Railworks America

The wife and I settled on our vacation and decided to take Amtrak to New Orleans (flying home). Looking at taking the California Zephyr from Omaha to Chicago, and the City of New Orleans the rest of the way. Needless to say I am pretty excited.

Trevor

Sounds like a great trip. My wife and I just went to Austin TX. on the Eagle. Make sure you do it right and get a roomette.
Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner included. I live along the Illinois Central (CN) mainline south of Chicago,( Olympia Fields) and see these go by all the time. (65-70 mph.)

The only thing bad about long Amtrak trips is the fact they run through the night and you miss so much scenery in the process. I'd love it if they pulled over for the night and only ran during daylight hours... but then it would take forever to get anywhere.

I am coming to the States in March for a long weekend for a special photo charter on the C&TS for snow clearing. Have decided to take Amtrak # 4 - South West Chief from LA through to ABQ and then collect a car. Unfortunately much is at night, but I am hoping for a nice desert sunrise. I have done the Zeyphr from Oakland to Reno over Donner on a previous trip which was very enjoyable - it was a buzz to see for real the locations within the sim. Even though I am heading halfway round the world for the steam, I am surprisingly looking forward to the overnight trip (roomette, mid car upstairs) (and a visit to the new ABQ Cheesecake Factory - must be crazy)