When I rebooked everything four weeks ago, I began with an American Airlines award to London, stopping over in San Francisco. Because I’d originally planned to go to South America first, with a stop in Miami, I’d booked a non-refundable ticket from Ft. Lauderdale to Denver so that I could take my North American train ride aboard the
California Zephyr, perhaps the most scenic long distance train ride in the country, much less on the continent. So, from San Francisco I had to fly to Ft. Lauderdale to pick up that FLL-DTW-DEN ticket. I didn’t mind. Just think of all the extra miles I just earned!
In any event, over the first three days of this trip I flew seven domestic flights, all of them in Economy Class, and none of them particularly noteworthy. So, let’s pick up in Denver, Colorado where my nephew Nate and I are about to board Amtrak’s
California Zephyr, bound for the Golden State.
March 4, 2010
Denver, CO. to Emeryville, CA.
Amtrak’s California Zephyr
First Class Car 531 Room 14
“Trains are wonderful... to travel by train is to see nature and human beings, towns... and rivers, in fact, to see life” – Agatha Christie
This train ride is a 23rd birthday present for Nate. He’s never ridden on a train before and I remembered his enthusiasm and excitement when I showed the family pictures of my train trips last year. So, in celebration of the good guy that Nate is, we’re going in style with a standard bedroom that provides a bed for the night in addition to all meals in the dining car enroute. Awright!!!
It was a beautiful sunny morning as my nephew Andy dropped us off at Denver’s Union Station at 7:30am.
Union Station, Denver, Colorado
I had envisioned picking up the tickets and heading right onboard the waiting train. Alas, it was not to be. Our train was running late, with a new departure time of 10:00am. In the meantime, we were offered up to $20.00 off the cost of breakfast at the nearby and stylish Dixon’s Restaurant. Order whatever you like and Amtrak would reimburse up to $20.00 of the total cost.
Two hours later, we’re strolling down platform 1, headed for Room 14 in car 531.
Boarding the California Zephyr at Denver
Waiting to greet us at the door to our car was Mr. Tony Westfield, as friendly and engaging a car attendant as I’ve ever had the pleasure of travelling with on Amtrak. I remember Tony’s last name because much in the manner of William Shatner’s character Denny Crane in the television series Boston Legal, Tony would remind us and others of his full name at the odd stop enroute. Tony Westfield.
Tony Westfield & Nate
Although most people are excited about the prospect of a seat or bedroom high on the upper level of Amtrak’s Superliner fleet, I specifically chose a lower level room for two reasons. First, the downstairs rooms are quieter because there is much less foot traffic passing by your door. All the inter-car traffic is upstairs. As well, the train’s natural rocking motion makes for a difficult time walking and most people tend to ricochet their way down the narrow hallways, bouncing off walls and doors with equal abandon. One sleeping car passenger complained that her arms were bruised after just one afternoon on the train. Additionally, being lower in the train car results in much less tilt motion than is experienced on the upper levels. Like a fulcrum point on a seesaw, the ride is smoother the lower you are.
Opposite the stairway to the upstairs level is a shelf for baggage. We stowed our packs there and headed down the hall to our room. Each Amtrak bi-level Superliner Sleeper car offers 14 Standard bedrooms, 5 Deluxe bedrooms, 1 Family bedroom and 1 Handicapped bedroom. Four Standard bedrooms along with the Family and Handicapped bedrooms are located downstairs. The
Standard bedrooms measure 3’6” by 6’6” and are accessed via a sliding glass door. During the day they offer two wide opposite facing seats that fold together to become a bed at night. Above them is a fold-down upper berth. I quickly took dibs on the lower berth. Other amenities include four separate lights, an electrical outlet, a tall mirror, a fold out table, a small open closet with hangers and even a thermostat which I immediately turned to its lowest level. Behind the center console where the table is stored were two bottles of water and a variety of pamphlets about the train. There was a route guide, a timetable, a safety card much like you’d see aboard an airliner and a brochure describing the train and its various services and attractions. Best of all, each compartment has its own huge window, approximately 2’ X 5’, through which to view the passing scenery. Compare that to your average First Class Suite on a 747. Toilet and shower facilities are down the hall.
At the top of the stairway is the service area for each car. In the morning, juice and coffee are available here. Ice is available throughout the day. We had brought a collapsible cooler already filled with ice and cans of Tecate beer. We had 24 cans between us. As things turned out, that only got us through about 10pm the first night.
For you more technically minded readers, today's California Zephyr is powered by two General Electric 4,250 HP Genesis Model P42DC locomotives. The overall consist included a baggage car, a transition sleeper (For the crew), two Superliner II Sleeper Cars, the dining car, the Sightseer Lounge Car and three Superliner coaches.
At 10:05am the all aboard call was made, the doors were shut and we were on our way, gliding slowly out of the Denver yards past Coors Field and out into the northwest Denver suburbs. Meanwhile, various announcements were being made about the train, its amenities and the services to be expected. Smokers were reminded that the
California Zephyr is an entirely smoke free train, so regardless of what class one was traveling in, cigarettes could be smoked only at designated station stops.
