# California Zephyr-Glenwood Springs & Back



## sunchaser (Oct 30, 2009)

After our first Amtrak trips from SLC to OLW & back, hubby was hesitant to take the California Zephyr because of the conditions of the first train. I had already been talking about taking a 'short run' from SLC to GSC for a couple of days in October, before the first trip. I thought it would be a nice break from the valley, enjoy the hot springs, then come back. Since hubby was being a bit difficult about another Zephyr ride, & I had not notified Amtrak of the sleeper issues we had experienced, I emailed Amtrak.com about it. I got two automated responses, & one notification that it was forwarded to Customer Service, but after two days of the forwarding, no response. I suggested to hubby give them a call, because the reservations/purchases were in his name. We will see if he gets any response from them. After 10 days of email tag, I finally called- spoke to a nice Customer Relations Agent who promised to send out a voucher. That was Aug 20th.

We received the voucher Aug 29th.

I went through the ARROW system on Amtrak.com for pairs of days for two months to find a date where the bedrooms/roomettes were cheaper. I also matched it with the hotel/ pool schedules for availability. I finally found the dates of Oct 26th & 28th as good dates for both train & hotel/pool. I would have preferred to book bedrooms for the size factor, but since the travel times on the Zephyr would be roughly nine hours each way and the big price difference for bedrooms, we decided to book roomettes.

The California Zephyr #6, eastbound will arrive at around 3:45 am We will board sleeper car #631, roomette 5. It is scheduled to depart at 4:10 am. Hubby and I will probably try to go back to sleep for a bit, then get up for breakfast, & enjoy the ride. We should also be able to have lunch on the train too. The Zephyr is scheduled to arrive in Glenwood Springs, Co at 12:50pm, then we will cross the bridge over the Colorado River to the Glenwood Springs Lodge. They have a shuttle, and they will pick you up from the station for free, & also take you over to town if you ask. I picked this hotel because it has the original big hot springs pool. It's a bit pricey, but it does include unlimited access to the pools, wifi & free breakfast. Their website is hotspringspool.com. They also have an Ocktoberfest in Glenwood Springs every year, the first & second weeks of October.

I think it will be fun & relaxing! They also have an Ocktoberfest in Glenwood Springs every year.

On the return trip on the the 28th, the westbound Zephyr #5 is scheduled to arrive in GSC at 1:53pm. We will board sleeper car #531, roomette #4, enjoy the scenery, have dinner, & arrive back in SLC at 11:00pm.

We went down to the station on Sept 3rd and bought the tickets. After the deduction of the voucher, the total price was $289.00 for two round trips tickets & two roomettes.

The rail fare was $208, so the roomettes was a total $81 for both. Well worth the price, and would have been worth it even at full price. If you figure 2 meals each both ways at $50 per person, that's $100.00, not including drinks. Add at least $10.00 per person per train for drinks, that's another $40.00, bringing the total to $140.00. Since the full price for the roomettes was $231.00, it would be equal to paying just $91.00 for two roomettes. With the voucher, it would be equivalent to free roomettes.

We got down to the station at around 3:00 AM! As we were sitting there, we met a Conductor, Ray Patterson. Great guy, had some good insight into Amtrak. He used to do the Pioneer Run, said it was a great train trip. He said it was a sad day when he went on the las run. I asked him if he had heard anything about reinstating it, he said last he heard is that they hadn't commited to it yet. I mentioned how it t would take 3-4 years for equipment etc., once they got funding, he seemed surprised. He said they had the equipment before, where was it? So I shared what info I could. He wanted to know where I got my info, I told him about this board. He said he would check it out, so hopefully he will get on and lend his expertise!

The California Zephyr #6 arrived in SLC at 332AM, and departed 413AM, 3 minutes late. Our SCA Dave, was right there to load our bags & cheerfully haul our stuff to the roomette, which was already set for sleeping. He came by right away to introduce himself & give us a run down on the features, amenities & times for Breakfast & offered a wake up call. Our only issue other than of course its size was that it seemed very cold in the roomette, even with cranking it up. I did not say anything because I was sure he had probably gone back to sleep. When I got up around 6:30, Coffee was ready, so I grabbed some & huddled under my blanket until hubby woke up.

We went to breakfast, we both had the French Toast & Sausage. The French Toast was good, but no syrup was offered & no fruit with it either. The sausage was smoky flavored & good.

