USA by Rail – the Rockies

From Chicago, I headed west again on the California Zephyr. Departing in the evening, I slept through boring parts (sorry, Nebraska and Iowa), and woke up the next morning in Denver.

I was excited for the scenic journey ahead. The section of railroad between Denver and Grand Junction, CO is some of the best scenery Amtrak has to offer. Preparing to cross the Rockies, there was a sense of excitement in the train. The observation car was completely packed. While normally the observation car is open seating, on this morning the conductor was issuing tickets in two-hour shifts, to ensure all passengers had an opportunity to rotate through the car.  

About two hours past Denver, as the train began to climb toward the mountains, we were really starting to get to the good stuff. The conductor even began to narrate, explaining some of the history and geology around us. 

Suddenly we stopped. We were just outside the Moffat Tunnel and I figured we had to wait for a train coming from the other direction to pass. The six-mile Moffat Tunnel cuts through the Continental Divide. At 9,239 feet, this spot also happened to mark the highest elevation on my entire route.

After a few minutes, the conductor came on the PA. “Folks, we just got word that there has been a rock slide on the train tracks, just on the other side of the tunnel. We’ve been directed to stop and wait for further instructions. I’ll update you when I know more. Sit tight.”

About 10 minutes later, he came back on. “Well folks, I have some bad news. The tracks are impassable due to the rock slide. We’ve been instructed to return back to Denver.”

The train lurched into reverse and slowly returned, backward, all the way down back to Denver.

Three hours later at the train station, everyone deboarded. It wasn’t at all clear from the sparse muffled announcements, but from what I could gather, we were going to continue via bus. 

The Amtrak crew seemed to disappear as soon as we arrived in Denver. All of us confused passengers were left in the chaos to figure out where to go on our own. I followed some other passengers to find some buses out front. 

“Are you going to Salt Lake City?” I asked as I approached one of the bus drivers.  

“No.”

“Is this the bus for the California Zephyr passengers?”

“Yes.”

“But you don’t go to Salt Lake City?”

“No.”

“Um ok… where do you go?”

“Grand Junction.”

“Are any of these buses going to Salt Lake City?”

“No.”

“Do you know what the passengers who need to go further west are supposed to do?”

“No.”

“Do you know who I can ask? There’s no one at the counter.”

“No.”

This was beginning to feel like 20 Questions. I looked at him, trying to come up with another question in hopes of squeezing any minuscule crumb of information from this man. Fortunately, another passenger chimed in to help me out. 

“I think we’re all supposed to go to Grand Junction. Then we get on a new train there.”

“Ah. Thank you very much. How did you know that?”

“My roomette attendant told me.”

Ah. The more expensive way to travel Amtrak, roomettes are small private rooms that have a bed, shower, and complimentary meals in the dining car. Apparently one of the other perks of purchasing a roomette is receiving crucial pieces of information. Us plebeian coach passengers aren’t entitled to such luxuries. 

Trusting that this other passenger knew what he was talking about, I got on the bus to Grand Junction. At least it was headed in the right direction. 

Five hours on the bus made me really appreciate train travel. Even though the bus route more or less paralleled the train tracks, it just wasn’t the same. The mountain scenery was indeed beautiful, but I have been spoiled by the floor-to-ceiling windows of the observation car. On the bus my knees pressed against the seat in front of me and the air was stuffy. I felt a little claustrophobic. 

It was fast though. What would have taken eight hours on the train, we did in five on the bus. When we arrived in Grand Junction, we were only about three hours behind schedule, despite the major delay and backtracking. I was relieved to see that there was indeed a train waiting for us in Grand Junction. 

Stretching my legs out, it felt great being back on a train again. As I mentioned in my previous post, the on-train portions are the heart of this trip. The train has become my home base. It’s familiar and comfortable now.  

I arrived in Salt Lake City at around 2:30 in the morning.  I walked a few blocks to my hotel and collapsed. Although it was certainly an inconvenience to arrive so late, all things considered, a three-hour delay really wasn’t that bad. I have heard horror stories about massive Amtrak delays, but after two weeks of travel, this was the first major hiccup in my trip.

Before leaving home, I had braced myself for the possibility of having to dramatically reroute my trip or make major adjustments due to long delays or train cancellations, but so far I’ve been pleasantly surprised with the service. Fingers crossed that the rest of the trip goes as smoothly.