I first rode the
California Zephyr as a twelve year old on my way to a river rafting camp outside Glenwood Springs, Colorado. The Zephyr was in its final year of operation prior to the nationalization of the nation’s passenger railroads through the creation of Amtrak. From its inception, it was a train as beautiful and storied as the land it traveled through.
Not long after leaving Denver, the Zephyr began to wind its way up into the foothills northwest of Denver, heading up Boulder Creek just above Eldorado Springs and continuing to climb whilst passing through 28 tunnels enroute to The Big One – The Moffat Tunnel – 6.2 miles long at an elevation of about 9200 feet. Prior to the tunnel’s opening in 1928, trains had to climb up over Rollins Pass. You can clearly see the old rail bed up the side of the mountain above the East Portal.
As I was pointing this out to Nate and a couple of people seated nearby, another gentleman chipped in with a bit more information about the area. The top of Rollins Pass is at 11000 feet and it used to take trains about five hours to get over the pass and down to the town of Fraser on the west side. If the weather was bad, the trip over Rollins Pass could be measured in days. Now, it takes about 10 minutes to get through the Moffat Tunnel and another 10 minutes to get to Fraser.
The man’s name was Bob Mohowski and it turns out that not only had he authored a couple of books about railroading, he also knew my old 8th grade history teacher, the man most responsible for cultivating my interest in trains. I still keep in touch with my old friend from school and so we gave him a call. Unfortunately he wasn’t home but it was fun for us both to leave him a message while travelling together on the
California Zephyr.
Through the rest of the Rockies, the scenery is spectacular as the route follows the Colorado River for over 200 miles through Byers, Gore, Glenwood and Ruby Canyons before leaving the Colorado and heading up to Salt Lake City. With the exception of meals, we spent most of the journey in the Lounge Car drinking beer and chatting with our fellow travelers.
Gore Canyon
Gore Canyon tunnel
Amtrak’s Bi-Level Sightseer lounge cars are magnificent creations. Windows are everywhere, starting at knee level and continuing overhead.
Amtrak’s Sightseer Lounge Car
They are perfect for this route in particular with its deep canyons and towering rock walls above.
California Zephyr in Glenwood Canyon
Photo courtesy of Railpics.net
There is seating for about 50 people upstairs. A snack bar is located downstairs. The menu there offered a variety of hot and cold sandwiches, cheese pizza, rice bowls, soup, candy, peanuts, and all manner of soft and hard drinks. While I thought the prices for the food items were quite reasonable, (Sandwiches cost $2.75-$5.00, soup $1.50) Amtrak’s beer selection is basic and expensive – a simple can of Budweiser will run you $4.75. That’s railway robbery!! Although Amtrak allows its First Class Sleeper passengers to bring aboard their own alcohol, I don’t believe this privilege is extended to the lounge car. As such, discretion was the order of the day. Our beer supply only lasted us through most of the first night so I’d guess we contributed an additional $60.00 or so to Amtrak’s revenue over the remainder of the journey.
One of the best differences between train and plane travel is the lounge and its ever-changing population of visitors over the course of a long trip. Unlike an airplane which quickly flies you from Denver to Oakland in a mere two hours, the
California Zephyr makes 18 stops along the way, picking up and dropping off all manner of fresh visitors to the lounge. We met all kinds of folks, from the guy returning home from a visit with his once estranged daughter in Nebraska to the blind man and his dog who were headed for the bright lights of Las Vegas to the rabid Chicago sports fan who couldn’t fly to a business engagement in San Diego because he’d punctured a lung a couple of months earlier. He was astonished that I knew all about Steve Dahl and the infamous late 1970s Anti-Disco night that forced the Chicago White Sox to forfeit the second game of a double header because the outfield was both burned and torn up. We recalled the Bear’s 1986 Superbowl parade, shivering it out through freezing weather in late January. Really, it was like 10°F
before the wind chill. I was there and I wasn’t even a fan of Da Bears. I just happened to be in town.
Meals onboard were complimentary to First Class passengers, so we ate well along the way. A delicious black bean vegetarian burger for lunch (made even better with the addition of bacon strips), steaks and baked potatoes for dinner, omelets for breakfast… and excellent service from the dining car staff.
The beds in our standard bedroom were comfortable, if somewhat narrow. Still, sleep comes easily for me aboard trains. There’s just something about the motion of the train as we speed through the night that’s conducive to a quality sleep.
Ready for bed
In the morning, a hot shower is just a few feet down the hall and coffee and orange juice await at the top of the stairs. What a great way to travel!
Shower
By the time we rolled into Emeryville at 6:15pm the next day, we were well out of beer but more than ready for another day or two of train travel. Nate had a great time and next time, we’ll have to board in Chicago where the journey to Emeryville (right next door to Oakland) takes 52 hours.
An Amtrak van took us down to nearby Jack London Square where I’d booked a room at the Jack London Inn. I last stayed at this hotel in 1988 while in town to catch a two night stand with the Grateful Dead at the old Henry J. Kaiser Auditorium. Alas, the past 22 years haven’t been so kind to the Jack London Inn and it took us a couple of tries before we were able to find a room where everything worked, like lights or air conditioning.
The next day Nate and I took the BART to SFO and parted ways, he back to Denver aboard his first 777, me on to Chicago aboard an American MD-80. We both look forward to our next ride on the
California Zephyr.