I just took the Coast Starlight in coach all the way from Seattle-LA. Only thing I wish I did differently was doing it during the summer to see the mountain areas in southern Oregon into California and of course, the coast from San Luis Obispo to Santa Barbara. Huge price difference between coach and a sleeper, which is why I opted for coach. The seats in the super liner were different from the ones shown here. I know this was shot in 2021, and a bit has changed in just 3 years. Would have preferred the old seats, the current ones were ok to sit on, but sleeping wise would have been more comfortable on a boulder. For that reason, I spent roughly 30 of the 35 hours in the observation car, which is something I may do if I am ambitious enough to take the Southwest Chief, California Zephyr or Empire Builder!
The Sandia Mountains are named after the Spanish word for watermelon because of a reference to the reddish color of the mountains at sunset. The Navajo name for the Albuquerque area is “Bee'eldíídahsinil,” or “At the Place where the Bell Peals.” New Mexico is home to the Ancestral Puebloan dwellings! Construction of them began in 750 AD! Those in the Chaco Canyon were built in 800, the Taos Pueblo was built between 1000 and 1450, and the Acoma Pueblo was built between 1000 and 1200! The Acoma and Taos Pueblos are the oldest continuously inhabited sites in the US! Their famous cliff dwellings were built as the Ancestral Puebloans shifted from hunting and gathering to a more sedentary life that relied on farming. They moved their residences from the canyon floor to the canyon walls and cliffs, which provided natural protection. They constructed their cliff homes from hand-cut stone blocks and mortar made from adobe, a heavy clay soil. Dwellings often consisted of two to four stories. Each floor was set back from the one below it, giving the buildings a stepped appearance. The multiple stories of the cliff dwellings also provided further protection. The ground-floor rooms lacked doors and windows, so houses could be entered only by climbing a ladder to the higher floor and passing through an opening in the ceiling. If the town were attacked, the ladders could be pulled up to prevent enemy access. La Junta, Colorado means "the junction", named for the fact it rested at the intersection of the Santa Fe Trail and a pioneer road to Pueblo. The National World War I Memorial's walls of the first-floor lobby are finished in Kasota stone, quarried in Kasota, Minnesota. It was designed by Hudson County, NJ-born Harold Van Buren Magonigle who also designed the McKinley Memorial Mausoleum in Canton, Ohio. He worked for Calvert Vaux, Rotch & Tilden, Schickel and Ditmars and McKim Mead & White before opening his own practice in 1903. The groundbreaking ceremony in November 1921, was attended by 200,000 people, including then Vice President Calvin Coolidge, Lieutenant General Baron Jacques of Belgium, Admiral of the Fleet Lord Beatty of Great Britain, General Armando Diaz of Italy, Marshal Ferdinand Foch of France, General of the Armies John J. Pershing of the United States, and 60,000 members of the American Legion. The local veteran chosen to present flags to the commanders was a Kansas City haberdasher, Harry S. Truman. The finished monument was dedicated in November 1926 by President Coolidge, in the presence of Queen Marie of Romania. If you want to see another street shared by a border, but not a state border, a COUNTRY border, go to Derby Line, Vermont! There, Derby Line is on the border with Stanstead, Quebec, and pre-9/11, you were able to walk across without needing a passport, although nowadays you do. However a cool thing about it is the Haskell Free Library and Opera House, built right on the border. The library collection and the opera stage are located in Stanstead, but the main entrance and most opera seats are located in Derby Line. Because of this, the Haskell is sometimes called the only library in the US with no books and the only opera house in the US with no stage. There is no entrance from Canada, but there is an emergency exit on the Canadian side of the building. Everyone must use the US entrance to access the building. Canadians are permitted to enter the US door without needing to report to customs by using a prescribed route through the sidewalk of rue Church (Church Street), provided that they return to Canada immediately upon leaving the building using the same route
@ClassyWhale Southwest Chief, SunsetLimited/Texas Eagle, California Zephyr, and Empire Builder all use the same equipment, rules, and are often all chronically late. The scenery is different, but if you don't like Amtrak, switching Amtrak routes is not very helpful
