Sacramento I-5 drive due to Coast Starlight cancellations

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morgan51

Train Attendant
Joined
Jan 25, 2011
Messages
54
Location
Lincoln, NE
Hi everyone. The Coast Starlight cancellations north of Sacramento through May 18 (at last report) due to the repairs at Redding have forced me to rent a car out of Sac northbound up to Eugene, Oregon for that leg of my trip on May 16th. Anyone know how the traffic will be around 4pm or so northbound on I-5 from there? I've already made new car and hotel reservations to accommodate this change, but it's been some years since I've driven around Sacramento and I'm not looking forward to it. It's a gorgeous drive once you get out of the congestion, and I won't miss what would have been a really long layover at the Sac train depot (the only part of this trip I always hated when I did it before LOL). But I'm a little concerned about traffic, especially since my young granddaughter will be with me. Anyone have any thoughts? Thanks!
 
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4pm shouldn't be a problem. That's my target departure time when I'm driving out of Sacramento. It starts to get heavier after that, but I-5 north is not the main commute route, and even if there is traffic, it'll thin out pretty quickly. If you're picking up the rental car at the airport, which is north of town on I-5, you shouldn't have a problem even if you leave later. Might be a little slow up to Woodland, but nothing a Californian would call traffic :) . If you're not picking up at the airport, BTW, check the pricing. It's sometimes much cheaper there and an Uber ride is $20, plus or minus. There's also a Yolo county bus from downtown.

Enjoy the drive!
 
Thanks! That's very helpful info. I'm still nervous, though, because Amtrak says service will be restored May 18 whereas Union Pacific's customer web site says "end of May." Our return Amtrak trip from Eugene back down to Sac is May 24. I'm hoping Amtrak is basing their date on something more that wishful thinking! Your thoughts? BTW is there another forum where this disruption is being discussed? I can't find one. (No we are not picking up at airport, we are using downtown Hertz which is only about a mile from the depot so there is free pick-up service.)
 
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I certainly don't have any inside information on the repair job at this time, nor does Amtrak, I'm betting. I suggest going to the Union Pacific Railroad website, where they are posting updates on a more or less regular basis on the repair status.
 
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Thanks, I only see the one update at their site, the one that says end of May but I will keep watching. I remember that bridge, it was beautiful.
 
The Train Orders chat board is following the UP situation:

https://www.trainorders.com

They're talking about it on both the Passenger Trains and Western Railroad discussions. It's a paid membership site, but you can get to the most recent stuff for free. They usually get into more detail, but the bottom line seems to be the same: UP is working on it with all deliberate speed and it'll be done when it's done, although there's some optimism (or maybe just hope?) that it'll be sooner rather than later.
 
Thanks, I just don't understand where Amtrak is getting their date of May 18. Any idea? I can't believe they just chose an arbitrary date to stop canellations and re-start booking?
 
Yes, I'm looking forward to it - once we are out of SAC LOL I lived in northern California for many years and I miss it. I love watching it go by on Amtrak but being able to stop and see the sights along the way won't be bad at all! It's a pretty easy drive.
 

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