Trip Report – Bucket List Roomette DEN/PDX
I finally did it. For years and years, I’ve wanted to travel the rails longhaul. I’ve had enough Amtrak points from sign up bonus + a few points moved in from Chase to book a roomette pre-devaluation. But first, I needed an ‘excuse’ to start travel. As luck would have it, I had a meeting to attend in Denver. Ok, so now what. Where should I start the trip? Denver or the Northwest? I wanted to get a long ride for my money/points. After discussion with 2 frequent train riders, it was suggested the ride west from Denver would work best for my trip. I planned on heading all the way to Seattle, but I was told the ride north of PDX wouldn’t be worth the extra train time.
The California Zephyr arrives Denver at 7:15 am, and departs an hour later. I wanted to be there to see the train arrive, and arrive it did… backwards. #5 backs in at DEN. The Conductor looks out of the back door of the train with a walkie talkie, as he guides the train in ever so slowly.
Adjacent to the track is a sign for Sleeper passengers. I was #1 on the line. The conductor first checks in coach passengers, then sleepers. I figured this was to allow extra time to prepare the rooms. Nathan was old time railroad. Working since 1979, he was like one of those perfect flight attendants you get every once in a while. He explained everything to me. He had coffee prepared first thing, otherwise you’d have to wait to get a cup in the dining room, where all meals are free to sleeping car customers. Mid-day, he put out some cookies and candy for his passengers. I didn’t see that in the other sleeper cars. He also had some books out.
I’m told to board the second car, room 8 upstairs. The pictures Amtrak provides on their website are just like hotel pictures. They make everything look so good. Truth be told, it was better than I expected when I look back. The two seats are extra wide, with lots of legroom. Water and trip information are provided. I headed to breakfast. More below on the meals.
We pulled out on time, making our way slowly out of DEN. The next several hours west were spectacular. I’ve been to Colorado several times. I’ve driven I-70 and the highway travels adjacent to the Colorado River and Amtrak right-of-way. It was good viewing since I didn’t have to worry about the road. The snow covered mountains, lakes, river, and greenery were making this trip a wise decision. We crossed the Continental Divide as we headed through the Moffat Tunnel.
I was logging in arrival times the entire trip. We were on time or just a few minutes behind. I can’t say that about The Coast Starlight, which was 70 minutes late arriving in Sacramento. If the wi-fi ever worked (except at a station), I could have posted this earlier.
At the beginning of the trip, the Conductor explained it all. Wanna drink in your room, no problem. Wanna drink your booze in public, sorry, we’ll kick you off at the next stop. He was clear about this.
I did bring reading material. Big mistake. Every time I started to read, I missed something. After doing this a couple of times, I stayed glued to my seat in the car with the nice big (almost) floor to ceiling windows. I met lots of nice people this way. There was a tour group of 70 – 80 year olds that boarded the evening before in Omaha. Most of them were very nice. Some were a hoot. When they got off in Reno the next morning, it got pretty quiet, and all of a sudden, the parlor car had available seats.
I’m from New York. I was surprised to see someone say a prayer before lunch. Maybe I shouldn’t have been surprised. After lunch, a large group of Amish got off in Colorado Springs. There were close to 50+ Amish at the station. I thought how expensive it must be to feed a family multiple meals on the train if you’re riding coach. Maybe the sleeper pays for itself.
As we approached GS, you could see rafts riding the Colorado (they always waved at the train), and people on bicycles adjacent to the river. We did that about 15 years ago as the 5 pulled into GS. That’s how long I wanted to take this trip. I did ride without my wife. If she would have seen the upper bunk, she would have been a litlle upset. FYI, you can’t look out of the window from the upper. I slept pretty well on the train. There are no locks on the compartment, unless you’re inside it. When I said to Nathan < eek>, he told me not to worry.
You can read between GS and Grand Junction. I didn’t think the ride was anything special. As we approached Green River, I thought how depressing this town is.