We went back to our roomette, which had not been reset yet. I had not said anything to Dave, & with our curtain closed, he did not realize we were at breakfast. We let Dave know the roomette was real cold, & he said he would go reset it. I did notice how clean the bathrooms were, with a can of disinfectant sitting on the counter. While he was resetting or roomette, we asked him about his train travels. He, like Ray, had over 30 years in with Amtrak & enjoyed the job. He said he used to do the Desert Wind run, and Dave was on the last run for the Desert Wind.

Our roomette had been refurbed, but not the most recent one. It had the wood paneling in the halls & a closet in the roomette, but the closet was off white, not blue. I had hoped we would have gotten one without the closet because it offers more room even under the seats, but we were still able to stow our stuff without much problem.

At the Grand Junction stop, we burned one & spent more time speaking with Dave & looking at the old station. It would be great if it was refurbed and put back to use. It was there that I collected the consist.

Here is the consist:

#45- Locomotive

#15- Locomotive

#1203- Baggage

#39028- TransDorm/Passenger Sleeper (640)

#32052- Sleeper (632)

# 32025- Sleeper (our sleeper, 631)

#38066- Diner

#33002- Lounge Car

#34075- Coach (610)

#31013- Coach (611)

#34010- Coach (612)

Since the train was running twenty minutes ahead of schedule, we skipped lunch on the train, coming in Glenwood Springs at about 12:30PM.

A little info about the Glenwood Springs Station-its not very ADA compliant. Trackside & inside the Station you would be okay, but if you go inside the station to get to the street, there are stairs. I lugged our suitcases up the stairs & then found out later that there is a locked ramp on the west side of the Station I could have had them unlock. When we came back to depart, the Hotel just called ahead & they unlocked it. The shuttle just drove us down trackside which was so much easier.

The station is very old and currently being restored. There is a little train museum inside that costs $1 to tour, and train stuff to buy.

We were impressed on how much better the service, staff, & train conditions were in comparison to June/July. It was almost as good as the Coast Starlight!

Stay tuned for part 2 & 3!

Thanks for reading! 

I forgot to add that Dave cleaned the bathrooms at least twice in the 8 hours we were on the train, and was checking them regularly-a far cry from what we had seen before!


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## Bob Dylan (Oct 30, 2009)

Thanks, enjoyable! Glad yall had a good ride, hope to do it myself someday! Of course being a Southerner Ill go in the Summer LOL, always good when members have good experiences on their train trips, not just on the Amtrak but the whole journey!Look forward to the next episodes!!!


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## sunchaser (Nov 1, 2009)

Part 2- Glenwood Springs, Co

Glenwood Springs is a small (population approx 8,000) resort town, 185 miles WEST of Denver. There are many things to do-hot springs, a cave, rafting, fishing, skiing. If you want more info go to glenwoodchamber.com.

There is a nice Brewpub (Glenwood Canyon Brewing Company) right across the street from the train station.

Everyone we met were very friendly & helpful. A good place to hang out even if you just stop over for a short visit.

Hubby wanted to get over to hotel right away, because he thought they would charge $3 for each bag if we went to the Brewpub. So we went over, went to check in & found out that there was a problem with the King Deluxe room we had reserved. So they gave us a Queen Deluxe & 15% off our bill! We dropped our bags off & went to the Grill over by the pool & had lunch. Grilled Ham & Cheese & wine, pretty good.

He didn't feel like heading back over to town for dinner, so we had Chinese food delivered from China Town. Sweet & Sour Chicken, Combo Egg Foo Yung, Shrimp & Scallops in Garlic Sauce, Pot Stickers & Jasmine Tea. It was good and there was a lot of it. The hotel had all of the menus for the local restaurants!

The next day we got ready too late for the free breakfast so we bought lunch, Tomato Soup & toasted croissants, then toddled back to the room.

I hit the pool for a few hours, & it was trying to snow while I was there.

Then we went to the Brewpub for dinner. The hotel drove us over in their shuttle for free! Hubby had the steak pie & several pints of 'No Name Nut Brown Ale'.

I had a cup of the Cheese Beer Soup & 'Raspberry Cream Soda'. Yum!!! Definitely a girly drink. Picked up a t-shirt for hubby & a couple other goodies.

