Throughout the 1970s, there were brief attempts to revive service to Las Vegas in the form of charters and excursions, plus one regularly scheduled weekend-only train called the "Las Vegas Limited", which ran for four months in 1976. Matters came to a head in 1979, as Amtrak faced significant political pressure to cut costs and reduce the size of its national network. Senator Howard Cannon (D-Nevada) pushed Amtrak hard to create a train which served Las Vegas, and Amtrak considered replacing the "Southwest Limited", its existing Chicago – Los Angeles train, with such a service. In the end, the "Southwest Limited" remained and Amtrak introduced the "Desert Wind", which made its first run on October 28, 1979.