Grand Junction to Chicago by Train

 

In which Moominmama takes the overnight train from Grand Junction to Chicago and tries a sleeper car...

Moominmama has stored her Moominhouse in Grand Junction and left her car at her winter landlord's to travel east by train. The highlight of the trip would be the daylight route across the mountains to Denver followed by a first-time experience in a sleeper car.

The Amtrak "roomette" has two seats facing each other that can be converted into a narrow bed while a bunk above folds down to create a second bed. But since Moominmama was traveling solo, only the bottom bed was required.

Paying for a sleeper car also entitles one to free meals in the dining car, including a white-tablecloth dinner with appetizer, meal and dessert!

Unaware of this, Moominmama had packed her lunch and missed out on the lunchtime service but joined fellow travelers for dinner and breakfast the next day.

Solo travelers are seated together, four to a table, so Moominmama got to meet and enjoy conversation with several delightful new friends, including a retired pastor, a union worker at Caterpillar, a woman headed to a "bingo cruise," and a grandmother who'd just celebrated her 70th birthday with family.

It was an unexpected delight to converse with complete strangers, and it seems circumstances these days too rarely give us that opportunity.

The train left Grand Junction at 10 a.m. and set off through the high desert that marks Colorado's Western Slope. As we climbed higher, the trees grew taller and more numerous, while the rivers carved deeper channels in the rocks. 

A viewing car provided wide windows from which to observe the scenery, but my little roomette worked too, though tinting on the windows lent a sepia look to some of the photos I took.

Moominmama was hoping to get some photos of snowy peaks as we arrived in the Rockies, but we went into a tunnel just as they appeared and before I knew it, we were on the other side and out of view. 

What follows are photos I took along the way, starting as we traveled from Grand Junction along the Colorado River, through the mountains and into Denver at dusk. 

Another photo documents the morning transit through Iowa and our arrival in Chicago, where I transferred to a local train to meet my friend in Westmont. 

Here is some of what I saw, and what my bed looked like when it was made up by the attendant, a visual sample of the journey. 











The route from Chicago to Rochester, N.Y. was completed the next day, mostly through the night and in coach, nowhere near as much fun as having my own compartment!

This will be my last blog post of 2026 as I take time to rest, settle down in Grand Junction for a few months of cross-country skiing and do my trip planning for 2027. But this eastern jaunt has brought me back in touch with many of you, and for that I am especially grateful.

Location: Rochester, NY, USA

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