AMTRAK -- California Zephyr to Reno

At least you were in the terminal. Last time I took Amtrak (St. Louis to Chicago), I was on the train for a 3+ hour delay.

You went right through here and didn’t even stop to say hi! For many years I’ve been wanting to take the train through the Sierra. We don’t care for Reno, but a trip to Truckee would be nice in the winter. If we ever get any snow. How do you learn about Amtrak flash sales?

Hi Andrea—-you don’t need a flash sale to get a great price on Amtrak, if the “value” fare is available ( they do sell out). We were thinking we might take the train from San Francisco to Truckee just before Thanksgiving to see our son and grandkids. For the whole trip, including the bus from San Francisco to the Emeryville train station departure point, the Value fare for 2 seniors was $91 ( full fare $195). I assume it would be lower from Sacramento.

Andrea, I set up an Amtrak account some time (years) ago -- get occasional emails when they have sales.

Chani -- I hear you! I once spent about four hours sitting on a train in the middle of noplace when the entire Amtrak communications system broke down and ALL trains were halted where they were.

Robin and I took the Zephyr back to Denver a few years ago after a visit to Carson City. We had a sleeping car room and slept well. It was her first time going anywhere on a train (except with me on a 3 wk trip to Germany), and she enjoyed it immensely.

Me, I had three, 3-night cross-country trips between Seattle and NY years ago to get to/from college, so I knew I was going to enjoy it. If you have the time, the train is a great way to travel.

Sigh.
Boise, Idaho, was once on two different Amtrac routes. They were both eliminated thirty-five years ago.

That sounds so fun! My parents have done the trip from Denver to Martinez and absolutely loved it - the views, the relaxation (instead of driving) and their own little berth.

Well, they love it when it's train all the way; they didn't care for it so much when they got piled onto a bus due to snow on the tracks in the Sierras. Not the experience they were hoping for that time.

Boise, Idaho, was once on two different Amtrac routes. They were both eliminated thirty-five years ago.

It's sad how many of the former Amtrak routes no longer exist. Back in the '80's I took several cross country train rides and loved every minute of them - well almost every minute of them. Too cheap to buy a sleeper I spent a couple of nights on each trip trying to sleep in a reclined coach seat. At least there were always plenty of empty seats so easy to curl up on two adjoining seats. I also wasn't thrilled with washing up and brushing my teeth in the morning in a common public rest room. I always planned my itineraries so that I had stopover with a hotel room at least every third night for a good night's sleep and a shower.

I remember on one trip out west riding the direct route from Salt Lake City to Seattle that went through Boise and was disappointed when planning a second trip later to find out it was gone so I had to go to CA and then up to WA changing trains at least once.

It was always my hope that someday they would bring back some of the old routes so that riding trains around the country would become popular again, but alas it was not to be. One of the reasons I love traveling around Europe on the trains rather than renting a car or flying.

My mother wanted to take the train to Spokane, Washington, in 1959. We lived in Oklahoma City and had to travel 200 miles north to Newton, Kansas, to catch the train (I'm guessing we took a bus). Then many hours on the train, via Boise, to Spokane. When I moved to Boise six years ago, I was anxious to visit the train depot to see what I remembered as beautiful green gardens sloping right down to the Boise River. Wrong! There are gardens, but the river is at least a half mile away. Oh, well! I still have my memories.

Laurie, that sounds (mostly) terrific.
I love trains, having taken my first trip with an uncle from Iowa to Los Angeles when I was 10 1/2.
Andrea, a friend and I planned a trip from Oakland to Truckee some years ago but got routed to a bus in Sacramento because of an accident in Nebraska on the Amtrak line.
I'll take a train in Europe over flying any time I can.

I have ridden the California Zephyr a couple of times, long ago. Once just to Truckee, but once I rode to Salt Lake City to get to Sun Valley, ID. As the train did not pass through Idaho (as mentioned above), I had to get off in Salt Lake and take a bus to Pocatello, where my (then) husband met me to pick me up for the drive to Sun Valley. But in 1975 the Utah stop was deemed not safe at 5 am (the scheduled arrival time) for a young pregnant woman traveling alone (I think the station was actually in Ogden, not SLC). At least 3 train employees asked if I was being met there (I was not,I needed to just wait for the bus which departed from 2 blocks away) and advised me not to dare set foot outside the station alone. It turned out OK but was not a great experience.

Fast forward to the 1990’s —- I rode the Empire Builder with my 2 sons numerous times for long ski weekends at Whitefish,Montana (much better skiing than in Washington). They were young teenagers and I was a single parent, and we were all 3 avid skiers. It was a great way to get there—-the train traveled at night both ways, so we could get in 3 days of skiing with only 2 nights’ lodging at the ski resort. That meant a full day of skiing after a bad night’s sleep in coach on the train, but they were young, and so was I, so it all worked out.

More recently, with kids all grown and away, my husband and I have taken the Empire Builder to Whitefish for skiing, but we booked a sleeper. Our first attempt we called the “dinner train to Everett” as the train departed Seattle at 5 pm but stopped at that station for a long time, before we were advised that the track ahead had washed out. While they worked on figuring out the options, we were told to go ahead and go to the dining car for the dinner that was included in our sleeping car reservation. So we enjoyed decent steak and a bottle of wine (extra cost) while we waited. When they announced the options were (a) be loaded onto a bus to Spokane to meet another train and continue to Whitefish or (b) return to Seattle and get a voucher for future travel, we chose the latter. We were able to re-schedule our ski lodge reservations to a later time. We did make the journey a few months later, and had a great time skiing in Montana.

I waved at you as you went through the Fairfield-Vacaville station. :)

If the route includes starting at Jack London Sq. I catch the train there instead of at Emeryville using BART or the ferry to get over from SF.