California Zephyr Diversion Dates 2012

Every year UP diverts Amtrak's California Zephyr from its normal route between Denver and Salt Lake City to do track work. From Denver, the train runs to Laramie, Wyoming and Ogden, Utah before rejoining its normal route at Salt Lake City. It looks like the diversion is going to be earlier and shorter than it has in past years with trains running a different schedule from Wednesday, May 16 through Tuesday, May 22 and Friday June 1 through Thursday, June 7.

Update: Trains will depart Denver one hour earlier than usual on the above dates. So make sure to be at the station on time. Buses will only be provided for people going to Glenwood Springs and Grand Junction.

Those are the dates when the trains actually go through Wyoming. The trains leave Emeryville, CA or Chicago at least one day earlier. Trains going both directions are being diverted.

So if you want to take the train to the mountains on these dates, you are out of luck. However, if you want to see a different route, these may be the dates to book. If you are on board for a longer trip, don't worry about delays; this route takes less time than the usual one.

In fact, you should be worried about delays before hand. Trains will run at least three hours late going west through Colorado from Monday, April 16 through Monday, April 23 and from Tuesday, May 1 through Friday, May 4. Trains running east will be delayed Sunday, May 6 through Tuesday, May 8. People taking the train to Illinois on these days will not be able to make connections either in Galesburg or Chicago.

Here is a slideshow of what you can see along the route:

What are smoke stops?

Smoke stop

You cannot smoke on any Amtrak train, but some people, including some Amtrak employees, are smokers. And some of Amtrak's routes last multiple days. So every so often on the longer routes, there are stops that are longer than the others, so people can get out of the train and walk around and, yes, smoke. Always stay within earshot of the train, in case there is something wrong with your watch or you heard the wrong time to come back.

There is one exception to the rule that you should never be out of earshot of the train station. That is if the train is early. The longer routes have extra time built into their schedules in case something goes wrong. But some routes, such as the Southwest Chief, are running on improved track and with improved overall operations and they have fewer delays than they used to. The trains will not leave a stop early, so passengers sometimes get to explore places like Albuquerque. You should be back in the station area ten to fifteen minutes before the scheduled departure or when the conductor has told you to be back, whichever is earlier.

Do not ever get off the train at a regular stop. Ever. They will leave you behind. (By the way, this is true in France, and Korea, and Japan and every other country that has trains.)