Connection from California Zephyr to Coast Starlight

In the fall, I am planning to travel from Denver to Seattle. Are there other options other than connecting from CA Zephyr to Coast Starlight in Sacramento? If not, are there things to do in Sacramento during the long layover? Is the station comfortable?

I am open to suggestions. Thank you.

Going from Denver to Seattle, that is the only option as Denver is only served by one Amtrak train. In Sacramento, the station is within walking distance of the California State Railroad Museum (called one of the best in the country, but only öen until 5 pm I believe) and Old Sacramento.

If you would rather spend a few hours in Davis or Martinez, you could get 1 reservation to either and then another reservation from there to Seattle. It would cost slightly more.

The California state Capitol grounds are also within walking distance of the SAC station as well. The SAC station has been undergoing renovations for 2 years now. For safety, be back to the station before 10PM even though the old wood benches are hard. If you have a sleeper, there is a small 'lounge" over next to the baggage window.

Guest said:

Are there other options other than connecting from CA Zephyr to Coast Starlight in Sacramento?

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Yes. You can also catch the CS at the Emeryville, Davis, or Martinez CZ/CS stops, as long as you're willing to pay to ride both trains further than just to/from Sacramento.

You would have about a 6 hour layover in Emeryville, instead of an about 10 hour layover in Sacramento.

I was recently on layover in SAC and took photos inside and outside of the station. Scroll down in this trip report thread to see the photos.

Also the intermediate stops between SAC and EMY don't have as many amenities and services as EMY and SAC have. For instance EMY does not have baggage carts, but SAC does, since the new SAC boarding platforms are further from the station than the boarding platforms in Emeryville.

Thank you for your responses. I will consider intermediate stops as well as Sacramento.

Correction: Emeryville Station staff use Golf Carts to take passengers and their luggage to/from the Zephyr and Starlight if needed!

Also lots of us still think Davis is the Best layover spot by far when making this connection!

Sacramento also has free Red Cap service that will take pax/baggage to/from the SAC boarding platforms using multi passenger (10?) golf cart type vehicles. Though the Red Cap service is free, a $5 tip to the Red Cap that loads/unloads you bags and drives you to the train is appropriate.

Guest said:

Thank you for your responses. I will consider intermediate stops as well as Sacramento.

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My two cents are that you pray the CZ isn't so late that the CA Railroad Museum is already closed ( or about to). Happened to me last May doing the exact trip. There is little to nothing of great interest, imo, at Old Sacramento and the dining options are not great ( particularly since the one decent restaurant appears to have gone out of business).. So it's a LONG layover waiting for the CS. It may have improved since last year but the Sacramento station was an experience ( which I wouldn't relish again) and I definitely wouldn't venture outside too much once it's dark.

Feel free to read about my layover in SAC here:

http://trainsacrossamerica.blogspot.com/2014/03/sacramento.html

I will be doing this in three weeks. Since we're on an AGR reward, connecting (officially) anyplace other than SAC was not an option (I tried). But we have dinner plans (subject to cancellation due to delays) with relatives in the Emeryville area. Since purchasing the CZ SAC to EMY is not permitted, our plan is to talk to the conductor who works RNO-EMY about options to stay on (perhaps the conductor can force sell SAC-EMY [Amtrak Reservations could not]). If not, we can change to a Capital train at SAC (pretty much hourly during the relevant time of day). For the return, I have the CS booked in coach from Jack London Square to SAC. Hopefully we can get in our bedroom there or somewhere before SAC; if not, we move cars at SAC.

I'll report back on how it went after the trip.

With reference to my post immediately above, this went better than expected.

On our less than two hours late CZ, I talked to the conductor (or AC) out of Reno, explained the situation, and since he had no way to sell us on to EMY, he just OK'd staying on to EMY. We were looking at a less than an hour late arrival (excellent by this month's CZ performance) until we got stabbed by a ship at Suisun Bay. Tipped our SCA extra for the inconvenience.

Returning out of Jack London Square (OKJ), first went to the sleeper, talked to the SCA who said the room was ready. Before we could even board, the conductor came along scanning tickets so explained to her as well, she said OK, took both tickets, and we were off. Again, tipped the SCA extra (although she said it made things a little easier for her since it reduced her SAC boarding number from 17 to 15 - we'd be in bed by SAC and two less people to deal with at midnight was less work for her).

Interesting thing was there another passenger in the car that was giving them a problem since she apparently boarded early without even a coach ticket for the additional distance (don't know if she was also an official SAC connection but don't recall seeing her on the CZ). Having the transportation without the accommodations made it OK since we were entitled to be on the CS, just a matter of determining where on the CS.

A few other comments:

Definitely picked the right day for this. CZ was, as I said, only 1+ hours late. Pervious day was 4+ late and the next day's was 12+ late (but still would have made the connection to a 3+ hour late CS). CS was early into OKJ and was never more than 15 minutes late anywhere, early into PDX, and early into SEA.

PPC was surprisingly uncrowded with meal space going begging for lunch and dinner. We asked about reservations as soon as we boarded at OKJ and were first on the list for both meals. Unsold dinner Day 1 lamb was available for dinner Day 2. Other than breakfast in the diner, we never made it further back than the PPC the entire time on the CS.

On both trains, dining car crews were "aggressive" in soliciting business from Coach passengers (unlike some comments I've seen here about crews that try to discourage Coach business). On the CZ, despite announcing four seating times for dinner both days, they continued to work off the waiting list into what amounted to a fifth seating.

Fun tidbit: having your son text you a picture of the ugly view at EWR (airport) while waiting out a connection and responding with a 30 minute old picture of Donner Lake.

I will be using SAC as transfer point next spring for a Yosemite junket. Boy am I pleased to hear there is a Red Cap !!! After viewing KmH's pics it looks like we will be doing more hiking at SAC than Yosemite.

thanks for all your help

Take a taxi or walk to the Tower Theater. See two movies and eat at the on-site restaurant which is really good. There is also a cinema in the downtown shopping center close to the station, but movies there tend to end by 9:00p. Forget about Old Sacramento at night (or during the day) unless all you want is a beer, ice cream cone or t-shirt. The Rail Museum is definitely worth a couple of hours, but it does close at 5:00p. If you arrive in SAC on time, then go directly to the Rail Museum, then walk the Capitol grounds. Finish up at the Tower for as long as you can stretch it out. Sacramento might seem more exciting if it weren't so close to Davis.

Bob Dylan said:

Correction: Emeryville Station staff use Golf Carts to take passengers and their luggage to/from the Zephyr and Starlight if needed!

Also lots of us still think Davis is the Best layover spot by far when making this connection!

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What do you recommend seeing on a layover in Davis?