The California Zephyr is a love letter to the western US! Not just because of all the natural beauty, but if it wasn't for the Moffat Tunnel, Denver wouldn't have become the economic engine that it is today! The tunnel was conceived by David Moffat of the Denver, Northwestern and Pacific Railroad in 1902, hence the name! Sadly, Moffat was unable to raise sufficient funds to build the tunnel before he died in 1911, but the fight for the tunnel continued in his honor! In 1920, a bill was passed by the state legislature to build new tunnels, but other regions blocked it because they didn't want Denver to gain an advantage in commerce. Blocking this would backfire big time when Pueblo was devastated by a flood in 1922 and Denver took this opportunity to say they'll vote for emergency funding for Pueblo in return for bonds for the tunnel. Eight hundred men ended up working round the clock for three and a half years, moving 1.5 million tons of rock! Regarding the ventilation system you mentioned, originally, trains would have to wait about twenty to thirty minutes before proceeding into the tunnel after the doors were re-opened! James Peak is named after Edwin James, the botanist on Major Stephen H. Long's expedition of 1820. James is the first known person to successfully climb Pikes Peak!

Here are some prairie dog facts: Prairie dogs do not go into true hibernation, but periods of dormancy or "torpor" during the coldest periods of the winter. A colony will typically have 30 to 50 burrow entrances per acre. The entrances are mounds that serve as lookout points and to prevent water from entering the burrows. Tunnels are generally three to six feet below the surface and about 15 feet long. Burrow systems include several chambers, including one near the surface where the prairie dog can sit and listen for activity above ground! Prairie dogs' means of communication is said to be even more complex than that of chimpanzees and dolphins. The animals have barks and chirps that communicate numerous messages. Many messages alert the colony about predators. Prairie dogs embed information about the predator's size, color, direction, and speed in a single bark! Entire ecosystems rely on these small mammals! Their tunneling aerates the soil, and their dung is high in nitrogen, which improves soil quality. Grasses and other plants are kept clipped short, so prairie dogs and other prey species have a clear view of predators. Their burrows provide homes for snakes, spiders, burrowing owls, and more. Badgers not only take advantage of prairie dog architecture by moving into burrows, but they also make meals out of the prairie dogs themselves.

McCook, Nebraska was named after Alexander McDowell McCook, a brigadier general in the Union Army during the Civil War. His corps suffered heavy casualties and driven back a mile at the Battle of Perryville in October 1862. After it was reorganized, his command again suffered heavy losses at the Battle of Stones River. Once again, the command structure was reorganized and for the third and final time, at Chickamauga, McCook's troops suffered heavily and were driven from the field. He was court-martialed and partially blamed for the Union disaster at Chickamauga. He was not convicted but relieved of duty in the Army of the Cumberland. However, he was brought back for the Battle of Fort Stevens in DC! Fraser, Colorado was named after Reuben Frazier, an early Grand County Settler. It was originally spelt as Frazier instead of Fraser. It was formerly known as Eastom, for George Eastom, who laid out the town site in 1871. The town came into being because it was the site of a large sawmill and was a railroad terminus for the lumbering operation. Glenwood Springs is named after Glenwood, Iowa! A guy named Isaac Cooper founded the town as Defiance, and his wife Sarah was having a hard time adjusting to the frontier life, so in an attempt to make her environment somewhat more comfortable, she asked to change the name in honor of her hometown.

I took this train last summer, all the way. I spent this second day of the trip playing cards in the observation car with my jaw on the floor. It was incredible.

Lucky you... The observation car was full of the whole time on my trip. At least I saw the Rocky mountains and the Moffat tunnel at the last car, so the view from the back window of the last car was stunning also outside the tunnels.

