Originally Posted by
AlanB
While I would never guarantee anything, in October the odds are in your favor that the next days train would still have a few rooms left.
Agreed. If it was summer or around holidays I'd be more concerned.
Yes, the California Zephyr
is capable of running that late, but it's far from inevitable that it will. Try not to fret too much while you're enjoying the trip. One thing Amtrak does consistently well IME is to re-accommodate long-distance passengers who miss connections, beyond what airlines often do.
When my own Zephyr ran eight hours late into Emeryville and I missed the last connections to Santa Cruz, I was greeted at Emeryville with $100+ cash for the hotel room they had already booked, plus meals. If you miss a connection in Chicago, they have passenger services offices largely used for exchanging tickets (and distributing hotel vouchers and meal cash if you have to overnight). ^