California Zephyr Route - Denver to Glenwood Springs (Timelapse)

In May 2017, Bsquiklehausen rode the train from New York to San Francisco. What you see here is a timelapse of the segment of the California Zephyr route between Denver, CO and Gleenwood Springs, CO.
He shared the unedited footage and all I did was make some edits, color color correction and added the graphics at the top (and yes, I know there's a typo).
Make sure to turn on the subtitles to learn more about the route.
The footage was shot on a Samsung Galaxy S6.
Points of Interest
1:30 Big Ten Curve
3:35 Moffat Tunnel
4:17 Fraser - Winter Park, CO
5:25 Granby, CO
Follow this route on Google Maps:
goo.gl/maps/2Q...
Ways to reach me
- Official Website / strictoaster.com
- Twitter / / strictoaster (Where I'm the most active)
- Facebook / / strictoaster
- Twitch / / strictoaster
Computer Specs & Recording Gear
bit.ly/StrictsGear
Music
- Life Traveler (2-5) / Johannes Bornlöf

[@apoint24]

You really get a great sense of how long the Moffat Tunnel is by how long it takes to go through it, even in time-lapse! Love Amtrak.

[@wdh47211]

This was awesome thanks for posting....I took this trip from Orlando FL to San Francisco....this part was the best.

[@rfmckean]

The music and editing was brilliant

[@theIpatix]

I LOVE TRAINS!

[@MaVOfficialHD]

America truly has a beautiful landscape

[@itzpro5951]

Dxvid I live in Colorado and let me tell you Thats just Colorado,so you should of brought up Colorado instead,not the US

[@pietervandesande95]

Thank you for sharing this beautiful train ride with us! I've travelled many times through Colorado but I never took the train.

[@davisdarrington8032]

From CO and have done this route many times. One of the most scenic rides in the US

[@bassman87]

driving I70 through the white river national forest was the most scenic drive I've ever driven. the way both sides of the highway, the river, and railroad all flow together through amazing canyon is breathtaking.

[@gdintrans]

Watching videos of trains is SO much nicer than boring 4-lane highways. When you're travelling on vacations by train, tthe fun starts when you step into the station. No stress from driving, beautiful scenery, nice food and legal alcohol :)

[@ranchersam69]

unless you are sitting next to an a$$hole who ruins your entire trip

[@Island_Line_Rail_Productions]

Roomette!

[@jbon230]

This brings back so much nostalgia, a few years back I went to Winter Park (right next to the Moffat Tunnel) for a week and it was a huge trip since I'm from the UK... thank you so much for this video!

[@twodollarstwenty]

You always choose such fitting music

[@LuckeWent]

wow, the tunnels look fantastic!

[@junotrekki]

That landscape is awesome! If i ever visit the United States i may will ride that train, too :)

[@jeremyquiros5483]

Great editing! Gorgeous scenery throughout. I was anticipating the end where I-70 runs alongside the river and the railway through Glenwood Canyon. It's one of the most beautiful stretches of highway I've ever driven.

[@ZaStacher]

What a nice route. I definitely wanna try something like this when I'm able to.

[@davidroderick]

Stacher. ($) this is either train #5 or #6 which are the east and west bound zephyrs

[@bsquiklehausen]

Westbound Zephyr, so Amtrak train 5!

[@jacobgeyer615]

amazing!!!!!! My favorite video yet! :) keep up the great work im loving it !!! :)

[@colinodell4141]

That's awesome. I love living in Colorado

[@Tjerk176197]

Thank you. I needed to take my mind off of some stuff, this helped.

[@AkipTsaqif]

Strict, do more of these rail timelapse. I really love it ^_^

[@msquaredmedia8717]

Gorgeous!!

[@dfresh748]

Very nice video! I rode it 2 years ago from Chicago and stayed in Glenwood Springs to ski for two weeks. Thanks for posting that.

[@bsquiklehausen]

Great work editing this all, Strict!

[@strictoaster]

Thank you for the footage and the route guide :)

[@Ch0Pz69]

Fantastic production, actually gave me goosebumps. More pls

[@RubleTrillions]

I'm originally from Denver...I love the new train platform at Union Station

[@Clear_Ski3s]

Thats a pretty good graphics mod you got there

[@scj6693]

This is probably the most positive comment section on KZbin

[@nflsim610]

Aye my neck of the woods! I live 15 minutes from downtown and about 30 from the mountains! Rode it many times, rail-fanned it many times!

