V
Vito
Guest
My wife and I took our first long distance train ride in early October as part of our honeymoon. We live in the DC area, flew to Chicago, toured there for a couple days, took the Zephyr west from CHI to EMY, connected to SF, toured SF for a few days (including a day on the Pacific Coast Highway), and flew home. Our trip was absolutely epic and the train ride was possibly the best part of all.
We had bedroom accommodations which were expensive but worth it. The room was utilitarian looking, but clean and comfortable. And the bathroom/shower gets the job done as long as you remember to take everything out of the bathroom before turning on the shower (we did)! Having never been on a train ride of more than a few hours before, I was a bit nervous that I wouldn't enjoy the ride and then be stuck in misery for 52 (or more) hours! And sure enough, the first 20 minutes or so out of Chicago felt a bit rocky and disconcerting (walking at 70 mph takes some getting used to!), but from then on, we found the trip relatively smooth. The room is certainly a bit tight when the bed is down (we were in Bedroom A), but we didn't find it much of a problem at all.
Sure there were some minor problems, but we were ready for that (much thanks to everyone on this board!). There were some random squeaks from the upper bed frame when the train got up to high speed. The door with the garbage can didn't want to stay shut (someone prior to us had already tried to duct tape it shut with mixed results). Our room's intercom wasn't working at first, but then we notified our sleeping car attendant and he hit some sort of switch that fixed it for the remainder of the ride.
Somewhere in Iowa we were told that we would have to stop because of engine trouble. We did and then the power was lost! Uh oh, we thought -- I imagined hopping on a bus in the middle of the night to a random town in Iowa. But after just 10-15 minutes, we were back up and moving -- I don't know what it could have been that was so easily fixed/replaced, but I'm thankful that it was.
We peaked at about 2 and a half or 3 hours behind in Nebraska, due to occasional stopping for freight, but we made up time the rest of the way and arrived only 6 minutes late into Emeryville!
The scenery was absolutely amazing. There's truly no better way to see so much diverse American scenery in such a relatively short time than to take a train. We were particularly stunned by the Canyons on the west side of the Rockies before Glenwood Springs. And getting to see Ruby Canyon in western CO/eastern UT near sunset was just magical. We utilized the sightseeing car when climbing the Rockies out of Denver (we arrived early to grab a seat) as well as when we crossed the Mississippi and at Donner Pass. That was a nice change of pace, but we found that our view was often better from our bedroom window (and the window right out our door on the other side of the train). These windows were unobstructed and much cleaner than the windows in the Lounge.
My wife and I slept together in the lower bunk -- we are average or slightly shorter than average people, so that was fine... but I could definitely imagine that couples who are any larger would find it more comfortable to use the upper berth. Sleep the first night was passable but wasn't great, but we slept very well the second night.
We found the staff exceedingly friendly and helpful. Our SCA was named Ralph and while he could be a bit of a jokester, he always looked out for us knowing it was our first overnight train ride (asking if we made dinner reservations, set our clocks back, made sure we didn't stray far from the train on longer stops). He took care of any issues we had promptly and did it with a positive attitude. He had bottles of water, juice, and coffee available for our car as well. Our server in the dining car was also great -- I think her name was Gracie. She was so friendly and accommodating with our requests...she remembered us very quickly and even what we had ordered on previous days.
We found the food to be better than expected. The breakfast was pretty good, lunch was okay but disappointing, and dinner was great. For dinner, one day I had barbecued ribs and the other day I had steak. The ribs were a bit tough, but meaty and flavorful. And the steak was shockingly good -- I am pretty picky when it comes to steak, but this was towards the upper limit of what you could expect at a casual steakhouse (what you might have on a good day at a Longhorn or Outback, etc.) Breakfast was acceptable -- we aren't breakfast people particularly but they had a good selection of things. We found lunch to be very "pre-made" tasting -- for instance, my pork sandwich came with cheese and mustard already on the sandwich with no way to remove it (why would you do that?).
