A Rookie Question

[RailFanLNK]

Why do most of the routes run east and west? It seems if I want to catch the Empire Builder, it means boarding on the Zephyr in Lincoln NE to Chicago (going the opposite way from my destination of Seattle) and then going west to Seattle, or....driving 6 hours northward and catching it out of Fargo. Was there routes in the '70's and '80's where it was more efficient then going clear to Chicago. Also, if I want to go to the deep south, I still need to go north to Chicago. Has it always been this way? I know funds are limited but would there be much desire for a more "central" type hub?

 

[Trogdor]

As far as I know, Amtrak's only routes in that region that you describe were the Lone Star, which ran the route of the Southwest Chief to Newton, KS, and then south through Oklahoma City and into Texas; the Pioneer, which followed the California Zephyr (and was combined with said train for part of its run) to Denver, then diverged north through Wyoming and into Utah, where it turned north to Portland and Seattle; and the Desert Wind, which connected with the Zephyr at Salt Lake City and ran through Las Vegas to Los Angeles.

The Lone Star was discontinued in 1979, and the other two in 1997.

I'm guessing the reason that the routes are primarily east-west is because the main line railroads are primarily east-west, as that's where the traffic demand was (and, for the most part, still is). A lot more demand for service between "middle America" and the coasts/ports than there is between Texas and Manitoba.