[@spartakkorolev9860]

Thanks for this epic video!!!

[@DesignCandy]

That is my state! This is an awesome route.

[@Tuckaway]

That was great to watch as we did it last September on the Eastbound California Zephyr.

[@josephwest7933]

Colarado is beautiful, love to see the mountains.

[@MaVOfficialHD]

very nice editing!

[@tracynation2820]

An excellent video. Hello from the Tracy Mountain Railway in Colorado. 💙 T.E.N.

[@KC-up7hf]

4:40 Picture Perfect

[@Island_Line_Rail_Productions]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/eYfEfqmco65qh9k near the end my video, I caught two BNSF trains with that in the background...love railfanning the Moffat Sub

[@hudooguru2]

This is really fantastic. Your posts always are, but wow! Nice work.

[@GoSlash27]

Thank you for posting this. We will be taking this trip in May and I'm really looking forward to it.

[@pratikadhale1621]

awesome video and great music

[@michaelgutierrez8259]

Amazing Video Im taking this trip in March! very Excited

[@AlexsMemeDump]

Gleenwood Canyon is my favorite part of this route

[@mousetreehouse6833]

Great video, excellent music.

[@ianarras3226]

Hey! Denver is my city, get out! Haha, I love you strict!

[@RaeTravels]

This is a beautiful video. Just fantastic. Thank you.

[@Chromaz]

On the rails series perhaps? That was seriously impressive and beautiful! But i kept thinking did Bsquiklehausen climb up the back of the train and just stick a gopro there?

[@bovineking8927]

The car at the back of the train has a window looking back.

[@eliot0]

For those who cannot find the music, it is Do You Recall, The Return Journey, and Sowing The Summer Barley by Francis Wells.

[@vickijedlicka6877]

Wow, epic timelapse of an epic journey!

[@nicholasjohnson6133]

Amazing video. The zephyr line is one of the most beautiful in the country. Interesting to see the eastbound zephyr in winter park though the westbound must be quite late.

[@ApproachMedium]

This is really great guys! Thank you for sharing :-)

[@kncpt14]

Subtitles are so cool! Love that idea

[@bsquiklehausen]

It was a lot of fun going back and researching all of them - a ton of the info on them was actually provided by the train crew while we were on board!

[@harrisonofcolorado8886]

10:45 If anyone of you pause at that moment, you'd notice a track going off into the distance, that was the track of the Tennessee Pass rail line. It hasn't been used since 1997 sadly.

[@giuniral]

What a beautiful country

[@ryanklinkerman2656]

Hey! I'm on my way at to Denver right now on the path to Yellowstone!

[@jamesjimenez3826]

Beyond LIKE I've been riding Amtrak a lot this summer as well!

[@MrTwarner]

Coming from the Midwest (Rust Belt), it's so odd to see just one track. There are usually 2-4 tracks running in parallel here. Although, a lot of the rail around me is publically owned instead of private, so maybe rail by me is strange...

[@shutter-chan]

Man you must've a really powerful machine to run SimCi- err I mean Cities Skylines in that detail:P

[@JackInTheMiddle]

I Love Trains!!

[@alanjenkins5859]

I like this videos. Keep it up!

[@JamesHydeTurbine]

Hey Stritoaster - love this video and the music is very relaxing. Do you have a link to the music? I can't find it on Google.

[@Nelaer]

Strict the google maps link in the description is for your Isle of Mull timelapse!

[@strictoaster]

It's fixed now :)

[@Nelaer]

thanks! 👍

[@KeonsinKryte]

Strict, you should do the Route 66 for On the road.

[@5DNRG]

A sweet Colorado 420 visual adventure.

[@grey3977]

I had the bright idea to purpose to my wife on our trip from Sacramemto to Glenwood springs. It worked out very well.

[@BayAreaTransitNews]

Great video! Might want to fix the description though; it currently says "Gleenwood Springs." :P

[@strictoaster]

Fixed!

[@TheLewistownTrainspotter8102]

Your train must be running somewhere around 4 hours late since you meet the eastbound California Zephyr at Winter Park, instead of at Glenwood Springs.

[@CoiN82]

is there a way to watch the clip backwards? somehow this gives me headaches. besides that, i really enjoyed the vid, great editing and interesting facts. love from germany!

