Big rivers and Mountains by train

16 trains pass named big rivers and mountains stretches with a cited source. Ranked by the number of those stretches; the stretch names and the direction and season each is in daylight are on the route pages.

Mountains Pacific coast Atlantic coast Gulf coast Desert and canyon Big rivers Prairie Snow National parks Big cities Small towns Wine country Wildlife

45 routes, 520 stations, 44 route pages so far

Ranked by named stretches

Rank	Route	Named stretches for big rivers and mountains	Count	Duration
1	California ZephyrChicago Union Station to Emeryville	Mississippi River crossing, Missouri River crossing, Front Range and Moffat Tunnel, Fraser Canyon, Gore Canyon and the upper Colorado River, Glenwood Canyon, De Beque Canyon, Ruby Canyon, Castle Gate and Soldier Summit, Truckee River canyon, Donner Pass and the American River Canyon, Suisun Bay and the Carquinez Strait	13	52 h 57 m
2	Southwest ChiefChicago Union Station to Los Angeles	Mississippi River at Fort Madison, Missouri River, Raton Pass, Apache Canyon and Glorieta Pass, Ortiz and Sandia Mountains, Rio Grande, Continental Divide, and the red cliffs, Canyon Diablo and the San Francisco Peaks, Colorado River at Needles, Cajon Pass	9	43 h 57 m
3	VermonterSt. Albans to Washington Union Station	Waterbury and the Green Mountains, Vermont countryside, Connecticut River at Brattleboro, Pioneer Valley, Connecticut River to Springfield, Delaware River bridges, Susquehanna River	8	12 h 47 m
4	CardinalChicago Union Station to New York Moynihan Train Hall at Penn Station	Ohio River, New River Gorge, Greenbrier River and the Allegheny Tunnel, Shenandoah Valley and the Blue Ridge, Potomac River and the monuments, Susquehanna River	7	27 h 33 m
5	CrescentNew York Moynihan Train Hall at Penn Station to New Orleans Union Passenger Terminal	Susquehanna River, Potomac River and the monuments, Blue Ridge foothills, Appalachian foothills, Chattahoochee River and Cheaha Mountain, Coosa River, Tombigbee River	7	32 h 12 m
6	Amtrak CascadesSeattle to Eugene	Commencement Bay and the Nisqually River, Mount St. Helens and the Cowlitz River, Columbia River, Columbia and Willamette crossings, Three Sisters	6	6 h 38 m
7	Coast StarlightSeattle to Los Angeles	Columbia River crossing, Cascade crossing, Upper Klamath Lake, Mount Shasta, Carquinez Strait and Suisun Bay, Cuesta Grade	6	35 h 16 m
8	Sunset LimitedNew Orleans Union Passenger Terminal to Los Angeles	Huey P. Long Bridge, Marfa and Paisano Pass, Rio Grande and the Florida Mountains, Peloncillo and Dragoon Mountains, Yuma dunes and the Colorado River, Palm Springs windmills	6	45 h 35 m
9	Texas EagleChicago Union Station to San Antonio	Mississippi River at St. Louis, Ozark foothills, Arkansas River at Little Rock, Ouachita foothills, Red River, Balcones Fault and the Brazos River	6	32 h 36 m
10	Empire BuilderChicago Union Station to Seattle	Upper Mississippi River, Glacier National Park and Marias Pass, Flathead Tunnel, Cascade Tunnel and the Skykomish River	4	46 h 24 m
11	Ethan Allen ExpressBurlington to New York Moynihan Train Hall at Penn Station	Green Mountains and Vermont farms, Hudson Valley, Catskill and the Saugerties Lighthouse, Hudson Highlands	4	7 h 2 m
12	Northeast RegionalRoanoke to Boston	Blue Ridge foothills, Potomac River and the monuments, Susquehanna River, Delaware River bridges	4	17 h 42 m
13	PennsylvanianPittsburgh to New York Moynihan Train Hall at Penn Station	Pittsburgh's Golden Triangle, Allegheny Mountains and the Horseshoe Curve, Delaware River at Trenton	3	9 h 33 m
14	Valley FlyerGreenfield to New Haven	Pioneer Valley, Connecticut River to Springfield	3	2 h 55 m
15	FloridianMiami to Chicago Union Station	Potomac Valley on the B&O line, Allegheny Mountains	2	46 h 40 m
16	Lake Shore LimitedChicago Union Station to Boston	Mohawk Valley and the Erie Canal, The Berkshires and the Westfield River	2	22 h 2 m

How this ranking works: a route scores one point for each named stretch tagged with each selected interest and cited to an operator route guide or a National Park Service description. Routes without three cited stretches have no page and are not ranked. What counts as a named stretch.