First LD Amtrak Trip! California Zephyr, Chicago to Emeryville - O

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milyusha

milyusha

Joined
Sep 12, 2018
Messages
8
Location
Cincinnati, OH
Hi everyone, I am fulfilling a life-long bucket list item for myself this weekend! I'm taking the train from Chicago all the way to Emeryville, in a roomette on the California Zephyr. I'm flying to Chicago tomorrow very early in the morning from Cincinnati. I have scoured the forum for tips for riding (I have my windex and extension cord and clothes pins...) and hopefully I remembered everything!

Any advice is very much welcome!!

As long as we have wifi or data access, I'll update this post periodically. I enjoy photography so hopefully I can get some nice shots on the train. I am taking my GoPro with a suction cup mount to try to do some timelapse of the trip, and I have a mirrorless Olympus camera that I'm sure I'll wear the shutter out on over the next few days
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If I'm relatively decent at figuring out photos through a window on a moving train, I will try to share what I did. #CrossesFingers

The only long distance train trips I've been on were in Europe (Moscow to St Petersburg being a highlight, but traveling from Kings Cross station in London to Edinburgh, Scotland, was pretty awesome too, at the height of Harry Potter fandom, and I've done winter stretches between Berlin, Prague, and Vienna) so I am looking forward to a different experience here. I would love to do all the long stretches around the country. Otherwise, I've only ridden Amtrak between NYC and DC, and DC into MD on a commuter train. (Not much passenger rail in southern Indiana or Ohio.) I can't wait! Thanks for following along
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Hi milyusha. Wishing you a great trip! You seem like a seasoned LD train traveler, albeit in Europe, so I have no doubt you will cope well with Amtrak and enjoy yourself. I'm sure you'll let us know how things go!
 
Thank you!! It is wonderful so far. We left exactly at 2pm. Our attendant is Michel-Antoine. My room neighbors are very friendly, from Sweden. I didn't have time to pick up the rubber lens hood (thanks for the tip!) but I have a plastic one that seems to be doing the trick so far for the Olympus. The GoPro is set up behind a curtain in my room... hopefully the glare isn't too bad (I am on the left side so the sun is hitting it)! Excited to start getting some photos off it after dinner. So far, a bunch of scenery that looks just like home
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cornfields, windmills, groups of houses.
 
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The first day was nice! The weirdest/most unexpected thing I saw from the train was a guy playing with a remote control car in a park next to the tracks. I had dinner with a nice couple from New Zealand and a nice guy from Texas. Before that, I sat in the observation car for sunset and enjoyed talking with a couple from England. (Everyone is so interesting!) Sunset was phenomenal around Ottumwa, IA. As soon as the sun went down, the train became very rocky. Is that normal? I was exhausted (a wake up call at 4:30am for my flight did me in) but found it extremely hard to sleep. Not sure if I was just too excited or the swaying was a bit much!! (Normally I like that feeling.) I got up around 5am to shower and get breakfast before Denver. The shower was hot and not bad at all (I am 5'2). I had breakfast with a couple from Michigan and a lady from near Los Angeles, extremely enjoyable. We just left Denver and I'm parked on the right side of the observation car ready to see mountains in the snow!! (It's snowing a bit in Denver, quite wonderful!)
 
My first LD train I had a little trouble sleeping but I attributed that to the excitement and newness of traveling by train. 2nd night I slept fine. Subsequent train trips I sleep fine.
 
Sounds like a fairly good start to a Wonderful Trip! Please continue to share your Trip with us and have a Ball!( As Betty said,you should sleep better crossing the Desert between SLC and,Reno!And then you get to cross the Beautiful Sierras!)
 
Sounds a great start to your trip. I kind of re live my own first long distance Amtrak rides when I read others reports.

Please comment on the service you experience in the dinner car, that is a hot topic on AU at this time...
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Ed.
 
Thank you everyone for your sleep comments. I am hoping it goes the same for me tonight!

Today was amazing. We left Denver with strong snow flurries and headed up into the mountains. It kept snowing all the way to Winter Park/Fraser and the evergreen trees were just a picture perfect wonderland. Coming down we had a few flurries but things stopped sticking and instead went back to glorious fall. One of my main wishes for this trip was to get to see the Aspens in yellow and wow. I was so afraid I had missed all of it but thank goodness for Glenwood Springs! Also the last time I went through Glenwood Canyon, in 2010, I was the one driving so I am so so so happy to have photos of it now. We saw two herds of elk for sure and maybe an eagle (I am not convinced but perhaps). We had a pretty sunset in Utah in between Green River and Helper, and it seemed to last forever.

My dining companions were great again. So many interesting people! At breakfast, a couple from Michigan and a lady from Los Angeles. At lunch, a lady from Germany and a guy from the Bay Area. At dinner, a family of 3 also from Michigan. The food has been great. I had scrambled eggs for breakfast, a burger for lunch, and a steak for dinner. As far as service, all of today's meals were good or great - one waitress in particular is really really good (Jana). Last night was definitely lacking and it was a guy who served us.

I am having a wonderful time. I literally watched out the window and took pictures all day, exactly what I wanted to do! Sorry I don't have pictures in this thread yet. I will try to put some as soon as I can!

Looking forward to the Sierras tomorrow. We went to Lake Tahoe and Yosemite for our honeymoon last year in May and I can't wait to see it in Fall!
 
Beautiful!

What a Wonderful Trip! Get ready for the Sierras,, grab a Seat in the Lounge on the Right Side off the Train!( Donner Pass and Lake are Spectacular) Some of us think the Scenery is even better between Reno and Sacramento than the Rockies!
 
I slept much better last night! We are nearly to Sacramento now so it's almost over, and I don't want it to be yet! The views today continued to be stunning. Breakfast to the sunrise in Nevada, lunch just past Colfax. Good dining companions again and good service again (I had the good one again). Going past Donner Lake was breathtaking. I adore the mountains and it was wonderful to be in them so long on this trip. Also looking forward to the ocean!
 
I appreciate your interesting report and the great photos. If you are going into from Emeryville to San Francisco using an Amtrak transfer, I would appreciate learning how that went.
 

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