WASHINGTON – Maybe Amtrak loves the Southwest Chief after all. Despite the recent dust-up over creating a “bus bridge” between Kansas and New Mexico, the passenger railroad is featuring the train on its 2019 wall calendar.
The calendar photo shows a nine-car westbound No. 3 passing red rock mesas at Mesita, N.M., on the Laguna Indian Reservation crossed by BNSF Railway’s ex-Santa Fe Gallup Subdivision main line.
“We always look for an image that inspires travel and showcases the beauty and splendor of our country that can be seen from Amtrak trains, hence our tag line printed at the bottom, ‘See where the train can take you,’” Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari tells Trains News Wire. “Additionally, the portion of the route shown is west of Albuquerque. The issues that have had significant discussion have been east of Albuquerque.”
The calendars are $8 and are expected to arrive the week of Dec. 9. They can be purchased at store.amtrak.com.
“The Southwest Chief” is shown as a nine-car consist. In the early 1950’s, the Santa Fe’s “Super Chief” at its prime was an all-Pullman private room train of fourteen cars, running separate from the all-coach “El Capitan”. The supposed popularity of this route is not well reflected under Amtrak if train lengths were the gauge.
I remember stopping at this location in 2007. There was a big billboard with something like “Indian Reservation, photos strictly forbidden” written on it. As a foreigner, I tend to respect the local regulations and thus I did not take the equivalent of this calendar’s picture. Question: is it allowed or not?
Running in parallel hysterics to Amtrak Vacations pushing travel to the Grand Canyon.
As thoughtful as DB proposing to name one of their new trains/route after “Anne Frank.”
The 1979 Amtrak calendar featured the NATIONAL LIMITED and that train didn’t even finish out the year.
Reminds me of the “Trains Curse”. Big article in 1967: “We Have No Intention Of Getting Out Of The Passenger Business”, referring to the KCS. The last Southern Belles ran in 1969.
A logical person might think: No way would Amtrak seek to discontinue a train in 2019 that’s on their own 2019 calendar because that would be even too embarrassing for them.
Reality check: Top management at Amtrak is incapable of being embarrassed.
Kiss of death for sure…
The American West has always sold, be it railroad company passenger department advertising, travel in general, history books on virtually every subject known to man, photography, Native American lifestyle and culture, cowboys, Mother Nature, the Wide Open Space; perhaps the slogan used by the Burlington puts it into perspective best: Everywhere West.
Amtrak deserves an A+ in their decision to use the Southwest Chief to highlight the 2019 calendar. Despite the problems that Amtrak faces, Americans have always had a way of solving each and everyone of them. Rest assured, a realistic solution will come out of Amtrak general offices, where a team of professional men and women are employed to develop a plan that will see the revival of long distance passenger train travel in the U.S., in spite of the anti-rail politicians that are found in DC today.
Highball Amtrak. You’re on the right track. Your 2019 calendar proves it!
Oh, the irony!