Califonia Zephyr, here I come

[saxman]

Tomorrow I'll be leaving from Chicago to ride the California Zephyr all the way to Emeryville, then over to San Francisco. I have first class roomette booked, which I reserved less than a week ago, for $336! Late tonight, I'll be driving from Grand Forks, ND to Minneapolis and fly to Chicago. I'll be flying standby back from San Francisco on the red eye. I'm hoping I'll get on, as the flights are oversold right now. eek!

How many sleepers does the Zephyr usually have this time of year? I'll be in car 0520, room 22. Did they renumber the rooms? Last I saw, there were only 14 roomettes per car. Is the 520 car next to the diner or the one before it?

Expect a trip report and pics.

Chris

 

[GG-1]

Tomorrow I'll be leaving from Chicago to ride the California Zephyr all the way to Emeryville,
How many sleepers does the Zephyr usually have this time of year? I'll be in car 0520, room 22. Did they renumber the rooms? Last I saw, there were only 14 roomettes per car. Is the 520 car next to the diner or the one before it?

Expect a trip report and pics.

Chris

Aloha

On My east bound trip there were 3 sleepers. There are the 14 roometts, 6 rooms, a family room, a special room, a partrige and a pear tree, think that makes 22.

Enjoy your trip I sure did.

 

[AlanB]

I believe that the Zephyr has 3 sleepers normally during the summer. However one sleeper short turns in Denver and does not run through to California.

As for room #22, that would indicate that you are not in a standard Superliner Sleeper, as the rooms there only go up to 15. Room #'s 20 and higher are in the transition sleeper. I wan't aware however that the Zephyr was selling room in the transition sleeper. To my knowledge only the Texas Eagle and the City of New Orleans were selling into the transition sleeper.

So that make me wonder if perhaps they aren't running 3 regular sleepers on this route. It will be interesting to hear what you find, once you return home.

 

[AmtrakFan]

I believe that the Zephyr has 3 sleepers normally during the summer. However one sleeper short turns in Denver and does not run through to California.
As for room #22, that would indicate that you are not in a standard Superliner Sleeper, as the rooms there only go up to 15. Room #'s 20 and higher are in the transition sleeper. I wan't aware however that the Zephyr was selling room in the transition sleeper. To my knowledge only the Texas Eagle and the City of New Orleans were selling into the transition sleeper.

So that make me wonder if perhaps they aren't running 3 regular sleepers on this route. It will be interesting to hear what you find, once you return home.

Alan,

They are only running with 2 this year but selling 8 Rooms in the Trans Sleeper. I will at NPV Friday watching the train roll thru.

 

[AlanB]

I believe that the Zephyr has 3 sleepers normally during the summer.  However one sleeper short turns in Denver and does not run through to California.
As for room #22, that would indicate that you are not in a standard Superliner Sleeper, as the rooms there only go up to 15.  Room #'s 20 and higher are in the transition sleeper.  I wan't aware however that the Zephyr was selling room in the transition sleeper.  To my knowledge only the Texas Eagle and the City of New Orleans were selling into the transition sleeper.

So that make me wonder if perhaps they aren't running 3 regular sleepers on this route.  It will be interesting to hear what you find, once you return home.

Alan,

They are only running with 2 this year but selling 8 Rooms in the Trans Sleeper. I will at NPV Friday watching the train roll thru.

Well that would fit with Saxman getting room #22. Thanks.

Of course that assumes that Amtrak actually provides a trans/dorm. Apparently there is a shortage of trans/dorm's too, along with regular sleepers. Kevin (aka. SuperlinerDiner), myself, and two other OTOL friends were booked into the Eagle's trans/dorm this past Tuesday from DAL to CHI.

There was no trans/dorm in that consist, just an original Superliner I sleeper. So original, that it still had the old orange seats, the original style mirror, and the window in the upper level bathroom was still there. Most other I's have had the window covered over. There is no ice drawer, the curtains are still orange, not Amtrak blue.

There is no attendant's room on the upper level, in fact room #1 was used to hold the water, juice, and ice in a styrofoam cooler.

Additionally, some of the rooms were locked. I've never before in all of my travels, seen a roomette with a pad lock on it.

And in a very interesting twist, the car was once again running on the Eagle, the very same train it was on when it derailed back in September 2001, near Marshall Texas.

 

[Trogdor]

There isn't necessarily a "shortage," per se, of transition sleepers. However, there isn't an excess, either. If a transition sleeper gets bad-ordered, often a standard sleeper will run in its place. This happens quite frequently, in fact. On a good day, there might be enough transition sleepers to cover all assignments. However, those "available" cars may not necessarily be where the train is.

 

[saxman]

I hope the trans dorm is descent, with blue and not 70's style orange. blah. I was hoping to get a refurbished car. Guess I'll have to wait until my trip on the Empire Builder in August.

Well guys, thanks for the info. I'm about to shut-off my laptop and drive for Minneapolis. Guess I'll get there around 2 am. I would take EB #8 from Grand Forks, at 12:54 am tonight, but it's running 3 hours late, and I wouldn't make my flight to Chicago in the morning.

I'll be bringing my laptop and I'll write as my trip goes along.

Wish me well!

Chris

 

[IceColdMintJulep]

Just had two roomettes on the CZ and we were in the same car (rooms 21 and 22). It's a trans dorm with blue interior (or at least the one we were on) 21 and 22 were opposite sides and there was one other room between us and the stairwell on both sides. Several doors had padlocks and all of those were occupied by crew members. I wish they would let you know it's a trans dorm as we had three kids (9, 5, and 2). A crew member not yet asleep chewed us out for making too much noise comming back from dinner. I was a bit peeved, but let it pass, as it was either of our choices to be together. Maybe they shouldn't even book children in it, althought adults can act like children from time to time.

 

[saxman]

Well....I've just gotten off a very LONG CZ trip. We were almost 6 hours late. Due to that, I ran off the train for a taxi, and he took me to the nearest BART station. Unfortunetly, it was still a 51 minute ride to SFO Airport, where my flight was at 11:45 pm. Missed it by 5 mins! So, as I type here, I'm sitting in SFO airport all night. I need to find a place to sleep...

I'm too tired to write a full report right now. Look for one soon.

I was indeed in the Transdorm, although it was not called that anymore. It was newly painted, and had the new blue seat covers. All it said was "Sleeping Car" near the door. We were followed by 2 more sleepers, diner, lounge, 3 coaches, and one Express car.

Chris