Great place to hang out, great service & atmosphere. Their website is glenwoodcanyon.com. It was nice being able to have a drink with dinner & not get dirty looks! It was snowing a little more heavily.

We called the hotel & the shuttle took us back, then I went back down to the hot spring pool for an hour, enjoying the snowfall that had lightened up.

The next day, we grabbed our coupons for the continental breakfast & used the option for $3 off a regular breakfast. Sausage, eggs, hash browns, & toast. The juice & coffee were free, part of the freebie stuff for Guests at the Lodge. We went into the Sports Shop, I got the obligatory t-shirt & mug. They had some 'golden spikes' with a little train on it. Warning! The Sport Shop can be very expensive! If you stay at the hotel, they give you 10% off your purchases. Then we went back & I packed us up, we headed to downstairs to check out.

We took the shuttle back, our shuttle driver used the ramp & delivered us trackside. We checked our big bags, and had them hold our three bags for $3 total. I'm pretty sure that they did not weigh our checked bags. I did not check them going out because I thought they might be over the weight limit. They were also having computer issues in Salt Lake when we left.

We went back over to the Brewpub, we both had a bowl of the Cheese soup, hubby had more beer, I had the Rum Punch. They also had Hard Cider, which I had a taster glass of it, it was like bubbly cider with a head on it. Tasted like a tangy fresh apple.  There was WiFi right there, so we were able to check train status without any trouble. 

Stay tuned for the final part with some surprises!

My bad-west of denver!!


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## Rob_C (Nov 2, 2009)

Was there already snow on the ground or was this first snow of the season?


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## sunchaser (Nov 2, 2009)

Rob_C said:


> Was there already snow on the ground or was this first snow of the season?


There was no snow on the ground when we arrived. They said it was the first snow-and about two weeks early.

I just checked the live webcam for the Hot Springs Pool, and it looks like it snowed a little last night.

There's some snow on the roof visible.

Take a look- http://www.hotspringspool.com/y.php?p=WebcamLive

I think it's cool to watch the steam rising off the pools.


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## Phila 30th St (Nov 3, 2009)

Good report, thank you! The two times I've had the french toast breakfast I've had to ask for syrup and there has been no fruit. It's a little annoying.


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## Guest (Nov 3, 2009)

isn't Glenwood west of Denver?


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## the_traveler (Nov 3, 2009)

Guest said:


> isn't Glenwood west of Denver?


Yes it is. Glenwood Springs is in west/central Colorado.


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## sunchaser (Nov 4, 2009)

the_traveler said:


> Guest said:
> 
> 
> > isn't Glenwood west of Denver?
> ...


My bad-I fixed it-yes west of Denver.

Part 3- The Trip Home

I neglected to mention that while we were on the #6, we were able to spot a few Mule Deer & some Antelope-it was pretty cool since I had never seen Antelope before. Weren't fast enough to take pictures, though. Also, there were several Amish famillies that ate breakfast in the diner-there was a couple of toddler girls complete with bonnets on. I though most of the time they avoided the diner! Since I have never been back east, these were the first Amish I have ever seen in person. Pretty cool!

We went over to the station early enough to see the eastbound Zephyr #6 arrive, board & depart. The little Museum was closed, I should have checked it out when we arrived. Had some good conversations with a few gentlemen before they left on the #6. There was a couple of girls that were almost left behind!

Hubby was able to get WIFI in the station without any problems.

Our train was about 10 minutes late. There were only 4 others getting on with us. It was snowing, steady but not heavily. We chatted with a couple of people that were heading back to the Bay Area. I told them about the bridge being shut down again, they said it wouldn't affect them.

Our Sleeping Car Attendant, Pete greeted us at the door & assisted carrying our bags up to the roomette (#4), car 531, then came back and went through his introduction, offered to set the beds for us at whatever time we wanted. He said just ask & he would take care of it, whatever we wanted. I wandered down & got some juice. Again, the roomette seemed pretty cold, but warmed up a little when the train got going. Pete caught me going to get more juice & scolded me, saying I'm supposed to call him & he will prepare & deliver it to me. So I went back & he brought it to me, I was surprised. That had not happened before! He was quite attentive, checking the bathrooms frequently & resetting the toilets throughout the trip. This car was a refurb but not recent. It still had the coat rack instead of the closet & more space under the seats. I was able to store one of the bags under the seat and the backpack where the coat rack was.

