RAILforum: California Zephyr

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Posted by CK (Member # 589) on :

My wife & I will be going roundtrip next month from Emeryville, CA to Chicago, Il.
We have a standard sleeper to Chicago & a Deluxe sleeper coming back.
We've traveled before on the Coast Starlight (Oak-LA), the Zephyr (Oak-Reno), & the California local route from Oak to Sac.
This is our first long distance trip.
Please share your experiences and your thoughts. Thank you.

Posted by Mr. Toy (Member # 311) on :

My family took the CZ from Emeryville to Denver last summer and we had a great time. It sounds like this will be your first experience in a sleeper.

The Standard bedroom is quite comfortable. The seats are almost two feet wide. The space under the seats is a little over 9" tall and quite deep so you can easily store tote bags and stuff out of the way. Just don't exceed the 9" thickness or they'll end up in the way at your feet.

In the nighttime configuration, the room has only about two square feet of floor space. The lower bunk is spacious, the upper one can be a little challenging to climb into the first time. The ceiling clearance does not allow you to sit up, so getting in is a bit counterintuitive. You sort of have to aim your head towards the pillow and roll in on your shoulders. After you learn how its easy, but its best for the smaller person in your party.

I suggest you get one of those toiletry kits you can hang on a coathook. It comes in real handy in the little rest rooms. Also, wear rubber soled shoes you can slip on and off easily (like slip-ons or velcro fasteners) for nighttime toilet runs.

The scenery on the CZ is awesome, especially between Glenwood Springs and Denver. It winds through spectacular narrow canyons that can only be seen by rail or raft. Take lots of film.

You may find, as we did, that the sightseer lounge car was more crowded on the westbound trip than the eastbound. I think that was because those coming off the plains were more starved for scenery than those whe had been in the mountains for a long time.

We found the food ranged from good to excellent, though somewhat inconsistent from day to day. Nothing qualified as bad, however.

One more thing to be prepared for. For a day or so after you get off you may still feel like you are moving on the train. This is perfectly normal, and it will pass.

In our experience we were on board the train about 35 hours each way, but it seemed like less than a day. The ride is relaxing, but far from boring!

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Trust God, love your neighbor, and never mistake opinion for truth.
-Mr. Toy

Posted by budd (Member # 97) on :

quote:
Originally posted by CK:
My wife & I will be going roundtrip next month from Emeryville, CA to Chicago, Il.
We have a standard sleeper to Chicago & a Deluxe sleeper coming back.
We've traveled before on the Coast Starlight (Oak-LA), the Zephyr (Oak-Reno), & the California local route from Oak to Sac.
This is our first long distance trip.
Please share your experiences and your thoughts. Thank you.

You`re going to love the deluxe room. The privacy is priceless. With your door open, you can look out both sides of the train. Last year, I was fortunate to have the last deluxe room in the last Superliner car back from Sacramento to Chicago. Don`t quote me, but I think it was bedroom "E". Needless to say, there was no passenger traffic in the corridor and I spent a lot of time looking out the back door at the ribbons of steel we left behind. Awesome. Bon Voyage!

Posted by reggierail (Member # 26) on :

Like I have mentioned in several posts before, I would recommend including both the Zephyr & the Empire builder If you are traveling from Chicago to the west coast. You get more bang for your buck that way. You'd also get the chance to ride the Coast Starlight between Portland & the bay area(S.F.). The sleeper prices on the Empire builder are as cheap or less than the Zephyr also.
Forget about the view out the rear of the train as most of the time there's a lot of express & mail on the end of the train.
Yours Reggie

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Posted by KA6BGJ (Member # 662) on :

I would suggest that since your from San Lorenzo, that you and your Wife might board your train at Oaklands JACK LONDON SQUARE station since it might be a little closer to your home. After All, your vacation really starts the moment you walk out of your house. Also this way BOB can give you a proper send off.

quote:
Originally posted by CK:
My wife & I will be going roundtrip next month from Emeryville, CA to Chicago, Il.
We have a standard sleeper to Chicago & a Deluxe sleeper coming back.
We've traveled before on the Coast Starlight (Oak-LA), the Zephyr (Oak-Reno), & the California local route from Oak to Sac.
This is our first long distance trip.
Please share your experiences and your thoughts. Thank you.

Posted by daniel3197 (Member # 27) on :

I am sorry but the Amtrak California Zephyr(5 and 6) starts and ends in Emeryville CA NOT Jack London Square in Oakland.
This is the ONE Amtrak train that does NOT serve Jack London Square(OKJ).
This is due to the fact that Jack London Square is west or south of the Oakland Yard while Emeryville is east or north of the yards. Starting the trip in Emeryville allows Amtrak to avoid a backup move thru Jack London Square.
ALL of the other Amtrak trains(Coast Starlignt, Capitols and San Joaquins) serve Jack London Square, however.

Posted by Mr. Toy (Member # 311) on :

What would be really nice is if the CZ went as far as San Jose. That would make it a whole lot easier to get to for those of us on the Monterey Bay coast. And it would make it easier for Amtrak to market the Zephyr as a way for inlanders to get to the coast.

Emeryville is a terrible place to terminate the train. The station is nice, but it is not very easy to get to, the neighborhood is scary and parking is quite inadequate.

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Trust God, love your neighbor, and never mistake opinion for truth.
-Mr. Toy

Posted by reggierail (Member # 26) on :

It seems like the Emeryville endpoint for the Zephyr is also due to the freight being loaded on the rear of the train. If there are 5 or 10 freight cars they would have to be removed before the Zephyr arrived OKJ & added after the train left OKJ eastbound. This would add probably close to an hour to the schedule, possibly more if they had problems with the rear end signal device. Departing from Emeryville all this can be taken care of before the train is scheduled to depart. Reggie

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