| News Release |
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National Railroad Passenger Corporation 60 Massachusetts Avenue NE Washington, DC 20002 www.amtrak.com FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ATK-07-063 Contact: Contact: Marc Magliari (312) 880-5390 June 8, 2007 |
| Detour of California Zephyr to Track Historic TranscontInental Railroad Route Some Colorado and Utah Stops Affected Until August 8 |
CHICAGO - Scheduled track improvements on the Union Pacific Railroad (UP) in Colorado will require Amtrak to use an alternate route for the California Zephyr between Denver and Salt Lake City during five periods in July and August. The detour will follow the historic transcontinental railroad route through Wyoming and Utah. On the following dates Amtrak will be unable to use the UP route between Granby and Glenwood Springs. - July 10 & 11 - July 15-18 - July 22-25 - July 29-Aug. 1 - Aug 5-8 On those days, the California Zephyr will detour between Denver and Salt Lake City via a northern route through Wyoming, making no intermediate station stops. On the days the train detours, Amtrak will provide alternate motorcoach transportation at Denver for westbound passengers to Glenwood Springs or Grand Junction and for eastbound passengers from Grand Junction or Glenwood Springs. Service to and from Fraser-Winter Park and Granby, Colo.; Green River, Helper and Provo, Utah, will be suspended on the days the trains are detoured. Motorcoach from Westbound California Zephyr (Train 5) |
Personally, I consider this good news for railfans! I have taken the CZ several times, and while I love the Colorado scenery, the one time the train was diverted through Wyoming it was a nice change of pace. Less overtly dramatic, but lots of things interesting to the railfan (such as seldom-seen trackage, trackside industries, yards, etc) nearby. The best part was a bit of serendipity: because I had brought along a book on the construction of the Union Pacific, I was able to navigate and identify our location based on original UP maps in the book!
I’m taking a trip in early August, it sounds like I’ll be able to get more photos of the CZ in Wyoming!
I was just about to ask if anyone is either riding or railfanning the CZ when it detours through WY next week. It would be great to see pictures.
I am also going to be travelling in the area in early August, and while I didn’t have a trip planned for any of the weekends listed, I may add a DEN - SLC round trip just to catch that detour . . . .