Amtrak's Southwest Chief is a 2,256-mile route from Chicago to Los
Angeles. The route is the successor to the Super Chief, which began
service in 1936 as the flagship passenger route of the Atchison, Topeka and
Santa Fe Railroad. The Super Chief was the first Diesel-powered all-Pullman service in
the US. It remained in operation until Amtrak took over American passenger rail
service in 1971. Amtrak continued the service but changed the name the the
Southwest Limited after complaints from the Santa Fe Railroad. The
hybrid name Southwest Chief was adopted in 1984.
The route is especially notable for its scenic passage in New Mexico along
the route of the old Santa Fe Trail through Raton Pass, the Sangre de Cristo
Mountains and the Sedona Red Cliffs.
These photos cover two trips: one westbound to LA in 2010 and one back to Chicago in 2013.
Southwest Chief: Chicago Union StationSouthwest Chief: Princeton, IL (PCT - mile 105) to Dodge City (DGG - mile 791)Southwest Chief: Lamar (LMR - mile 941), La Junta (LAJ - mile 993), and Trinidad, CO (TRI - mile 1,074)Southwest Chief: New MexicoSouthwest Chief: Raton, NM (RAT - mile 1,098)Southwest Chief: Las Vegas, NM (LSV - mile 1,209)Southwest Chief: Lamy (LMY - mile 1,274) to Albuquerque (ABQ - mile 1,341)Southwest Chief: CaliforniaSouthwest Chief: California EastboundSouthwest Chief: Winslow, AZ (WLO - mile 624) into New MexicoSouthwest Chief: Gallup, NM (GLP - mile 751)Southwest Chief: Albuquerque, NM (ABQ - mile 924)Southwest Chief: Lamy, NM (LMY - mile 991)Southwest Chief: Las Vegas, NM (LSV - mile 1,056)Southwest Chief: Raton, NM (RAT - mile 1,167)Southwest Chief: Trinidad (TRI - mile 1,191), Lawrence (LRC - mile 1,788), and
Kansas City, KS (KCY - mile 1,828)Southwest Chief: La Plata (LAP - mile 1,967) and Fort Madison (FMD - mile 2,045)Southwest Chief: Illinois