I was fortunate to be able to ride the Desert Wind, Pioneer and the Zephyr back in the 80s and 90s. Wish they would bring the other two back. There was especially good scenery north of Las Vegas, but a lot of it was at night. Colorado was definitely the best scenery, your video shows it just as I remember it - both the scenery and rolling stock is mostly unchanged. Your channel is really great, keep up the good work. 😊

I love Amtrak California Zephyr route it’s absolutely amazing, breathtaking views and scenery! 😊

Great video. I just travelled from Chicago to Emeryville on the Zephyr last month and had a great time.

I had the pleasure of riding the Zephyr with friends from Denver to Sacramento back in October of 2016. We were attending the Fall 2016 Motor Bus Society convention there, and we all decided to fly into Denver a few days before, overnight there, then take the Zephyr. It was a wonderful experience and the views were absolutely fantastic and it was an incredible experience. We later took the Capitol Corridor to Emeryville for the BART into San Francisco and I flew home that night, a very memorable vacation indeed. Great video!

What a beautiful scenic experience. You two are such a cute couple, and you both seem to enjoy traveling together. Good luck on future travels.

I watched jeb brooks when he traveled on the California zephyr when he traveled on the zephyr he got the zephyr salute don't be surprised by the zephyr salute

Beautiful views

I have always wanted to ride the California Zephyr! Great video, great views!

If people only get to take one Amtrak trip, this is the one. The scenery is stunningly beautiful. We enjoyed our ride completely. Thanks for this pleasant video.

I like it.

5:51, I appreciated the conductor's honesty about the on-time performance of the train. Ha ha ha.

Very good journey report with many magnificent images from the landscape of Colorado and Utah.

I would love to have another livestream from you. Last time I had to watch the replay because I missed it. I would love to chat with you. Very sorry about the Cascades mishap. Lindsey and Bear are the best.

Definitely a Saturday Afternoon but I missed the memo last time so I will check your community posts.

Great video Thom

This brought back fond memories of my 1989 trip. Back then the three trains were combined between Denver and Salt Lake City. I travelled Portland Oregon to Denver on The Pioneer, spent some time in and around Denver, then travelled west from Denver to Fullerton California on The Desert Wind. Highlights for me were the ten degree curve, climbing to Moffat Tunnel, Byers Canyon, Ruby Canyon, the amusing announcement from the conductor approaching Las Vegas ("Don't leave the station precinct, but if you do and miss the train, don't worry, there'll be another westbound in 24 hours if you don't lose your shirt or get arrested for something in the meantime.") and arriving at Fullerton to discover a direct bus service to the door of my motel. No one mooned for the passage of my trains.😀😉🙂🙂🙂

The rail pass is only for coach trips and it would be great if there were for sleepers but then they're probably be at a much higher price

Great video explaining the Zephyr! I am now putting this train my bucket list thanks to you.

Wonderful video of your great Amtrak adventure! Can't wait until your next installment. Thank you, Thom!

It was great we just got to enjoy the scenery quite a bit!

Me and my mom went on the Zephyr from Denver to San Francisco. We each had our own Roomettes, seeing multiple videos of how small they are. It was amazing and the Sierra Range is just as amazing as The Rockies to me. Btw we went at end of April (2022) and there was still snow on the mountians.

Wonderful video! A great capture of the experience. Hope to take this route one day.

Oh wow. What an amazing trip. I'm sold. I'm dreaming now of a trip on the California Zephyr, perhaps then changing at Chicago for the empire Builder. Well we have to dream right?!! Thanks for posting.

Just getting around to watching this now! So thrilled to see the scenery in the summer -- so different from the winter wonderland that it was when my wife and I took the Zephyr two years ago in January. I actually posted a winter CZ scenery video to my channel a while back in case you're interested! Nowhere near as polished and entertaining as your video though!

Nicely articulated and executed

solid video as always, looking forward to Thursday!

Thanks for documenting all of the gorgeous views! It was a pleasure to watch and I enjoyed your commentary.