When you were in Albuquerque, it was a missed opportunity to say *"My name is Caleb Classy Whale, I live at 308 Negra Arroyo Lane, Albuquerque, New Mexico, 87104. This is my confession. If you're watching this tape, I'm probably dead, murdered by my brother-in-law Research".* Albuquerque was founded in 1706 as an outpost as La Villa de Alburquerque by Francisco Cuervo y Valdés. The settlement was named after the original town of Viceroy Francisco Fernández de la Cueva, 10th duke of Alburquerque, who was from Alburquerque, Badajoz in southwest Spain. Over the centuries, the first “r” was dropped, leaving Albuquerque spelled as it is today. The name comes from the Latin words “albus” and “quercus,” meaning “white oak.” Santa Fe's name is Spanish for "Holy Faith", and an abbreviation of its formal name, La Villa Real de la Santa Fe de San Francisco de Asís, or "the Royal Town of the Holy Faith of Saint Francis of Assisi". I love the livery of the New Mexico Rail Runner, and the fact that the sound when the doors close is the roadrunner's "Meep meep" from the Wile E. Coyote cartoons! Something to keep in mind is that this is New Mexico we are talking about here, not the rich Northeast. And New Mexico…isn’t known for being rich. So for what they were able to do, it still gets the job done and the scenery is beautiful. Not to mention the fare is a steal considering the distance! The line acting as an intercity line connecting the state capital and the state's biggest city is a great idea, and I like that the stations are represented by different icons to represent each community’s identity, like how Sandoval County/US 550 has grapes to symbolize the vineyards and winemakers in the area, Montaño having a cottonwood leaf which is a tree native to the region, or Sandia Pueblo having a hummingbird because it’s a bird important to the Sandia people. And I love the New Mexico state flag. The symbol on the NM flag is the sun symbol of the Zia people. The Zia regard the Sun as sacred. Their solar symbol is painted on ceremonial vases, drawn on the ground around campfires, and used to introduce newborns to the Sun. Four is the sacred number of the Zia and can be found repeated in the four points radiating from the circle. The number four is embodied in the four points of the compass, the four seasons, the four periods of each day (morning, noon, evening, and night), the four seasons of life (childhood, youth, middle years, and old age), and the four sacred obligations one must develop (a strong body, a clear mind, a pure spirit, and a devotion to the welfare of others), according to Zia belief. New Mexico's state capitol is unique in that it has a circular design, designed so it resembled the Zia sun symbol when viewed from above! Though it's worth mentioning that it was used without the permission of the indigenous Zia, and they have fought to prevent it from being used without their permission, including via attempting to copyright it, during and after its adoption as a symbol of the state, and due to concerns over desecration of the symbol. A 2012 joint memorial by the state and the Zia people later acknowledged the state had appropriated the image without permission. Due to its longstanding use, the symbol is now unlikely to be eligible for copyright, falling into the American public domain
Omg! The pre-"Refresh" seats! Those are so missed, along with their awesome leg rests. The Southwest Chief is always worth it. Excited to ride it again here in January for the RPCA convention in Pueblo.
I saw hills in Kansas, and I saw hills in this video when you said you were there. I don't see why the public keeps on telling the same false story about how Kansas is flat; it isn't.
There is also a State Line Road like that at the Indiana-Indiana border. There are homes (and a McDonald’s) on it in Chicago, but the Indiana side of the street has no homes: only a cartoonishly large power line ROW and then a highway beyond that. A disconnected segment of the road does feature homes and businesses on both sides (along the border of Calumet City, Illinois and Hammond Indiana as well as Lansing IL and Munster IN). Maybe you could check that portion out when you inevitably tour the West Lake expansion of the South Shore Line that will run parallel to it for most of its run (it’s tracks are less than 2,000 feet south of the border, so it’s not that far a walk or bike)
I have ridden the Southwest several times to and from Chicago to Los Angeles. While you are correct that it is not the most scenic it does have some sights to see especially Raton Pass the first time you ride it. The train really slows down through those steep grades. Being from the east coast and used to fast northeast trains it is some contrast. You also get to see what it must have been like to ride through this country in the old steam train days. I have always had good on board service and was lucky enough to never had as bad a delay as you experienced. I do remember going very fast on the flat lands due to that great old Santa Fe maintained tracks. The train usuall rode smooth even at high speed. Thanks for showing the route.
