Desert Wind

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Desert Wind was a passenger train route operated by Amtrak from October 28, 1979 to May 10, 1997. When it first entered service, it ran from Los Angeles, California to Ogden, Utah passing through Salt Lake City. It later was truncated to Salt Lake City when Amtrak's San Francisco Zephyr was rerouted from the Overland Route to the D&RGW Route and renamed California Zephyr in 1983. At that time cars from the Desert Wind and The Pioneer (Portland, Oregon to Salt Lake City, Utah via Idaho) were added to the eastbound California Zephyr at Salt Lake City. The California Zephyr runs between Emeryville, California near San Francisco and Chicago through Salt Lake City.

The Desert Wind largely duplicated the route of the former City of Los Angeles operated by Chicago and North Western Railway and Union Pacific Railroad until May 1, 1971 when Amtrak took over passenger rail operations in the United States. The Desert Wind was discontinued in 1997 due to budget cuts and replaced with Los Angeles-Las Vegas Thruway Motorcoach service. Although there are currently plans to restore rail service to Las Vegas with a new, privately-funded high-speed line called the Desert Xpress, as of 2008 no work has begun and Las Vegas continues to have no passenger rail service.

1 Appearances in Other Media
2 See also
3 External links
4 References

[edit] Appearances in Other Media

The Desert Wind is mentioned in the song "Bone Against Steel" on the album of the same name by the rock band .38 Special.
The Desert Wind is used by Michael Palin in his 'Around the World in 80 Days'
The Desert Wind is mentioned near the ending of Rain Man