[@CoiN82]

okay, watching it in .25x speed is also working better for me. + it's 4x more enjoying the scenery.

[@KevinSiebert]

You should try to recreate this in a game called trainz: a new era

[@thestudentofficial5483]

2:56 that's a very longass freight

[@gustafpeyron]

The Student Official not really. I've seen wayyyy longer on that line

[@usualdosage7287]

The Student Official you havnt seen nothing lol

[@thestudentofficial5483]

+Kk haha yeah, longest train in my country is 60 cars double engine coal train

[@helmitpeak]

Here in the U.S. we have freight trains as long as two or three miles long. One company, CSX Rails, has had trains as long as five miles.

[@bagnome]

1:36 Look at those old hoppers being used as a retaining wall. Now that's something.

[@DJD5b]

could it be that you shared the wrong google maps link for this video?

[@strictoaster]

Yeah, fixed it!

[@weareorigin]

All those unique props in the background. Definitely this is not Simcity2013! May be using Cities Skylines realistic theme mod.

[@itspeteryt2503]

WRO This was in real life

[@ΧρῆστοςΚωστελίδης-γ3φ]

Squiddy Catt U are fucking idiotic

[@scj6693]

Squiddy Catt you do realize people are joking right

[@user-wq9mw2xz3j]

Sure I realize this is a joke, but its so freaking overused, and not only that, this one wasnt even funny or good

[@scj6693]

Rackie too bad, everyone else liked it

[@wizmo57]

man i miss colorado

[@realVintaGamer]

These are great! Do you have any tips for doing a driving timelapse, like what kind of holder to use, whether to use an actual 'timelapse' setting or just regular video. I was thinking of doing one myself.

[@strictoaster]

I outlined my gear in the description of each video. As for when to use timelapse/real-time, well I often use timelapses for scenes where there aren't too many elements near the road, for example, a large stretch of road in the middle of the desert with the mountains in the back. Now, if I drive through a town, with houses right next to the road then I switch to real-time. If you can get a GoPro, I control it mostly with voice commands, that way I can keep my hands on the steering wheel.

[@colbybeltz8836]

3:36 caught me off guard

[@nedmarc]

Very Cool!

[@theramblingbrit4431]

What's this then? On the rails?

[@Physigist]

is there a chance you or Bsquiklehausen would post the full trip as a time-lapse on KZbin?

[@tonyburzio4107]

The Moffat Tunnel, and that it wasn't owned by the railroad, caused the demise of the D&RGW, SP and C&NW Railroads.

[@pelleschwarzberg8848]

How do you make these videos?

[@mallenwho]

MORE OF THIS

[@yy22222]

could you tell me what speed you used for the video (exposure every second, two seconds ?)

[@stalfjord734]

Ah, Right in my own back yard.

[@Bobby_Fischer]

5:27 "The train was already 6-8 hours behind schedule" Aaand this is why barely anybody uses Amtrak. I've experienced these type of delays myself. Never again.

[@helmitpeak]

Phatboy249- Companies giving priority to their freight causes the delays.. But, it doesn't bother me any, just gives me more time on the train to enjoy the trip. If people are in a hurry they can fly. I'm not in a hurry so delays don't bother me.

[@THEmickTHEgun]

Imagine a map this long on Cities: Skylines....

[@jg-7780]

Anyone know what that overhead structure at 3:06 and 5:06 are for?

[@DanMeyer80]

how can i get the normal speed version of this?

[@hellokltsz]

woah

[@lehtamohan3595]

"Coloradans need to come up with more names", Hey! I resent that :D

[@timverheyden7063]

are u spanish strict?

[@jwslijm7278]

I rather want to see this video at normal speed and no music, but the sound of the wind.

[@spencerdias2417]

Too bad there's no money in commuter trains anymore. Only reason why Amtrak is still afloat is because of their parastatal status and giant subsidies.

[@michaelhunt2222]

Spencer Dias your lucky in the US your trains look nice and are in high quality, UK trains are the worst

[@spencerdias2417]

European trains look better however.

[@HexAyed]

If you think the US' trains are more high quality than the UK's, you're mistaken, Whilst the 142s etc are bad, ours are still superior, Look at our 125s, Voyagers and Pendolinos, Even our shitty 150/6/8/9s are better than what they have XD

[@helmitpeak]

Spencer- I beg to differ, the Amtrak trains on the NEC are very profitable for Amtrak. The problem is they don't get enough money from the Government to really modernize, in fact they keep cutting funds. Just about every nation supports their rail system except us. That being said, I love Amtrak, it's the best way to travel, especially cross country. It's relaxing and far more comfortable then the airlines where they pack you in like sardines.