The dining system could be improved -- on a relatively full train, it seems that the dining car will quickly be on a wait for every meal. But they only took advance reservations for dinner, so we had to walk to the dining car, put our name down, and wait to be called. That's no big deal of course, but I don't understand why they just don't take reservations for all meals (at least for lunch and dinner) and then allow walk-ins for the remaining times. Also, by the last day, they were running out of some selections, but there were still at least 3 or 4 to choose from at each meal. Overall though -- a good experience.
One of the best parts of the train was meeting interesting people -- we met retirees on vacation from England, young solo travelers, a ranch hand from Nebraska, and an older couple visiting their daughter in California. I was a bit worried about this being awkward at meal times, but we were fortunate and found all of our tablemates easy to talk to (without being too invasive).
The gentleman in the room next to ours was a freight company employee who was using his 2 weeks vacation to criss-cross the nation with his wife on all of Amtrak's long distance trains. He was coming to the end of his marathon trip and said that while all of the trains have great individual aspects, he found the Zephyr to be his favorite.
Arriving into EMY, we departed our train and waited for the Thruway bus to San Francisco. We only needed to be dropped off at the Ferry Building, which is listed at the first stop on Amtrak's schedules. However, after waiting in a long line while luggage was loaded onto the bus, we boarded the bus only to sit for 30-40 minutes or so while the bus driver talked to people off the bus (not giving us any update or apology on what happened). Then when he finally arrived onboard, he said we'd be going to Oakland first (which wasn't even on the schedule). We got stuck in a ton of traffic in Oakland and then were crossing the Bay Bridge at the height of rush hour. Then he stopped at the Financial Building before the Ferry Building which got us caught in even more traffic. The driver was rude to the passengers and I have no idea why the schedule changed or why we were delayed. The driver appeared to work for an outside contractor, but it was a bitter note to end the "Amtrak" portion of our trip on, especially given that all the staff on our train was outstanding.
That minor point aside, we are excited to take another long distance trip in the coming years -- perhaps the Empire Builder with a stop in Glacier or a portion of the Southwest Chief. We had a wonderful time on the Zephyr and found it to truly be a trip of a lifetime.
-- Vito
We had bedroom accommodations which were expensive but worth it. The room was utilitarian looking, but clean and comfortable. And the bathroom/shower gets the job done as long as you remember to take everything out of the bathroom before turning on the shower (we did)! Having never been on a train ride of more than a few hours before, I was a bit nervous that I wouldn't enjoy the ride and then be stuck in misery for 52 (or more) hours! And sure enough, the first 20 minutes or so out of Chicago felt a bit rocky and disconcerting (walking at 70 mph takes some getting used to!), but from then on, we found the trip relatively smooth. The room is certainly a bit tight when the bed is down (we were in Bedroom A), but we didn't find it much of a problem at all.
Sure there were some minor problems, but we were ready for that (much thanks to everyone on this board!). There were some random squeaks from the upper bed frame when the train got up to high speed. The door with the garbage can didn't want to stay shut (someone prior to us had already tried to duct tape it shut with mixed results). Our room's intercom wasn't working at first, but then we notified our sleeping car attendant and he hit some sort of switch that fixed it for the remainder of the ride.
Somewhere in Iowa we were told that we would have to stop because of engine trouble. We did and then the power was lost! Uh oh, we thought -- I imagined hopping on a bus in the middle of the night to a random town in Iowa. But after just 10-15 minutes, we were back up and moving -- I don't know what it could have been that was so easily fixed/replaced, but I'm thankful that it was.
We peaked at about 2 and a half or 3 hours behind in Nebraska, due to occasional stopping for freight, but we made up time the rest of the way and arrived only 6 minutes late into Emeryville!