The observation car is the best place to be when going through Glenwood Canyon in Colorado. I did a train trip from San Bernardino, California to Denver and back to San Bernardino, California in coach. My favorite part was Glenwood Canyon on the way back to California. We had a delay in the Canyon and it snowed a bit. :)

Hi, Lindsey! 👍 ))

We love watching your videos and the information about the train as well as the scenery!!! Thanks for taking us “along” for the ride and we are looking forward the videos coming up!!! Awesome!!!

Great video. It’s 18.5 years since I took this train and the climb out of Denver was one of the highlights. I stopped a night in Glenwood Springs having travelled from New York on the LSL. This is the train I tell everyone to take as there is such a variety of scenery on the whole route. I will take it again at some point but there are so many lines to cover. I just miss the restaurant car when travelling in coach.

This was doubtless a highlight of Your work. It nutrites the longing for coming back to the US.

Wow, what beautiful sights, especially 22:22 😂.

One of my favorite railfan spots along the D&RGW Moffat route is just West of Hot Sulphur Springs Co. , Byers Canyon. You have road access all along the canyon to get some great railfan shots of the trains traversing the route. The next best railfan spot is just East of Glenwood Springs Co. No Name Co. You can hike right down to the river for some great photo ops.

I love your videos. They are both educational, informative, and entertaining. This is why I've been watching your videos for years now. Keep up the great work.😊

I did this route last year with a 4-day stop in Denver and got off at Sacramento. From there, I rented a car and drove to Yosemite National Park and dropped off the car in San Jose, followed by the Caltrain to San Francisco. I wouldn’t mind doing this again. Now to me, no trip to Colorado would be complete without riding the Zephyr at least to Salt Lake City.

Beautiful scenery. Very cool.

Yes, California Zephyr is best scenic passenger train in US. I love to ride it. I do this almost annually on US Rail Pass too, and always trying to beat the price and buying it for $299 at Amtrak Winter Flash Sale. Traveled last time this year from May 1 to May 19 from Orlando Florida to Las Vegas Nevada, using both times California Zephyr!!! Likes Superliners coaches, they are so comfortable for multiday travel!!! Amfleet is not as them!!! For California Zephyr route is one of two US routes with two full day of mountain pass scenery, once over California High Sierra range second over Colorado Rockies, and if train delays that's bonus beside free pizzas, Utah mountains approaching Salt Lake City!!! America is Great and Beautiful!!! Second scenic route guess which one, Coast Starlight!!! Crossing Coastal Range along glides over Golden Coast and Oregon High Sierra mountains, from Klamath Falls to Portland Oregon!!!

I was at Grand Junction, CO to ride the California Zephyr for my little brother

Great video! Always a treat to see new transit/train videos! :)

18:15 wow I love the scenery on the California Zephyr and you mentioned someone was having medical emergency in the middle of nowhere

The Best Time To Take This Trip Is In The Winter. The Snow Makes This Trip Beautiful And Very Special. Love Your Channel. Hope You Are Enjoying DC.

Greetings from France 🇨🇵 as an American 🇺🇸🇺🇲

Hi Thom this Is the most beautiful video!! Those rock formations look like another planet in some places. I am also sure these open Plains have been used in Westerns. Great video!! 😊

@Thom-TRA Fun fact! The weird and wacky trains playlist has 69 videos. Coincidence I think not

as a birder who also loves trains, I would love to someday take the zephyr to go birding in the west, I live in the north-east so this would be a whole new experience for both trains and birds. I can’t wait for the next amtrak railpass video!

Beautiful scenery!

Hi Thom, thank you so much for another awesome video. I am glad you are up and running again! I’ve been on the Zephyr myself for three times. One time it was running 15 hours late. To take it positive I can say now, I saw most of the line by daylight.

Nice work again! You're making me miss riding the Zephyr, and it's been less than a year. Sidenote: The Rio Grande didn't care about proper Spanish, so it's pronounced "grand". :)

Thank you for this superb video ! I completely agree that the California Zephyr is Amtrak’s most scenic train. Glad you showed the Genesis locos as you left the train, for I find those locos simply stunning. Even when idling they have an appealing sound saying they are keen to go ! Hope you include the Front Runner during your stay in Salt Lake City.and I’m looking forward to your next video. Many thanks indeed.

