I enjoyed traveling on the zephyr. I lived in No Cal for almost 50 years and have driven on I80 many times from the Bay Area to SLC. Taking the train provided views that I had never seen! Excellent food! Friendly crew! Comfortable accommodations.

What an awesome video. It's amazing that the train there ran relatively on schedule. Sucks about the ride home and the train hitting a passenger. Yikes! You've got one of the most soothing voices I've ever heard. I kid you not, just after you mentioned hearing the train's horn as you were falling asleep I heard a train horn in the distance.

It actually looks like the Amtrak LD fleet replacements will be bilevel as well, with Amtrak seeking an ADA waiver that would allow them to only have one or two elevators in a whole coupled set instead of having an elevator in each carriage.

@CSLenhart

11 ай бұрын

That would be great! I would definitely prefer a bilevel option.

@HalianTheProtogen

11 ай бұрын

Hopefully there'll be gangways on each level.

I hope the future Amtrak equipment is bilevel. I just took it on Monday when they had the temporary adjusted schedule that made Utah a day stop

@CSLenhart

11 ай бұрын

I love bilevel equipment. Hopefully Amtrak can find a way. How was your trip?

@sambishop1667

11 ай бұрын

@@CSLenhart, what is so great about bi-level equipment? (This is an honest question. My only experience with train travel has been on light rail.)

@CSLenhart

11 ай бұрын

@sambishop1667 From an engineering point of view, they are far more efficient. The original Santa Fe Hi-Level cars we lauded for "carrying 130 more people [per train] while weighing 110 tons less" than a conventional streamliner of the day: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hi-level From a comfort point of view, it's like having a larger car vs a small one. More space, less claustrophobic, more amenities. Maybe I'll have to make a video on this too....

@eyezak_m

11 ай бұрын

@@CSLenhart Only an hour late both ways :D

Train travel is soooooo superior to cars or planes. Once people realize it can be luxurious, and it’s way cheaper to make it so the more we alll use it, there’s no going back! If we could just reclaim separate passenger rail in spaces they existed 80 years ago… 🎉

Another great video!! My brother and I are thinking of taking the Zephyr to Chicago for the adventure. He would be coming from Emeryville and I would hop on early in the morning in SLC. Should be a fun grand adventure, wish I was doing it from the Rio Grande Depot but I am sure I will one day. You mentioned the Rio Grande Plan Supporters event, I was unable to attend that or other meetings, but with finishing my masters degree in systems engineering here at the end of the month I am hoping to get more involved in pushing our officials to improve our transit here in the city. The preservation and upgrading of the Depot is paramount to that goal. I think we need another event to promote this and should get state and local officials to attend. Its time we get better transit and and better trains here in Salt Lake City and the USA.

@CSLenhart

11 ай бұрын

I wish you and your brother safe (and timely!) travels on your adventure! Despite my painful verdict for the population at large, I highly recommend this trip for adventurers and anyone willing to try something new. As for the next Rio Grande Plan supporters event, we are working closely with the city planning staff to hold a public event when they kickoff the feasibility study. Hopefully that will happen sometime this autumn, but whenever it happens, it is very important that the city takes the lead.

@FrederickJenny

11 ай бұрын

@@CSLenhart we are really excited to do the trip! Should be a great adventure. Cannot wait to see the kickoff for the study, again please let all of us know what we can do to continue to support this awesome project. I was thinking more about the plan itself and combined with the Main Street car free zone. Imagine having a car free zone all the way to main street up Broadway. Food for thought.

@CSLenhart

11 ай бұрын

@FrederickJenny It is a beautiful vision. I mentioned it to the Mayor this morning as part of her Green Loop initiative (also a good idea). We'll see if anything comes of it.

@FrederickJenny

11 ай бұрын

@@CSLenhart her sustainable transportation views along with her vision of a future SLC is why she has my vote. Thanks for keeping us informed. Please keep up the great work!

Great vlog. Makes me want to go take the train!

I took Amtrak from Washington D.C. to Chicago then to SLC. I absolutely loved the trip. The SLC station really does suck and needs to be overhauled.

@CSLenhart

11 ай бұрын

I've done that same trip in reverse! A landslide in Colorado delayed the train so much that I missed my connection with the Capitol Limited. Thankfully, Amtrak put me up in a hotel that night, and I got to spend an unplanned day exploring Chicago. Good memories! And yes, Salt Lake City’s train station needs a complete overhaul. That is what this channel is all about!

@dsarmy1

11 ай бұрын

@@CSLenhart My tip was more fortunate. We only had to wait for exhaust from another train to clear out of a tunnel in the mountain for like 20:min. I have been trying to keep up with your other videos and your ideas for the Rio Grande. I like and support the plan. Please keep it going. Thank you!

I think I am also going to miss the Superliners. I'm excited to see what they procure for the next generation of their Sleeper fleet, though. I have a feeling that the East Coast sleeper routes that terminate in New York Penn will get them first though, like the Silver Services. I'm sure Amtrak will squeeze as much use out of the Superliners as possible on the longer distance routes in the West that terminate in Chicago

Never took the Zephyr (yet) but I've enjoyed the Coast Starlight many times between WA State and California.

I would like it if the train station in SLC was more developed. Being from a Mormon family and traveling from Utah to the West Coast may I suggest a route from SLC to St. George and onto Las Vegas and the West Coast

@CSLenhart

8 ай бұрын

I totally agree - and we're working on it! Check out some of my other videos on The Rio Grande Plan!

I took the Zephyr from Salt Lake to Denver in July. The train was two hours late getting to SLC due to a freight derailment in Nevada and had to reroute around it, then lost an hour going through Colorado arriving 3 hours late in Denver. On the trip back the train was an hour early, but of course had to wait until 8 AM before it could leave the station. We then lost another hour in Colorado arriving back in SLC around midnight. With the delays, and the middle of the night arrival and departure hours in SLC, I would absolutely do it again and would recommend.

@qjtvaddict

6 ай бұрын

Masochism on display

Amtrak's survey about proposed changes to ADA requirements for their new rail cars suggest they are looking at bilevel semi-permanently coupled trainsets for LD.

The family bedroom is actually a tight fit for 2 adults and two children.

Damn, didnt expect all the death.

Yea, don't plan times UNTIL you arrive. lol

With BART in actual danger of shutting down (or at least seriously cutting back service) due to low ridership (and low farebox revenues) due to post pandemic increases of people working from home, I doubt that second transbay tunnel will ever happen, since the main reason for would be theoretical overcrowding on BART, which simply isn't happening. Nor should the money be spent on such now that the lower ridership has made overcrowding a non-issue.

😂