In February, I got the railroad jones again and just had to do it. A quick check of Amtrak's website, a good one way fare on American, and good rate at the Courtyard in San Francisco allowed me to put it together.
Sunday, March 16.
I caught a cab from my place on Chicago''s north side to Ohare so I could catch my flight to San Francisco. The flight was scheduled to depart at 3:20 p.m. I arrived Ohare at 1:45 and found a good Pasta restaurant in Terminal 3, where my American Airlines flight would depart from. The spaghetti was delicious. I arrived at the gate, and checked in with the agent. I had printed my boarding pass earlier in the morning, but I always check at the gate. I had no checked luggage, so I was ready to rock and roll. The agent offered me a chance to give up my seat, gain a voucher, and catch the 6:30 pm flight. I declined. I overheard later that the flight was oversold, and out of curiosity, I call ed reservations. There were no seats on the later flight either. Then the flight was delayed an hour because the original plane had mechanical problems, and they had to find another one. They did, and we left about an hour late. No big deal
On the plane, the service was exceptional. Yeah, I was stuck in 31F at the back next to the engine, but the stewardess allowed me to move to an empty aisle seat in a row that was set aside for the crew. The same courtesy was extended to some other passenger for the other row of crew seats. This was an A+ move on the part of the flight attendants. I had room to spread out and use my laptop to watch a football game. Love apple and their Itunes store. I had bought a replay of a college football game to watch on this flight. I settled in. Ordered a coke, then some chips and another coke. At the end of the 3rd quarter, the attendant came by and asked if I wanted anything before landing. Landing? damn, I had just killed a 4 hr 45 flight like it was nothing. In the end, I was extremely pleased with American Airlines.
At SFO I walked of with my carry on luggage and used the airport transit to get to the BART station. Then I rode to Montgomery street, and walked for blocks to my hotel. It was south of Market Street. I was given a room on the 17th floor with a view of the bay bridge. Cool. I was feeling jet laggy and tired so gave up my grand plan of a cable car ride.
The next morning, I got up, and showered. The restaurant staff was attentive, and I quickly had an Omlette bacon and toast with coffee. Right on schedule, caught a cab to the ferry building, and was ready to began my trip. IMHO this is the best place to catch the Amtrak buses because there is a ticket office that is staffed. You can ask questions, and I saw signs for checked luggage. I assume that this service is offered here. I did not ask. I was allowed to board an earlier bus, and we traveled over to EMY. During the 30 minute wait, I observed several trains pass through the station. Rail travel is alive and well in California, land of the car.
The Zephyr came in a few minutes late, and we boarded. I was in room 7 of the 632 car witch was behind the transition sleeper at the front of the train. The roomettes (standard rooms) were at the front of the car, and I was on the left hand side. Reggie, was the attendant. He efficiently explained the room features, and then explained that the upstairs bathroom was for light duty, and downstairs was for heavy duty business. Upon reflection, I got a better understanding of this when I remembered that his room was next to the bathroom. Reggie must have a sensitive nose.
\
We departed EMY about 10 minutes late, and lost another 10 minutes on the way to Martinez due to slow running. Reggie delievered a bag breakfast which consisted of a chocalate croissant, yogurt, fruit. It was not exciting. I was greatful I had eaten at the Courtyard. I programmed my new scanner (lost the old one somehow) and looked at at views of the bay. It was sunny with no clouds. A perfect day.
Before Sacramento, Wade, the LSA from the diner came through to take lunch reservations. I opted for 12:00 reservation so that I could eat lunch as we started to climb over DonnerUP pass. Near Colfax, I made my way to the lounge so that I could dart into the dinner when my reservation was called. I planned to sit on the right side since this was where the best scenery was before emigrant gap. After emigrant gap, I was return to my room which was on the left side to catch th rest of the scenery. My plan worked to perfection.
For lunch I had the obligatory cheeseburger, which was average at best. The chicken wings, which I cheerfully paid for, were delicious . Service was polite and relatively efficient. The waiter on our end of the car had a boom box playing a house music CD. The music was low, and did not bother me. But it was a strange soundtrack for the climb up to donner pass. The boom box and house music disappeared until later in the trip. But no more house music.
