Amtrak's "Desert WInd," the train that should still be.

Amtrak's desert Wind ran from 1979-1997. I was there to capture it from around 1993 until its final days. The train should still be running. Today, it would still be packed and sold out trains because people love train travel and would rather avoid the congestion of freeway traffic. Amtrak's Desert Wind would drop passengers off right at the Union Plaza hotel on Fremont street, right in the heart of ole Las Vegas.  I used to love going out to the desert to photograph trains and to practice my guitar. SOme of the best progress I ever made on the guitar was while waiting on trains. I would sit in the truck and practice for hours and when I seen a train coming I would set the guitar down and grab my camera and capture the fleeting moment. Today the Desert Wind is gone but with this video you can get a glimpse of what it was like around the Las Vegas area. None of the video shoots were more than 12 miles from Vegas. I wish I would have taken more. Enjoy.
Let me add, that the scene at Boulder Junction was exceedingly difficult to capture with that lighting because the train was about 8 hrs late. That allowed the sun to be setting in the west and lighting up the train and the hotels on the strip.

• #music
• #amtrak
• #desert_wind
• #las_vegas
• #salt_lake_city
• #los_angeles