When I was 6 (1971) My family took one of the last Super Chief trains from Chicago to Phoenix. This was before Amtrak Service started. As a 6 year old I thought it was so cool taking the train and seeing the Diesel Engine with the War bonnet paint scheme.
I did this route back in May 2022. I went from Los Angeles to Chicago, and I stopped for a couple of nights in Kansas City. I went to a concert and visited a cousin. It was definitely a pretty ride, and I wouldn’t need to do it again. But definitely worth at least once. Great job as always Caleb on the video.
A Jeb Brooks reference in this video and a Noel Phillips reference in the previous one? Nice. Also, whoa, serious deja vu. I feel like I've either seen this video before, or at least the Kansas City State Line Road segment. I vividly remember it. Also, I'm considering Southwest Chief, but starting from Chicago and ending in Flagstaff. Then, figuring out how to get to the Grand Canyon from there because I wanna take a trip there and see it!
At 4:05 I assume traitor forces equal pro slavery forces which is the confederate states of America and yep Caleb didn’t do his research Las Vegas does not have an Amtrak station in Nevada but hopefully the brightline route from la to Las Vegas will be completed soon
Frog and I used the SW Chief 3 times on our trip - Chicago -> ABQ -> Flagstaff -> Riverside. Not sure I'd want to do the whole route without stopping though. We had a stop at La Junta and had a tip off that there was a good doughnut shop in town. We went in and the locals were all talking about how the train was on time today - clearly something that doesn't happen too often. We arrived into ABQ 30 minutes early! I had the same confusion about Las Vegas NM btw!
Stellar video! I always thought it was weird how the Sunset Limited and Southwest Chief cross paths in SoCal, but it's probably because those are the original routes as the freight railroads owned them.
At Raton, you missed noticing the intermodal station developed by the city for intercity buses. Amtrak Thruway to Pueblo, Colorado Springs, Denver, and the Southwest Chief. The Thruway connection between Raton and Denver was successful until Greyhound took it over and the Chief started running wildly late.
I took the Chief back in 2017 then the Sunset Limited earlier this month. I'm hoping to plan a trip in the next couple of years to get on the Empire Builder and Zephyr, too.
Do people have a hard time spelling Albuquerque? That’s news to me. (Though, the city that always trips me up is Cincinnati. The fact that there is only one set of double consonants always throws me off)
There’s a similar road, Canusa Street / Rue Canusa, in Beebe Plain, Vermont and Stanstead, Quebec. I wouldn’t recommend crossing that street, though, unless you want to have a conversation with Border Patrol.
@@trainglen22 of course... Plenty of people do these train rides more for the experience than for the destinations. The experience on the zephyr is objectively better than on the chief.
As a Japanese person, I sure am laughing. But it does seem really cool to ride long-distance trains through endless wilderness -- we don't have that in Japan!!
@@ClassyWhale Hi, there, people say things like that because they know Amtrak gets millions of taxpayers' dollars a year. By no means are trains useless because they serve small towns without airports, and they are a fun resource for people who don't like to board airplanes.
![A Train So Luxurious - Amtrak Forced To Change The Name / Southwest Chief [S2: E12]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/QZd9b9S6swY/mqdefault.jpg)
![A Train So Luxurious - Amtrak Forced To Change The Name / Southwest Chief [S2: E12]](/img/tr.png)
I just took the Coast Starlight in coach all the way from Seattle-LA. Only thing I wish I did differently was doing it during the summer to see the mountain areas in southern Oregon into California and of course, the coast from San Luis Obispo to Santa Barbara. Huge price difference between coach and a sleeper, which is why I opted for coach. The seats in the super liner were different from the ones shown here. I know this was shot in 2021, and a bit has changed in just 3 years. Would have preferred the old seats, the current ones were ok to sit on, but sleeping wise would have been more comfortable on a boulder. For that reason, I spent roughly 30 of the 35 hours in the observation car, which is something I may do if I am ambitious enough to take the Southwest Chief, California Zephyr or Empire Builder!
