Monday, August 13, 2012

The Southwest Chief

The Southwest Chief bolted out of Chicago determined to maintain it's schedule.  We passed the corn festival, the Mississippi River, wind turbines, processing facilities, soy, corn, horses, cows, miles of desert and lots of freight cars, LOTS.  Then we stopped. We sat in the dining car wondering why were stopped, freight passed but we remained still. While eating dessert in the desert we were informed the train would be heading back to Albuquerque. Another train full of empty coal cars had derailed ahead of us.  At 9PM, the time we were to arrive in Flagstaff, AZ, we loaded a bus for a 6 hour bus trip to our destination.  Today we board for Los Angeles. The Southwest Chief runs only once a day, so we depart in the dark and approach Los Angeles during the sunrise.  Wish us luck.

Illinois

Missouri

Kansas City

Kansas

New Mexico