrak's California Zepher. We left Chicago and got off at Reno Nevada. The trip continued by bus down through California making stops along the way. It was with a tour with Holiday Vacations out of Wisconsin. It was a wonderful trip. My parents and I had our own private sleepers. Only way to travel on such a long trip. It was back in October of 2002. Never will forget it. They're both gone now and I had a wonderful time traveling with my mom and dad. We flew home from Los Angeles. Would love to do it again.
I ate my lunch and pretended I was in the dinning car. What a great ride. Thank-you for
this. God Bless America
I enjoyed my ride on the chief in 1979. The next time, I will save enough money for first class with a place to sleep. Three days was too long of a trip while sitting up. Plus, the double decker made me nervous by rocking too much, especially near the mountains.
I can remember Laying in the bed at our house here in southeasttern
KY...In the late 1940's hearing ...That lonesome.....Whistle
blowing....Comeing out of Harland Kentucky loaded with Coal....Just
after my Mom tucked me in the Bed....An turned out the light..Hanging
down from the center of my bed room ceiling...Back then our house had
just ben wired for electric lights...One for each room...Anyway....Just
at 12 O'CLOCK ..Every night a 12 i could here that old steamer Whistle
echoing thru the hill back in that place....When I was a child....Sad to
say but all of that is gone now.....And almost me to...For I am old
now...Thanks very much...!
Lovely memory...
Shame, Elitist, that someone did not teach you that if you cannot say something good, not to say anything at all.
William York preach
A nice memory of riding public transportation, Steve Shoemaker! :)
I share your views and I deplore that the young people of today will never have such fond memories. And then we wonder why our youth has lost its sense of purpose and creativity! 2020/09/19.
Every time I think I have exhausted UA-cam for things I enjoy, I discover a new treasure, like this video. I will definitely watch everything you have. I feel like I am on the train itself. In these days of fear of covid, I have wanted to take a train trip, but didn't. Now I know where to go for an almost perfecg experience. You have done a wonderful job and I look forward to more of your videos. Thank you so much.
This is on my bucket list to take Amtrak around the country
do it. i took it in July and besides a couple hiccups, it was fun
I'll ride with you.....don't forget the snacks and pepsi..... LOL
Just be warned, Amtrak is not on the level of quality that you would expect from an airline. Seating is a little chaotic and the employees on the train tend to be grouchy old men. I have not had good experiences with Amtrak.
Brought back many memories of the trip from Chicago to Los Angeles that I made with my mother and sister in August of 1961, just before my 13th birthday. I love trains and loved the journey. Well done, Bobby!
A nice memory, Alan Mount! Thank you for sharing it!
@Hello Alan Mount, How are you doing?
The best way to see the USA!
No, the best way to see the USA is in your Chevrolet.
I love the departure through Chicago's South Side Neighborhoods. Every street looks alike full of stores, factories and apartments. This is America. It still looks the same as it did in the 70's when I worked there.
Very nice i enjoyed very much
I have watched this video many times. I will never see much of the western part of the US by plane or car again but I can enjoy the view for nothing at home watching these kinds of vids. Thanks!
Love this video. Thank you for the commentary! ✅✅✅
I did this trip about 15 years ago starting out at New York Penn station to Chicago then taking the SW Chief later in the afternoon, Had a sleeping room along with meals and showers so that helped make the trip bearable. It's a big country out there worth seeing.
I remember on Reading Rainbow the host took a trip on Amtrak and got off at a station that looked just like the Barstow one. That could have been the one. It definitely looked southwest so I can say for sure this was the route featured on the program.
I took this train from Chicago to Albuquerque, New Mexico.I had a bedroom. What a great, relaxing trip......saw so much of the country. Beautiful!
It really feels like a train trip. Thank you for inviting me to the trip via video.
for me this video is better than a movie
paolo caruso I totally agree with you entirely.
paolo car
absolutely
For me, too.
Yeah! For me, never having been to the U.S., this authentic footage is just so interesting (even beginning with the announcements on the train and how they are conducted)!
I'm a retired otr truck driver and watching this video brought back memories of running from Minnesota to salt lake city Utah and on to Bakersfield ca there were rail lines running parallel the highway most of the time
mr. Harvey I want to say how much I enjoy your video I am disabled and at times I get in a low mood and I put on your video and it really cheers me up thank you so much for the great job and God bless
Thanks for one of the great railroad experiences 👍💥
I love this. I took this route on this train. Thank you. You brought back an experience of a lifetime. Great video.