The Sandia Mountains are named after the Spanish word for watermelon because of a reference to the reddish color of the mountains at sunset. The Navajo name for the Albuquerque area is “Bee'eldíídahsinil,” or “At the Place where the Bell Peals.” New Mexico is home to the Ancestral Puebloan dwellings! Construction of them began in 750 AD! Those in the Chaco Canyon were built in 800, the Taos Pueblo was built between 1000 and 1450, and the Acoma Pueblo was built between 1000 and 1200! The Acoma and Taos Pueblos are the oldest continuously inhabited sites in the US! Their famous cliff dwellings were built as the Ancestral Puebloans shifted from hunting and gathering to a more sedentary life that relied on farming. They moved their residences from the canyon floor to the canyon walls and cliffs, which provided natural protection. They constructed their cliff homes from hand-cut stone blocks and mortar made from adobe, a heavy clay soil. Dwellings often consisted of two to four stories. Each floor was set back from the one below it, giving the buildings a stepped appearance. The multiple stories of the cliff dwellings also provided further protection. The ground-floor rooms lacked doors and windows, so houses could be entered only by climbing a ladder to the higher floor and passing through an opening in the ceiling. If the town were attacked, the ladders could be pulled up to prevent enemy access. La Junta, Colorado means "the junction", named for the fact it rested at the intersection of the Santa Fe Trail and a pioneer road to Pueblo.
The National World War I Memorial's walls of the first-floor lobby are finished in Kasota stone, quarried in Kasota, Minnesota. It was designed by Hudson County, NJ-born Harold Van Buren Magonigle who also designed the McKinley Memorial Mausoleum in Canton, Ohio. He worked for Calvert Vaux, Rotch & Tilden, Schickel and Ditmars and McKim Mead & White before opening his own practice in 1903. The groundbreaking ceremony in November 1921, was attended by 200,000 people, including then Vice President Calvin Coolidge, Lieutenant General Baron Jacques of Belgium, Admiral of the Fleet Lord Beatty of Great Britain, General Armando Diaz of Italy, Marshal Ferdinand Foch of France, General of the Armies John J. Pershing of the United States, and 60,000 members of the American Legion. The local veteran chosen to present flags to the commanders was a Kansas City haberdasher, Harry S. Truman. The finished monument was dedicated in November 1926 by President Coolidge, in the presence of Queen Marie of Romania.
If you want to see another street shared by a border, but not a state border, a COUNTRY border, go to Derby Line, Vermont! There, Derby Line is on the border with Stanstead, Quebec, and pre-9/11, you were able to walk across without needing a passport, although nowadays you do. However a cool thing about it is the Haskell Free Library and Opera House, built right on the border. The library collection and the opera stage are located in Stanstead, but the main entrance and most opera seats are located in Derby Line. Because of this, the Haskell is sometimes called the only library in the US with no books and the only opera house in the US with no stage. There is no entrance from Canada, but there is an emergency exit on the Canadian side of the building. Everyone must use the US entrance to access the building. Canadians are permitted to enter the US door without needing to report to customs by using a prescribed route through the sidewalk of rue Church (Church Street), provided that they return to Canada immediately upon leaving the building using the same route
6:50 - I'd say La-HOON-ta not La-HUN-ta .
What are the other choices available for scenic viewing? Chicago to LA by bus?
@@WilliamMurphy-b6v California Zephyr
@ClassyWhale Southwest Chief, SunsetLimited/Texas Eagle, California Zephyr, and Empire Builder all use the same equipment, rules, and are often all chronically late. The scenery is different, but if you don't like Amtrak, switching Amtrak routes is not very helpful
When you were in Albuquerque, it was a missed opportunity to say *"My name is Caleb Classy Whale, I live at 308 Negra Arroyo Lane, Albuquerque, New Mexico, 87104. This is my confession. If you're watching this tape, I'm probably dead, murdered by my brother-in-law Research".* Albuquerque was founded in 1706 as an outpost as La Villa de Alburquerque by Francisco Cuervo y Valdés. The settlement was named after the original town of Viceroy Francisco Fernández de la Cueva, 10th duke of Alburquerque, who was from Alburquerque, Badajoz in southwest Spain. Over the centuries, the first “r” was dropped, leaving Albuquerque spelled as it is today. The name comes from the Latin words “albus” and “quercus,” meaning “white oak.” Santa Fe's name is Spanish for "Holy Faith", and an abbreviation of its formal name, La Villa Real de la Santa Fe de San Francisco de Asís, or "the Royal Town of the Holy Faith of Saint Francis of Assisi". I love the livery of the New Mexico Rail Runner, and the fact that the sound when the doors close is the roadrunner's "Meep meep" from the Wile E. Coyote cartoons! Something to keep in mind is that this is New Mexico we are talking about here, not the rich Northeast. And New Mexico…isn’t known for being rich. So for what they were able to do, it still gets the job done and the scenery is beautiful. Not to mention the fare is a steal considering the distance! The line acting as an intercity line connecting the state capital and the state's biggest city is a great idea, and I like that the stations are represented by different icons to represent each community’s identity, like how Sandoval County/US 550 has grapes to symbolize the vineyards and winemakers in the area, Montaño having a cottonwood leaf which is a tree native to the region, or Sandia Pueblo having a hummingbird because it’s a bird important to the Sandia people.
