Westbound Amtrak California Zephyr in Galesburg, IL

It's 4:50 in the evening, and the westbound California Zephyr from Chicago's Union Station thunders into Galesburg, IL, discharges passengers, takes on more, and pulls off, its whistle moaning into the distance. By nine the next morning, it will be in Denver, on its way to Glenwood Canyon, Salt Lake City, Reno, the Sierra Nevada Mountains, Sacramento and the Bay Area.

I've ridden this train from Chicago to Emeryville, and it's an experience I'll never forget as long as I live.

If I'd stayed an hour longer, I could have videotaped the arrival of the Los Angeles-bound Southwest Chief -- just west of this station, the tracks diverge -- one set heads for the Bay Area, the other set, for L.A.