# Greyhound/Amtrak California (April 2014): Reno to Yosemite & SF Ba



## Swadian Hardcore (Apr 20, 2014)

I promised you guys I would write a trip report for this, and I've finally gotten around to it. This is my first trip report, so I'll try it out and see how things go.



On this trip, I would ride Greyhound from Reno to Sacramento, Amtrak California's San Joaquin to Merced, stay overnight in Merced, then ride YARTS to Yosemite and back. I would stay another night in Merced, ride the San Joaquin's Comet consist to Oakland, ride some AC Transit in Oakland, stay overnight in Richmond, then ride AC Transit to San Francisco, deal with personal matters, and return to Reno on Greyhound.



It would take four days, and three nights, involving two Greyhound buses, two Amtrak California trains, and various transit and interurban buses, trolleys, etc.



*DAY 1*

*Greyhound Lines Reno-Sacramento*

*Schedule 8311 Reno-San Francisco*

*MCI D4505 Intercity Cruiser II #86555 (2013, Pembina)*

*Cummins ISX12 with Allison B500 and Jake Brake*

*American Seating Premier LS-1 x 50*

*Seat 9-10*

*Driver named Ken*

*Departure: 1:00 PM (actual 1:20 PM)*

*Arrival: 3:40 PM (on-time)*



On the day of departure, I was bound to leave Reno on Greyhound Lines Schedule 8311 to Sacramento, the bus would continue to San Francisco. I could not drive to the bus terminal due to lack of safe parking in Reno, vandals all over the place, and I couldn't get a ride from someone else, so I had to ride the transit bus. Oh, Reno transit sucks! I departed nearly two hours before my Greyhound departure due to the exceptionally slow Reno transit buses, and I still had to walk a few blocks to the station. Reno really needs to work on this.



After finally arriving at Greyhound Reno, I took a peek at the buses, and saw the same X3-45 I had seen two days ago, plus two of the normal D4505's. The X3-45 is mainly a Northeast bus and I've never seen one here before, but #86222 sat there resting this time. Of the D4505's, there was #86555 and #UT86398, both of which I had seen before. The UT buses run often to Salt Lake City and Denver, so they are commonly seen in Reno. But #86555 would be my bus to Sacramento, and the driver was inspecting it, he didn't mind when I took photos of the buses.



I knew what to expect, the D4505's I had taken until that point had good legroom and reasonable seating comfort. Not the best Greyhound but not the worst. This time I knew I wanted to sit on the left side for scenery. Boarding was delayed until 1:00 PM, and departure was delayed until 1:20 PM, because of a misplaced senior passenger. The driver, an African-American named Ken, did his long announcement standing facing the passengers, rarely seen on any mode of transport. His son was also on the bus, about 5 years old, right in the shotgun seat (3-4).



I sat in the first open pair on the left, Seats 9-10, which unfortunately had reduced legroom. I was pleased to find that these seats had footrests, never seen a D4505 with footrests. Again, the Cummins ISX12 engine was surprisingly quiet, and the HVAC sound masked the engine. Acceleration was slow but we held good speed all the way. I thought the reduced legroom wasn't so bad with a footrest, but 30 minutes into the trip, I noticed a sharp hip pain, and then found out that the seat was sagging down. Damn it, this is the type of "new bus" that everyone complains about! This ain't no regular D4505, it's a _BAD _D4505. By an hour into the ride, I wanted to hop on that bus or stand. Unfortunately, neither was an option.



Good thing is, the driver's son played something with a friendly passenger at the front, and that got me through the ride. Out D4505 pulled on-time into Sacramento at 3:40 PM, and I undertook the walk to the Amtrak station, which was doable with police patrols on bikes.