Took
Very enjoyable video. Felt like I was really there.
This is the best video I have seen on The Southwest Chief, my favorite of the transcontinental Amtrak routes. It makes me want to instantly book a ride on it again! Thanks a lot! -- Mike
This is a superb filming of the Southwest Ltd. Congratlations for a job very well done.
That was awesome! As a former Amtrak employee, it was nice to reminisce about the (rail)road!!!
nicely done. very enjoyable and btw awesome shots! 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
Fantastic Bobby! Really enjoyed it.
@Hello Robert Cotter, How are you doing?
I took this train KC to LA in 2017. Was a very memorable journey.
I've since taken the Texas Eagle a couple times and the Chicago to New Orleans.
I'm going to take NY to Miami this Fall and also the Los Angeles to Seattle.
I advise anybody who has the time in their schedule to slow down a bit and take Amtrak while we still have it here to enjoy.
Thank you for all of your work Mr. Harvey. Very enjoyable.
Thank you very much for the great show!!!
I've taken this train multiple times back and forth, its a wonderful way to see the western United States. Very relaxing and you get to meet a lot of people.
Train is a
I rode the Chief back in 2013 and it was glorious seeing the country by long distance train. It was comfortable, and the gentleman in the cafe car made for the best tour guide. I would gladly travel on the Chief again.
Amtrak's Southwest Chief: Chicago to Los Angeles was a very pleasant and informative trip.
I love these Amtrack videos. I used to ride the Illini between Chicago and Carbondale when I was a student. After a while the ride got boring, seeing nothing but corn field after corn field. With these videos I can fast forward to the interesting sights.
nice journey...great scenery.....
The heart was happy to see America a beautiful country through a beautiful train
Thank you for sharing that wonderful video with us. I, for one would have like to have seen some of the amenities like sleeper cabins, cafe, dining cars, menus. I still it a thumbs up for the beautiful scenery of our great country. Nice job!
A real service to those that have not experienced this fascinating rail journey - thank you
Thank you for sharing beautiful video Sir.
PLEASE SAVE AMTRAK LONG DISTANCE TRAINS-WRITE YOUR ELECTED OFFICIALS !
Hey, writing from the future, they’re saved and they’re adding more! Wish come true.
I love the SOUTHWEST CHIEF, my brother rode the Chief from CHICAGO to FLAGSTAFF in the fall , the journey was beautiful.
I want to ride Amtrak so badly again I have the great time on the Southwest Chief in 2018 I had my own sleeper car it was nice
Fred Harvey and SF RR... what a fine collab that was.
Thank you sincerely for posting this. I was on the Chief just last month, from Flagstaff to Chicago, and it immediately became my favorite Amtrak route. Even more dramatic than the Empire Builder, and that's pretty spectacular. Long may the Southwest Chief run!
I love Amtrak. Southwest Chief was an amazing trip. Did it twice....going to do it again!
Ah memories. Went back and forth between CO and Chicago on the Santa Fe many times in the '60s and '70s....
Watched the whole thing. Very enjoyable.
Great trip across America so much better than by plane, hope to do the tip by train in the near future. Thanks for the posting.
George Ackerman
Much slower, and price isn't too different. View is worth it though.
George Ackerman US trains are kinda unreliable if you're thinking of heading from one state to another. Union Pacific, BNSF, and Souther Pacific rule the rails. Making Amtrak trains go very slow to accommodate freight trains. Europes trains are beast. I'd prefer taking a train from point A to point B.
@@mateojames3231 Southern Pacific was merged out of existence into Union Pacific in 1996. And I agree with you, I myself would much rather take a train here in the USA too. The governor of Ohio stole our proposed funding for passenger rail which would have linked the three C cities, Cincinnati, Columbus, and Cleveland, together.
@@mateojames3231 Southern Pacific is now Stupid Pacific.purchaaed by UP and ruined for years and it continues today...
I have been in this train .. beautiful experience , the scenes are amazing .. it was twice the cost of plane journey but the facilities were great, the observatory coach, the restaurant , the snack bar, amazing, real nice staff , I guess if u .book in advance it might be a little economical, pretty much covers the room and food , nice pvt restroom .. the sitting coach was amazing too, lots of nice people, like they say life is journey , the experiences r invaluable .
