The Southwest Chief Picture Page

Views of ancient America and the Midwest from the Southwest Chief.

The Southwest Chief picture page.

Trackside only photos of this great train in northern New Mexico taken over two, two-day trips.

Click on individual photos to enlarge.

Illinois & Missouri

More pictures to be added later.

	At Amtrak's Chicago Union Station, passenger trains are parked next to the Illinois River


Preparing to cross the Mighty Mississippi River at Fort Madison, Iowa.



Near Carrollton, Mo.	LaPlata, Mo.	Crossing the Missouri River at Sibley, Mo.

More Illinois, Missouri & Kansas from-the-train pictures

Kansas City, Mo., area

The Southwest Chief calls on the beautifully restored Kansas City Union Station, one of the largest U.S. railroad terminals. In December 2002, Amtrak returned to the picturesque station. A new walkway was built for passengers to walk from the famous landmark to the lower level tracks. The pictures below show some of the station's layout
.

The Eastbound
Southwest Chief
calls on the new
Amtrak station
in Kansas City

Kansas

The Southwest Chief normally traverses the Wheat State at night. For novice rail travelers, railroads' scheduling philosophy has been "mountains and oceans during the day, deserts and prairies at night."
The overnight scheduling through Kansas provides for morning arrivals in California, allowing for favorable connections to other Amtrak trains.
Sometimes, when freight derailments or inclement weather delays travel, passengers get to view an area passenger trains aren't normally seen in broad daylight.

		Along the Kaw River, between Lawrence & Topeka

Topeka	Newton

Crossing the Arkansas (pronounced in Kansas as "ARE-KAN- SASS") River west of Hutchinson
Westbound, dawn normally greets travelers after Dodge City, Kan., depending on the season.