For these transcon rides, Amtrak should sell access to the sleeper car showers to coach class passengers the same way they sell dining car meals to the folks in back. Would make the decision to ride in coach much easier.

nice train been on it three times loved it

It’s seeing routes like these that makes me feel like train travel is so magical

Brilliant video!

Excellent views! And I’m excited for the next coming videos other than the part 3 of the California Zephyr. It’ll especially be nice getting to know more about SLC, including the light rail. I’ve never been to Utah at all but I’d like to check it out sometime.

04:02 👋

Thanks for this video. Crossing Colorado is awesome! The scenery is indeed awesome. A perfect cross-country trip would involve stopping in Denver and then hiking at least the Emerald Lake Trail in Rocky Mountain National Park. You could also get off the train in Grand Junction and go to see Colorado National Monument and Black Canyon of the Gunison National Park. It is 100% super awesome. And, the trip along the Colorado River through to Green River is unique. Bravo! You are great, really appreciate the videos!

Thank you for the wonderful video. Wish you would have said a little about the hostel.

I enjoyed the video👍👍

Well all western long distance routes from Chicago are scenic!!! What's about Southwest Chief and passing over Raton Pass, lower Colorado county, most beautiful Albuquerque station, or take Sunset Limited route out of New Orleans, I love that too. Empire Builder, well unfortunately my trip in 2022 was terminated in St Paul due for deadly detail of train a day before ours... But I was able to take beautiful shorter part of route between Portland and Spokane, along Columbia River Gorge with early morning sun over Mt Hood very picturesque view!!! Unforgettable journey!!!

As a kid I grew up in Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, and I always dreamed of taking the Zephyr out west. I was pleased to be able to do so twice as an adult. It really is a gorgeous ride--not just in Colorado and Utah, but also in the Sierra Nevadas and in the Bay Area.

LMAO I got mooned when I was on it and I was thinking wtf at the time. It makes sense now 🤣

I did it in the other direction about twenty years ago, as part of a transcontinental round trip from Boston to the Bay Area (via the LSL to the SWC to SJs going BOS-CHI-LAX-[bus]-BFD-OAK, then five days in SF, then return on the CZ to the LSL via OAK-CHI-BOS), unfortunately everything east of the Moffatt Tunnel was dark, so the descent into Denver wasn't particularly scenic, but everything else that day was stunning.

Another awesome video, you guys are great together

Interesting that it timed out this way -- the High Speed Rail Alliance just put up a video the other day about The Rio Grande Plan, which would reroute tracks in Salt Lake City and reconnect to the city's old Rio Grande depot -- sounds like it'll take quite a bit of money and political will, but will likely pay for itself by opening up a bunch of land in the city for redevelopment and better connect the city grid

Will you go on an Interrail tour with Lindsey in the near future?? I would love to see that

This is my first Trains Are Awesome video, and I am pleased. I am now an old man, and as a polyglot, I have been on trains in multiple parts of the world, fast ones, slow ones, old ones, new ones. Up until today, the videos I have seen are usually just monied people talking about the steak in the dining car, the narrow bed, and the poor water flow in the shower. You show us real young people experiencing the thrill of train travel. Jumping off here and there, backpacking, maybe being a bit sweaty and greasy because there is no opportunity to bathe, but filled with wonderment about the world, seen sans billboards, sans McDonald's, sans freeway backups. Thank you..

Awesome, indeed!

Years ago, as a boy, we travelled from FDL, WI to SLC, UT, and back, by train. We took the Chicago and Northwestern from WI, to Chicago's Union Station. Then we took the City of Los Angeles train to SLC. I remember they had little pamphlets for the kids, and they had a small map that identified the major tunnels along the route. I did my best to be in the front observation car, to see us enter the tunnels. Even got yelled at by the Conductor for running. The views of the Rockies West of Denver were/are spectacular from the trains. Enjoy your journey.

really enjoy your videos !! Thank you !!!

