CONDUCTOR SWARTZWELTER: ON THE CASE
PERHAPS FEW PEOPLE are in a better position to evaluate how today’s California Zephyr operates — its strengths and weaknesses — than Amtrak Conductor Brad Swartzwelter. Most of the year, he works Monday-Tuesday and Thursday-Friday out-and-back journeys from Denver to Grand Junction, Colo., but from January through early April he works Friday through Sunday Winter Park Express round trips. Swartzwelter helped make the case to Amtrak management for the seasonal service, which is sponsored in part by the Winter Park Resort.
A Zephyr ride with Brad is always informative, as he often provides route descriptions in the train’s Sightseer Lounge. “Operating responsibilities come first, but I try to give customers an idea of where they are and what they’re seeing. It’s nowhere near as in-depth as what the National Park Service Trails and Rails docents delivered,” he tells Trains. Amtrak stopped subsidizing the nationwide volunteer program in 2018 but has since reinstated some of the former perks “Our cafe lounge car has at least as much popularity as the original California Zephyr domes,” Swartzwelter said. He urges passengers on every trip to rotate back to their seats or accommodations to give everyone an opportunity to enjoy the view, at least changing places at the train’s usual Fraser-Winter Park fresh air stop. “The beauty of the Zephyr today is that it remains a poster child for what a scenic land cruise can be,” he adds.
Swartzwelter has not been shy about expressing his ideas for improvement, having spearheaded the effort within the company to get management on board with the Winter Park Express venture. He has also suggested — as long as additional capacity can be provided — establishing a premium coach class with preferred access along with sleeping car passengers to Sightseer Lounge seating.
When Trains asked for his views about distributing onboard service duties, he praised the employees that previously and currently work the train, while acknowledging there is room for modernization of craft divisions and work rules, and adding, “Let’s look at ways to negotiate common sense labor relations and compensation so that we all benefit.”
The conductor joined Amtrak in Seattle in the late 1990s and transferred to the Denver area as an assistant conductor. He was promoted to a junior conductor’s slot on the Zephyr in 2011, and through seniority finally attained the No. 1 conductor position in 2021. “It’s by far the best job I’ve ever seen in railroading — like the kid who dreams of going to outer space and then becomes an astronaut,” Swartzwelter says, though he is slated to retire in October 2024.
“The one thing that could keep me here is if they said we need a supreme leader of the California Zephyr to operate it the way it should be from start to finish.”
It’s hard to imagine anyone better suited for such a job.