Pretty soon the LSA came on & made her announcements, then the Conductor.

The LSA came by and made dinner reservations for us for 5:30. Soon, we were out of the snow & by the time we reached Grand Junction, it was not snowing, but chilly. We jumped off to burn one, I wandered towards the back to attempt to get the consist, I'm walking back and at the very end of the train-and surprise! There was a Private Varnish! It was the Cyrus K Holliday!  Hubby did take a couple of pics for me to add to the trip report.  I wrote down what I could & looked up and saw Ray Patterson, the Conductor we talked to in Salt Lake City! Hubby talked to him briefly, and then we boarded the train. 

Ray stopped by our roomette to chat, & I asked about upgrading to a Bedroom. I had overheard that there was one available. Ray offered it for $50-we took it! :lol: He said that the upgrade should always be $50 to a bedroom, even from coach! He called it in, & insisted they would not sell it in between Grand Junction & Salt Lake. Pete moved us right into our favorite Bedroom, E! :lol:  This was also the sleeper & bedroom we had coming back to Salt Lake in July-the Tennessee! Ray & hubby wandered down to the diner to take care of the paperwork, then hubby came back. This bedroom was an older refurb, the counter was green, walls beige carpet & blue vinyl on the the upper bunk. Sometime I will try to get the pics of it posted.

We went to dinner, hubby had the Mahi Mahi (dry) & I had the Pork Tenderloin. During dinner, we sat with two ladies, one traveling alone in a roomette who had 10,000 amtrak miles. She said she normally travels in coach. I told her about the board so she may pop in on it too.

The other lady was in the family bedroom in our car with her hubby. It seems when he looked at the rooms online he was sure the family bedrooms had a bathroom. He was quite unhappy that there was no bathroom in the room. I explained to her he may have been looking at the bedroom suite online. I suggested she talk to Pete and see if there was any bedrooms left.

Before we left the diner, the waitress gave us each a reciept for our dinner, another first!

We went back to our bedroom & settled in for the rest of the trip.

Ray stopped by to see how we liked the bedroom. I told him we had this one before, he said we should feel at home then. I told him is was quite comfy & familiar too. Got to do bedrooms!!! It got dark really early, around 6:30pm. Hubby snoozed for a bit & I watched the scenery in the dark.

As we were going thru the Gilully Loops before Provo,

I could see the Locos, & hubby could see the Private Varnish. It's too bad it was dark.

We stopped in Provo to let off passengers, and the engineer stopped the train for a few minutes, then pulled forward a bit & stopped again. Hubby thought we had forgot someone, but the platform was real short & next to a crossing. I explained that it is common for the engineer to do that so the passengers can get off at the platform.

Pete came by around 10:10 and said it would be another 30 minutes. I explained that I watched the times on the train, & around 10:20 is the average arrival time. We were about 40 blocks from the station, I could see the freeway signs from the train.

We headed downstairs to wait to detrain about 10:25.

As we were waiting downstairs to detrain, I spoke to the lady from dinner, & they were able to upgrade to a bedroom too. She was quite happy & thanked me for the tip about upgrading.

We rolled into the station at 10:36, Pete detrained us & thanked us & asked us when we were coming back.

As I was heading toward the station & writing the rest of the consist, I ran into the people from the station at Glenwood. They were in another sleeper, and the one asked the other for the 'bullet' . I asked them what they were up to, they showed me a pipe & proceeded to light up right there! Right there on the platform!! They explained 'we're from California & it's for medicinal purposes' then offered it to me!

I politely declined and hurried on as quick as I could! Just goes to show you, you really don't know what people have with them. 

I did run into Ray in the station again, & thanked him again for the upgrade. He too, asked if it worked out okay & when we were riding again, & said he would remember us.

Here is the consist:

Locomotive #167

Locomotive #178

Baggage #1855

Transdorm #39016

Sleeper #32081 (Illinois)

Sleeper #32110

Tennessee (ours)

Diner #38021

Lounge #33028

Coach #31036

Coach #34095 &

Private Varnish "Cyrus K Holliday"! 

The trains & service was so much better than last June/July! Hubby really enjoyed it and is looking forward to do another run to Glenwood next October- maybe sooner. We plan on using bedrooms as long as we can manage to get them at a reasonable price, which means booking as early as we can!! For us, they are the best choice.

Hope you enjoyed the trip report-thanks for reading!


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