[@PrograError]

amtrak definitely need to upgrade the tracks to two tracks in most places or at least grade separate it...

[@spencerdias2417]

AsHalt except that costs money, and they have no money. only reason they're still afloat is because they're a parastatal

[@bsquiklehausen]

These routes don't see enough traffic to really need double tracking. As you can see by all the freights we pass, careful scheduling makes sure that trains aren't stopped for long, as they sort the traffic to send several eastbound trains in a row, then several westbounds.

[@GoSlash27]

Not a simple proposition in the mountains. That involves blasting and grading a right of way through hundreds of miles of solid rock in hostile weather conditions with an army of environmentalists trying to stop you. All to build a rail line that will lose money. We're fortunate to have a single line in most of these places.

[@motopanda3741]

strict do you live in colorado

[@strictoaster]

Nope.

[@jonatanborowicz]

Why is it going backwards?

[@bsquiklehausen]

The timelapse was filmed out the rear window on the last car of the train. Sadly, I couldn't convince the engineers to let me ride with them!

[@jonatanborowicz]

oh, ok. I was just wondering ;P

[@FlorianHWave]

Why the sad music? :(

[@JackInTheMiddle]

Florian H. Wave :(

[@fredcdobbs2]

Wow.

[@Czardus]

I could have sworn this was Cities Skylines!

[@Jonathan-ky4bi]

Hey strict have you ever considered a game called transport fever?

[@vcarrotman5571]

He has a series on his channel where he plays transport fever.

[@ΧρῆστοςΚωστελίδης-γ3φ]

Vcarrotman No he hasn't

[@vcarrotman5571]

Sorry your right. I thought you meant train fever.

[@strictoaster]

I've played both Train Fever and Transport Fever right when they came out. I wasn't a huge fan of either but I heard they got a bit better after a few updates, I should check them out again.

[@Jonathan-ky4bi]

Strictoaster I've seen some awesome clips of railyards and lines from transport fever some I'm curious to see what you could do.

[@faustobrindisi5745]

Dear friend: In the next month of June, I will travel through the United States, start in Chicago with the Empire Builder in Seattle, from there I will take the Coast Starlight to Los Angeles and return from San Francisco in the California Zephir to Chicago. Any comments about it, information, videos, blogs, etc., will be very beneficial for my trip. From already thank you very much. Sincerely, Fausto Brindisi, from Rosario, Argentina.

[@faustobrindisi5745]

@Name Hi friend: You ask me about the trip in the USA and I answer that it was better than what I dreamed of. I flew by COPA airlanes de Panamá from Rosario Argentina to Chicago with a stopover in Panama City. I traveled on the Empire Builder from Chicago to Seattle, then on the Coast Starlight to Los Angeles and back to Chicago on the California Zephir. I visited the Harlley Davidson Motorcycle Museum in Milwaukee, the Boeing Aircraft Factory, the Seattle Museum of Flight, and the Tacoma Automobile Museum. In California I was in the state railroad museum in Sacramento, the San Diego model railroad museum, I also spent 4 days in Las Vegas. All spectacular, many thanks for your comment I greet you affectionately from Rosario Argentina.-

[@abneraugusto2559]

Que coisa mais linda de se ver!!!! (brazilian portuguese) ;)

[@manmanman5371]

America has such beautiful scenery... Meanwhile I live in The Netherlands where everything is boring, dull, flat and liveless.

[@AlexanderGBlack]

Man ManMan you haven't seen dull till you've seen Kansas.

[@GoGalaxy93]

yeah we are not used to corners on our train rides...

[@smeagolplaysgames4517]

Man ManMan Depends what state you go to. This time lapse takes place entirely in Colorado (My home state), a state famous for mountains and great scenery, at least in the western part of the state. Like Alex said, there are other states (Kansas being the prime example) that are very lacking in terms of scenery.

[@flopsinator5817]

I'm pretty sure that the deserts of Nevada and Arizona are also not that interesting.

[@fil2337]

I was on a truck making deliveries in Netherlands and its beautiful too

[@espinhoso100]

From tbe thumbnail i actually thought it was cities skylines