(continued)


----------



## Swadian Hardcore (Apr 20, 2014)

*Amtrak California Sacramento-Merced*

*Train 704 San Joaquin Sacramento-Bakersfield*

*MK California Cab Car #8??? *_*Mount Shasta*_

*EMD F59PHI*

*Departure: 4:55 PM (on-time)*

*Arrival: 7:06 PM (actual 7:35 PM)*

When I got to the Sacramento station, I found the inside confusing with lots of renovation going on, but with help from station personnel, it wasn't too bad to get to my train. I saw locomotive #2002, an EMD F59PHI which would be pushing us to Bakersfield. After failing to find any Superliner or Surfliner coaches in the consist, I settled with the cab car at the front, and found myself a table seat. There were only about 3-5 passengers in this car along the way to Merced. Again, I could not hear the engine, only the HVAC. The seat didn't sag like the Greyhound, but still wasn't very comfortable because the table is kinda too big and the windows were a bit small. California Cars sure feel like commuter rail. Here's the consist:



California Cab Car-California Coach-California Cafe Car-California Coach-California Coach-EMD F59PHI


Departure from SAC was on-time, but the train was stuck behind a BNSF freight after Stockton and remained so all the way to Merced. When departing from SAC, it was very awkward when the cafe car announced it was serving "breakfast items", at 5:00 PM. One time the freight train tried to let us pass, but it was too long for the siding it was assigned, so we sat still and racked up more delays. I was in the cab car and could watch everything going on. Eventually we got moving again.



The ride was relatively uneventful, the train sounded, smelled, and felt like a commuter train, not like Amtrak. Especially how empty the cars were, I remember when I was a kid in Philly I would go on Regional Rail joyrides and the trains would be near-empty just like this one. Since we were stuck behind the freight all the way, arrival into Merced was 28 minutes late, at 7:35 PM. On no, my transit bus transfer to the hotel is at 7:37 PM! Well, it's still waiting there. Hopped on the Gillig Phantom and rode it to the Rodeway Inn. That hotel was horrible! Smelled terrible, smelled like Greyhound #7104, a G4500 that reeked of burning plastic! I tried to get the smell out by opening the window, but CA Route 99 was right outside and the noise was very loud. So it was a terrible first night, sleeping lightly on and off.


----------



## Swadian Hardcore (Apr 20, 2014)

*[SIZE=10.5pt]DAY 2**[/SIZE]*

*[SIZE=10.5pt]YARTS Merced-Yosemite Valley**[/SIZE]*

*[SIZE=10.5pt]MCI D4500CT Intercity Cruiser I-CT #508 (2012, Pembina)**[/SIZE]*

*[SIZE=10.5pt]Cummins ISX12 with Allison B500 and Jake Brake**[/SIZE]*

*[SIZE=10.5pt]American Seating Premier -2 x 53**[/SIZE]*

*[SIZE=10.5pt]Seat 17-18**[/SIZE]*

*[SIZE=10.5pt]Departure: 7:10 AM (actual 7:20 AM)**[/SIZE]*

*[SIZE=10.5pt]Arrival: 9:42AM (unknown early)**[/SIZE]*

[SIZE=10.5pt]I booked a taxi to Merced Amtrak and arrived by 6:55 AM, and waited at the bus stop. Two trains passed by, a BNSF freight with a GE locomotive and another short one with an old Santa Fe EMD SD40-2. The bus failed to show up until 7:20 AM, following two Merced Transit buses from the Transpo. Boarding was prompt with commuters also riding the bus. This D' was quite a bit more comfortable than the Greyhound D', even though they had almost the same seating. The big difference was the seat bottom, much better in this one. This bus is very similar to most of the Greyhound D4505's, without the footrest.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]Ride was smooth all the way to Yosemite, this bus actually had a bit louder engine sound than the Greyhound and I could actually hear the engine, which felt nicer than listening to the blowing HVAC on the Greyhound D4505.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]The bus had about 10-15 passengers on the way to Yosemite, and despite departing late, it arrived at the Visitor Center on-time after skipping two stops.[/SIZE]

*[SIZE=10.5pt]Yosemite Valley**[/SIZE]*

[SIZE=10.5pt]Spent the day in the valley, hiked around and rode the shuttle a few times. The shuttle used Gillig Low Floors and was surprisingly crowded compared to the YARTS. Really don't have much to say except it was a great NP, the scenery was just like the photos, and got many good photos myself which I will post later.[/SIZE]

