CALIFORNIA ZEPHYR
Day Three

When I awoke we were gliding across central Nevada atop welded rail at the posted maximum of 79 mph. That’s not very speedy compared to fast trains in Europe or Asia but then I’m not in a hurry. I love this stuff! The last thing I’d want to do is roll across this beautiful landscape at 200+ miles per hour. If I really need to go that fast, I’ll just get on an airplane.

Much of Nevada is in what’s known as the Great American Basin. It’s one of the four main deserts of the American West, the others being the Chihuahua (New Mexico), the Sonoran (Arizona) and the Mojave (Southeastern California). It’s a great place to ride a train through. Here are a few shots that I took shortly after waking up:



The view from my bed upon awaking


The view from my bed 10 minutes later


Good Morning, Nevada!


Dune-like mountains to the north


Surprise, surprise! The shower was available! I quickly washed up under an impressive deluge of good hot water and then headed up to the dining car for some breakfast. Surprise again! The dining car was full. No problem. The steward put my name down on her short waiting list, refilled my coffee and off I went to bide my time in the lounge car next door.



Cruisin’ across Nevada in the lounge car


One of the legends of railroad dining car fare is the French Toast served by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway aboard its crack Chicago to Los Angeles streamliner “The Super Chief”. It was truly special, created by talented chefs and soaked in a special mixture before being baked in the oven at a precise temperature for a precise period of time with the result being a flavorful melt-in-your-mouth meal that in and of itself brought customers back to the Santa Fe time and again.

Amtrak pays homage to its Santa Fe heritage by offering French Toast as a breakfast entrée on most all of its long distance trains. Unfortunately, its French Toast – while perfectly acceptable – is a far cry in taste and texture from the legendary Santa Fe version that inspired it. Still, I like French Toast now and then so I ordered a plate of it. Not bad, not bad…



Amtrak’s French Toast Breakfast


Shortly after departing Reno, the California Zephyr begins a long gradual climb up into the Sierra Nevada Mountains, initially following the Truckee River and then continuing up and over Donner Pass. We encountered snow flurries about an hour out of Reno. I had my camera ready…



Following the Truckee River up into the Sierra Nevadas


First we encountered fog…


And then real snow as we climbed ever higher into the Sierras


It’s all downhill from here…


As we descended down the western slope of the Sierras, the sun came out and the day as well as the scenery warmed up beautifully. I was reminded of a similar trip I did aboard the Zephyr, albeit in Coach, back in mid-December 1986 when traveling to see Jerry Garcia’s first shows back with the Grateful Dead after having lapsed into a diabetic coma during the previous summer’s shows in Washington, D.C. The conditions today were similar to that 86 trip with a wintry ascent of Donner Pass followed by a gorgeous sun drenched descent through the western Sierras and down to San Francisco Bay. There were a lot of Deadheads on the train that day and we all felt the positive vibes from that sunshine (Here Comes Sunshine). Was that really thirty-one years ago?!

Snapping back to the present, here are a couple shots of descending through the Sierras and rolling along San Francisco Bay.



Sunshine descent through the lower Sierras


Cruisin’ along San Francisco Bay…


You know, there are a multitude of stories about Amtrak trains running late but hardly any – none really - about the many times that they’ve arrived on time or better yet – early. Over the years I’ve logged almost 200,000 miles aboard Amtrak. That may not sound like much to those of you who’ve spent a lot more time earning air miles but look at it this way – Amtrak trains average about 50 mph or 1,200 miles per day. By comparison, airplanes average about 500 mph (I’m also figuring in slower speeds during climb out and descent) so if you were to extrapolate Amtrak’s speed to that of an airliner, we’d be looking at about 2 million miles that I’ve traveled by rail.

I don’t mean to brag. That’s not my intent since who here at FlyerTalk really gives a big hoo hah about rail miles anyway? No – the reason for me trotting out my stats is to present myself as imminently qualified to comment on Amtrak’s much improved record for on time performance. Today, we arrived in Emeryville about five minutes early.

Darryl had my bags ready when I disembarked. Darryl’s a genuine good guy. I enjoyed chatting with him during the trip and I hope we meet up again on another California Zephyr ride. I gave him a hug, handed him a decent tip and made my way into the station.

I still had a long day ahead of me. The first order of business was to catch an Amtrak bus across the Bay Bridge into San Francisco’s Financial District. From there, I’d pay to stash my luggage at the Hyatt Hotel and then walk four blocks over to the Hotel Griffon where one of three Perry’s Restaurants is located. San Francisco has a lot of fantastic restaurants but I have always loved the ambiance, the service and the food at this particular Perry’s establishment.

I had a typically delicious chicken dinner, washed down with a couple pints of delightful Lagunitas Pils – a beer I have tried unsuccessfully to purchase outside of San Francisco ever since. The quest continues, I assure you. In the meantime, I made my way back to the Hyatt, picked up my luggage, caught the BART to the airport and then the free airport shuttle to my hotel for the night – a Ramada Inn which thankfully I’d paid for in advance with award points.

Tomorrow I’d begin a new adventure aboard Amtrak’s Coast Starlight from Burbank up to Seattle. Color me excited because the Coast Starlight is one of Amtrak’s premier long distance trains with both the service and the equipment to match (most days).