11:17 WOW that's really incredible. 😮😯👍

Loved this part 2! Great narration during the entire vlog, even the "now that we have seen buttcheeks." Have a great Wednesday!!!

A great railway trip of the world.One I'd love to have done although I don't think that you can at least at the moment is the Trans Manchurian Moscow to Beijing with a break in Ulan Bator to get a Mongolian stamp in my passport 🛂! China to North Korea would be a shortish but interesting one too.

If you hadn't got it on video I would never have believed that Amtrak actually possesses Windex and squeegee's. I have never seen a clean Amtrak window in my travels.

1:00 😆😀HA😜😃HA😃😄 👌

Okay Thom, we have established a few weeks back that you married Lindsey a couple of years ago. My question is; how come you never introduce her as "My beautiful and lovely wife Lindsey?" You should! Another fun video. I have not done the Zephyr in a few years now, but the Coast Starlight is again booked for next year. Just an FYI, I always travel in the Amtrak bedrooms now, sleeps two and a private bathroom (meals included too).

I'm so glad and you were so lucky to snag seats in the SSL. It definitely did help make the trip report so special and I'm sure helped both you and Lindsey take in all of the scenic views. Virtual Railfan recently started a cam at the Big 10 Curve and this makes me want to watch that cam a little bit more now, too. I do appreciate you giving reference to the Big 10 Curve as well! Great trip report Thom and Lindsey! Looking forward to part 3 in a few weeks.

Does it matter on which side of the train you take seats? Are views great all the way from Denver to SLC or from Denver to Grand Junction only? Also, if you traveled in coach, did you take all your belongings each time you leave your seat or you leave it by the seat? (I saw that girl was walking on the train with her backpack)

Beautiful scenery. Awesome train. I hope that person who had that medical emergency is going to be ok. Anyways, just one curiosity question, what kind of car was the Lyft driver driving that was shown at the end of the video?

I’m new to your channel and am enjoying your videos. I had know idea you two were married. You both look so young. It must be great to have a spouse that enjoys train travel.

Vielen Dank Thom und Lindsey! Superschönes Video! Ich möchte den gleichen Trip nächstes Jahr machen. Ist der Rail Pass Sale immer zur gleichen Zeit?

On the CZ now, stopped in Grand Junction.

5:53 🙂🙃😉🤪

Right! The SLC Station is inconvenient and you’re there at 11:30 p.m. I like the station in Ogden but it’s not an option

I heard Conductor Brad on your Denver route!

Did the freight trains at try harder to avoid delaying your train because of the medical emergency?

Thom that's awesome I think you should watch america by rail the heartland volume one it has the california zephyr and the capital limited from DC to san Francisco CA via chicago

Beautiful scenery. Did they kick you out of the lounge like I’ve heard they do on full runs? Pure Americana at 22:22. :) The California Zephyr is on my bucket list although I’m trying to decide whether to fly into Chicago or take the maze of Amtrak routes from the southeast. I wish the Rail Pass restarted allowing room upgrades. Especially on a 2 day journey. I have driven the I-70 corridor west of Denver but there was scant opportunity to enjoy and photograph the scenery.

Guys, on both videos… you took me along❤👍🏻🚂 Plus, flying over that scenery at 36,000…👎🏻

is there a explicitely expressed policy on opening windows in vestibule? or is that not mentionned and opens possibility that with large enough box of chocolates, you could convince conductor to let you film from outside train when it goes slow enough ?

do they give you blankets for sleeping in coach or do you take your own?

You passed a patched Chicago and northwestern Engine in the line of engines in grand junction

I'm curious -- how much time does it take to pass through the Moffat Tunnel?

lets just say we're working on building an enclosed station

Great views, how was the hamburger?