So often Amtrak train 3, the Chicago to Los Angeles Southwest Chief, arrives in southern California hours late. Naturally, on a day in which it has an interesting set of power (P42DC 203, ... (more)

Amtrak train 3, the westbound Southwest Chief, has unloaded its passenger after arriving on Track 9 at Los Angeles Union Station 1 hour 30 minutes late. AMTK P42DCs 137 and 189 had 9 cars ... (more)

Running nearly three hours late, Amtrak train 3, the westbound Southwest Chief, descends Cajon Pass as it approaches its next stop, San Bernardino, 16 miles ahead. From there it isn’t to... (more)

Amtrak 3 heads west from Chicago to Los Angeles. (Yorba Linda, California – May 17, 2025)

It is 7:59 pm (19:59) ... and still 91ºF (32.7ºC), as this is the Mojave Desert, after all! ... and Amtrak train 3, the westbound Southwest Chief, meeting an eastbound BNSF ... (more)

Running a "little" behind schedule – 12 hours 45 minutes behind, in fact – is Amtrak train 3, the westbound Southwest Chief heading from Chicago to Los Angeles. ... (more)

Amtrak 198 & 199 race west with the Southwest Chief west of Grants New Mexico.

Amtrak daily train no. 3 (the "Southwest Chief") left Chicago Union station only a few minutes before and is now heading west to Los Angeles with a classic pair of P42DC.

At 13:03 (1:03 pm), Amtrak train 3, the westbound Southwest Chief, rolls into the Fullerton station 5 hours 6 minute late. the last stop before arriving in Los Angeles from Chicago. Twenty... (more)

Amtrak train 3, the Southwest Chief, departed Chicago with two operating P42DCs (93 and 116), one dead-heading unit (113) and 10 cars. By the time the Chief got to Colorado, 116 had ... (more)

Running just 6 hours 53 minutes behind schedule, this day’s Amtrak train 3, the westbound Southwest Chief, is just about to its next-to-last stop in Fullerton. (The previous day’s trai... (more)

I sure liked the paint job on the B truck GE's when they were new. We called them Pepsi cans.

Amtrak train 3, the Southwest Chief, departed Chicago with two operating P42DCs (93 and 116), one dead-heading unit (113) and 10 cars. By the time the Chief got to Colorado, 116 had ... (more)

In this photo, Amtrak's Southwest Chief arrives in Mendota, IL to complete its scheduled stop with two P42DCs in charge, while older generations of motive power in the form of CB&Q 4978 (2-8-2 ste... (more)

Running "only" 4 hours 21 minutes behind schedule, Amtrak's train 3, the Southwest Chief, rolls through the location on BNSF Railway's San Bernardino Sub known as Esperanza, overt... (more)