Southwest Chief, east bound.

[7pete7]

Will be riding Souhthwest Chief from Flagstaff to Chicago soon. Would like to keep track of the towns we're passing by without carrying an atlas. Any suggestions?

 

[SarahZ]

You can download a route guide here:

http://www.amtrak.com/ccurl/933/628/Amtrak-Southwest-Chief-Train-Route-Guide.pdf

That will give you some information about each area. I like to keep the Google Maps app open on my phone so I have a relative idea of where we are (the little dot will follow the train). It can be spotty when cell service is low/zero, but it's still pretty helpful most of the time. You can also see city names outside your window - not just actual city signs, but signs on buildings and such. It's fun.

 

[Golden grrl]

Somewhat off topic, but the 4 sitting in ABQ right now has the beautiful #42 "America's railroad salutes our veterans" engine. We got some nice speeds since sunrise thia am and have a long break here. Several railfans taking photos of us on our way.

 

[greatcats]

Sarah has some good ideas. There are numerous no cell reception areas along the route, but you should have reception most of the time. ( you will note that i live in FLG. give me a holler if you need more advice. )

 

[tricia]

If you're a AAA member, you can go to any AAA office and ask for maps that cover the whole route--a free service for AAA members. I like to mark the train's route on the map ahead of time, and carry a timetable showing the train's schedule of stops. Altogether very low-tech, but works well and takes up next to no space in your baggage.

 

[7pete7]

Thank you all, sounds like useful info.

 

[MrKenFL]

I take along an auto GPS and attach it to the window with the suction cup mount.

Tells me train location and how fast we are traveling !

 

[VentureForth]

This may be way too geekish...

I like to program all the stops in my GPS and set an off-road route with each station in order. I can then see the rate of closure to the next waypoint and in big cities it can be annoying how long you are "only" 2 miles from the station.

But my lo-tech hobby to your question is grabbing a tri-fold timetable and record actual departure times as you come to each station. The challenge in this "game" is figuring out at rural stations if you're actually stopped at a station or a siding as you may not always see people getting on and off and may not ever see the station.

Whatever suits your fancy... many ways to stay aware and enjoy your trip!

 

[Alice]

I carry both an AAA regional map and a gps app on my Android phone.

Someone else here recommended GPS Essentials (a collection of useful programs by mictale.com, free with ads or paid) and it works great, however I haven't found good documentation and a lot of the features I find by accident. The gps works off satellites (no cell coverage needed) but doesn't show maps without cell unless you download them first (I didn't this trip). I use Tracks to create a time/place file I can merge later with my photos to put long/lat info into the jpg files. I use Dashboard to display speed. And Google Maps shows my location on the train tracks, and also the line being recorded by Tracks.

 

[gmushial]

You can download a route guide here:

http://www.amtrak.com/ccurl/933/628/Amtrak-Southwest-Chief-Train-Route-Guide.pdf

That will give you some information about each area. I like to keep the Google Maps app open on my phone so I have a relative idea of where we are (the little dot will follow the train). It can be spotty when cell service is low/zero, but it's still pretty helpful most of the time. You can also see city names outside your window - not just actual city signs, but signs on buildings and such. It's fun.

I of late have been doing similar: but since I like to disconnect from the world while on the train, I leave my cell off (and typically in my baggage), but use a small handheld (backpacking) GPS which doesn't require cell coverage - and actually if one preloads it with map images, the little red dot just follows the rr tracks on the maps. And although the "app" is more primitive than what's on most smartphones (no finger gesturing - have to use the up/down/left/right arrows and in/out buttons): works well enough... though for some reason it can't "see" the satellites through the steel roof ;-) , but seems to still be able calculate the position well enough via what it can "see" though the windows to get the job done (though instead of on the trail +/- 6ft or 12ft, it'll quite often says +/- 32ft - which is still more than good enough for my needs).