*[SIZE=10.5pt]YARTS Yosemite Valley-Merced Transpo**[/SIZE]*

*[SIZE=10.5pt]MCI D4500CT Intercity Cruiser I-CT #502 (2012, Pembina)**[/SIZE]*

*[SIZE=10.5pt]Cummins ISX12 with Allison B500 and Jake Brake**[/SIZE]*

*[SIZE=10.5pt]American Seating Premier -2 x 53**[/SIZE]*

*[SIZE=10.5pt]Seat 17-18**[/SIZE]*

*[SIZE=10.5pt]Departure: 4:00 PM (on-time)**[/SIZE]*

*[SIZE=10.5pt]Arrival: 6:4? PM (on-time)**[/SIZE]*

[SIZE=10.5pt]Return trip was very similar to outbound, I even sat in the same seat. I was supposed to ride the later run, but chose to leave early due to transit problems in Merced and stayed on the bus till Merced Transpo.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]Upon arrival at the Transpo, I found lots of Union Pacific construction work and the Greyhound station was locked. With nowhere to go for food, I ended up asking for help from a transit bus driver and found my way to the In-N-Out, amidst construction all over the place and suspicious people hanging around. Merced definitely isn't very safe, especially at night. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]After getting some food to eat, I rode the same Gillig Phantom as last night with the same Filipino driver to my hotel. Again, the smell was bad and whatever I tried, sleep did not come easy.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt](continued)[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]I'll write the rest later, I'm getting tired.[/SIZE]


----------



## Michigan Mom (Apr 20, 2014)

You're a brave guy, Swadian Hardcore. Interesting report, thanks for sharing your knowledge.


----------



## Swadian Hardcore (Apr 21, 2014)

OK, let's finish this.

*DAY 3*
*Amtrak California Merced-Oakland*
*Train 711 San Joaquin Bakersfield-Oakland*

*Saint Louis Car Company Arrow I/Comet IB Coach*
*EMD F59PHI*
*Departure: 7:48 AM (on-time)*
*Arrival: 11:00 AM (on-time)*

This train arrived on-time into Merced, led by another EMD F59PHI. The railcars went: Comet Coach-Comet Coach-Horizon Dinette-Comet Coach-Comet Coach-Comet Coach-EMD F40PH-NPCU

I initially sat in the first Comet but the train was very crowded this time so I could only find a backwards-facing seat. Frustrated with the seating situation, I ended up going ot the Dinette and trying to find something to eat. Bought the "Jumbo Cheese-filled Pretzel" since it offered the most calories for the buck and I had missed breakfast. Turned out it wasn't bad at all. Would recommened it to other travellers.

I really don't know why this train was much more crowded than 704, and to make matters worse, there were a lot more suspicious passengers. Oh great, passenger mix like the MFL in Philly. After scouring for a forward-facing seat, I ended up in the last Comet Coach sitting facing forward but with a blocked view out the window, so I had to lean forward to view out the window. Then the seat behind me cleared, so I moved there, but it was reclined back and jammed in that position. Ugh! Well, I dealt with it, and that train got me to Oakland on time, so it wasn't too bad I guess.

For some reason the Comet ride felt a lot like riding Greyhound's original MC-12's when they were nearing retirement. The passenger mix was like the Greyhound loads around 2007 and they also had problematic seats, etc. The Comet seats themselves weren't too bad, kinda like Greyhound's old MC-12 seats, but again, it just didn't feel great. What really made the connection for me was that the MC-12 windows were set too high compared to the seats, so my arms were jammed against the window bar when I tried to look outside, I had a similar problem with the Comet when my view was blocked.

*Oakland and Richmond*
Upon arrival in Oakland, I rode the free bus to Downtown and quickly ate lunch at the Burger King, then went off to catch AC Transit's 40-LFW bus which is nearing retirement. I planned to ride one on the 14 but that was a different bus so I ended up on the 58L to Eastmont TC. Despite going through East Oakland, it wasn't a bad ride.

