California Zephyr reliability in winter?

Advertise with us
Shop deals on ebay
shop deals on amazon
Amtrak Unlimited Discussion Forum

Help Support Amtrak Unlimited Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Status
Not open for further replies.
J

Jacob Goes By Jack

Train Attendant
Joined
Oct 9, 2012
Messages
32
Location
Charlotte
Hello Amtrak Unlimited forum - I'll be traveling from the Bay Area to Chicago in mid-December and considering taking the train. Have never ridden the California Zephyr route before (at any time of year) but I've vaguely heard it gets badly delayed a lot. Is this especially true? And is the problem in winter too, or just in summer? What can I expect...

Note, I have taken several Amtrak long distance trains before, just not this particular one!

--Jack
 
Summertime are the primary delays, winter isn't so bad.

Keep in mind that these are just straight averages, so a handful of extreme outliers can skew the average pretty high.

6_CHI_by_month.png
 
For example, here's a closer look at the December arrivals:

6_CHI_december.png


Even though the average arrival is 76 minutes late, you have a 35% chance of coming in early or exactly on time, and a 60% chance of being less then an hour late.

That doesn't help you when you're on the outlier train that comes in 10 hours late, but the chances of you being on that train (in December, at least) are pretty small.
 
Just like flying or driving, you never know what will happen tomorrow. I'll tell you that I personally would rather be on a train than in a plane or car in December in possibly bad weather. Most times, trains continue operating, while highways and airports have a habit of closing in bad weather. And if you're on a plane, you could be told, "The next plane with seats available is next Wednesday. You can sleep here at the airport in these hard seats until then." I'd rather be aboard a nice warm train!
 
Ditto on the winter train travel, it's a wonderful experience! I've been on the EB when we were having an ice storm or a blizzard (late, but no one in a car or plane was going anywhere at all), and on the CZ when the mountains were all lit up like a glittery ice palace in blazing sun! So beautiful, and you don't even have to worry about the road hazards!

But on a cautionary note, we always allow extra time for delays, just so we're not upset when they happen. They do happen.
 
We traveled from CLE-EMY in January and the snow and scenery were terrific. A large snowstorm hit the Sierras...10 feet in Donner Pass. I-80 was closed but we went through without a hitch. Got a few waves from the track crews trying to keep the switches thawed out :p And that giant snowblower on the front of the locos was impressive as well.
 
oregon pioneer said:
Ditto on the winter train travel, it's a wonderful experience! I've been on the EB when we were having an ice storm or a blizzard (late, but no one in a car or plane was going anywhere at all), and on the CZ when the mountains were all lit up like a glittery ice palace in blazing sun! So beautiful, and you don't even have to worry about the road hazards!
Click to expand...
Yeah I've taken the EB plenty of times in winter so I know how cool winter train travel is... but just wanted to check since I'd never taken the Zephyr before. Thanks everyone! And awesome pictures Rail Freak.
 
Gorgeous pictures! Fresh snow is beautiful (when I don't have to drive to work).
 
Some winters are worse than others for the Zephyr. Example: CZ "Train from Hell" a few years ago.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Latest posts

Back
Top