And I love the New Mexico state flag. The symbol on the NM flag is the sun symbol of the Zia people. The Zia regard the Sun as sacred. Their solar symbol is painted on ceremonial vases, drawn on the ground around campfires, and used to introduce newborns to the Sun. Four is the sacred number of the Zia and can be found repeated in the four points radiating from the circle. The number four is embodied in the four points of the compass, the four seasons, the four periods of each day (morning, noon, evening, and night), the four seasons of life (childhood, youth, middle years, and old age), and the four sacred obligations one must develop (a strong body, a clear mind, a pure spirit, and a devotion to the welfare of others), according to Zia belief. New Mexico's state capitol is unique in that it has a circular design, designed so it resembled the Zia sun symbol when viewed from above! Though it's worth mentioning that it was used without the permission of the indigenous Zia, and they have fought to prevent it from being used without their permission, including via attempting to copyright it, during and after its adoption as a symbol of the state, and due to concerns over desecration of the symbol. A 2012 joint memorial by the state and the Zia people later acknowledged the state had appropriated the image without permission. Due to its longstanding use, the symbol is now unlikely to be eligible for copyright, falling into the American public domain
Foaming
4:15 The lesser known Las Vegas, without the casinos.
Omg! The pre-"Refresh" seats! Those are so missed, along with their awesome leg rests. The Southwest Chief is always worth it. Excited to ride it again here in January for the RPCA convention in Pueblo.
I saw hills in Kansas, and I saw hills in this video when you said you were there. I don't see why the public keeps on telling the same false story about how Kansas is flat; it isn't.
There is also a State Line Road like that at the Indiana-Indiana border.
There are homes (and a McDonald’s) on it in Chicago, but the Indiana side of the street has no homes: only a cartoonishly large power line ROW and then a highway beyond that.
A disconnected segment of the road does feature homes and businesses on both sides (along the border of Calumet City, Illinois and Hammond Indiana as well as Lansing IL and Munster IN). Maybe you could check that portion out when you inevitably tour the West Lake expansion of the South Shore Line that will run parallel to it for most of its run (it’s tracks are less than 2,000 feet south of the border, so it’s not that far a walk or bike)
I LOVE ALBUQUERQUE RAAAAAAH I LOVE THE BREAKING BAD CITY JESSE WE NEED TO COOK 🗣🗣🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
I have ridden the Southwest several times to and from Chicago to Los Angeles. While you are correct that it is not the most scenic it does have some sights to see especially Raton Pass the first time you ride it. The train really slows down through those steep grades. Being from the east coast and used to fast northeast trains it is some contrast. You also get to see what it must have been like to ride through this country in the old steam train days. I have always had good on board service and was lucky enough to never had as bad a delay as you experienced. I do remember going very fast on the flat lands due to that great old Santa Fe maintained tracks. The train usuall rode smooth even at high speed. Thanks for showing the route.
When I was 6 (1971) My family took one of the last Super Chief trains from Chicago to Phoenix. This was before Amtrak Service started. As a 6 year old I thought it was so cool taking the train and seeing the Diesel Engine with the War bonnet paint scheme.
I did this route back in May 2022. I went from Los Angeles to Chicago, and I stopped for a couple of nights in Kansas City. I went to a concert and visited a cousin.
It was definitely a pretty ride, and I wouldn’t need to do it again. But definitely worth at least once. Great job as always Caleb on the video.