Terrific video, wonderfully shot. Many thanks!
A god trip through Middle America, thanks. I joined that train in Albuquerque a couple of years ago, and over-nighted to LA and then up to Portland, OR. Also in 2013 I took the northern AMTRAK route from Chicago on the Empire Builder to St. Paul, got off, and then rejoined a few days later to Whitefish, Montana for a few days and then on to Portland after the train divided in Spokane for Seattle and Portland. All great rides.
I’ve ridden this route as well as several others across the country! My favorite way to travel! You see and experience things you can’t see any other way!!! Love it!!
That Western Auto sign in Kansas City is nostalgic for me. When I was little I use to take the Missouri River Runner from Kirkwood MO to Kansas City. I live in Arizona now and I miss the times where I get off the Southwest Chief or River Runner and seeing that sign.
My wife and I watch two of your videos back to back, it was a highly enjoyable 3 hours. We are going to have to go to Salt Lake City on some business matters sometime this winter, I am seriously thinking it would be a wonderful train trip, then go down and visit family in AZ, come back and go home from L.A. to Kansas City. I know it will not be a cheap ride, but it would be a wonder filled time. My pics and videos would not be as professional as yours, but the memories we would have would be there for a lifetime. Thank you for your videos.
Mr. B. Harvey, this video Southwest travel is indeed a wonderful one. It’s spectacular. I am engrossed watching it because it’s a scenic travel.
Airplane above thousands of feet can’t provide that.
Thanks for sharing your great experience!
I want to go on a trip like this!! :)
I’m 12 and I have already been on 5 Amtrak log distance trips. Southwest chief, sunset limited, coast starlight. All full route round trip. Also the Texas eagle/heartland flyer to Oklahoma round trip
I'm garndad age in your eyes and ive travelled this same journey but in First class. never again will i travel Amtrak.
I am 11 and I’ve only gone on the Acela.
oli tesla more then! ;D
Dave E Oh well, I love the experience
AmtrakFan90208 I wish... btw I live in Europe the only reason I went on the acela was because I was in cape cod on holiday
Beautiful Scenery and history.
I do most of my travel internationally, trans Pacific flights. Probably about 50 times so far. However, I did have the pleasure of travelling across the USA twice with my family by Amtrak. Newark, NJ to NYC to board a train for Chicago. There were 5 of us so we had booked a family bedroom to Denver. We thought it was fabulous to travel by train. We went to visit my brother and his wife. It was on the now discontinued Desert Wind. The second time on Amtrak, I had left Las Vegas to Poughkeepsie, NY. The point I am making is that travelling by Amtrak gave my family and I an opportunity to see how beautiful America truly is. You really can't tell by flying at 41,000 feet. I will give Amtrak 2 thumbs up.
Great to see this. We took this trip in 2014 (by accident, but that's another story) as part of a holiday from the UK. While we watched your film we looked at our own photos. It was wonderful to relive our experience. Thank you.
Thanks for sharing from Switzerland. Astonishing steep trail in the US. In Switzerland through the Alps our trains can afford only max. 8/ooo instead of the US 3,3 %. A great footage!
I remember I took this ride 15 years ago. Iraq war broke out on the train. Near Albuquerque we had a minor accident of the train hitting a small truck. Also great drinking/smoking buddies who passed out in the train. The food was great too. They really cooked it. It is such a great memory of my youth. Something I will never forget.
Took this line to Raton New Mexico for a camping trip many years ago. Loved the ride. Observatory car was wonderful and provided great views. Loved how the train had to turn the power off to climb the mountains.
I make this trip every couple of years starting in Baltimore Md. I highly recommend it. The price is not too hateful and the people you meet on the train are top notch and the staff are great.
I road the Super Chief out to LA way back in the day. A great train.
Bobby Harvey, thanks for this footage, I live in a town that has a busy railroad for cargo only, mostly grain and farm crops that has left the grainary.
My wife and I have rode on the SW Chief from Hutchinson, KS to Ft. Madison, IA and back on several occasions. Always enjoyed the ride.
Regards from India. Excellent video. Felt happy to see the rural/country side of USA, from a train (which I feel looks better than a view from a road vehicle). Nice explanations and the map showing the train progress.
