Williams, AZ to San Francsico - in the works

[greatcats]

I arrived last night nearly on time on the Coast Starlight in San Francisco, having orginated in Williams Junction, AZ. I don't want to write a lengthy travelogue on this pay by minute computer, but it will be forthcoming by next week. The trip up was pretty good, although not great. The lack of a posting of a Track Number and no announcement for #14 at LAUPT was the major snafu - it's a wonder a bunch of people did not miss the train. DUH!!!!

 

[TransAtlantic]

I'm suprised they ticketed you for that routing at all...if the train had been a bit late, you might have missed the connection entirely; usually they put people on the Barstow-to-Bakersfield bus, then the San Joaquins, to get to the Bay Area.

 

[darien-l]

I arrived last night nearly on time on the Coast Starlight in San Francisco, having orginated in Williams Junction, AZ. I don't want to write a lengthy travelogue on this pay by minute computer, but it will be forthcoming by next week. The trip up was pretty good, although not great. The lack of a posting of a Track Number and no announcement for #14 at LAUPT was the major snafu - it's a wonder a bunch of people did not miss the train. DUH!!!!

I have my parents booked on this exact itinerary for next April. They'll fly into Flagstaff, take a bus to Grand Canyon, spend a couple of days there, then take a Grand Canyon railway train to Williams, transfer onto Southwest Chief in Williams Junction, and transfer onto Coast Starlight at LAUS to go to San Francisco. There they'll spend a few days in the city before taking the San Joaquins to Yosemite.

So, I'm very interested in reading a detailed report of your trip. I'm especially interested in hearing the details of the WMA-WMJ transfer, as I've read conflicting things about it. Is it operated by Amtrak or Grand Canyon Railway? Is it a bus, van, or SUV? Do you need a ticket to get on it? Is it available to anyone, or just Grand Canyon Railway customers? It departs from the Grand Canyon Railway Hotel lobby, right? Is the departure time set in stone, or is timed to the arrival of Southwest Chief at WMJ, which may be late? How long did you spend on the platform at WMJ before the train showed up? I read that WMJ is closed to private vehicles - does that include taxis? (Or to put it another way, if you miss the shuttle, is taking a taxi an option?) Thanks!

 

[greatcats]

Hi - I am at the Fort Mason Youth Hostel in San Francisco on a public computer, so do not have time to write the full report. The connection to the Coast Starlight was fine, timewise, other than the lack of proper posting and announcement. The SWC has padding in the schedule and is not often very late. But the southbound does not connect, so I will be going via Bakersfield on Saturday morning. The service at Williams to get to the train is OK - I've done it once before. The Amtrak timetable is not correct in that it says WMA is the GRand CAnyon Railway Station. This is incorrect. The buildings are within a stones throw of each other, but your folks need to be in the Grand Canyon Railway Hotel LOBBY. The timetable says that the departure is at 10.:10 p.m. for the westbound, but the driver rounded up all four passengers and we departed in an airport rental car style bus about ten, and then sat there by the platform ( with the engine running ) for 45 minutes. The train arrived about 25 minutes late. If there is a large group of passengers, say 40, they will round up a large bus. This is run by Grand Canyon Railway Hotel, not Amtrak. The arrangement, while a bit unorthodox and the platform is out in the middle of nowhere, is quite satisfactory. While I have driven my own car into Williams Junction, it is posted as NO Trespassing, so therefore should be taken that only the authorized van is allowed in there, which is a spooky ride at night to the uninitiated. The driver was friendly and accomodating and placed our bags on the platform

 

[greatcats]

Also, the service to Williams Junction is available to all Amtrak passengers, not just those staying at the GC Railway hotel. I prefer to board the train there, as I would rather park my car in the hotel lot than in the city lot in the middle of Flagstaff.

 

[darien-l]

Thanks for the info. The only thing I wonder about is, what happens if the train is hours late? Hopefully this doesn't result in sitting in the shuttle by the platform for hours.

 

[greatcats]

From what I have learned the hotel receives the train information from the Flagstaff ticket office. In our case the other day, the train had been on time all day. When we reached the platform location, it appeared that one track was out of service, as we had to wait for one eastbound and one westbound freight train to pass on the same track before Amtrak appeared in the distance. In the case of a serious delay, I'm sure what would happen is that passengers would remain in the hotel lobby, which actually makes a rather nice train station!

 

[caravanman]

As someone new to American hostels, can you give me your opinion about the fort mason hostel.. ammo for informed choices on my next budget trip!

Ed B)

 

[VentureForth]

Been through WMJ a couple of times - awake just about every time I passed through there. Come to think of it, once during a full moon and once during a new moon. When the train stops, it's seems just like any typical yard - but there's no yard. Just a double headed mercury vapor light and a dirt road. It almost seemed like a whistle stop.

As soon as the train started to move, the van driver shuts off the light and it was PITCH DARK (during the new moon, anyway). It was so dark, I couldn't see a thing out the window. Very creepy - in a very cool sort of way.

 

[greatcats]

Good morning, everyone from Ft. Mason. I intend to write a full report on this trip after I arrive back at Grand Canyon on Sunday or perhaps Monday. I have stayed in hostels for over 15 years ( and I am in my mid 50's ) In some ways I think I have outgrown them - the dorm room with eight beds with people like me who snore, and then there are others who are worse snorers than me - people who turn the lights on in the middle of the night.....this gets kinda old. I got rather poor sleep the first few nights - I am staying here seven nights, as I did not want to run up a huge hotel bill, , and last night was pretty good, assisted by earplugs. But the pluses are the wonderful people ( and some turkeys ) that one meets. I just had a great travel discussion over breakfast in the nice cafe with a young Ecuadorean man, This is one of my favorite hostels in the U.S. - It is well run, clean, offers activities ( a volunteer took us on a great walking tour yesterday ) and is in a beautiful location..... A little out of the way, but only a few blocks from the Hyde St. cablecar and other bus lines.

 

[greatcats]

As promised, I am about to write the detailed report of the above mentioned trip. It will be in a seprate posting.