A Jeb Brooks reference in this video and a Noel Phillips reference in the previous one? Nice.
Also, whoa, serious deja vu. I feel like I've either seen this video before, or at least the Kansas City State Line Road segment. I vividly remember it.
Also, I'm considering Southwest Chief, but starting from Chicago and ending in Flagstaff. Then, figuring out how to get to the Grand Canyon from there because I wanna take a trip there and see it!
_why wasnt this on patreon_
(or i didn’t see it)
This feels like I watched this before… could this be a reupload
I wonder what the turn time is for those trainsets. Like do they have spares so the next departure can leave on time?
4:59 I wonder if that landscape looks green after it rains but is brown and dry when it hasn’t?
At 4:05 I assume traitor forces equal pro slavery forces which is the confederate states of America and yep Caleb didn’t do his research Las Vegas does not have an Amtrak station in Nevada but hopefully the brightline route from la to Las Vegas will be completed soon
Yes indeed, CSA were traitors
can you film local stuff
@@MassbyTrain no I can't
Frog and I used the SW Chief 3 times on our trip - Chicago -> ABQ -> Flagstaff -> Riverside. Not sure I'd want to do the whole route without stopping though.
We had a stop at La Junta and had a tip off that there was a good doughnut shop in town. We went in and the locals were all talking about how the train was on time today - clearly something that doesn't happen too often. We arrived into ABQ 30 minutes early!
I had the same confusion about Las Vegas NM btw!
Stellar video! I always thought it was weird how the Sunset Limited and Southwest Chief cross paths in SoCal, but it's probably because those are the original routes as the freight railroads owned them.
At Raton, you missed noticing the intermodal station developed by the city for intercity buses. Amtrak Thruway to Pueblo, Colorado Springs, Denver, and the Southwest Chief. The Thruway connection between Raton and Denver was successful until Greyhound took it over and the Chief started running wildly late.
I took the Chief back in 2017 then the Sunset Limited earlier this month. I'm hoping to plan a trip in the next couple of years to get on the Empire Builder and Zephyr, too.
Do people have a hard time spelling Albuquerque? That’s news to me.
(Though, the city that always trips me up is Cincinnati. The fact that there is only one set of double consonants always throws me off)
Southwest Chief was never worth it. An utterly pathetic husk of a once-great train like the rest of Amtrak.
4:37, Caleb didn't do his research on his own height!
This route was the subject of the fourth volume of America by Rail, so clearly there’s some merit to it
Thankfully, in my youth, I had assistance with learning the name's spelling from the Weird Al song, "Albuquerque"
Yes Santa Fe named after Santa Fe New Mexico, but it was originally named the Aitchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe (A.T.&.S.F) it was founded in Kansas.
As someone from KC I'm living the enthusiasm of this east-coaster going between these two exceptionally bland states😂
4:15 (hummed the price is right’s losing horn noise)
When taking a multi day train ride in coach is "recuperating", you know your a railfan!
There’s a similar road, Canusa Street / Rue Canusa, in Beebe Plain, Vermont and Stanstead, Quebec. I wouldn’t recommend crossing that street, though, unless you want to have a conversation with Border Patrol.
Not in coach…No Sir…
I thought for a second he was ending the video with "Negro y Azul."
If you were in NM, you were clearly a six-foot Juan \m/
@@officialmcdeath bruh
One thing is if you are going from Los Angeles to Chicago, the California Zephyr isn't a viable option.
@@trainglen22 of course... Plenty of people do these train rides more for the experience than for the destinations. The experience on the zephyr is objectively better than on the chief.
@ClassyWhale I will agree with the scenery on the California Zephyr. It really was the first cruise train with the Canadian being the second.
These kind of trains are obsolete
@@qjtvaddict why
@@ClassyWhale I think both the Japanese and the Europeans are laughing at how obsolete our trains are
As a Japanese person, I sure am laughing. But it does seem really cool to ride long-distance trains through endless wilderness -- we don't have that in Japan!!
@matthewwelsh294 Chinese & Koreans too.
@@ClassyWhale Hi, there, people say things like that because they know Amtrak gets millions of taxpayers' dollars a year. By no means are trains useless because they serve small towns without airports, and they are a fun resource for people who don't like to board airplanes.