# Western Circle Train & Drive Tour



## rusty spike (Aug 4, 2012)

DAY 1: Drove personal auto from Phoenix to Flagstaff, parked in Amtrak long-term parking about a block from the station.

Boarded #3 at about 9:30 PM (about ½ hour late) in 2 roomettes for the 3 of us traveling An uneventful night and a well padded scheduled got us to LAX a little early.

DAY 2: As mentioned, we arrived early to LA Union Station and had plenty of time to browse around the station, before heading to the TRAXX Lounge (reserved for Sleeper Pax for the _Coast Starlight_). Amtrak provides baggage check service here, and have coffee & juice available. 




Took the Red Cap ride to train side (always Track #11 for the CS). Was jubilant at seeing the PPC car that was missing for awhile. Left on time for our next destination at MTZ. Beautiful coastal scenery along this route, as well as the thousands of acres of veggies growing in the Salinas Valley. Arrived in MTZ about an hour late, and took a cab to the Muir Lodge Motel, a 1950's era single level motel in Martinez, but totally remodeled, and a very friendly staff. Very reasonably priced for a Bay area facility.

DAY 3: Rented a car from Enterprise about a block up the street and proceeded to Napa Valley for the afternoon. Had lunch in the garden at the V. Sattui Winery in St. Helena, Ca. While having lunch the "_Napa__ Valley__ Wine Train"_ lumbered past. During the evening, we had dinner with my niece from Pinole, who clued us in on what to see and do in San Francisco the next day





DAY4: Went in to San Francisco. I rode the F Line Streetcars; wife shopped at Union Square. The trolley fare was a bargain; parking the rental car was not! Drove across the GG Bridge to the Marin Headlands to get a different view of the bridge and city.






DAY 5: Turned in rental car to board the eastbound _California Zephyr_ at Martinez for a long ride across the High Sierras. There were very interesting improvements being made at the Sacramento Station, to straighten out the platforms, avoiding the sharp "S" curve on departing eastbounds. 



We rode slowly through the mountains appreciating the fantastic views as we passed high above Donner Lake.. Two gentlemen from the California RR Museum boarded our train and gave us a very interesting narration of various points of interest along the route all the way to Reno. Out of Remo we roared across the desert of Nevada and had to detrain at Provo Utah at the ungodly hour of 4:35 AM. Unfortunately the CZ was on time. A couple hours late at this point would have been appreciated as we had to wait in the Marriott Hotel until 8 AM when the Hertz Car Rental office opened.

DAY 6: Switch once again from train to automobile; we drove 4 hours south from Provo to Springdale, UT, gateway to Zion National Park. Spent the rest of the day and evening touring via shuttle bus the inner reaches of Zion Canyon.

DAY 7: Onward via automobile to Bryce Canyon National Park, where typically at this time of year, we experienced a thunderstorm. After spending just a couple hours at Bryce, we left via scenic Utah Route 12, up through the Grand Staircase-Escalante (very rugged landscape) and Capitol Reef National Park, all the way to Green River, (back on an Interstate--I-70) and then south to Moab, UT, gateway to Arches National Park

DAY 8: Visited Arches National Park and between 2 cameras we probably shot over 200 photos at Arches. Departed early afternoon and proceeded up Utah Route 28 which parallels the Colorado River for many miles. We arrived at Grand Junction, CO for the evening. I planned to have my paper tickets issued at the station for the RAT>FLG portion of our return but they had closed an hour before we got there. As it turned out, I'm glad they did.

DAY 9: Leaving Grand Junction, I looked at the Amtrak station list and learned that Glenwood Springs was a "manned station" as well. This would be my last chance to get my paper tickets as we were not planning on going through Denver. I found the station, which is still operating out of the old DRG&W building right in downtown Glenwood Springs. 



Showed the agent my reservation e-mail and he responded, "You're going to get an e-ticket as they switched us over yesterday" Gee, I thought, I hope the conductor is schooled on his new scanner. Anyway, we spent some time in this quaint, mountain resort. The depot has a small RR museum attached which I found interesting. We had lunch at the "Pullman Café" across the street and, lo and behold, the eastbound CZ came in for its station stop, while we were eating. Leaving Glenwood, we drove over through Leadville to Canon City for the night.

