It's quite common for passenger trains to run late. Unlike in the heyday of train travel, except in the Northeast Corridor, passenger trains do not have priority. Freight is the king of the road, and passenger trains can sit on sidings for an hour or more at times waiting for host railroad dispatchers to allow them space between the freight trains.

I made a couple of quick posts last night as we were waiting for the Southwest Chief, which was scheduled to depart from Newton this morning at 1:51 am and actually departed after 3:30.

As I write this, we're running about 45 minutes or less behind schedule, having made up a chunk of the delay by cutting our time at Union Station in KC in half. We're sitting in Marceline, MO, briefly. This is apparently a flag stop (the train bypasses it unless there's someone to pick up or drop off) and we had someone to get on.

We're supposed to be back on schedule — that is, into Chicago around 2:30...which is an hour earlier than the published schedule — by Ft. Madison, IA.

Some of the reasons I think train travel is a great choice

Getting on in the middle of the night, your bed is made up and waiting.

Crowded? Yes, a roomette made up for sleep means we had to do most of our bedtime unpacking (power, CPAP machines) standing in the hallway and reaching into the room, but after we got situated (maybe 15 minutes), we could lay down and let the train rock us to sleep...while continuing to make progress toward our destination.

See the scenery while having breakfast

This is one of the things I'd forgotten. Unlike staying in a hotel, we didn't have to spend more time having a meal and not making progress, and I got to enjoy watching the scenery. Here are some photos and video from shortly after we crossed the Missouri River, about 20 minutes or so northeast of Independence:

Rock face near Independence

Photos below taken near here:

While I was shooting these, here's what was on the table before us:

My omelet and sausage

Roxan's French toast (she'd already eaten the fruit served with it.)

Breakfast and a show, what's not to like?