The Wyoming detour, in retrospect, and our handling by host railroads Options

[KevinKorell]

Looking back, I have found a whole myriad of positives to come out of our two California Zephyr trains being detoured.

• Bill Magee was able to join us for the now-rare mileage.
• We got to see the "high dessert" in Wyoming.
• We went through Weber Canyon.
• Saw construction of the FrontRunner stations between South Ogden and downtown SLC.
• Saw construction of the TRAX extension near the SLC station.
• Walked through the new SLC Intermodal Transportation Center, and saw the plans for its expansion once Amtrak and FrontRunner officially begin using the new building.
• That other thing we did in SLC that we can't talk about... what happened in Salt Lake stays in Salt Lake.
• Arrived at our westbound destination, Emeryville, CA about 35 minutes EARLY.
• Received a special treat... around Greeley we passed by a UP tourist train with the Challenger steam engine on the point.
• Got to walk around Denver on the return trip.
• We were so early into Denver that I personally took a short spin on the RTD E light rail line, to 10th & Osage station and back.

Going through the Rockies and along the Colorado River, none of the above would have been possible.

Negatives:

• Missed Moffat Tunnel, the heart of the Rockies, and run along the Colorado River.
• Amshack in Salt Lake City was still closed upon our arrival; it does not open until the train is supposed to get there.

Overall, of the Big Four freight railroads, overall Union Pacific actually handled us the best. BNSF did OK westbound, but had some issues getting us over the road eastbound. NS was itself in getting us into Chicago late, and eastbound although we got into Pittsburgh early, they couldn't get us out of the station on time, just to go a very short distance to the CSX connector. And CSX did poorly, particularly eastbound from Martinsburg to Washington.