Bathroom/Showers
The bathroom on board is like an airline bathroom. There are a few in each sleeper + 1 shower. On the Coast Starlight, I found a bathroom that was about 50% bigger than the one on the Zephyr. Same goes for the shower. The Zephyr was 2.5 x 2.5. The Coast Starlight was 3.5 x 3.5. I measured. The shower room was slightly larger too.
The first morning I went for a shower at 6:00am. I had to go to 3 cars before I found a vacant one. I wanted to get a jump on the other pax, who all beat me to it.
The next morning I went at 7:30.
Speaking of the scenery, I was disappointed with the northbound Coast Starlight. In the northeast, we’re use to seeing lots of greenery, rolling hills, and pine trees. Think Catskills or Adirondack Mountains. Also Northern California. Well, that’s all I viewed from Klamath Falls to PDX. It was nothing special (to me). My setamate at lunch, who was from SoCal, told me he’s never seen anything like this before. He was enthralled with the scenery. Go figure. YMMV.
Meals were plentiful and filling. The breakfast of French toast one day, and an egg special the next, were better than some local restaurants. Whatever I asked for, the server brought. It’s all free in a sleeper. Don’t forget to tip. For lunch, they always had a special, which was sold out at 12:15 on the first day, and 1:00 on the next. The hamburger was pretty good, as was the “I never wanted to order” veggie burger. Everything is included, except the booze/wine.
Dinner was a pleasant surprise too. While the $25 steak isn’t worthy of a NY Steakhouse, it much better than I ever expected. Tasty and enjoyable. I’m not sure I’d pay that price on a train, but less expensive items were always offered. The menu did get boring, and I felt bad for riders that were east coast originating.
One last thing for now, at lunch everyone talked about how much they paid for their ticket. The guy next to me told the other 2 people at the table that he used points. He went on to talk about the Chase credit card. That’s when I asked him if he was a Flyertalker. He was.
I used 15,000 points for the Roomette. The bedroom would have been 20,000 (all pre-devaluation).
Dan
I finally did it. For years and years, I’ve wanted to travel the rails longhaul. I’ve had enough Amtrak points from sign up bonus + a few points moved in from Chase to book a roomette pre-devaluation. But first, I needed an ‘excuse’ to start travel. As luck would have it, I had a meeting to attend in Denver. Ok, so now what. Where should I start the trip? Denver or the Northwest? I wanted to get a long ride for my money/points. After discussion with 2 frequent train riders, it was suggested the ride west from Denver would work best for my trip. I planned on heading all the way to Seattle, but I was told the ride north of PDX wouldn’t be worth the extra train time.
The California Zephyr arrives Denver at 7:15 am, and departs an hour later. I wanted to be there to see the train arrive, and arrive it did… backwards. #5 backs in at DEN. The Conductor looks out of the back door of the train with a walkie talkie, as he guides the train in ever so slowly.
Adjacent to the track is a sign for Sleeper passengers. I was #1 on the line. The conductor first checks in coach passengers, then sleepers. I figured this was to allow extra time to prepare the rooms. Nathan was old time railroad. Working since 1979, he was like one of those perfect flight attendants you get every once in a while. He explained everything to me. He had coffee prepared first thing, otherwise you’d have to wait to get a cup in the dining room, where all meals are free to sleeping car customers. Mid-day, he put out some cookies and candy for his passengers. I didn’t see that in the other sleeper cars. He also had some books out.
I’m told to board the second car, room 8 upstairs. The pictures Amtrak provides on their website are just like hotel pictures. They make everything look so good. Truth be told, it was better than I expected when I look back. The two seats are extra wide, with lots of legroom. Water and trip information are provided. I headed to breakfast. More below on the meals.
We pulled out on time, making our way slowly out of DEN. The next several hours west were spectacular. I’ve been to Colorado several times. I’ve driven I-70 and the highway travels adjacent to the Colorado River and Amtrak right-of-way. It was good viewing since I didn’t have to worry about the road. The snow covered mountains, lakes, river, and greenery were making this trip a wise decision. We crossed the Continental Divide as we headed through the Moffat Tunnel.
