In the first hour of an overnight trip from Colorado to California, we already have witnessed one memorable scene: a herd of 20 elk lounging in a grassy draw alongside the tracks, the females guarded by four bulls with racks the size of bicycle wheels.
But as the train heads deeper into the Rockies after going through the Moffat Tunnel under the Continental Divide, the conductor informs us the wildlife-watching has only begun.
“We follow the Colorado River for the next 238 miles, all the way into Utah, and we go through five or six canyons on the way, some of which have no roads through them,” he says over the loudspeaker. “So keep your eyes open – we see a lot of elk, deer and eagles. You’re in for a real treat.”
Sure enough, not 2 minutes later, a bald eagle comes into view, staring into our sightseeing car right at eye level from its perch in a cottonwood 100 feet away, a mile or so downriver from the Windy Gap Reservoir west of Granby.
It’s just part of the sensory appeal of travel on the California Zephyr, a venerable streamliner that goes through Denver once a day in each direction, on what is arguably the most scenic long-distance rail route in America.
There are other reasons to take the train besides scenery, of course. It’s generally cheaper, quieter and more relaxing than air travel; you don’t have to arrive two hours before boarding; you can get up and walk around; you can use a cellphone anytime you want; and you can not only get a hot meal, but also eat it with real silverware.
There is also the novelty/nostalgia factor. “It’s something to show your children and grandchildren, and I think that’s important,” says Cheryl Martin, a former Denver resident now living in Hawaii. “I took the train as a child, and I think that with new technology, someday they’re going to take this away.”
For many riders, however, the Zephyr’s chief attraction is the chance to pass through miles and miles of unfamiliar and often spectacular Western terrain, much of it in the daytime.
“I can’t believe the things you see on this train,” says Shirley Holland, a retired Monte Vista schoolteacher who now lives in Grand Junction. “Everything is so different from what you see in a car.”
Besides the deep and roadless chasm known as Gore Canyon, where on this trip we see two more eagles, the route offers unique views of the towering cliffs (and soaring freeway spans) of Glenwood Canyon, the pink-tinged badlands west of Rifle and the smooth rock ramps of remote Ruby Canyon west of Grand Junction.
Daytime sights
Farther west, the Zephyr goes through the deserts of Utah and Nevada at night in both directions, while traversing the prettier redwood forests and granite gorges of the California Sierra in daylight.
Similarly, on the eastern leg of the route, between Denver and Chicago, the train crosses the high plains of eastern Colorado and Nebraska mostly at night, allowing passengers to see the more interesting wooded hills of Iowa and lush farmlands of Illinois in the daytime.
“I go to and from Ottumwa every spring and fall, and it’s a wonderful way to travel,” says Denver resident Geri Albert, who grew up in Iowa and worked in Waterloo for more than 20 years before coming west to be near her daughter four years ago. “In the spring, everything looks green and you see the planting going on, and in the fall you see the bounty and the colors. I’ve gone on different days of the week and different times of the year, and even when the train is packed, it’s accommodating.”
The nicest feature of the Zephyr is the Sightseer car, a double-decked affair with a small snack bar and lounge on the lower level and a more inviting observation deck on the upper level, offering open seating in swivel chairs that look out on the passing terrain through floor-to-ceiling windows.
“There’s nothing out there but the same thing, so why am I compelled to look at it?” says Kay Carkeek, a substitute teacher from Wheat Ridge, summing up the mesmerizing appeal of gliding along without having to be buckled in.
The Sightseer, which also boasts a television monitor on which movies such as “Bewitched” or “Mr. and Mrs. Smith” can be viewed, is always in the center of the train, between the dining car and sleeping cars in front and the coach cars in the back.
Coach seats, which are reserved but occupied on a firstcome, first-served basis, are typically available at roughly half the cost of comparable airline fares. They also are 3 inches wider than similar seats on a jetliner and are installed two abreast rather than three. In addition, they have footrests like those on recliners, so you can stretch out almost flat to sleep. And except during holiday seasons or on the busier portions of the route closest to Chicago, Denver, Reno and Oakland, you’re as likely as not to have an empty seat beside you.
The sleeper cars have private rooms or “roomettes” with seats that fold into beds, with the deluxe units equipped with showers and toilets. They come in sizes to accommodate two persons, groups of four or families of four with small children. While the rooms are considerably more expensive than coach seats, the fares do include meals, and if space is available they can often be purchased at discounts of up to 50 percent once the train has left the station.
