Need advice on how to leave SAC and get on CS tonight

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Mystic River Dragon

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Joined
Dec 26, 2014
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4,447
I'll be on the Coast Starlight going north tonight, leaving Sacramento at 11:59 p.m.

I'll be in a sleeper so can use the separate waiting room.

How soon should I get there? (I'll take a taxi from the hotel.)

Will the people who take you over on a cart come to the waiting room? How soon do they come? Will they make a couple of trips to make sure they get everyone? Or do you have to track them down?

How safe are the tracks if I end up there early? How safe is the station? Will there be several people traveling that late on the CS in sleepers?

Is the CS always on a particular track? If they take me to the wrong track for some reason, can you walk over a pedestrian bridge to get to the correct one?

I like Sacramento, and wouldn't mind coming back another time, but of course I need to get the correct train tonight!

Thanks very much for advice :) .
 
Patty:

Be sure and track #14 So you don't get to the Station too early, it's usually Late into SAC.

If you're checking Luggage, I'd get there an hour early.Otherwise 30 minutes is fine if you already have your e-ticket and are carrying on your stuff.

As you know, the "waiting area" for Sleeper passengers is in the main waiting room, just tell the agent you'd like assistance to board #14. ( tips are appreciated)

Some people can't handle the semi-long walk through the tunnel to the platform, so getting assistance is a good idea.

Once you reach the Amtrak and Cap Corridor platform, you'll be ready to board when the Train pulls in from Davis coming from the West.( your left )

SAC is,a popular station for boarding so you won't be alone and the Station itself is very safe, but I wouldnt walk akong the River or Old Sacramento this late.

Be ready to wake up with Mt. Shasta glowing in the Morning Sun and for the Station stop in Klamath Falls.

Breakfast is a buffet in the Parlor Car, Regular Menu in the Diner. I recommend you have Breakfast and Lunch in the Parlor Car, it's one of a kind and won't be around forever!

Keep us posted, I'm sure.you'll have a ball
 
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When you arrive depends on if you're checking baggage. Experience has proven to me that some agents will adhere to the 45 minute cut-off for checked luggage like gospel, others will be amicable to checking bags a little later (but nothing past the 30-minute mark for sure.) If you're carrying on all your bags, you could theoretically arrive at the station at the scheduled arrival time and probably be just fine (me, I'd be there no later than 10 minutes before.)

There are always a large number of people boarding at SAC, probably 40 or so, and a good number of those are sleeper passengers. The station will be far from abandoned.

The Red Caps will come to the Sleeper section lounge and escort those interested in cart service over to the back of the station for pick-up. After all the Sleeper passengers who want cart service are moved, coach passengers will be offered this by way of announcement on the PA. There is a security guard in the station, adjacent to the Sleeper lounge area. You're plenty safe.

The tracks are plenty safe too. There are a transient or two in the station head-house area, and definitely out front of the station, but I've never seen or heard of a transient ever around the pathway, tunnel or platforms. The CS tends to use Track 6.

Hope this helps!
 
The Starlight will be on track 5, not track 6. (That is because track 5 is adjacent to the baggage loading platform which is on the opposite side of the train from where the passengers board.)
 
Thank you all for the information and advice.

I have a choice of getting to the station: the hotel shuttle, which stops at 10:00 p.m. but would be safe, or a cab later, which I'm sure would be safe if the hotel orders it for me. If I get to the station a couple of hours early, will there be people there for other trains? Or will it be deserted because the CS is the only train coming through? That will probably make me decide one way or the other.

I will not be bored if I am waiting--I bought a book in the railroad museum--so waiting isn't a problem. (It's about the four railroad magnates out here, and will be interesting history.)

I have my ticket (it's paper, because I used a voucher to switch up to a sleeper), but I also have my receipt in case a conductor snatches the ticket and someone else wants to see it.

Jim--No, I won't go wandering around Old Sacramento late at night. I may just go over there and get the free candy they keep giving out in the candy store, but that will be hours earlier! Do they have regular breakfast in the dining car? I love the Parlor Car but had a bit of trouble finding things to hold onto in there, and don't want to drop my scrambled eggs on someone! I will try to go there for lunch, though.

What happens at Klamath Falls? Do they shut the train down and we all have to get off for two hours? Or can you stay on the train?
 
Mystic River Dragon said:
Thank you all for the information and advice.

I have a choice of getting to the station: the hotel shuttle, which stops at 10:00 p.m. but would be safe, or a cab later, which I'm sure would be safe if the hotel orders it for me. If I get to the station a couple of hours early, will there be people there for other trains? Or will it be deserted because the CS is the only train coming through? That will probably make me decide one way or the other.