I was logging in arrival times the entire trip. We were on time or just a few minutes behind. I can’t say that about The Coast Starlight, which was 70 minutes late arriving in Sacramento. If the wi-fi ever worked (except at a station), I could have posted this earlier.
At the beginning of the trip, the Conductor explained it all. Wanna drink in your room, no problem. Wanna drink your booze in public, sorry, we’ll kick you off at the next stop. He was clear about this.
I did bring reading material. Big mistake. Every time I started to read, I missed something. After doing this a couple of times, I stayed glued to my seat in the car with the nice big (almost) floor to ceiling windows. I met lots of nice people this way. There was a tour group of 70 – 80 year olds that boarded the evening before in Omaha. Most of them were very nice. Some were a hoot. When they got off in Reno the next morning, it got pretty quiet, and all of a sudden, the parlor car had available seats.
I’m from New York. I was surprised to see someone say a prayer before lunch. Maybe I shouldn’t have been surprised. After lunch, a large group of Amish got off in Colorado Springs. There were close to 50+ Amish at the station. I thought how expensive it must be to feed a family multiple meals on the train if you’re riding coach. Maybe the sleeper pays for itself.
As we approached GS, you could see rafts riding the Colorado (they always waved at the train), and people on bicycles adjacent to the river. We did that about 15 years ago as the 5 pulled into GS. That’s how long I wanted to take this trip. I did ride without my wife. If she would have seen the upper bunk, she would have been a litlle upset. FYI, you can’t look out of the window from the upper. I slept pretty well on the train. There are no locks on the compartment, unless you’re inside it. When I said to Nathan < eek>, he told me not to worry.
You can read between GS and Grand Junction. I didn’t think the ride was anything special. As we approached Green River, I thought how depressing this town is.
Bathroom/Showers
The bathroom on board is like an airline bathroom. There are a few in each sleeper + 1 shower. On the Coast Starlight, I found a bathroom that was about 50% bigger than the one on the Zephyr. Same goes for the shower. The Zephyr was 2.5 x 2.5. The Coast Starlight was 3.5 x 3.5. I measured. The shower room was slightly larger too.
The first morning I went for a shower at 6:00am. I had to go to 3 cars before I found a vacant one. I wanted to get a jump on the other pax, who all beat me to it.
Speaking of the scenery, I was disappointed with the northbound Coast Starlight. In the northeast, we’re use to seeing lots of greenery, rolling hills, and pine trees. Think Catskills or Adirondack Mountains. Also Northern California. Well, that’s all I viewed from Klamath Falls to PDX. It was nothing special (to me). My setamate at lunch, who was from SoCal, told me he’s never seen anything like this before. He was enthralled with the scenery. Go figure. YMMV.
Meals were plentiful and filling. The breakfast of French toast one day, and an egg special the next, were better than some local restaurants. Whatever I asked for, the server brought. It’s all free in a sleeper. Don’t forget to tip. For lunch, they always had a special, which was sold out at 12:15 on the first day, and 1:00 on the next. The hamburger was pretty good, as was the “I never wanted to order” veggie burger. Everything is included, except the booze/wine.
Dinner was a pleasant surprise too. While the $25 steak isn’t worthy of a NY Steakhouse, it much better than I ever expected. Tasty and enjoyable. I’m not sure I’d pay that price on a train, but less expensive items were always offered. The menu did get boring, and I felt bad for riders that were east coast originating.
One last thing for now, at lunch everyone talked about how much they paid for their ticket. The guy next to me told the other 2 people at the table that he used points. He went on to talk about the Chase credit card. That’s when I asked him if he was a Flyertalker. He was.
I used 15,000 points for the Roomette. The bedroom would have been 20,000 (all pre-devaluation).
Dan
