Railway-spotting Aboard “California Zephyr”

Trackside sights of- and from Amtrak’s “California Zephyr” route, which I took in late February 2017 whilst participating in Train Jam. This route connects Union Station in Chicago with Emeryville in California, travelling via Iowa, Nebraska, Ohio, Colorado and Nevada. Passengers can then swap to a coach in order to reach San Francisco.

When we took this journey we were the train’s only passengers, but heavy weather in the Sierra Nevada almost threatened to divert us onto part of the “Southwest Chief” route, which ordinarily runs from Chicago to Los Angeles via Kansas. As it was, our train was instead preceded by a snow-clearing locomotive to get us through the mountain pass. We made it through to a flooded California with plenty of time to spare.

Union Station, Chicago

Nebraska & Colorado

Ohio, Nevada & California


Chicago (Union Station) – Galesburg – Burlington – Omaha – Denver (Union Station) – Fraser Winter Park – Glenwood Springs – Grand Junction – Provo – Salt Lake City (Central) – Reno – Sacramento – Emeryville

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