Today's photo comes to you from Grand Junction, Colorado. Amtrak's California Zephyr stops there on its run across the country between Chicago and the San Francisco Bay Area. It is about the biggest thing between Salt Lake City and Denver, although that isn't saying much. During the summer, Amtrak has some volunteers from the National Park Service get on some of the trains and narrate during some of the more scenic areas of the run. This is where the National Park Service people get on board going east and get off going west. Anyways, here is the photo:
The station building is still there but not used. It is to the left of the photo, behind the fence. It is currently up for sale, hopefully the buyer restores it to its original beauty. Amtrak uses a smaller, more modern building, also out of the photo. This is also a smoking stop, passengers are free to detrain and walk around or light up a cigarette. There is a small gift store on the platform as well, and Amtrak likes to send customers their way to keep them in business.
Grand Junction was so named because it was the junction of the Grand and Green rivers. The Grand River has been known as the Colorado River since 1921, when the state of Colorado realized they don't have a river named after them, and that wouldn't do. Since the river flows through more states than just Colorado, the bill went to Washington and was approved in 1921. Some places, such as Grand Junction and the Grand Canyon, were named after this river but their names remain unchanged. Because of this, many people assume the Grand Canyon is named that way because it is big. It is big, but that's not how it got its name.
The Colorado River is a huge river. It starts near the Continental Divide, and the train follows it almost from its source to here, Grand Junction. It eventually makes its way into Mexico and empties into the Gulf of California. This river is the reason the southwest is habitable. The water in the river is used for generating electricity, irrigating crops, and of course, drinking and cooking and other household uses. The entire southwest depends on it, and so much water is used from this huge river that by the time it reaches the Gulf of California it is just a small trickle.
The car shown in the photo is a coach. The coaches on the long distance trains are usually in the back, but on this train they were up front. Behind the coaches were the lounge and the diner and then the sleepers. During the summer they usually add a coach and a sleeper to the trains, and every train I rode in July was completely sold out. In the winter the trains are shorter and seats are usually easier to get.
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