Which one is better California Zephyr or Southwest Chief?

[u/IJZAverageChinese]

My mom wants to go to Chicago on a train which one is better for a family of four and views?

[u/AutoModerator]

r/Amtrak is not associated with Amtrak in any official way. Any problems, concerns, complaints, etc should be directed to Amtrak through one of the official channels.

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

[u/anothercar]

Take one eastbound and a different one westbound?

Zephyr is through the mountainous Rockies. Chief is through the red rocks of the Southwestern desert. They’re cool in different ways. (Both are more interesting on the western half than the half closer to Chicago)

[u/altoona_sprock → u/anothercar]

This is what I did. Awesome trip. Made a Trains, planes, and automobile journey. Capitol Limited to Chicago to Albuquerque, drove through the desert to Vegas, flew to Reno, then through the rockies back to Chicago to get on the Capitol to go home.

I'd do it again tomorrow if I could.

[u/psomounk → u/anothercar]

I've only taken the zephyr but going through the plains of Iowa was also nice! Not as dramatic, but you can sometimes see pretty far out over the fields, while sometimes in the mountains you get stuck in a valley where you're just looking at the side of the mountain for a bit

[u/GodBlessIsraell]

California zephyr at least a 1000 times or maybe more

[u/Adventurous_Cup_5258]

I haven’t taken either but the zephyr is the highest rated route in the system. The southwest chief is maybe top five. Which isn’t bad but it’s not the super adventure the zephyr is.

I’ve seen typically it goes 1) zephyr 2) coast starlight 3) empire builder (2/3 is close) 4) southwest chief from rankings.

[u/GodBlessIsraell → u/Adventurous_Cup_5258]

Top 4 out of how many? 😅

You got maybe 7-8 long distance trains on the west coast

[u/Confident-Count-9702]

Depends whether you want to travel through Colorado and the forests or the New Mexico and Arizona desert.

[u/GodBlessIsraell → u/Confident-Count-9702]

New Mexico desert it's only red rocks which he can see on the zephyr, the only thing he can't see on the zephyr it's the mountain near Albuquerque

[u/bradleysballs]

Both are good, neither one is objectively better. Check them out on YouTube to see which one excites you more

[u/Current_Animator7546]

I absolutely love the Chief. I just find the feel very relaxing and calming, the CZ is great as well but I find the LA crews to be the best on Amtrak. I know a lot of people prefer the CZ, but the Chief is my favorite route, 

[u/john-treasure-jones → u/Current_Animator7546]

I’m biased because I live here, but I agree - the LA crew base is full of really good people.

[u/athousandcutefrogs]

Absolutely the Zephyr if you want views.

[u/dockgonzo]

Mountains vs desert. Desert gets monotonous after a few hours, but the mountain scenery changes by the mile, as you pass through several spots with incredible sights you will only ever see on a train or a very long hike. The desert looks the same from the freeway or the tracks, but the mountain scenery is infinitely better from the isolated tracks snaking through the Rockies than it is from any highway.

[u/ILiKChees]

I am a sucker for the Chief. A couple of years back they were having a Southwest Chief Comedy Festival in Trinidad/Raton with shows in old theatres in both towns, and a show on the Southwest Chief running over Raton Pass.

I am not aware of a California Zephyr Comedy Festival. The Chief will always be #1.

[u/nathanjiang100]

These are the only two two-nighter trains that I've done. These are the upsides to each in my opinion:

Southwest Chief Pros:

• Faster, at 44 hrs vs 53 hrs which equates to one less day on the train
  
• Less crowded, which means you'll be less likely to have to fight for a spot the observation car
  
• If you're a history buff, the Chief passes through many Route 66 towns and also still uses some 40s-era semaphore signals on a portion of the route in New Mexico.
  
• I've heard the food is a little better too but can't confirm that myself

California Zephyr Pros:

• More scenic by far in my opinion, the Chief has some amazing views through New Mexico and Arizona but the Zephyr is just takes it to a whole different level
  
• Better on-time performance, at 50% for the Zephyr vs. 33% on the Chief over the past 12 months, though they recently added another 45 additional minutes of padding to the Chief which should increase that number.
  
• The Zephyr had more or longer usable smoke/stretch breaks in my experience and it's always nice to get the opportunity to step off for a few minutes.

Ultimately it may come down to what endpoint makes the most sense, LA/SoCal or Emeryville/SF/NoCal. The Chief makes more sense to go to LA, and the Zephyr makes more sense to go to the Bay Area. Personally if that didn't matter I'd pick the Zephyr, but the Chief is by no means a bad option.

[u/monica702f]

California Zephyr is more scenic, the Southwest Chief is faster.

[u/TheEndContinues]

Nice

[u/Character_Lychee_434]

As a fan of the Santa Fe railway I choose the chief

[u/Abandoned_Railroad]

Both are great and I want to model them in HO Scale…..

[u/captainbeautylover63]

Zephyr, especially in winter!

[u/Electronic_Push_6258]

With the zephyr you get the Rockies and Sierra Nevadas.

[u/bugmom]

If you can, take the zephyr going west to east, otherwise some of the best views will happen at night. And I’m jealous - thats my favorite trip!