# Trip Report - February on the California Zephyr



## Notelvis (Feb 9, 2013)

Last weekend I made a solo train ride cashing in some of the Guest Reward Points I squirrel away for just when the opportunity arises.

The itinerary was not complicated - I woke up Friday morning leaving my home just before a winter storm rolled in and drove 75 miles south to the Greenville/Spartanburg airport. My wife and daughter were flying to Florida, I was flying Southwest Airlines to Chicago Midway.

Opinions here vary as to the level of service Southwest affords BUT when flying by myself I have no issue with Southwest. I have never experienced a flight delay of more than 15 minutes with SWA...... I appreciate that reliability.

At Midway I made the long walk to the RTA platform and was happy to find a warm train waiting on a 3 degree day. The three block surface walk when I reached the loop was exhilerating in a very cold kind of way. The corner entrance and escalator down to the subterranian section of Union Station never more inviting.

When I began thinking about this trip around Thanksgiving, I had initially thought to fly to Denver on Friday and catch the California Zephyr to the west coast from there on Saturday morning. However, when I called Amtrak, there was no roomette available for sale from Denver on Saturday morning. Oddly enough, there was a roomette available for the entire trip to the west coast from Chicago on Friday afternoon. Yield management does strange things sometimes.

By 11:45am I had stowed my single bag at the Metropolitan Lounge, purchased a pseudo-asian mixture of chicken, broccoli, and rice in a styrofoam container, and settled in for lunch on a bench in the massive great hall. After lunch I moved back to the Metropolitan Lounge and settled into a corner seat with a book to while away the remaining hour until train #5 boarded.

There was some commotion in the lounge. There was a 40-plus person tour group from Trains Unlimited assembling near the desk area. To myself I thought "Bet these folks are going out with me on #5." They were..... and that explained why demand for sleeper space on #5 this day had been so in demand weeks earlier.

By 1:15 or so the tour group had been assembled and redcaps summoned. With their group leader they made their way out the door and over to track 12 where the California Zephyr was waiting. Once they group was clear, an Amtrak agent called for anyone not in the group who was departing on #5 to assemble at the front of the lounge. This turned out to be just myself and one other person.

I was in roommette 10 of the 532 car..... the last roommette in the last car on the train. Remarkably, the train ride itself was less eventful than the getting to the train. We departed Chicago on-time and remained on-time or, in some cases where the padding is thickest, arrived as much as 20-30 minutes early at every station all the way to Sacramento.

The roomettes in the 532 were never full for the entire trip. Number 9 across the aisle was occupied only Grand Junction-Sacramento. Number 7 was occupied Chicago-Denver and then by a pair of day-riders Reno-Sacramento. Numbers 5 and 6 were empty until Denver. The bedrooms were another story. They were all occupied by members of the tour group as were some roommettes. Tour group members were located in both sleepers at the rear as well as in the transdorm.

The service in the diner was a bit erratic. The upstairs was staffed by steward who took care of business but was not assisting with any food service and two servers. One of the servers was clearly more efficient as he was able to move his half of the car through a seating in one hour. The other half of the car was taking closer to 90 minutes for a seating...... even at breakfast. We were not in a hurry so it wasn't a bad experience. No one was surly with the passengers and even the less efficient server was pleasant. I would say that her tips likely suffered compared to the other server BUT since only a handful of us were actually tipping, this was likely not the case. The tour group members had a 'all gratuities included' clause in their arrangements and I was, in fact, having dinner with the tour leader one evening when the steward came to settle up for the Saturday tips.

The food was really very good this trip. I had the steak twice, a pasta and meatball lunch special one day, hamburger the next, pancakes one morning, and omelette the next.

With our 20 minute early arrival in Denver, I had the chance to get a little closer and gaze at the massive construction project at Denver Union Station. Crews are now well-along erecting an ultra-modern trainshed behind the historic station. A bus transfer station has been located beneath the trainshed and extends toward the Platte River two blocks where it is anchored on the other end by a light rail station. Only the light rail station is in service at this juncture. This is a project which I have kept up with online for some time now and I most look forward to commuter trains connecting Union Station with the Denver Airport in two or three years.

By contrast, in Sacramento new platforms are in place and scaffolding is all over the waiting room as renovations to the old Southern Pacific station ar underway. The new platforms are nice and afford a much closer view of the old locomotive shops but they are about a five minute walk from the station. Not an improvement in that regard but not unreasonable considering the distance to the gates at most airports.

In front of the Sacramento station, a new entrance to the parking lot protected by traffic lights has been constructed mid-block which shortens the length of the walk with safe-crossing one must make to reach the Vagabond Inn. The Sacramento Vagabond Inn is still maintained nicely and clean..... additional security fencing has been located around the property since my last visit to Sacramento. Still lodging worthy of a recommendation here.