However, after getting off at Eastmont, I was directed to ride the 40 or 57 by the driver, both were tagged "dangerous" by @roadman3313. The 40 came first, with more suspicious passengers than I had ever seen in a long time! This Van Hool AG300 had more riff-raff than buses in New Orleans, more than Baltimore, Philly, Chicago, more than anywhere I could remember! Now I was glad to get off that bus, Roadman was right, it was bad! Shoulda waited for a returning 58L prehaps.

After that scare followed a peaceful ride on the near-empty 72 to Richmond Hilltop Mall, with a Gillig Low Floor and green seats. Felt good to be out of danger again! I sure don't cherish it, but I kinda got myself into that situation by ridng the 40 instead of waiting for the 58L.

In Richmond, I stayed at the Extended Stay America, which is a great hotel for the deal I got ($46), and I would recommened it to any Bay Area travellers.

*DAY 4*

*AC Transit Richmond-San Francisco (Route LA)*

*MCI D4500 Commuter Cruiser #6052 (2003, Pembina)*

*Detroit Diesel Series 60 "?" with Allison B500 and Jake Brake*

*? seating x 57*

*Seat 3-4*

*Departure: 8:13 AM (on-time)*

*Arrival: ~8:50 AM (on-time)*

It was fun to ride this bus. I rode in the shotgun seat besides it driver, and he drove fast past the car congestion on Interstate 80 by using the HOV lane. The bus was, again, poorly patronized. It felt almost exactly the same as Greyhound's original DL3's, with similar seats and plenty of legroom. I guess it's supposed to be the same anyway since the D4500 is just a new name for the 102DL3, the "Commuter" version just means a big headsign and sliding doors. More people ought to ride this bus, it feels great.

When these things get retired, they coudl be sold second-hand to Greyhound since Greyhound is actively looking for this model on the market to rebuild them and put them into intercity service. But this one doesn't have a restroom so I don't know how ti would turn out.

*Greyhound Lines San Francisco-Reno*

*Schedule 8308 San Francisco-Reno*

*MCI 102DL3 Intercity Cruiser #6909 (2000, Pembina)*

*Detroit Diesel Series 60 "R"** with Allison B500 and Jake Brake*

*Amaya-Astron Patriot PT x 51*

*Seat 5-6*
*Driver named Juan*

*Departure: 1:00 PM (on-time)* 
*Arrival: 6:40 PM (on-time)*

After matter in San Francisco, I did a joyride on a PCC painted in El Paso colors, this one came from Minneapolis and Newark, with the cutoff right windshield. Not very crowded at all. I got some lunch at the Portico then walked to the Transbay Terminal. Afraid I would miss my bus, I forgot to take a photo of the DL3 parked at the terminal even though I gawked in surprise that such a bus would make it to San Francisco, DL3's don't usually go past Reno, heck they don't even go past Denver than much anymore. But there it was, #6909 with the big distinctive grille in the rear, painted silver metallic.

I was wrong to be in a hurry, I actually had enough time in the terminal to eat the food from Portico and had to wait for a Los Angeles bus to board first, it was D4505 #86542 which I had taken before. So I knew that the Reno bus must be #6909. There were only about eight passengers from SFD, so we boarded quickly and departed on-time. The driver named Juan gave a great announcement even though he didn't face us.

After negotiating congesting in the Bay Bridge, we got to Oakland and boarded more passengers, most of which got off in Sacramento, where we arrived early. The driver said that he wasn't familar with this type of bus and he hadn't driven the route in six months, explaining why he looked "awkward" at the wheel after another passenger asked if he was in pain. Juan left the bus in idle at SAC and didn't turn it on till boarding began. This time, hoards of passengers filled the bus from front to back, including a baby, which is rarely seen on Greyhound. We departed on time from SAC but the driver wasn't good at driving a DL3 so he crawled up hills at 40 mph, the old driver to Salt Lake City last year took hills like a pro, held 75 mph all the way. I guess you might need to do something with the transmission, even though it's an automatic transmission. But we arrived on time anyway, so it didn't really matter.