After reaching a certain elevation, the ground was covered in snow. This was change in pace since I had not worn my jacket since leaving Chicago.
We maintained the 20 minute delay through Truckee, and then made up the time into Reno. Left Sparks on time, and entered the Nevada desert. I pulled out my Laptop and did some work. Strangely, I felt i was more productive on the train. I took the 6 pm reservation, and was seated as we arrived Winnemucca.
I enjoyed this dinner. The other guy at the table was a railfan, and complained vigorously about air travel. But some of his train experiences were interesting. The Nevada desert was the main event. The buttes and distant mountain ranges were covered in snow, and with the setting sun, and varying brown colors of the desert, capped of a fabulous view. The flat Iron steak struggled to keep up with the scenery. The A1 steak sauce got the assist. I enjoyed the ice cream for desert.
Reggie was available to put my bed down when I was ready for it. This was one of his strengths. I could have done it, but it was nice that I never had to look for him to get the bed put up or down.
UP must be making progress on its track work, because we were almost an hour early into Salt Lake City. Also, we had no freight train issues either. I woke up in Salt Lake, showered, and then turned on the lap top to find wireless access. Got lucky and sent off an email.
We continued our on time run all the way to Denver. The scenery was magnificent as usual. On this trip, I saw more deer and antelope than normal. also saw an Eagle. Somebody else saw a moose. The conductor hung out in the lounge, and the engineer would radio the conductor whenever he saw wildlife. Then the conductor would tell us where to look. This was very classy service, and enhanced the ride.
I timed dinner perfectly. I had the 5:30 reservation which was called just after we excited the Moffat tunnel. Again I had the steak which was mediocre, but with the scenery it was a wonderful meal. This was my favorite meal of the trip. The lady across from me was fine conversationalist, and her presence enhanced the meal.
The last day of the trip was non eventful. We ran on time across Iowa and IL and were 30 minutes early into Chicago. Overall, a very pleasant trip on the Zephyr. This is rail travel at its efficient best.
Sunday, March 16.
I caught a cab from my place on Chicago''s north side to Ohare so I could catch my flight to San Francisco. The flight was scheduled to depart at 3:20 p.m. I arrived Ohare at 1:45 and found a good Pasta restaurant in Terminal 3, where my American Airlines flight would depart from. The spaghetti was delicious. I arrived at the gate, and checked in with the agent. I had printed my boarding pass earlier in the morning, but I always check at the gate. I had no checked luggage, so I was ready to rock and roll. The agent offered me a chance to give up my seat, gain a voucher, and catch the 6:30 pm flight. I declined. I overheard later that the flight was oversold, and out of curiosity, I call ed reservations. There were no seats on the later flight either. Then the flight was delayed an hour because the original plane had mechanical problems, and they had to find another one. They did, and we left about an hour late. No big deal
On the plane, the service was exceptional. Yeah, I was stuck in 31F at the back next to the engine, but the stewardess allowed me to move to an empty aisle seat in a row that was set aside for the crew. The same courtesy was extended to some other passenger for the other row of crew seats. This was an A+ move on the part of the flight attendants. I had room to spread out and use my laptop to watch a football game. Love apple and their Itunes store. I had bought a replay of a college football game to watch on this flight. I settled in. Ordered a coke, then some chips and another coke. At the end of the 3rd quarter, the attendant came by and asked if I wanted anything before landing. Landing? damn, I had just killed a 4 hr 45 flight like it was nothing. In the end, I was extremely pleased with American Airlines.
At SFO I walked of with my carry on luggage and used the airport transit to get to the BART station. Then I rode to Montgomery street, and walked for blocks to my hotel. It was south of Market Street. I was given a room on the 17th floor with a view of the bay bridge. Cool. I was feeling jet laggy and tired so gave up my grand plan of a cable car ride.
The next morning, I got up, and showered. The restaurant staff was attentive, and I quickly had an Omlette bacon and toast with coffee. Right on schedule, caught a cab to the ferry building, and was ready to began my trip. IMHO this is the best place to catch the Amtrak buses because there is a ticket office that is staffed. You can ask questions, and I saw signs for checked luggage. I assume that this service is offered here. I did not ask. I was allowed to board an earlier bus, and we traveled over to EMY. During the 30 minute wait, I observed several trains pass through the station. Rail travel is alive and well in California, land of the car.
The Zephyr came in a few minutes late, and we boarded. I was in room 7 of the 632 car witch was behind the transition sleeper at the front of the train. The roomettes (standard rooms) were at the front of the car, and I was on the left hand side. Reggie, was the attendant. He efficiently explained the room features, and then explained that the upstairs bathroom was for light duty, and downstairs was for heavy duty business. Upon reflection, I got a better understanding of this when I remembered that his room was next to the bathroom. Reggie must have a sensitive nose.
\
We departed EMY about 10 minutes late, and lost another 10 minutes on the way to Martinez due to slow running. Reggie delievered a bag breakfast which consisted of a chocalate croissant, yogurt, fruit. It was not exciting. I was greatful I had eaten at the Courtyard. I programmed my new scanner (lost the old one somehow) and looked at at views of the bay. It was sunny with no clouds. A perfect day.
Before Sacramento, Wade, the LSA from the diner came through to take lunch reservations. I opted for 12:00 reservation so that I could eat lunch as we started to climb over DonnerUP pass. Near Colfax, I made my way to the lounge so that I could dart into the dinner when my reservation was called. I planned to sit on the right side since this was where the best scenery was before emigrant gap. After emigrant gap, I was return to my room which was on the left side to catch th rest of the scenery. My plan worked to perfection.
For lunch I had the obligatory cheeseburger, which was average at best. The chicken wings, which I cheerfully paid for, were delicious . Service was polite and relatively efficient. The waiter on our end of the car had a boom box playing a house music CD. The music was low, and did not bother me. But it was a strange soundtrack for the climb up to donner pass. The boom box and house music disappeared until later in the trip. But no more house music.
After reaching a certain elevation, the ground was covered in snow. This was change in pace since I had not worn my jacket since leaving Chicago.
We maintained the 20 minute delay through Truckee, and then made up the time into Reno. Left Sparks on time, and entered the Nevada desert. I pulled out my Laptop and did some work. Strangely, I felt i was more productive on the train. I took the 6 pm reservation, and was seated as we arrived Winnemucca.
I enjoyed this dinner. The other guy at the table was a railfan, and complained vigorously about air travel. But some of his train experiences were interesting. The Nevada desert was the main event. The buttes and distant mountain ranges were covered in snow, and with the setting sun, and varying brown colors of the desert, capped of a fabulous view. The flat Iron steak struggled to keep up with the scenery. The A1 steak sauce got the assist. I enjoyed the ice cream for desert.
Reggie was available to put my bed down when I was ready for it. This was one of his strengths. I could have done it, but it was nice that I never had to look for him to get the bed put up or down.
UP must be making progress on its track work, because we were almost an hour early into Salt Lake City. Also, we had no freight train issues either. I woke up in Salt Lake, showered, and then turned on the lap top to find wireless access. Got lucky and sent off an email.
We continued our on time run all the way to Denver. The scenery was magnificent as usual. On this trip, I saw more deer and antelope than normal. also saw an Eagle. Somebody else saw a moose. The conductor hung out in the lounge, and the engineer would radio the conductor whenever he saw wildlife. Then the conductor would tell us where to look. This was very classy service, and enhanced the ride.
I timed dinner perfectly. I had the 5:30 reservation which was called just after we excited the Moffat tunnel. Again I had the steak which was mediocre, but with the scenery it was a wonderful meal. This was my favorite meal of the trip. The lady across from me was fine conversationalist, and her presence enhanced the meal.
The last day of the trip was non eventful. We ran on time across Iowa and IL and were 30 minutes early into Chicago. Overall, a very pleasant trip on the Zephyr. This is rail travel at its efficient best.