Creature comforts
Generally, passengers find that one night in a coach seat is tolerable, but for two nights or a cross-country trip, a cabin on a sleeper car is preferable if not essential.
“If you travel that far, you’ve got to have some creature comforts,” says Rod Krei- meyer, a businessman from Boston on a vacation to the West with his wife Nancy.
The dining car offers breakfast, lunch and dinner, with seatings scheduled every half-hour during a two- to three-hour serving period. The meals, prepared by an onboard chef and served on plastic “china,” are decent and reasonably priced, and offer a chance to meet other travelers under less stressful circumstances than you normally find on airliners.
The menus, changed three or four times a year, always include a vegetarian option as well as standard meat dishes. Best bets for dinner are the roast chicken at $14.50 or the Angus burger for $8.25; for lunch, the chicken Caesar salad for $6; for breakfast, the railroad French toast for $7.
Beer and wine are available for $4 and $5 per can and $12 per half-bottle, respectively, and credit cards are accepted. (Passengers aren’t supposed to drink alcohol that hasn’t been purchased on board, but the rule appears to be commonly disregarded, especially on the sleepers.)
Dress on the train is casual, from shorts and sandals to slacks and sweaters. The only ties you see may be around the necks of the conductor and service attendants.
The cars, entirely nonsmoking since November 2004, are generally comfortable, clean and well-kept. But don’t expect luxury; most of the equipment was manufactured in the 1970s when the nationwide Amtrak was established, and while some cars have been refurbished, the trains are showing their age.
“These cars have been going back and forth for a long time, and when you get that many miles on something, things can go wrong,” says Marvin Schreiner, a conductor who is retiring this month after 36 years of punching tickets and hollering “All aboard!”
The main thing that goes wrong, as any train buff will tell you, is the schedule. The Zephyr often runs late, for reasons ranging from track repairs to rockslides to long waits for passing coal trains (unlike in the “old days,” freight now has the right of way over passenger trains because other railroads own the tracks).
In one instance last year, an eastbound Zephyr was held up for four hours by track work west of Reno; in another, a westbound train was delayed for five hours because a freight train couldn’t make it through the famed Horseshoe Curve near Donner Pass. In view of this, seasoned riders always take extra food and water in their carry-on bags.
“We have late trains, and then we have real late trains,” says Mary Cannon, a conductor who has worked the Chicago-to-Omaha run for 16 of the past 20 years. “Late is two hours, and that’s reasonable. Real late is when you start getting up to eight hours and messing up people’s personal lives.”
But then, getting from place to place as fast as possible is not the point of traveling by train. As former Golden resident Dave Bissell of Sonoma, Calif., puts it, “When you get on, you’ve got to click on ‘train time.’ It really depressurizes you.”
Staff writer Jack Cox can be reached at 303-954-1785 or jcox@denverpost.com.
INSIDER’S GUIDE
Book early and seek out discount fares. Amtrak.com offers 15 percent off for students and seniors 62 and older and 10 percent off for AAA members and military personnel. Regular coach fares, booked a month in advance, run as low as $185 round-trip to either Chicago or Oakland; add $165 to $210 per person for a roomette or $380 to $415 for a deluxe bedroom, based on double occupancy.
Verify departure and arrival times. The westbound Zephyr is scheduled to arrive in Denver at 7:15 a.m. and depart at 8:05 daily, and the eastbound is due in at 6:58 p.m. and due out at 7:25. But delays are common, especially en route between here and the West Coast. Call 303-534-2812 to check.
Pack lightly. You can take two carry-on bags in addition to a purse, briefcase or laptop, but unless you’re disabled, you may have to haul them aboard yourself. Check anything heavy or bulky at the baggage car.
Take extra food and, if you’re going coach, a pillow and blanket, along with a camera, binoculars and a map to track your progress.
To get a taste of the experience, consider a short hop to Glenwood Springs or Grand Junction. This requires an overnight stay but offers some of the best scenery on the entire route from Chicago to Oakland.
Bring a good train book. Here are three: “The Christmas Train” (Warner, 2002), a warmhearted novel set on two other long-distance trains, the Capitol Limited and the Southwest Chief, by David Baldacci; “Empire Express” (Viking, 1999), a modern account of the building of the first transcontinental railroad, by David Haward Bain; and the section on coal trains in “Uncommon Carriers” (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2006), a look at the freight business in America, by John McPhee.
– Jack Cox
