Our room contained an armchair, sofa (which converted into a bed), shower and toilet, washbasin,  luggage rack and small window table. We were supplied with daily newspapers, bottled water, soap and towels.   Juice, coffee or tea were available all day and it was very comfortable.

During the night the train thundered through a high pass of 4,190 ft between the San Bernardino and San Gabriel mountains.  At the top which is the Summit Inn, an historic Route 66 diner that has been at its present location since 1952. Eastwards through Victorville, the Mojave Desert, Barstow- silver mining in the 1860’s);  through Needles straddling  the California-Arizona border  to Williams, best known as the gateway to Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon.

ARIZONA—We awoke around Flagstaff   in the largest Ponderosa Pine forest  in the continental US.   Originally a lumber, ranching and railroad town and it is now  home to the Lowell Observatory. The morning sunshine had us glued to the window in the Observation Lounge – the San Francisco Peaks, a volcanic mountain range north of Flagstaff  topped with snow; then canyon after canyon and rock formations in every shape  and shade of red/gold/brown and orange- Red Rock State Park is aptly named – endless vistas of empty desert, the sun beating down and not a cowboy or covered wagon in sight.

Nearing the state line with New Mexico, Holbrook, a railroad town,  founded in 1882 includes the historic Navajo County Courthouse and Wigwam Motel where visitors can bunk down in a real wigwam.   

NEW MEXICO- Then the Continental Divide – a line of elevated terrain which forms a border between two watersheds, separating those of the Pacific and Atlantic.   So up and over and then Grants, now the “carrot” capital of the U.S.  before crossing the mighty Rio Grande…steaming into Albuquerque around midday.  

Here we enjoyed a walkabout  while the South West Chief was refueled.   Albuquerque is the largest city in New Mexico founded in 1706 as a Spanish colonial outpost.   With its high elevation and dry climate, it attracts many in search of better health.  

Leaving Albuquerque at 12.55 we climbed through the Sandia Mountains (named for watermelons in Spanish due to their reddish colour at sunset coupled with a thin zone of green conifers near the top. )  Past Pueblos, corn patches, outdoor beehive ovens, past old gold mines to Lamy in the hills surrounding Santa Fe.  Today a branch line connects to Santa Fe with freight and tourist service on the spur. While Lamy is home to only 137 people, it is a significant railroad junction.  Quite a number of passengers disembarked here.

During the afternoon we passed through Apache – Canoncito, Santa Fe National Forest – a protected forest established in 1915 covering over 1,500,000 acres and ranging in elevation from 1,000- 5,300 ft.   The vegetation was very diverse.   Crossing the Pecos River which played a large role in the exploration of Texas by the Spaniards.

3.45 pm Las Vegas, New Mexico – a stop  on the Santa Fe Trail . Among the notorious people who came with the railroad were Doc Holliday, Jesse James, Billy the Kid and Wyatt Earp.   Then Watrous– site of Indian encampments and a named for Samuel B. Watrous, whose 20-room hacienda catered to gold seekers and settlers who stopped to trade at his store.

Then Shoemaker Canyon and into farming and ranching country –Wagon Mound – Raton – Wooton Ranch built by Uncle Dick Wootton, a frontiersman, trapper, buffalo hunter, rancher and operator of a toll road.   The first meeting to consider Colorado statehood was held in his store.

COLORADO- 6.30-9.15 pm – The South West Chief  made a brief passage through Colorado – almost halfway through our journey – Trinidad at the foot of Raton Pass housed coal miners;  La Junta, a major rail yard for the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway to assemble trains and add locomotives for the climb across Raton Pass.   .

KANSAS-11.35 pm-6.00 am – The Chief  thundered through  Kansas during the night – Dodge -  Topeka – Lawrence – to Kansas City.

MISSOURI-Kansas City at the junction of the Missouri and Kansas rivers. Sugar Creek –served as a port to receive supplies for early pioneers. Missouri River begins in southern Montana and ends at the Mississippi near St. Louis, meandering some 2,500 miles  through the flat Midwest from bluff to bluff.  Nicknamed the “Big Muddy” La Plata –began as a stagecoach trading post until 1867 when the North Missouri Railroad (later Wabash) came to town

IOWA-11.00 am – A brief ride through Iowa – Fort Madison.   Here is the last remaining double swing-span bridge on the Mississippi, a top level for cars and a bottom level for trains.   It spans 270 ft.

ILLINOIS-12 noon – Galesburg, an important stop  on the underground railway  during the Civil War.   It will soon be home to the new National Railroad Hall of Fame. Galva – Kewanee, home of the Kewanee Boiler Corporation known throughout the world for over 100 years.   Princeton-Mendota – Aurora  It adopted the name “City of Lights” – one of the first cities to adopt street lighting in 1881.  Prominent companies past and present include he Chicago, Burlington and Quincy railroad (later Burlington Northern)

3.20 pm we pull into Chicago a major transportation hub in the heart of America’s agricultural  belt.   Most Amtrak long distance trains either originate or terminate in Chicago. The dining car staff and our car attendant have been excellent. We are packed and ready to go – Red Cap service is at the door.

From San Bernardino to Chicago – across eight states with the South West Chief in three nights and almost three days.  Many interesting places to see and people to meet.