This 102DL3 was rebuilt so it has some D4505 features, but still feels like a DL3, or the D4500 described above. You can actually hear the engine in this one. I wish Greyhound had bought more of these.

The connecting bus to Sale Lake City and Denver was D4505 #UT86398, yes, the same bus I had seen when I was leaving Reno, and the Prevost was still parked there. That D4505 must be a regular on the Reno-Denver route, I've only ridden #UT86397 though. What surprised me was more babies waiting for the Denver bus, I have no idea why there's so many babies on Greyhound now, used to be a rarity.

*Conclusion*

Yosemite was great, but I wish I had less fatigue due to the bad hotel in Merced. The D4505 and Comet were both surprisingly bad, I thought the former would be like the other D4505's, but this one was really, really bad. Also, the Comet didn't feel like an Amfleet I, again, it felt like riding an old MC-12, especially with the kind of riff-raff that used to plague Greyhound. The California Car was just like I had expected, felt like a commuter rail car, but wasn't bad for the short ride. PCC was great as always. The 40-LFW feels like any low-floor transit bus and probably doesn't deserve NABI's bad reputation, the Gillig Low Floor was also better than the ones in Reno, but the Van Hool AG300 was a very bad bus, very bumpy ride. I expected Oakland to be dangerous but I don't want to risk it again.


----------



## Swadian Hardcore (Apr 21, 2014)

Michigan Mom said:


> You're a brave guy, Swadian Hardcore. Interesting report, thanks for sharing your knowledge.


Brave? I don't think I'm that brave at all. OK, Merced was bad, Oakland was bad, but I didn't want to be in those situations, I just fell into them. I made mistakes but I coudln't really have avoided them that much. At least I came through fine, thank God.


----------



## NS VIA Fan (Apr 21, 2014)

Thanks for the interesting Trip Report. Brought back memories of the time I rode a San Joaquin but that was so long ago the equipment was a F40 and Amfleet!

>>>>>

I hope we’re going to get a similar Trip Report after you BC and Alberta adventure this summer. You probably won’t run into too many suspicious characters there but I would watch-out for those two local railfans in Jasper I posted the photo of!


----------



## CaliforniaMom (Apr 21, 2014)

I've worked in Oakland for 12 years, been a Bay Area native my entire life.

You were definitely brave to ride the bus through East Oakland, daytime or nighttime. I don't even like driving through during the day.

Glad you made the trip safely, and agree that Yosemite is beautiful!


----------



## Swadian Hardcore (Apr 21, 2014)

CaliforniaMom said:


> I've worked in Oakland for 12 years, been a Bay Area native my entire life.
> 
> You were definitely brave to ride the bus through East Oakland, daytime or nighttime. I don't even like driving through during the day.
> 
> Glad you made the trip safely, and agree that Yosemite is beautiful!


But the 58L wasn't dangerous, I rode that one first, and then when I was already in Eastmont, I really didn't have much choices left. I wouldn't want to ride through East Oakland again, but the 58L is no problem, the 40 is a big problem.


----------



## Green Maned Lion (Apr 21, 2014)

I'm really interested in the setup and configuration of the Comets. Any pics?


----------



## Swadian Hardcore (Apr 22, 2014)

Green Maned Lion said:


> I'm really interested in the setup and configuration of the Comets. Any pics?


Couldn't take any, too crowded and lots of riff-raff. The seats were the standard ASI seats like the Amfleet I, they were fixed and half of them faced forward and half backward. They met in the middle with two table booths. The seats on each side faced the other side, if that makes sense. the I got pictures of the restroom, if you're interested.


----------



## Green Maned Lion (Apr 22, 2014)

Very. I rode those back when they ran the Port Jervis run on NJt some years ago.


----------



## Swadian Hardcore (Apr 22, 2014)

Green Maned Lion said:


> Very. I rode those back when they ran the Port Jervis run on NJt some years ago.


