A tale starting at the end of the trip and will post the actual trip l

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bobnjulie

Lead Service Attendant
Joined
Jun 7, 2013
Messages
393
Location
California
I will never remember this and I don't want to forget the craziness of this night...



So the California Zephyr has almost always made it home early and so I got us unreserved tickets for a Capitol Corridor ticket for the 3:50... only we got to Emeryville at 4:10... 20 stinking minutes... The funny part is that we were talking about jumping off in Sacramento to get the train but decided to stay and relax on the train.... oh the price we paid.



So we were waiting for the 5:35 train when about 5:15 there is a status that it's going to 10 minutes late... and then... later and later.... I go up and ask the guy and he says that he has notice about a freight train and trespasser... Finally announced about 5:45 that all trains have been halted around Richmond. Now I'm pacing and I go up and ask about rental car places... So it's Year's Eve and everything was shut down and the Amtrak employee said it's a fatality. I know what that means. Hours delay. I asked cab driver about fare to Oakland Airport... $60.... so I go back and ask about Bart. Oh yeah, there is a free shuttle to Bart. Go up and over the bridge and down to the other side. So we do.... and ask an employee at a store when the shuttle is and he says it's shut down because it's New Year's Eve so we turn and we see a bus and we say "Do you go near the Bart station" and he says "Yes the Macarthur" and so we hop on and we have no idea what the heck or where the heck he is taking us but we are moving. The time is around 6 pm.....



We get to the Bart station and admit our ignorance.... Where are we and what do we do? We run in to our 3rd angel of the night.. a Bart employee who basically -besides paying cash for our ticket - does everything else. Do this, do this.... we finally get in, go up the escalator and hit the yellow line for SFO and Millbrae - where I sit next to the sweetest boy who I hope is not puking his guts out now.



Meanwhile, I am using my Kindle to figure out when Caltrain is running since that is our connection..... so the Baby Bullet hits Millbrae at 7:15... and it's 6:45... ummmmm.... so I ask a 4th angel and she says look up 511.... and I do and we are expected to hit Millbrae at 7:10... oh crap... here we go again.



Train actually pulls in at 7:10 and I'm runningish to the main exit and I exit and as I do I realize that we need to maybe not get out since we have to be on the other side so I stop my husband from coming out... Now he's still trapped in Bart without a ticket and our 5th angel and she says you have to go up and then over and then down... and I'm runningish and my husband can't figure how to get out without a ticket and he runs in to our 6th angel - a BART policeman who is running and shows him a working escalator and I'm going up on the outside with a NON-working escalator and we hit the top about the same time and it's 7:14 and here is the train and if we miss it, the next train is 45 minutes later and it's a LOCAL.... and I'm screaming run and we are running down the stairs and the suitcase is bumping down the stairs... and we might make it but where is Bob and he's trying to buy tickets and I'm GET ON!!! and he does and we make it but we haven't paid our fare.



So we are sitting there - like zombies and I'm coughing because my virus is sitting in my chest and I'm wheezing and finally I see a conductor and I'm like "Talk to him" since CalTrain is prepaid and we have NOT prepaid and so we do... and we meet our 7th angel of the night and we go in to our explanation and since he's a train guy - he knows about trespassers and fatalities....and he is good and sweet and kind and he says "After 8 pm, all rides are free. I'll get you to San Jose" and we are humbled and grateful and I'm ready to cry and so we sit.... and we make it to San Jose... and we find out that the trains started running about 7:55 and it was 8:05 and so we hop in a cab and meet our 8th angel and he takes us to the daily parking lot of Terminal B at the San Jose Airport and our car is there and it starts and we go to In N Out burger for dinner since we last ate at 11:30 on the train and we get home and our home is in one piece and our cat is here and his food is all over the stove but he's here and my mom dropped off our crab - which was supposed to be tonight's dinner but will be tomorrow's lunch-dinner and that is the end of our tale.
 
So since I’ve had to go to the e.r. twice this year for my heart rhythm issue and owe our local hospital more than I want to think about, it was going to be a movie exchange kind of Christmas…. Simple but happy. Now, at one point, my husband stopped me from looking at his trunk, so my suspicions were aroused but come Christmas day, all was quiet…no unusual boxes. Now I was excited for my husband to open his stocking and see the Superman cape I had purchased when we went to Six Flaggs – since he is my hero. He smiled and was happy and I finished looking at my stocking. I finally get to the toe and pull out an envelope. Well, in the past, I’ve put notes sending my husband on a seek and find for a larger present hidden somewhere in the house so I thought “A ha…. That stinker is hiding a new frying pan somewhere…” but no. It had a couple of pieces of paper….. tickets??? A ticket? Southwest.. ??? Amtrak???? I see my name… am I going somewhere?? A couple of minutes later, and I’m crying and hugging him and I think it took another 15 minutes before I figured out that we were going to fly to Denver and take the California Zephyr home --- in a bedroom!!! --- on THURSDAY!!! My sweet husband had run around paying cash for everything to avoid me seeing my expenses.

