Scenes from a ride on Amtrak’s long-distance California Zephyr train trip through the northern Sierra Nevada. (Javier Panzar / Los Angeles Times) But the best way to pass the time is the dining car.

When you take Amtrak from California to New York, America’s beauty is just outside your observation car window.

We stayed in a roomette, which measures 3’6” x 6’6”. It worked fine during the day but at night, when the upper bunk is lowered, the room becomes much more cramped.

I spent 15 hours in a sleeper car on an Amtrak Superliner train going from Denver to Salt Lake City. For $400, I stayed in a private cabin, which had two seats during the day and two bunks at ...

Sounds of the train. Lisa Morehouse: Back on the California Zephyr, we’ve started climbing into snowy, spectacular scenery. Train announcement: In approximately 15 min we will be above Donner Lake ...

The train pulls into Omaha at about 11 p.m. after departing at 2 p.m. from Chicago. In total, I ended up spending about three days in the city, and came to fall in love with its charm—from the ...

The present-day California Zephyr began service in 1983, though an earlier iteration of the train — sharing the same name, but operated privately on a slightly different route — ran between ...

This 2,438-mile Train Trip From California to Chicago Offers Views of the Rockies and Sierra Mountains Like You've Never Seen Before . The 51-hour California Zephyr train journey also stops in ...

Day 1: Chicago to Omaha. The journey from Chicago to Omaha is what I consider the warm-up hours. You’re still getting to know your seatmate, you’ve made a trip or two to the café car, and so ...