2006: Amtrak California Zephyr Coach Ride From Chicago to California (Part 2 of 2)

GLENWOOD SPRINGS, COLORADO (September 29, 2006): Riding in coach on the California Zephyr, passing through Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Colorado, Utah, Nevada and, of course, California.

These are digital conversions of old VHS videos I've found laying around the house. I have been posting them as time permits. (I don't make my living on YouTube, sorry).

With regard to the amusing incident at Glenwood Springs, I made a stand-alone video out of that:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78c2GnTKdm8 ("Amtrak California Zephyr Leaves People Behind At Glenwood Springs")

Traveling in coach back then really wasn't that bad. Mind you, I was a lot younger back then and my back was stronger. It was only a few years later that I always made sure to spring for a sleeper.

In fact, the entire Amtrak experience was different. The staff (even in coach) were friendly and enthusiastic. You got to know them really well at the end of a long trip. They still had dining cars on every long distance train and they served real food. Coach passengers had equal access to the dining car, along with the sleeping car passengers.

Now, on trains that DO have dining cars, coach passengers are "invited" to patronize the diner provided there's any space available and any food left.

Part Two picks up where Part One left off, in Glenwood Springs, Colorado, where a number of passengers were left behind, having disregarded Conductor Bill's strict instructions.

The train grows later and later as we make our way through Colorado. We wake up the next day (Day 3 of the journey) in Nevada. We crawl across The Silver State arriving in Reno five hours late. The video ends (sadly) just before Truckee, California when the camcorder battery died.

Arnold Schwarzenegger (Total Recall 1990) makes a cameo appearance at the end.

Thank you for watching.