The following morning I had an early wakeup call, checked out, and caught the Yolo Bus (route 42B) to the Sacramento Airport for a flight home using United. First leg of the flight was fine, second leg less so as our plane arrived two hours late and then, once boarded we sat on the tarmac for another forty minutes or so waiting for a relief pilot to arrive, the first pilot having 'died on the law' to use a railroad term.


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## MrFSS (Feb 9, 2013)

Thanks for the report - glad you enjoyed the trip.


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## Bob Dylan (Feb 9, 2013)

:hi: Nice Trip, Id rather have taken your Route than your Family's to Florida! (Sorry Penny! :giggle: ) Thanks for Posting, any LD Trip on a Train is Good but the Zephyr is #1!!!


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## Notelvis (Feb 9, 2013)

Agreed - I always wind up coming back to the California Zephyr. I wouldn't mind more time on the Empire Builder but it's not easy (nor readily affordable) to reach any of the en route cities between Minneapolis and Spokane!

Here's a photo from the trip - February 2 in Glenwood Springs. Anyone want to venture a guess as to why the frog is affixed to the lead locomotive?


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## Railroad Bill (Feb 9, 2013)

Enjoyed your trip report. Glad you had a great time. We always love stories of our favorite Amtrak route


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## June the Coach Rider (Feb 9, 2013)

Great report, I will be on the CZ heading to EMY on 11 days. Cannot wait.


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## SubwayNut (Feb 10, 2013)

I missed you by one day, I took the Zephyr just from Denver to Salt Lake City on Sunday, February 3rd (flew out at both ends of the trip) in coach and had an extremely empty ride (apparently only like half the bedrooms were actually occupied). It was so empty that the dining car did only two seatings for dinner and the food was actually served way too quickly (I had managed to eat just a few bites of salad before my dinner arrived). My full TripLog is on my blog. The most memorable moment was when a woman missed the train in Grand Junction, going to a store to buy cigarettes, and then lied to the station staff that she had left her three-year-old on board so we came to a stop on the outskirts of Grand Junction. The crew searched the train for a non-existant child. She managed to get a car to deliver her back to the train, made the conductor really mad, (but he didn't throw her off the train) and we were finally on our way.


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## TimePeace (Feb 10, 2013)

Nice report. Always glad to hear about the good service. I'm looking forward to another #5/#6 trip some time this year if i can make the points work for me.


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## Michigan Mom (Feb 11, 2013)

Not familiar with what mindset would make you HAVE to buy those cigarettes while your train is departing, then tell a whopper of a lie to make a train wait for YOU so you can catch up to it... Whoever the conductor was, he would have been well justified in not allowing her to board. Very patient and understanding person. I'm not that nice!


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## leemell (Feb 12, 2013)

Notelvis said:


> Agreed - I always wind up coming back to the California Zephyr. I wouldn't mind more time on the Empire Builder but it's not easy (nor readily affordable) to reach any of the en route cities between Minneapolis and Spokane!
> Here's a photo from the trip - February 2 in Glenwood Springs. Anyone want to venture a guess as to why the frog is affixed to the lead locomotive?


As for the frog, no ides, Do you know?


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## AlanB (Feb 14, 2013)

Notelvis said:


> Anyone want to venture a guess as to why the frog is affixed to the lead locomotive?
> [img=[URL="https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/560116_10200221334512293_516153488_n.jpg%5D"]https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/560116_10200221334512293_516153488_n.jpg][/URL]


Someone told him to hop on a train?

:lol:


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## Shanghai (Feb 14, 2013)

Thanks for the report. We are taking the Zephyr from Chicago to

Emeryville in a few weeks. I'm anxious to see the mountains with

snow as my previous two trip have been in the summer and autumn.


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## KrazyKoala (Feb 14, 2013)

I've road the CZ more than anyother THU, FEB 14, 2013 route and it definently is my favorite one.


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## June the Coach Rider (Feb 15, 2013)

Shanghai said:


> Thanks for the report. We are taking the Zephyr from Chicago toEmeryville in a few weeks. I'm anxious to see the mountains with
> 
> snow as my previous two trip have been in the summer and autumn.


You must be going the week after I am, I leave Chicago next Wednesday. Enjoy your trip. I am excited about seeing the snow.


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## chakk (Feb 18, 2013)

a foot of snow is expected to fall in the Sierra Nevada near Donner Pass on 19 Feb, so you should see some fresh white during your trip.


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## AlanB (Feb 23, 2013)

chakk said:


> a foot of snow is expected to fall in the Sierra Nevada near Donner Pass on 19 Feb, so you should see some fresh white during your trip.


Personally, I prefer two feet of snow. :lol:


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## Amtrak Cajun (Feb 27, 2013)

I spy a Heritage unit in that consist.


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