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Southwest Chief
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The Southwest Chief (formerly the Southwest Limited) is a passenger train operated by Amtrak along a 2256-mile (3631-km) route through the Midwestern and Southwestern United States. It runs from Chicago, Illinois, to Los Angeles, California, passing through Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, and California. The Southwest Chief formerly operated on a different alignment from Galesburg to Chicago via Chillicothe, Illinois, Streator, Illinois and Joliet, Illinois until 1996 when it was routed over the California Zephyr route.
History The Southwest Chief is the indirect successor to the Super Chief, a train operated by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway (Santa Fe) until 1971 and later by Amtrak until March 1974 when the Santa Fe forced Amtrak to stop using the name because of a perceived decline in quality after Amtrak took over the Santa Fe's passenger trains. After subsequent improvements in service, the Santa Fe allowed Amtrak to change the name of the Southwest Limited to the Southwest Chief on October 28, 1984.
Operations The train currently consists of two P42 locomotives, one baggage car, one Superliner transition dorm, two Superliner sleeping cars, a Superliner dining car, a Superliner lounge car, and three Superliner coach cars. A third Superliner sleeping car and a fourth Superliner coach may be added during peak travel periods.
Unique among all long distance Superliner trains, the Southwest Chief is permitted to run up to a maximum of 90 mph (145 km/h) along significant portions of the route. Given Amtrak's own projected 40+ hour travel time, the average speed is still in excess of 55 mph (including stops).
During the spring and summer months, Volunteer Rangers from the National Park Service travel onboard and provide a narrative between La Junta and Albuquerque.
During the months of June, July and August the Southwest Chief is used by thousands of Boy Scouts traveling to and from Philmont Scout Ranch via the Raton Amtrak Station. During those months Raton station is occupied by Amtrak employees and handles checked baggage.
The train itself is entirely non-smoking, but several stops of sufficient duration to smoke a cigarette are scheduled each day. Most are extremely short, perhaps five minutes on the platform of a train station, but the Southwest Chief stops for longer periods in Kansas City (over 30 minutes) and Albuquerque (nearly an hour). Snacks, beverages, are available on the train, though at somewhat inflated prices (however, much cheaper when compared with airlines). A Safeway grocery store is located less than a block south of the station in La Junta, CO (verify departure time with Amtrak staff, as stop is scheduled for <15 minutes) and the Albuquerque stop is sufficient to buy food from local vendors.
Route description The modern (Amtrak) Southwest Chief departs Los Angeles Union Station in downtown LA, at 6:45 PM (Pacific Time). As the sun fades in the west, the train slowly makes its way through suburban Fullerton, Riverside, and San Bernadino, California. After climbing through Cajon Pass, the train enters the Mojave Desert and stops in the cities of Victorville, Barstow and Needles, California. The Southwest Chief speeds across Arizona with short stops in Kingman, Williams Junction (connection to Grand Canyon Railway), Flagstaff and Winslow, Arizona. Entering New Mexico around 8:00 AM (Mountain Time), the train stops briefly in Gallup before crossing the Rio Grande River and entering Albuquerque for an extended stop. The rest of the afternoon is spent slowly traversing NE New Mexico's desert highlands, with stops in Lamy, Las Vegas, and Raton, New Mexico. The train then crosses the Raton Pass, entering Colorado slowly before stopping in Trinidad. At this point, the Southwest Chief is on the open plains, and begins running at high speed again, with a handful of stops (notably La Junta, Colorado and Topeka, Kansas) before reaching Kansas City, Missouri early the next morning. After a long stop in KC, the train stops once more in Missouri, at La Plata, and at Fort Madison, Iowa. Crossing the Mississippi River before Noon (Central Time), the Southwest Chief stops at the Illinois rail towns of Galesburg, Princeton, and Mendota. The final leg of the trip goes through the ex-urbs and suburbs of Chicago, such as Naperville, Illinois. The train arrives at Chicago Union Station at 3:20 PM (Central Time), offering spectacular views of the Chicago skyline, including the famed Sears Tower before heading underground to the station platform.
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