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For me, the most astonishing sight was riding on the SW Chief through Kansas. It's actually sepia-colored, just like in the Wizard of Oz movie. I stared out at the brown grazing lands with their tumbleweeds for hours.

I'm also personally very impressed by the gigantic decaying industrial buildings visible in Gary, Indiana near the Calumet River. But I've never met anyone else who was.
 
Also, I've passed cows on many trains. Most cows in the flatlands are sort of tired and bored-looking. Cows in California, visible from the Coast Starlight, are frisky and active, prancing up and down hills at high speed!

It was really strange -- maybe happy cows do come from California, like the ad says. ;-)
 
One of my favorites is on the NEC between Wilmington and Baltimore where the tracks cross the gunpowder and Susquehanna rivers. There is also another long bridge that crosses the Brush River IIRC. These are especially enjoyable from an Acela with the large windows.

Another nice section is between Utica and Schenectady on the LSL as it follows the Mohawk river valley.
 
I have always enjoyed looking at the old heavy industry, bridges, row houses and such in northwest Indiana as well as on the Northeast Corridor in New Jersey just before coming into NYC.

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I'm also personally very impressed by the gigantic decaying industrial buildings visible in Gary, Indiana near the Calumet River. But I've never met anyone else who was.
That makes at least three of us......you guys should also like the North Philly section of the NEC....lot's of that type of scenery. I also like the approaches to Pittsburgh at night. Not quite like it was back in the glory days of steelmaking, when the mills lit up the night...... I like the ride along the Ohio when you can see tugs pushing long barges.....
 
I'm also personally very impressed by the gigantic decaying industrial buildings visible in Gary, Indiana near the Calumet River. But I've never met anyone else who was.
I love that area, especially when it's nearly-dark and you can see the fires burning from the smokestacks of Gary Steel. It reminds me of Bartertown or something. :)
 
I have always enjoyed looking at the old heavy industry, bridges, row houses and such in northwest Indiana as well as on the Northeast Corridor in New Jersey just before coming into NYC.

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I'm also personally very impressed by the gigantic decaying industrial buildings visible in Gary, Indiana near the Calumet River. But I've never met anyone else who was.
That makes at least three of us......you guys should also like the North Philly section of the NEC....lot's of that type of scenery. I also like the approaches to Pittsburgh at night. Not quite like it was back in the glory days of steelmaking, when the mills lit up the night...... I like the ride along the Ohio when you can see tugs pushing long barges.....
One of the reasons I'm a borderline foamer was the night time passage through Pittsburgh during the waning days of the B & O Capitol Limited. Now you're more likely to see pleasure craft plying the three rivers.
 
What are your favorite sights that can be seen from Amtrak, and not from the highways? Here are a few of mine.

For reasons that should be obvious ;) the world's largest egg at Winlock is now a Seahawk egg. :lol:
Here's a picture, courtesy Zack W. on Facebook.

1017464_10203347463550164_267161316_n.jpg
 
How about something resulting from your own hard work? My first trip on the EB was PDX to CHI and I had a roomette on the left side of the train. Somewhere in the middle of Minnesota I was sitting there staring out the window while listening to an audiobook. All of the sudden I sat up and went, "Holy sh!t!!! Those look like our antennas!"

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Big+Lake,+MN/@45.3275426,-93.6970042,269m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m2!3m1!1s0x52b363b72b9db6e5:0x4f425923fa953bf7

Sure enough, when I got back to work I went looking at past projects and that is a DirecTV diverse site in Big Lake, MN with antennas built by GDST containing some parts that I had tuned and tested only a year or so earlier. :)
 
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Be on the west side of the train on any of the trains south out of Washington DC. Pass right by the Jefferson Memorial, and have a good view of other Washington DC monuments.

Looking out the windows of the Crescent going through the hills of the Carolinas. Best with a good moon. But then it might just be the occasion, as my experience was looking out the window of a sleeper two days after being married.
 
A favorite on the Texas Eagle for me is Tower 55 in Fort Worth. I enjoyed the highway flyovers and the plethora of intertwining tracks and trains below.

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A favorite on the Texas Eagle for me is Tower 55 in Fort Worth. I enjoyed the highway flyovers and the plethora of intertwining tracks and trains below.

Sent from my DROID RAZR HD using Amtrak Forum mobile app
Though with all the congestion in that area it is very possible to see TOO MUCH of Tower 55 :lol:
 
Several faves have already been mentioned, so I'll go with the Scenery on the Northbound CS between Mt. Shasta (Sunup) and Portland! Really nice anytime of the year but Spectacular when the Snow is covering the Trees and the Mountains! Also Really like coming Down the Front Range into Denver on the East Bound CZ!!

I also like seeing the Old Buffalo Central Station (sadly Deteriorating Rapidly :( )before Depew on the Empire/Lake Shore/Maple Leaf Route while Rolling though the Rail Yards!

And Special Mention to Paisano Pass in West Texas (between Alpine and Marfa), Highest Spot on the Sunset Ltd. Route and Site of my First Home, a SP Section House that's Long Gone! :wub:
The old Central Terminal is no longer "deteriorating rapidly". Happily, a dedicated group is actively saving the impressive structure: http://buffalocentralterminal.org/

Richard Snow
 
I thought Tower 55 was (or is going to be) gone? :huh:
The Tower itself is still there but not in use; I understand it has been designated a historical landmark. Plans are underway to rebuild the entire interlocking to where the E-W Tracks pass over or under the N-S Tracks, eliminating the delays that are rampant with everything on the same grade.
 
When you take the Cascades to Vancouver, BC, Canada, after you cross the Fraser River you go along the backs of a number lumber yards, salvage yards, recycling places and among them is a very busy firewood operation in a place not much bigger than a big back yard. If you go past often you see the stacks grow and ebb. Sometimes they are so huge and towering over the operation, with barely room for the splitter in the middle. For some reason it demands your attention. A very productive place.
 
Something to watch for from the Zephyr when traveling along the Colorado River, it's traditional for river rafters to moon the train.
 
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