Ive been wanting to go on a train ride and this was close enough!!! Thanks for making my day!! It was like I was on this train ride!! Please continue to post these WONDER TRAIN RIDES! WOOOOHOOOO!!
nice video has taken beautiful designed train and clean neat
Thank You for the trip I enjoyed it very much I loved it the world at my finger tips!!God Bless!!!
been on the #3 four times, one of the best if not THEE best train trips you could ever make...
Wonderful! I've been enjoying every second! I also plan to take this magical trip! Can't wait to feel and accomplish my famous American Dreams! My heart belongs to America! I was born in Europe, but my Real Home is Los Angeles!
Good trip enjoyed it. Have to do it in person sometime thank you very much. Take care be safe.
Fascinating! Living in England, country like this just ain't around! Excellent filming and narration...Southwest Chief Lives!
Took this to San Bernardino back in 85, fascinating ride.
I will be taking a trip from Chicago to L.A. soon and wanted to know what to expect.This is amazing!Great video!
Did you do it yet? Hope you had fun
if you haven't yet, you'll enjoy it
-----What a great travel video!!! Amazing!!!!
Fantastic. I'll be over there as soon as this virus thing is finished.
Thank you so much. This is one of the best railfan videos I've seen. It was just perfect. Thank you so much for taking the time to do this.
Truly a lovely trip. I’m ready to experience this journey, myself. Thank you for the splendid views and excellent narration filled with interesting facts. All aboard!
Very disappointing. It could have been edited further. The many shots looking at the rear could have been reduced. Yes, there were many interesting views of the landscape. The narrative was excellent for the material presented. One glaring omission was the lack of video showing the accommodations, dining car, the menu, the snack car and the observation car. I rate this video a half of thumb.
I could watch videos like this every day!!!!
A great way to travel the southwestern part of the good old United States.
I enjoyed the trip, probably as close as I'll ever get to riding the Southwest Chief.
For real?
This video brought down my stress levels..thx for sharing.
Amazing video thank you
Super production, Bobby -- thank you!
I live in Los Angeles and have taken this train twice. once all the way to NYC. It's sad but America is never going to have a high in train system like Europe and Asia. We could...But won't.. Congress won't grant funding for such a large endeavors.
A well thought out video on Amtrak Chief. Thumbs up 👍
other countries do not have the interstate and air travel we do. Who wants to be stuck on a train that long. Americans love to drive and have the interstate to get us anywhere in this large country. If you want to get their fast, get on a plane. In other countries, people don't have the luxury to own cars as we do and they don't have the highway system to travel. Sure Germany has the Autobon but it is also a small country.
@@jerryhubbard4461
I know about your air and road travel.
High speed train is a direct competition to road and air travel up to a distance of 500-600 km.
Problem is, high speed rail eats away customers and income from the existing system, and both will not be very profitable or even loss making.
It is better to upgrade the existing system to higher speed, better rolling stock, better signalling.
It certainly is cheaper, and with Talgo trains speeds up till 125 mph can be reached on existing tracks.
By the way, in the US a train like this passes states.
In Europe trains pass countries.
From Stockholm in Sweden to Rome in Italy is rather a big distance.
Congressmen also meddle in Amtrak affairs which interferes with running it in an efficient and profitable manner.
You need to make more videos like these I love them
Great video. Will have to add this trip to my bucket list.
Fantastic!! Thank you very much!! Looking forward to more wonderful videos
Probably the best video I have seen on train travel in the US. Loved the explanation as to the track change near Galesburg. Seeing it on Google Earth, it all makes sense. Keep up the great work.
Cudos from down under.
It has always been my dream to make this trip. Especially through the mountains. This is as close as I'll probably come to seeing it.
Enjoyed the travelogue! Nicely narrated. Thanks.
I rode from Chicago to LA in mid 80s and enjoyed this video. I had a coach seat and was in observation car all day! And after seeing the roomettes in another video, glad I did! Roomettes no bigger than campers! I ate in dinning car just a couple of times. Also went from LA up to Oregon and Oregon back to San Francisco and SF to Chicago! Love traveling by train!
The roomette is small, but offers some measure of privacy, and is much easier on the body to sleep in.
And as long as the train's not full, they don't mind if you sit in coach for a while.