Whether you were headed east or west, winter weather made riding the rails on the California Zephyr a pain this week.
Passengers bound for Denver got nearly 24 extra hours to know one another after leaving Chicago when their train came face-to-face with 2010’s first big snowstorm in the upper Midwest. Delayed by massive snowdrifts and mechanical problems, the No. 5 California Zephyr train arrived at Union Station 23 hours and 29 minutes late.
Meanwhile, the No. 6 California Zephyr train, which operates in the opposite direction as the No. 5, arrived Friday morning in Chicago, 17 hours and 56 minutes behind schedule.
In addition to the snowdrifts, that train was delayed an hour because it struck a pickup stopped on tracks near Osceola, Iowa, Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari said.
Because of continuing weather problems, service between Chicago and Denver on the California Zephyr was canceled for Friday and Saturday, Magliari said.
Denver Post wire services
