I'm planning my summer trip back home to Chicago (and Wisconsin) and I have the opportunity to take the train back to California. The obvious answer is the Southwest Chief and then the Surfliner to Oceanside. I'm thinking though that the wife and I may want to take this when we go back around Christmas. So, I was thinking a more northly route. One that would benefit more from the summertime weather. But which one? When I moved to Oregon in 2001, I spent most of the travel time on I80. So, I know the Zephyer is going to be boring till Colorado. Which is fine, because most of that is at night, but What about Nevada? Is there something worth seeing there? Plus, I just railfanned Donner last fall, so it's not something new. Obviously, the coast starlight and then the surfliner home. The Empire Builder has the advantage of the fact that I've never been on any part of the route (to Seattle). But, the trip through the cascades is entirely after dark. I'd take it to Seattle since I've seen the Columbia River Gorge. It has the advantage that I could get fancy by taking the cascades to portland and then switch to the coast starlight if I wanted to. So which would you take and why?
Consider giving your wife and yourself a real vacation treat and enjoy the Canadian Rockies during daylight.... - Amtrak's Wolverine from Chicago to Detroit, - bus/cab across the Detroit River to Windsor, ON, - VIA's Train #78 to Toronto, - VIA's Canadian to Vancouver, BC, then - whichever Amtrak service can take you back to SoCal. The westbound Canadian is in the Rockies from Edmonton, AB to Kamloops, BC during daylight/dusk...assuming that VIA's time keeping is more reliable than Amtrak.:teeth:
