SW Chief

Hey there, RR guys. I want to go to SE iowa to do a little train watching. I would like to know what route the SW Chief takes out of Ft. Madison on its way to Galesburg,IL. Does it cross the Miss. River at Ft. Mad. or does it continue up to Burlington and cross?

 

Welcome to trainboard Kelvin8ter. No the southwest chief does not go to Burlington,IA. It crosses the Mississippi at Fort Madision and goes into Illinois at Niota. If you were do some railfanning there the bridge doubles as a vehicle(toll) and railroad bridge. It is a double deck swing bridge so it opens for barges going up and down the river. The vehicle bridge is the upper deck and the train goes right underneath you on the lower deck.

The one train your thinking about in Burlington is another Amtrak Train called the California zephr(SP?) it uses the Ottumwa sub and goes to Galesburg.

I hope this info helps anyway good railfanning.

 

Thanks, Jack. I was hoping it did go through Burl. so I could shoot 2 in the same area. I was at Danville,IA last Sat. waiting for the Cal Zeph but its on-time schedule took a hit as I waited over an hour past the scheduled time and I had to leave to head back to DSM. I was hoping to save about 80 miles in gas but what the heck, who cares about the price of gas when there's trains coming

 

Shoot if you want to see both Amtraks you should just come to Galesburg. But I am like you though railfanning at the bridge in Fort Madision does not sound like a bad idea. Especially if you get the shoot as it is coming from underneath the vehicle bridge. That would be a great shot.


Happy Railfanning