The scenery was absolutely amazing. There's truly no better way to see so much diverse American scenery in such a relatively short time than to take a train. We were particularly stunned by the Canyons on the west side of the Rockies before Glenwood Springs. And getting to see Ruby Canyon in western CO/eastern UT near sunset was just magical. We utilized the sightseeing car when climbing the Rockies out of Denver (we arrived early to grab a seat) as well as when we crossed the Mississippi and at Donner Pass. That was a nice change of pace, but we found that our view was often better from our bedroom window (and the window right out our door on the other side of the train). These windows were unobstructed and much cleaner than the windows in the Lounge.
My wife and I slept together in the lower bunk -- we are average or slightly shorter than average people, so that was fine... but I could definitely imagine that couples who are any larger would find it more comfortable to use the upper berth. Sleep the first night was passable but wasn't great, but we slept very well the second night.
We found the staff exceedingly friendly and helpful. Our SCA was named Ralph and while he could be a bit of a jokester, he always looked out for us knowing it was our first overnight train ride (asking if we made dinner reservations, set our clocks back, made sure we didn't stray far from the train on longer stops). He took care of any issues we had promptly and did it with a positive attitude. He had bottles of water, juice, and coffee available for our car as well. Our server in the dining car was also great -- I think her name was Gracie. She was so friendly and accommodating with our requests...she remembered us very quickly and even what we had ordered on previous days.
We found the food to be better than expected. The breakfast was pretty good, lunch was okay but disappointing, and dinner was great. For dinner, one day I had barbecued ribs and the other day I had steak. The ribs were a bit tough, but meaty and flavorful. And the steak was shockingly good -- I am pretty picky when it comes to steak, but this was towards the upper limit of what you could expect at a casual steakhouse (what you might have on a good day at a Longhorn or Outback, etc.) Breakfast was acceptable -- we aren't breakfast people particularly but they had a good selection of things. We found lunch to be very "pre-made" tasting -- for instance, my pork sandwich came with cheese and mustard already on the sandwich with no way to remove it (why would you do that?).
The dining system could be improved -- on a relatively full train, it seems that the dining car will quickly be on a wait for every meal. But they only took advance reservations for dinner, so we had to walk to the dining car, put our name down, and wait to be called. That's no big deal of course, but I don't understand why they just don't take reservations for all meals (at least for lunch and dinner) and then allow walk-ins for the remaining times. Also, by the last day, they were running out of some selections, but there were still at least 3 or 4 to choose from at each meal. Overall though -- a good experience.
One of the best parts of the train was meeting interesting people -- we met retirees on vacation from England, young solo travelers, a ranch hand from Nebraska, and an older couple visiting their daughter in California. I was a bit worried about this being awkward at meal times, but we were fortunate and found all of our tablemates easy to talk to (without being too invasive).
The gentleman in the room next to ours was a freight company employee who was using his 2 weeks vacation to criss-cross the nation with his wife on all of Amtrak's long distance trains. He was coming to the end of his marathon trip and said that while all of the trains have great individual aspects, he found the Zephyr to be his favorite.
Arriving into EMY, we departed our train and waited for the Thruway bus to San Francisco. We only needed to be dropped off at the Ferry Building, which is listed at the first stop on Amtrak's schedules. However, after waiting in a long line while luggage was loaded onto the bus, we boarded the bus only to sit for 30-40 minutes or so while the bus driver talked to people off the bus (not giving us any update or apology on what happened). Then when he finally arrived onboard, he said we'd be going to Oakland first (which wasn't even on the schedule). We got stuck in a ton of traffic in Oakland and then were crossing the Bay Bridge at the height of rush hour. Then he stopped at the Financial Building before the Ferry Building which got us caught in even more traffic. The driver was rude to the passengers and I have no idea why the schedule changed or why we were delayed. The driver appeared to work for an outside contractor, but it was a bitter note to end the "Amtrak" portion of our trip on, especially given that all the staff on our train was outstanding.
That minor point aside, we are excited to take another long distance trip in the coming years -- perhaps the Empire Builder with a stop in Glacier or a portion of the Southwest Chief. We had a wonderful time on the Zephyr and found it to truly be a trip of a lifetime.
-- Vito