Very what?


----------



## rickycourtney (Apr 22, 2014)

Nice report Swad/John. I enjoyed reading it. The Comet's really are interesting cars... I'm sorry to hear the train was so packed. But I'm glad to hear you enjoyed your trip to Yosemite... it's a wonderful place.

But I guess your trip report underscores the unpredictability of public transportation. [email protected] Mom[/USER] took a Greyhound trip packed with riff-raff and you had a San Joaquin trip packed with riff-raff. That's what you get when your service is open to all paying customers.

@[email protected] Maned Lion[/USER] If you're interested in Amtrak California's Comet IB coaches I did a whole trip report and photo essay a few months ago. It's posted here. Long story short, they're nice cars for what California paid for them ($1.5M per car, which is pretty cheap) and they're a good stopgap until the new Sumitomo/Nippon Sharyo are delivered.


----------



## Green Maned Lion (Apr 22, 2014)

Very interested in any and all pictures.


----------



## Swadian Hardcore (Apr 22, 2014)

When did Michigan Mom take a Greyhound bus with lots of riff-raff? Which route was that? Not much riff-raff around Reno or the Intermountain region, I mean about everything from Reno all the way to Kansas City doesn't have much riff-raff AFAIK. Some of the California routes aren't so great, like SFD-LAD or SAC-LAD.


----------



## Michigan Mom (Apr 22, 2014)

Not real comfortable with the phrase riff-raff, maybe some people think that I am riff-raff. I'm saying that some of the other passengers on our bus out of LAX were not rated G, or even PG, or PG13. So that segment wasn't a good choice for a family vacation. Live and learn. It was one of those deals where I was happy that the driver made all the announcements about how violence and drug use would be prosecuted, but unhappy that it was necessary that the announcements be made. And did you miss the section where the driver thought I was getting off the bus to abandon my children? I guess the plus side is that we have some fun stories to tell in the future at family gatherings or workplace functions (maybe).


----------



## Swadian Hardcore (Apr 23, 2014)

Aw yeah, that route's not good, you should've taken some other route instead, maybe from Phoenix, Denver, or SLC. Transfers to Amtrak would be at Kingman, Green River, and SLC, respectively.

The drivers in Reno are usually nice though. They don't need to make angry announcements about breaking the rules, usually they just says something like, "Please, no smoking or alcohol on this bus, as required by federal law. If you wish to listen to music or other audio, please use headphones, and speak quietly if you make calls on your cell phone."

Yeah, LAD, not a great place for Greyhound, no doubt they put their worst buses there until October 2013. Greyhound's worst people, probably LAD, as I predicted above, worst buses are definitely SEA, best people might be DEN or DAL, best buses might be RHD, DEN, DAL, ATD, those all have good buses, but RHD has the rebuild center so probably the best maintenence. That's for the stations that actually have bus fleets. Hopefully you can understand the codes.

Reno is a great little station, as for OTP, never seen a late Greyhound in Reno since I moved here, and I spot Greyhounds a _lot_. But it's not a major station at all, so no bus fleet, mostly comes from LAD or DEN, the DEN units are better. But the SEA units are the worst when they do end up here.

My Flickr account bugged out for some reason, everytime I try to log in, it says, "Sorry, an error occured," and block me from uploading. Don't know what to do.


----------



## Green Maned Lion (Apr 23, 2014)

Hey, I love Riff-Raff. Richard O'Brien plays him perfectly.


----------



## Swadian Hardcore (Apr 23, 2014)

I guess i prefer to use the term "suspicious passengers." Oh, and my Flickr account is wokring again!


----------



## caravanman (Apr 29, 2014)

Yep, you can't beat travel for broadening the mind.... sometimes.

Ed.


----------



## Swadian Hardcore (Apr 30, 2014)

caravanman said:


> Yep, you can't beat travel for broadening the mind.... sometimes.
> 
> Ed.


Totally agree, sir, that's why I love travelling.


----------