You must know by now, I am a planner…. I plan trips and think about trips and make sure everything is prepared for and we were going on a trip Thursday! After a couple hours of screaming and leaping for joy, I hit the computer and flesh out the details of the trip and pack. It was the world’s quickest 4 days and before I knew it, it was Thursday and we were headed for San Jose’s airport. Since our last trip was a total nightmare involving TSA at San Jose, I wanted to make sure that we had plenty of time for me to be hand frisked and hauled to the side. Miracle of miracles, I actually made it through quite easily and we had plenty of time to eat a nice dinner before our flight. The flight was uneventful and we landed at Denver on time around 9 p.m. Due to my mobility issues, we had a wheelchair waiting for us at Denver. You know, I hate having to use assistance but it really makes getting around the Denver airport painlessly. I guess most people figure it out but having to take a train to get to the baggage area would get me all turned around.

Thanks to this forum, I knew that there was a train from the airport to Denver Union Station and that was one of things I had researched. Luckily, once we picked up our one piece of luggage, my friend wheeled us right to the escalator to get the train. That is one STEEP escalator! Buying tickets to Union Station was painless and while the train was full, we only had a wait around 5 minutes before we took off. I would highly recommend this as a very painless, safe way to get to Union Station. When we got off, we could have grabbed a cab to our hotel but it was a beautiful night and so we decided to walk to our hotel since it was only 6 blocks. We walked down 17th and first spotted The Oxford Hotel, which was one option my husband had considered but got a better deal at the Westin Denver Downtown. Easy to check in but since it was after 10 and we’d had dinner at around 4:15 pm, my husband was hungry. After calling maintenance to open the cabinets which housed the refrigerator and nothing else, we asked about food and the maintenance man told us a 7 11 was one block away. After a quick snack, we were off to bed.

I woke up around 5:30 just to check the status of the train and seeing it was almost on time, got up and moving. We left our hotel around 7 am and, instead of walking back up 17th, I made us go left and hit 16th. Part of my research had uncovered a free bus that stops at every block on 16th so when we spotted one, we hopped on board. My husband got nervous about seeing construction so we hopped off a block or two too soon and headed in to Union Station. I spotted a tee shirt I wanted to buy so I sent him ahead to get the lay of the land while I made my purchase. When I came out, he said that people were lining up for the train on the platform so away we went. We had spotted it last night and taken pictures but I was sad to see that the beautiful p.v. Patron rail car was going to be added to our consist. It really broke my heart when the train pulled in and we saw that the car we were in was going to be the last car with a railfan window that was now blocked by the Patron railcar.

Faith was our room attendant and was a doll. Denver must be brutal for the onboard staff since half her car got off in Denver, replaced by us. A very quick turn for her but they let us know that we could come in, drop our bags and head down to breakfast and rooms would be ready by the time we were done. Luckily for us, our bedroom was already set so life was easy. The dining car crew was great with James as LSA…. A very full train but with our bedroom, the trip couldn’t have been any better almost….. I’m so happy they had commentary about where we were or what to look for during that spectacular 8 hour run.

On an amazing note, I had a warmed cake with all sorts of delicious toppings for desert for dinner and OMG…. So amazing. Husband had the lava cake and it was served on a plate so good for them. I must admit that I was brave enough for the cod and even that tasted great!

Sadness came the next morning when they announced that something had happened with the refrigeration overnight and there would be limited choices for breakfast and lunch that day but I was impressed with how they pulled it off.

It was a great trip that was almost perfect except for our Great Adventure once we arrived in Emeryville.

As a side note, my husband had debated about the early versus later flight and I was glad that this time we had the later flight since I had work to do and some stuff to do with my mom but next time – and I’m hoping there will be! – I’d want to take the early flight and use the 16th Street Shuttle to explore downtown Denver…. I’d also see if we could treat ourselves to a room at The Crawford… but not at the expense of a bedroom! ;)

Thanks for taking the time to read! I got sick when we got home so am nestled under a blanket. Hope you all have a wonderful 2017!
 
Thanks, I enjoyed your report. I travel on the CZ several times a year(if I can) and always enjoy the on board crew including the sleeping car attendants and the dining car attendants. Luckily, I have never encountered the limited service due to operational problems in the dining car. I did get to enjoy the extra beef stew and rice dinner on a five hour late train into Emeryville mainly because we pulled five private cars and spent lots of time especially in Denver parking them and/or services them. We lost 2 hours backing in and parking the private cars, pulling all the way out and backing the CZ regular cars on separate track. Then when we departed we had to pull all the way out and then back back in to pick up the private cars and then pull out again. Thankfully we ditched the private cars in Sacramento. Why two separate tracks in Denver? Because the boarding track was not long enough for five extra private cars plus the usual extra summertime consist for the Zephyr.
 
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