Southwest Chief Route Guide

Chicago, Illinois to Los Angeles, California
Amtrak Train Numbers 3 (westbound) and 4 (eastbound)

map of Southwest Chief Route from Chicago to Los Angeles

Numbers 1-33 on the map represent the scheduled stops the train makes.  Using the links below, you can choose to take the complete virtual trip from Chicago to Los Angeles, or you can hop on the train at any station along the route and proceed in either direction from there.  Each "station stop" includes a photo of the station, a local street map, local transportation options, and links to many more items of local interest. Between station stop pages there are detailed station to station maps and links to all of the counties that you pass through along the way.

Clicking any link below will open a separate browser window (or another tab on your browser) where you'll find the route guide.  Climb aboard, and then.....
click the "next" next-arrow (toward /Los Angeles) or "previous" previous-arrow (toward Chicago) arrow on any page of the guide to take the virtual rail journey at your leisure.  Enjoy the ride!

If you want to start with the first slide of this route guide, click here -

- or click a link below to start at any station along the route.

Stations on Amtrak's Southwest Chief Route

Note that once you get on the train, clicking on Overview Button takes you to a separate "Route Overview Page" within the Guide. So, instead of returning to this page to select another station stop, you may alternatively choose to select other station stops from there.

Amtrak Route Description

The following has been extracted from Amtrak's "Southwest Chief" Route Guide.  Ramblin' Ray's Route Rhetoric will come later!

"The Southwest Chief is among the finest of Amtrak's longdistance services. Our historic route was first traversed by the earliest Indians who first discovered its twists, turns and passes. Later, Spanish conquistadors and fur trappers became familiar with the route. By the time it was called the Santa Fe Trail, caravans of pack mules, wagon teams, prairie schooners and stagecoaches were lumbering over it daily, carting people and goods between the Missouri River and the Rockies. The California Gold Rush brought thousands more westward, and the Santa Fe Trail extended all the way to the Pacific Coast. This guide is written from west to east, and the journey is filled with marvelous sights.

The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway ultimately became the iron link between the Midwest and Los Angeles. Great Santa Fe Streamlined Trains such as the Super Chief and El Capitan traveled the same basic route we travel today. Amtrak assumed operation of passenger rail service in 1971 from what are now the freight railroads and continued operation of passenger service over the Santa Fe route. In 1995, the Santa Fe merged to become The Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway Company (BNSF). The BNSF owns the tracks that we travel upon on our 2,265-mile journey."

The May 2009 Amtrak published rail travel distance between Chicago and Los Angeles via the Southwest Chief is 2256 miles. The published rail travel time is 43 hours.