Originally Posted by
Gatwick Alan
I did this journey a couple of years ago and agree with your suggestion to sit downstairs. The other advantage in doing this is that you can clean the window at a station if it gets dirty and you want to take photos.
One other tip, if the train is running early, get off at Richmond and take the BART into town. I was in my hotel before the transfer coaches had even left Emeryville.
There is a BART station across the street from the final Emeryville stop, We used that in lieu of the bus transfer.