DAY 10: Visiting the Royal Gorge via the little Royal Gorge Scenic RR, this will take you out to a viewpoint on the gorge. Unfortunately we did not have the time or a reservation for the Royal Gorge Route RR that runs through the gorge on the old Rio Grande route. Leaving Canon City we drove to Colorado Springs and up to the summit of Pikes Peak…at 14110 feet, it's really up in the air! Speaking of air, it's hard to breathe at that altitude. Leaving Pikes Peak we drove to Raton, NM for the night, staying at the Budget Host/ Melody Lane Motel, a 1950's era motel that has been brought up to date and run by some very friendly folks. It's even "pet-friendly" and "Amtrak-friendly" since it is virtually across the street and down a block from the Raton station.

DAY 11: After dropping luggage and family off at the station, turned in rental car to Hertz agency in Raton, also just a couple blocks from the station.



Raton was a big Santa Fe RR town with yard, roundhouse, and shops to service trains on the Pass, but the SWC is the only caller these days. About 30 or 40 Boy Scouts from Philmont Scout Ranch actually makes Raton a busy stop. Rode coach class this time, enjoyed the ride down through Glorietta pass into Lamy and met e/b SWC #4 past Lamy. We had our last dinner in the diner as the train stopped at Winslow, and with daylight waning, it would be just about another hour to Flagstaff, then the 3 hour drive home.

It was 11 glorious, fun-filled days!


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## johnny.menhennet (Aug 4, 2012)

That sounds like a wonderful trip, and thank you for the accompanying pictures. The only thing that puzzled me was that the CS left on Track 11 at LAX. I'm used to it leaving on 10. Thanks again for the report.


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## rusty spike (Aug 4, 2012)

johnny.menhennet said:


> That sounds like a wonderful trip, and thank you for the accompanying pictures. The only thing that puzzled me was that the CS left on Track 11 at LAX. I'm used to it leaving on 10. Thanks again for the report.






Johnny,

You are correct! My bad...they even have a signboard at the TRAXX Lounge showing Track 10.


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## Bob Dylan (Aug 4, 2012)

:hi: Great Trip Report,  thanks for Posting! A good reminder about San Francisco, if you don't have to Drive to/in the City, Don't! Parking is Mucho Dinero and SF has Cheap Public Transportation as you mentioned! Best way to get to the City is either Via Ferry or BART, I prefer the Ferry! When's the next Trip?? ^_^


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## AmtrakBlue (Aug 4, 2012)

Great report & pictures.

I'm curious how you got to the hotell in Provo at that hour of the day and where it was located.


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## rusty spike (Aug 4, 2012)

AmtrakBlue said:


> Great report & pictures.
> 
> I'm curious how you got to the hotell in Provo at that hour of the day and where it was located.


The Marriott is about 8 blocks or so north of the station (which is a shelter only). I had pre-loaded my cell phone with taxi phone numbers but most of them reference Salt Lake City and Orem. I asked the conductor, who thought for a moment, and said "yes" he could call us a cab. That 1-mile cab ride cost us (3 of us) $15.00, a fare I thought more on the level one would pay in San Francisco. I am sure that there was something in it for the referral from the conductor. Having said that, there aren't many options in Provo for a cab at 4:30 AM. Beats walking, for a family of 3 with 6 pieces of luggage! :wacko:


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## AmtrakBlue (Aug 4, 2012)

Thanks for the info. My daughter & SIL live about 15-30 mins from the Provo station, but with the CZs hours (especially if it's late westbound) I'd like to have a backup plan so they don't have to lose sleep to pick me up or drop me off.


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## rusty spike (Aug 4, 2012)

jimhudson said:


> :hi: Great Trip Report,  thanks for Posting! A good reminder about San Francisco, if you don't have to Drive to/in the City, Don't! Parking is Mucho Dinero and SF has Cheap Public Transportation as you mentioned! Best way to get to the City is either Via Ferry or BART, I prefer the Ferry! When's the next Trip?? ^_^



Boy, howdy, do I ever know how expensive it is to park in SF hboy:  . If we had not planned a round about tour and retrun via the San Rafael-Richmond bridge we would have take public transportation into the city, but as it turned out, we suffered only one $25 parking fee (for about 2 hours) over by the Ferry Building.

The next trip? ASAP  . Realistically, probabley next year.


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