Time of year to take the eastbound Zephyr

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cpotisch

cpotisch

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Joined
Sep 2, 2017
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Location
Brooklyn, NY
Hello All! I'm thinking about taking the Zephyr from EMY to CHI next year and was wondering what is considered to be the best time of year to do so. I took #6 last August from Emeryville to Chicago and absolutely loved it, but haven't been able to get a sense of what would be the absolute best time of year to take the trip. Thanks in advance for any answers, and have a great day!
 
I like late spring when there are more daylight hours, but there is still plenty of snow in the mountains and the summer crowds are not yet (over) filling the train.

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Check the weather. If you see a blizzard over the Sierras and Rockies, get a ticket then. We did that once. Train was stopped for 6 hrs over Donner Lake. We had a room, and the staff broke out the wine and Pepperidge Farm cookies. We even got off and took photos against 14 ft snow drifts in the silence.
 
For me, every season is the best to ride the California Zephyr either direction. Last Winter in late January I rode the Zephyr westbound over Colorado and the Sierras. They had record snowfall in the Sierras and the view and experience was absolutely fantastically awesome.
 
cpotisch said:
Hello All! I'm thinking about taking the Zephyr from EMY to CHI next year and was wondering what is considered to be the best time of year to do so. I took #6 last August from Emeryville to Chicago and absolutely loved it, but haven't been able to get a sense of what would be the absolute best time of year to take the trip. Thanks in advance for any answers, and have a great day!
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Best time: On or around the Summer Solstice. The Zephyr's claim to fame is natural beauty, which it has in spades, so the more light the better.

Worst time: Deep winter. Limited light, heater turned up too hot, higher risk of delays, grumpier crew than usual.

 
I did it this past summer and it was great. Nice clear view.

I did the westbound around spring break time and to be honest I liked the view better because there was more snow.

Both my runs were on time.
 

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