DivMiler
Lead Service Attendant
I had asked in the Amtrak Rail Discussions forum about using the San Francisco Shopping Center stop to travel to Sacramento. Here is a short trip report...
I used points for the travel (4x1000 points - 10% for AGR Credit Card = 3600 points used). I picked up the San Francisco Shopping Center (SFS) to Sacramento (SAC) tickets at my "home" station in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania (I get a perverse pleasure picking up tickets in weird locations). My wife and I traveled on Monday, July 19, 2010. We were taking bus 3324 SFS to Emeryville (EMY), and train 524 Emeryville to SAC. Upon picking up the tickets, I noticed that the bus tickets had a bus number (3324) printed on it.
The SFS Amtrak stop was marked (albeit with a small sign), but the bus arrived right on schedule at 7:10 a.m. The driver asked us three times if we were going to Emeryville ("not Oakland?"). The answer was "yes" all three times.
We traveled across the Bay Bridge, seeing the new spans on the East Bay side, and arrived in Emeryville with plenty of time. I wandered about the station.
The train was late, but then a train arrived. We asked an attendant if it was 524 to SAC, were told no, it was 525 SAC-EMY, and that boarded on the other side. It turned out 524 was late. It was then we realized that we couldn't see 524 when it came, which it did a minute later. We first dashed to the footbridge, were told by a pedestrian that all trains boarded from the station side, so we dashed back, went around 525, saw a 524 attendant who hurried us on, and we found seats (our car was practically empty). My wife teased me for a bit about all my planning and getting us early to the bus stop, only to almost miss the train.
We had a good time in Sacramento, including the Railroad Museum. It was quite good in detailing the contributions by the non-white railroad workmen, from the Chinese who built the transcontinental railroad to the African-Americans who were porters and chefs and other workers on the passenger railroads.
I had ordered return tickets for late in the day (even though I thought we would be leaving in the mid-afternoon). I regularly do this on the unreserved Keystone in case my plans change. Because I noticed the outbound bus ticket had a bus number on it, I wondered if that "forced" us to use a particular bus. Did it?
In any case, I called AGR, officially changed the tickets to the schedule we would be traveling, and after hanging up, immediately picked up the return tickets at the QuikTrak. Great service!
Thanks for your comments and suggestions!
I used points for the travel (4x1000 points - 10% for AGR Credit Card = 3600 points used). I picked up the San Francisco Shopping Center (SFS) to Sacramento (SAC) tickets at my "home" station in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania (I get a perverse pleasure picking up tickets in weird locations). My wife and I traveled on Monday, July 19, 2010. We were taking bus 3324 SFS to Emeryville (EMY), and train 524 Emeryville to SAC. Upon picking up the tickets, I noticed that the bus tickets had a bus number (3324) printed on it.
The SFS Amtrak stop was marked (albeit with a small sign), but the bus arrived right on schedule at 7:10 a.m. The driver asked us three times if we were going to Emeryville ("not Oakland?"). The answer was "yes" all three times.
We traveled across the Bay Bridge, seeing the new spans on the East Bay side, and arrived in Emeryville with plenty of time. I wandered about the station.
The train was late, but then a train arrived. We asked an attendant if it was 524 to SAC, were told no, it was 525 SAC-EMY, and that boarded on the other side. It turned out 524 was late. It was then we realized that we couldn't see 524 when it came, which it did a minute later. We first dashed to the footbridge, were told by a pedestrian that all trains boarded from the station side, so we dashed back, went around 525, saw a 524 attendant who hurried us on, and we found seats (our car was practically empty). My wife teased me for a bit about all my planning and getting us early to the bus stop, only to almost miss the train.
We had a good time in Sacramento, including the Railroad Museum. It was quite good in detailing the contributions by the non-white railroad workmen, from the Chinese who built the transcontinental railroad to the African-Americans who were porters and chefs and other workers on the passenger railroads.
I had ordered return tickets for late in the day (even though I thought we would be leaving in the mid-afternoon). I regularly do this on the unreserved Keystone in case my plans change. Because I noticed the outbound bus ticket had a bus number on it, I wondered if that "forced" us to use a particular bus. Did it?
In any case, I called AGR, officially changed the tickets to the schedule we would be traveling, and after hanging up, immediately picked up the return tickets at the QuikTrak. Great service!
Thanks for your comments and suggestions!
