JoanieBlon
Service Attendant
Over the past several days, I've been busy reading through the various threads on this board trying to get together information and tips for our upcoming trip on the California Zephyr on September 23rd. Due to considerations regarding time, we will fly up to Chicago and take the train from there. Once we arrive in San Francisco, we plan on renting a car for a week long, leisurely drive down Coast Highway 1 to Los Angeles. We'll return to Tampa by plane. Both my husband and I are really looking forward to this trip! I first rode the Zephyr round-trip Sacramento/Chicago back in 1955 when I was 9 years old and have been wating to do it again ever since. I know the Zephyr is basically a totally different train experience now than when I rode it way back then ~ there were still the "VistaDome" viewing cars (which had to be vacated when going through tunnels) and fine dining service with china and glass.
Back then, my mother and I traveled in standard coach.....for this trip, my husband and I opted for a bedroom, which were are hoping will be a good experience. Just being able to book a bedroom was quite a feat, as every date I looked at online in the Fall was showing "sold out." Guess the route is always popular, but perhaps even more so during this time of year. I'm hoping that we'll get a fairly good show of the brilliant aspen foliage! At any rate, in order to get a bedroom on the 23rd of September, which would put us into San Francisco (by bus from Emeryville) on a Friday evening, I set my alarm for 11:50pm, got up and CALLED Amtrak reservations exactly the number of days out that they allow reservations, and was able to get our bedroom! HOORAY! From what I could understand, several travel agents had been reserving big blocks of sleeping accomodations for Fall travel on the Zephyr. <_<
I was just looking at our tickets, and it appears that we are in Bedroom E, as the ticket reads E/0531. For those of you in the know ~ is that bedroom E in car 0531? From what I have read on this forum, E is a good location, being in the center of the car, near an adjacent toilet, and right next to the stairs, for a quick trip down to the shower/changing room on the lower level. Although our bedroom does have the toilet/shower combination, I have the feeling that my husband, who is 6'3" may decide to use the shower downstairs instead of trying to squeeze into the one in our room. I'm 5'2" tall and pretty small, so the "ensuite" shower may be OK for me.
We've been in some tiny showers on ship cabins, and this one looks even smaller....
BTW......HERE is a GREAT interactive Quicktime 360 degree photo of a Superliner bedroom! It was taken on the California Zephyr June 14, 2007 on the Chicago-San Francisco run.
I've had an interest in trains over the years, although I haven't ridden them a whole lot. I took the Lakeside Limited in coach class RT Springfield MA/Chicago back in the 80s. Back at that time, the Springfield station was in severe need of remodeling, and was actually downright scary. I have also taken the train from Windsor Locks CT to NYC. 2 years ago, my husband and I did a fascinating little trip on the narrow gauge steam powered WELSH HIGHLAND HERITAGE RAILWAY out of Porthmadog Wales and last summer we took a ride on the STRASBURG RAILROAD in Lancaster County PA. Several years back, my husband, Mike, and I wiled away MANY hours looking at all the wonderful exhibits at the California State Railroad Museum in Sacramento, where I grew up. We have some wonderful photos of that day, and perhaps we can load them up onto our website ~ MAISON-T-BAYOU .
I have a question about the Sacramento station. When I did my childhood trip on the Zephyr, the station that was being used was the one located on "K" Street between 18th and 19th Streets. If I'm not mistaken, that old station has been converted to a restaurant. Do the trains now go through the main station down on "I" Street?
Depending on how this trip goes, we foresee other train travel in our future......we'd like to load up our car and take the car train from Florida up to Virginia ~ then do a leisurely drive back down the Shenandoah and Blue Ridge Parkways. I'd also like to fly out to Seattle and take the train from there down to San Diego. I wish they would start up service again from Jacksonville to New Orleans. We own a timeshare there in the Quarter, and taking the train would be a nice change from flying over or driving. We also like the looks of the trip from Chicago to Los Angeles.
At any rate, thanks for ALL the great information that has been posted here. I'm sure we will find many helpful tips!
Back then, my mother and I traveled in standard coach.....for this trip, my husband and I opted for a bedroom, which were are hoping will be a good experience. Just being able to book a bedroom was quite a feat, as every date I looked at online in the Fall was showing "sold out." Guess the route is always popular, but perhaps even more so during this time of year. I'm hoping that we'll get a fairly good show of the brilliant aspen foliage! At any rate, in order to get a bedroom on the 23rd of September, which would put us into San Francisco (by bus from Emeryville) on a Friday evening, I set my alarm for 11:50pm, got up and CALLED Amtrak reservations exactly the number of days out that they allow reservations, and was able to get our bedroom! HOORAY! From what I could understand, several travel agents had been reserving big blocks of sleeping accomodations for Fall travel on the Zephyr. <_<
I was just looking at our tickets, and it appears that we are in Bedroom E, as the ticket reads E/0531. For those of you in the know ~ is that bedroom E in car 0531? From what I have read on this forum, E is a good location, being in the center of the car, near an adjacent toilet, and right next to the stairs, for a quick trip down to the shower/changing room on the lower level. Although our bedroom does have the toilet/shower combination, I have the feeling that my husband, who is 6'3" may decide to use the shower downstairs instead of trying to squeeze into the one in our room. I'm 5'2" tall and pretty small, so the "ensuite" shower may be OK for me.
We've been in some tiny showers on ship cabins, and this one looks even smaller....BTW......HERE is a GREAT interactive Quicktime 360 degree photo of a Superliner bedroom! It was taken on the California Zephyr June 14, 2007 on the Chicago-San Francisco run.
I've had an interest in trains over the years, although I haven't ridden them a whole lot. I took the Lakeside Limited in coach class RT Springfield MA/Chicago back in the 80s. Back at that time, the Springfield station was in severe need of remodeling, and was actually downright scary. I have also taken the train from Windsor Locks CT to NYC. 2 years ago, my husband and I did a fascinating little trip on the narrow gauge steam powered WELSH HIGHLAND HERITAGE RAILWAY out of Porthmadog Wales and last summer we took a ride on the STRASBURG RAILROAD in Lancaster County PA. Several years back, my husband, Mike, and I wiled away MANY hours looking at all the wonderful exhibits at the California State Railroad Museum in Sacramento, where I grew up. We have some wonderful photos of that day, and perhaps we can load them up onto our website ~ MAISON-T-BAYOU .
I have a question about the Sacramento station. When I did my childhood trip on the Zephyr, the station that was being used was the one located on "K" Street between 18th and 19th Streets. If I'm not mistaken, that old station has been converted to a restaurant. Do the trains now go through the main station down on "I" Street?
Depending on how this trip goes, we foresee other train travel in our future......we'd like to load up our car and take the car train from Florida up to Virginia ~ then do a leisurely drive back down the Shenandoah and Blue Ridge Parkways. I'd also like to fly out to Seattle and take the train from there down to San Diego. I wish they would start up service again from Jacksonville to New Orleans. We own a timeshare there in the Quarter, and taking the train would be a nice change from flying over or driving. We also like the looks of the trip from Chicago to Los Angeles.
At any rate, thanks for ALL the great information that has been posted here. I'm sure we will find many helpful tips!
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