I will not be bored if I am waiting--I bought a book in the railroad museum--so waiting isn't a problem. (It's about the four railroad magnates out here, and will be interesting history.)

I have my ticket (it's paper, because I used a voucher to switch up to a sleeper), but I also have my receipt in case a conductor snatches the ticket and someone else wants to see it.

Jim--No, I won't go wandering around Old Sacramento late at night. I may just go over there and get the free candy they keep giving out in the candy store, but that will be hours earlier! Do they have regular breakfast in the dining car? I love the Parlor Car but had a bit of trouble finding things to hold onto in there, and don't want to drop my scrambled eggs on someone! I will try to go there for lunch, though.

What happens at Klamath Falls? Do they shut the train down and we all have to get off for two hours? Or can you stay on the train?
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The diner has the regular menu for all meals.

Nothing happens at Klamath Falls except crew change and/or fueling/servicing. And it doesn't take 2 hours. I did take a picture from my room of a couple of scumbags, hmm, I mean AUers who had gotten off and gone into the station during the stop. Yeah, they were let back on. :D
 
In 2010, I had a 10 hour layover in Sacramento (transferring between the California Zephyr and Coast Starlight) . I felt safe, but was uncomfortable (hard seats and no a/c). At that time, there was no specific area for sleeper passegers.

There were plenty of people in the station that had transferred from 5 and either did not leave the station at all or returned to the station when it got dark (which I did).
 
Okay--thanks. The Klamath Falls thing is something just this week (ending today), where the train will be there for 2 hours. I forget why, but the arrival time in Portland is 5:30-something instead of 3:30-something.
 
Mystic River Dragon said:
Okay--thanks. The Klamath Falls thing is something just this week (ending today), where the train will be there for 2 hours. I forget why, but the arrival time in Portland is 5:30-something instead of 3:30-something.
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Oh, ok, forgot about the track work causing the 2 hour delay.
 
pennyk said:
In 2010, I had a 10 hour layover in Sacramento (transferring between the California Zephyr and Coast Starlight) . I felt safe, but was uncomfortable (hard seats and no a/c). At that time, there was no specific area for sleeper passegers.

There were plenty of people in the station that had transferred from 5 and either did not leave the station at all or returned to the station when it got dark (which I did).
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I had the same experience in SAC, only it was mid-December (a less-popular travel time). There were still plenty of folks waiting to transfer. Yes, those wooden benches can get hard. I went out to dinner in Old Sacramento -- plenty of folks there, too, and I did not feel unsafe, but I was done and back at the station by around 9pm. It's much better now that there are some more-comfy seats in the sleeper waiting area (as I found when I made an eastbound transfer only a few years back).
 
Okay--thanks to everyone. I have booked the hotel shuttle to take me to the station at 9:30 and am now going to watch a little Cubbies-Nats and then take a nap for a few hours (I asked for a wakeup call at 8:30). I originally booked the room for overnight tonight because I didn't want to be wandering around Sacramento for 10 hours, especially in the hot part of the day, and they very kindly just now told me (without me asking) that they are giving me the half-day rate for today. :)

Will talk to you all next hopefully from Portland! :p
 
Mystic River Dragon said:
Okay--thanks to everyone. I have booked the hotel shuttle to take me to the station at 9:30 and am now going to watch a little Cubbies-Nats and then take a nap for a few hours (I asked for a wakeup call at 8:30). I originally booked the room for overnight tonight because I didn't want to be wandering around Sacramento for 10 hours, especially in the hot part of the day, and they very kindly just now told me (without me asking) that they are giving me the half-day rate for today. :)

Will talk to you all next hopefully from Portland! :p
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**looks for her at Potbelly drinking a milkshake** :p
 
Mystic River Dragon said:
Okay--thanks to everyone. I have booked the hotel shuttle to take me to the station at 9:30 and am now going to watch a little Cubbies-Nats and then take a nap for a few hours (I asked for a wakeup call at 8:30). I originally booked the room for overnight tonight because I didn't want to be wandering around Sacramento for 10 hours, especially in the hot part of the day, and they very kindly just now told me (without me asking) that they are giving me the half-day rate for today. :)
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Which hotel ?
 
Here I am in Portland, even though the CS did its best to take forever.

Rail Freak--It was the Embassy Suites on the Riverfront in Sacramento. I have never stayed at one before (too expensive, and for just me, too much room), but it was the best option with rooms available for a visit with my cousin.

AmtrakBlue--Potbelly was closing at 7:00 tonight, so there wasn't time to go over there. However, now that I have been led into bad habits by certain AUers, I could always get a milkshake at lunch tomorrow, since my EB won't leave til later!
 
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