Chicago to Los Angeles on Amtrak’s Southwest Chief

Chicago to Los Angeles on Amtrak’s Southwest Chief



Come with us on our 44 hour journey on Amtrak’s fabulous Southwest Chief from Chicago to L.A. and experience our deluxe …

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  1. Extremely well done! Great narration and just the right length. Thank you for sharing your trip.

  2. They fill up with water in Kansas City also

  3. I mean really, a typo in the opening credit, “sation,” u lost me there…

  4. We took the Lincoln Service/Missouri River Runner to Kansas City 2 years ago, and loved the free KC Trolley to our hotel.

  5. Who gets the top bunk in your bedroom on Amtrak? My husband and I had a bedroom on the Texas Eagle last year, and neither of us was able to climb that wiggly ladder into the top bunk, so we were kinda scrunched up between the lower bunk and the chair. The ensuite shower/toilet was barely big enough to use the toilet in, and we didn't attempt to use the shower. (Fortunately, we only went as far South as Ft. Worth, TX, so we only spent 1 night in the bedroom each way.) We'll be trying roomettes on the California Zephyr this year, and were able to book 2 roomettes across the hall from each other for the westbound half of the trip. (Only 1 roomette available for eastbound, though!)

  6. Did amtrack offer a refund if any amount?

  7. I am a long time long-distance Amtrak traveler and love it. I make at least one cross country trip and return every year to see family in Albuquerque, NM and Portland OR. Being late is just part of the drill. Twice in 18 years I arrived in the early morning of the day following out scheduled arrival. Usually it is more like an hour or so. One exception was San Francisco to Chicago on the California Zephyr in February. We got in 30 minutes early! And, yes, I think a $400 voucher for your next trip is OK. I'd be happy with it if it were my issue. Thanks for the wonderful travel log. 👍

  8. $400 voucher, that's pretty pathetic, it's only 16% of your total fare. They could've been more generous with like 35-40% of your fare vouchered, but that's my opinion

  9. No mention of Trinidad.
    At Las Vegas NM you could have found a picture of their Fabulous Las Vegas sign, which is a humorous sendup.

  10. Your a great sport, glad you had a good trip. Wish mine would have went the same way. We boarded in Emeryville on the California Zephyr to Chicago. The train brokedown due to the new engine set they were using. We were bused part of the trip, it was terrible. When we reboarded they had no dinner car and we were given the equivalent of a boxed dinner. Never again,, we were refunded part of our fare but that is not the point.

  11. I did Chicago to Albany in coach. 17 hours. It was "ok" but the bathrooms were gross and staff did not do anything to clean them. Coming back to Chicago, I had my 90 year old mother with me in coach. We did this because my mom wanted the train experience. The trip back to Chicago was a nightmare. All the toilets were backing up the entire 17 hours. I would not take Amtrak again. Never experienced this overseas with trains. I flew my mom back to Albany instead of the train, which is what I should have done to Chicago. You paid $2500? That's just crazy pricing in my opinion.

  12. Amtrak is not a railroad or an intercity transportation system. It's a congressional playtoy, that's why it will never get its act together. There will be periods of almost OK and terrible, get used to it.

  13. I noticed a number of people in the Observation Car on their cell phones and laptops. Why would people park their butts in the Observation Car while taking up seats not enjoying the view and have their noses buried in a cell phone? I'm sure there are many other places on the train to waste your time on a cell phone other than the Observation Car. I'm hoping on our train ride in June people will be more considerate of others.

  14. Have been there. Loved my Amtrak trip SoCal to Syracuse and return.

  15. which sleeper did you get? last couple of times i tried to guess right but the car was reversed both times and i didnt like sitting on the couch going backwards as you probably know that chair is not as comfortable as a roomette chair

  16. Glad you took some footage in La Junta, CO where I was born and grew up, taking the Chief back and forth to California every year from 1952 to 1964, and several times after that. As such, I know the route like the back of my hand, so couldn’t expect the same from you as (it sounds like) first time riders. One correction: there is no town of Fisher Peak in CO. You meant Trinidad. The peak, really a high butte, is the landmark west of town. As you might expect, I dearly love train travel. It's infinitely nicer than airplanes.

  17. Thanks for the ride! If you got the $400 credit without having to jump up and down and write many emails, then I'd say that's fair. It was, as you say, a first-world problem and fixed as soon as they could. I've only ever had one late arrival on Amtrak (auto train), and the credit showed up in my email before we collected our car in Sanford. So, no jumping up and down and many emails. Good on you Amtrak 🙂

  18. can you lock your cabin?

  19. It says Chicago Union Sation

  20. Great video/trip report. I love traveling by train. Unfortunately, because of the state of affairs regarding passenger rail in this country, i have come to expect problems and things not working.

    Like you said, the staff, for the most part, are excellent, and make up for a lot of the negatives.

    I hope you make more videos.

  21. At least Amtrak did not try to weasel itself out of compensation unlike some airlines nowadays😅

  22. Thanks for the video! Considering taking this line this summer. What app do you use to show your speed?

  23. I’m impressed that you ended up in LA, almost on time. Sounds like you were without water for only a portion of the trip. If the $400 was a credit to your credit card, I’d say fair. Credit towards future travel, I’d hope for more.

  24. Many would argue Las Vegas NM is the real Las Vegas. While it's a lot smaller it came first.

  25. Chicago, Amtrak’s second-largest maintenance facility had a horrible record of releasing equipment with service issues just to get trains out and sometimes they can’t even do that. The problem is not local but non-railroad management in Washington that doesn’t know how to fix it. Every day there are trains departing Chicago with issues. On your day of departure you drew the short straw.

  26. Cindy was on my Zephyr back in October!

  27. They did not compensate you appropriately. I enjoyed this video and have added this train to my "when I retire" list 🙂

  28. By the way, I don't think a $400.00 credit was enough. You paid a lot of money for amenities that you did not get t use….

  29. All Aboard!!! My "to go bag" is ready…

  30. What a beautiful fun way to travel across the country.

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