Colorado

After we pulled out of Grand Junction we continued along the river for a while. We passed a dam and some farmland. 

We even passed a school with the mountains behind them. 

Right before lunch we pulled into Glenwood Springs a few minutes early so we had time to get out and walk along the platform again. There were some big box stores tucked under the mountain. 

The stop also had a cute little station. 

I got back on the train and headed to the dining car for lunch. I was seated with the same couple from yesterday traveling to upstairs NY and an elderly man from Iowa. 

Once seated at my table I spotted a hotel with hot springs across the river. 

It's kind of hard to see but there was a big pool behind the hotel with a giant water slide and lots of people swimming. 

For lunch I had the cheeseburger. It was actually warm and juicy. The chef on this crew is actually pretty good and I continue to be pleasantly surprised. 

We continued along the river. There was a walking trail with lots of people on it running along the other side of the river and along the road. 

You will also notice that the river was down to a trickle at points. This is the mighty Colorado River so it seems to be a little disconcerting to see it so low. 

We passed a dam and then the river picked up a little. 

This little development was tucked between the mountain and the river. 

Above I noticed some cows grazing on the field. 

We pulled into Dell Canyon and started going slowly as we needed to wait for the westbound zephyr #5 on a siding. I saw a bald eagle fly by. This is a low canyon. 

You can sort of see the front of the train as we went along this curve. I noticed a little waterfall on this side. 

The conductor said that in the summer many people raft or canoe and that this spot underneath the tree is one of the best camp sites along the Colorado. 

We waited in the siding for about ten minutes before the westbound zephyr barreled past us in a blur. 

As we headed deeper into the mountains there was some more snow. 

We passed some more little ranches an farms. 

Then it got snowier. 

These guys were fishing. 

We continued through the canyons and the mountains. 

The train was hugging the cliff at this point and going very slowly. I turned on my scanner to find out what was up, and I heard the engineer of my train talking with dispatch. There are wires along the hills that are activated when there is a rockslide and they has gone off. We want slowly through the entire area but did not encounter any rocky debris on the tracks. 

We emerged from the canyon to beautiful  vistas. 

We proceeded at full speed towards out next stop of Granby, CO except now we were running a little late. 

We then headed into Beyera (deyers?) canyon and I heard on the scanner that the slide detector had gone off. We came to a halt as there were indeed some rocks in the way. Some staff members detained to check it out and see if they could move it. I heard the engineer speak with the dispatcher about the situation on my scanner. The dispatcher said she should send something out to help if necessary. 

I was about to bust out the Xanax when I heard the chatter on the scanner. The guys were able to move the rock out of the way and there was no dage to the rail. We proceeded at a SLOW speed through the slide area and continued on our way to Granby past the frozen river. 

We passed a clear signal, the conductor (Brad) said highball on the radio, and with some loud horns of the train we proceeded. 

Ruby Canyon and the Colorado River

We came into Ruby Canyon and the Colorado River was suddenly on the right hand side of the train surrounded by steep red canyon walls with rock formations. 

The sun was also blaring so unfortunately the pictures aren't the best. 

We then came out of the canyon and passed through some small towns and ranches. 

Yes that is a boat! 

Before the canyon we also went through a ghost town. 

Around 9:50 am we arrived in Grand Junction, CO and had time to get off the train for a few minutes. I visited the station store, Daves Depot, which was doing a brisk business. There was a gorgeous old station building surrounded by construction fencing. I wonder if anyone is going to renovate and restore it?

This was an extended station stop where the conductors and engineers switch to a new crew. They also watered the train and took out the trash here. 

I also took this time to get a selfie with our amazing sleeper car attendant Lamar. He is from Chicago and does whatever trains they call him for. He does everything with a smile and I keep seeing him hustling around the car making sure everyone is comfortable. I sent him my blog so if you are reading this Lamar, thanks for being awesome. I have had an assortment of attendants that range from curmudgeon to fabulous - and Lamar is on the fabulous end. That is our car - the 632 - behind us. 

Day 3: Utah

I woke up around 6 am mountain time and it was still dark out. I looked out at the lights for a while and then made my way to the dining car around 6:45 am for breakfast. 

My dining companion was Barry, a really interesting guy who travels by train all the time and is on a first name basis with the OBS crew. He even shows them around town during their off time in San Franciso. Barry worked for many years as an administrative hearing judge for the VA and is now retired. He is a writer and writes the blog "Bronx Tao". 

I had the railroad French toast and sausage as we watched the sun rise over the Utah high desert. 

After breakfast I headed back to my room to watch the scenery and relax for a while. There were dry creek beds, rock formations, and snow capped mountains in the distance (lasalle mountains?) We went through little towns, too and past some farms/ranches. The conductor said that we could see Arches national park in the distance. Here is an assortment of pictures from the morning. 

Above is the bustling metropolis of Green River Utah. The elevation there is approximately 4000 feet and the conductor said we would be climbing up from here. You can see a little white church with a steeple in the back left of the photo. In the picture below you can see some cattle grazing. 

This landscape is just so different from where I live. It looks so dry and scraggly. Most of the creek beds we have gone past have been dry or with just a trickle of water. I had read that they are having a drought out west and I wonder what that means long term for the people out here. 

Day 2: California Zephyr through CA & NV

So I waited in the Sacramento station for about half a hour and then headed to the platform to wait for the CZ. This time the sleepers were on the rear of the train (they were on the front of the CS). 

The train pulled up and I boarded the last sleeper, car 0632 and headed up the stairs to room #9. I got excited thinking that I would get to spend the trip watching from the "railfan" window at the end of the car, but once I got up there I noticed that we had a private car behind us! Below is my view out the back of the train. Instead of seeing the tracks retreat behind the train I had a view of someone else enjoying their dome car. 

I settled into my roomette and Lamar the attendant came by to greet me and review everything. A good group of people boarded in SAC so I heard him repeat his spiel as he made his way down the car. 

Around 11:45 the diner made the first call for lunch so I headed down there. I was sat at a table with a couple traveling home to just outside Rochester NY and a gentleman from Minneapolis. He would detrain in Iowa and drive the rest of the way home. I had the "special sandwich" which was a bratwurst on a pretzel roll. It was pretty good for Amtrak. 

I followed it up with the triple chocolate mousse parfait which reminds me of the desserts on Acela. 

After lunch I headed to the sightsee-er lounge car for a bit. This car has big windows to take in the scenery. We started heading up into the Sierra Nevada mountains through Donner Pass. The scenery was breathtakingly beautiful. 

We continued to climb up the mountains until suddenly everything was snow covered. I even saw a little ski slope! I think you can see the chair lift going up the hill in the picture below. 

We finally emerged from the mountains I to Truckee, CA. I noticed a river on my right with lots of folks fly fishing. 

You can see that the landscape is starting to change here and that there are not as many pine trees. After about an hour we stopped in Reno, NV. I used this opportunity to hop off the train and look at the private car. It is called the "Sierra Hotel".  A quick trip to google tells me that this car is rented at a cost of $4,00 - $6,000 per day and sleeps 8 guests. Nice!

After we left Reno, I noted that the landscape continued to change. The trees had all been replaced with scraggly bushes. Everything looks like a shade of beige as far as the eye can see - although we were still running along a river. The mountains have been replaced with rolling foothills. 

The landscape then flattened out even more and we passed through what looked like desert.

I got the call for my 5 pm dinner reservation and trundled off to the dining car. I opted for an early seating because I knew that I would want to go to bed early. 

In the dining car I was seated with a older gentleman traveling by himself back to Chicago. Here is the menu:

I opted for the turkey shank, which was supposedly braised in dogfish head beer. It was actually really good - far better than some other meals on Amtrak. I preferred it to the dinner I had last night in the PPC of the coast starlight. 

It was of course accompanied by standard Amtrak salad and roll. 

And then for dessert I had the vanilla bean gelato. 

After dinner the landscape became scraggly again with hills in the distance. It kind of reminds me of some areas we passed through on the Empire Builder before. 

Tonight we will pass through Utah, arriving in Salt Lake City around 3:15 am. Hopefully I will be asleep!!