Desert Wind: Difference between revisions
italics in title |
m →Proposed Restoration: Updated from DesertXpress to XpressWest |
||
| Line 61: | Line 61: | ||
===Proposed Restoration=== |
===Proposed Restoration=== |
||
There are several private, competing plans to restore rail service to Las Vegas, including the [[High-speed rail|high-speed]] [[ |
There are several private, competing plans to restore rail service to Las Vegas, including the [[High-speed rail|high-speed]] [[XpressWest]] and the more conventional [[Z-Train]]. |
||
Also, new routes are being considered<ref name=rtcsnv/><!-- p5 + 49 -->, and a new route has been planned to run from Los Angeles to Las Vegas via the [[Metrolink (Southern California)|Metrolink]] [[San Bernardino Line]]. |
Also, new routes are being considered<ref name=rtcsnv/><!-- p5 + 49 -->, and a new route has been planned to run from Los Angeles to Las Vegas via the [[Metrolink (Southern California)|Metrolink]] [[San Bernardino Line]]. |
||
Revision as of 23:09, 9 July 2012
 The Desert Wind in Las Vegas | |||||
| Overview | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Service type | Inter-city rail | ||||
| Status | Discontinued | ||||
| Locale | Western United States | ||||
| First service | October 28, 1979 | ||||
| Last service | May 10, 1997 | ||||
| Current operator(s) | N/A | ||||
| Former operator(s) | Amtrak | ||||
| Route | |||||
| Termini | Chicago, Illinois Los Angeles, California | ||||
| Distance travelled | 2,397 miles (3,858 km) | ||||
| Average journey time | 48 hours 30 minutes | ||||
| Service frequency | Three days per week | ||||
| Train number(s) | 35/36 | ||||
| On-board services | |||||
| Class(es) |
| ||||
| Sleeping arrangements |
| ||||
| Catering facilities |
| ||||
| Observation facilities | Sightseer lounge | ||||
| Technical | |||||
| Rolling stock | Superliners | ||||
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) | ||||
| |||||
Desert Wind was a passenger train route operated by Amtrak from 1979 to 1997. It initially ran from Los Angeles, California to Ogden, Utah via Salt Lake City and Las Vegas. It later was truncated to Salt Lake City when Amtrak's San Francisco Zephyr was rerouted from the Overland Route to the Denver and Rio Grande Western and renamed California Zephyr in 1983. At that time, cars from the Desert Wind and Pioneer (Portland, Oregon to Salt Lake City, Utah via Idaho) were added to the eastbound California Zephyr at Salt Lake City. The California Zephyr runs between Emeryville, California near San Francisco and Chicago through Salt Lake City.
History
The Desert Wind began on October 28, 1979, amid widespread cutbacks in Amtrak's national network.[1] The original Desert Wind was a day train with Amfleet equipment. The northbound train left Los Angeles mid-day and arrived in Ogden the following morning to connect with the eastbound San Francisco Zephyr. The southbound departed Ogden in the middle night after the arrival of the westbound San Francisco Zephyr from Chicago and arrived in Los Angeles in late afternoon. The 811-mile (1,305 km) journey took eighteen hours.[2]
Beginning in 1980 the Desert Wind exchanged a Chicago-Los Angeles through coach with the San Francisco Zephyr; this service expanded in 1982 to include a sleeping car. The Desert Wind's eastern terminus moved to Salt Lake City after the re-named and re-routed California Zephyr began using the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad main line in 1983. Later the Desert Wind and the Pioneer would operate together with the California Zephyr from Chicago to Salt Lake City, where the trains separated.[3]: 142–144
The Desert Wind largely duplicated the route of the former City of Los Angeles operated by Chicago and North Western Railway and Union Pacific Railroad until May 1, 1971 when Amtrak took over passenger rail operations in the United States. The Desert Wind was discontinued on May 12, 1997 due to low ridership, conflict with freight trains[4] and budget cuts and replaced with Los Angeles-Las Vegas Thruway Motorcoach service. At that time the train schedule running time between Los Angeles and Las Vegas was 7 hours and 15 minutes, but many times the trains operated over one hour late.[4]
Proposed Restoration
There are several private, competing plans to restore rail service to Las Vegas, including the high-speed XpressWest and the more conventional Z-Train.
Also, new routes are being considered[4], and a new route has been planned to run from Los Angeles to Las Vegas via the Metrolink San Bernardino Line.
The route has some merit for Amtrak, as the July 2010 issue of Trains listed the route as one to be restored in conjunction with upgrading the equipment on the California Zephyr.[5]
Appearances in other media
- The Desert Wind is mentioned in the song "Bone Against Steel" on the album of the same name by the rock band .38 Special.
- Michael Palin rides the Desert Wind in his Michael Palin: Around the World in 80 Days.
- The Desert Wind appears at the end of the film Rain Man.
- Desert Wind is described (though not mentioned by name) in Bob Segar's Long Twin Silver Line from the album Against the Wind.
See also
References
- ^ Blumenthal, Ralph (January 18, 1980). "You can still ride the rails for scenery, fun". Anchorage Daily News. Retrieved 2010-09-11.
{{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ Amtrak (October 28, 1979). "National Train Timetables". Retrieved 2010-09-11.
- ^ Sanders, Craig (2006). Amtrak in the Heartland. Indiana University Press. ISBN 0-253-34705-X.
- ^ a b c Las Vegas to Los Angeles Rail Corridor Improvement Feasibility Study p1+173 Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada, June 2007. Accessed: 12 December 2011.
- ^ "Amtrak Trains Under the Microscope in 2010", Trains, July 2010, 20.
- Tommy Batts (1997). Last Run of Amtrak's Desert Wind. Trainweb.