Has anyone toured with America by Rail to see California and the southwest?

You'll probably get better results by goign to www.trainweb.com and clicking on the travelogue section.

My family did - we took the Desert Wind from Chicago to L.A. Went through the Rockies. It took 3 days. My sister and I had our own sleeper, with my parents in an adjoining one. Obviously, this was several years ago, as it's been a while since my parents have paid for my vacations!

Suggest you search above for opinions/experiences on Amtrak.

They are somewhat varied - but everyone agrees that except for the Norhteast corridor trains are frequently late - often by many hours - since the tracks are owned by freight companies and their trains get priority.

A lot depends also upon the attitudes with which one approaches the train trip. I've taken trips where I've encountered groups having totally opposite experiences while aboard the same train. One group of folks saw the train as a way to spend time with their friends, and they appeared to be enjoying themselves, while another group thought they were having the trip from Hell.

I would second the post above, that mentions that the RR's outside of the NYC - DC corridor. Most railroads in the United States are privately owned, and Amtrak (and other communter rail providers) are just tenants. Some Frieght RRs make a good faith effort to get the passenger trains over the rails in a punctual fashion (example: BNSF RR) while other RR companies are indifferent to Amtrak (example: Norfolk Southern), and still others are so bad in their timekeeping and organization that it makes one wonder how they make any money at all (example: Union Pacific RR).
The trains can be delayed by issues that are out of Amtrak's control.