Amtrak Chicago to San Fransisco

[edwin_m]

Sitting with strangers in the dining car is absolutely part of the experience. You get to meet all sorts of interesting people and it's always one of the highlights of those long routes for me.

I recall sharing a table with a couple who were trying to fix me up on a date with their daughter! Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately) I had a flight out booked a couple of days later and was unable to change my itinerary.

 

[BruceTee]

My wife and I did this trip in 2014, so can't comment on recent issues re staffing and rolling stock. Absolutely loved it! It was a trip I'd hoped to do when I'd retired, but got lucky. I found all facilities better than expected, like showering and the dining car. Except, the roommette was pretty compact and we'd made the error of not checking how the upper bed mechanism worked until we went to bed. Didn't have enough light to see what I was supposed to do. Agree with most comments that Denver westwards is the highlight, like Moffat Tunnel and upper Colorado Gorge. We were pretty luck about late running, leaving 1 hour late, being at most 3 hours late around Yellowstone stop. But we made it to Emeryville about 45 minutes late. Unless you intend to stay that side of the bay, book yourself the coach transfer to San Francisco downtown. We found arriving on a weekend, the Richmond leg of BART wouldn't connect with the timings of the Zephyr. Anyhow, enjoy. It must be one of the best US trains trips to do.

 

[FormerBritInMe]

I’m not joking. Amtrak has experienced staffing and rolling stock shortages over the last couple of years. They didn’t have anyone to staff the sleeper car I’d booked in and weren’t particularly accommodating about the situation. I’d booked plans around my Amtrak trip so didn’t have the flexibility to change dates to a different one. I booked months in advance and they gave me 4 weeks notice of the downgrade. However, despite the downgrade it was still worth doing the Californa Zephyr and with a bit of planning I made it as comfortable as I could for the journey in Coach.

The way to avoid this situation is to always try to reserve a room in the base sleeper that will always be in the consist (formation) generally this is the lowest numbered car. For example for the Westbound Southwest Chief (train #3) the sleepers would be car numbers 330, 331, 332 (if there are 3 sleepers). If a car was cancelled due to a shortage they would remove in this case 332, then 331. So always try to book in 330 the lowest numbered car. This isn't possible on the web site, you would have to call. It is best to join the Guest Rewards system not only because you get points each time you travel that can be used for discounts or upgrades, but also because they have their own dedicated reservation agents and usually your call gets answered quicker than the main reservation line.

Edit: I should explain the car numbering in case it is not obvious. It is the train number + the car suffix which for sleepers will start at 30 or sometimes 31. Note that the lowest numbered sleeper is next to the diner, the next one next to that car, and so on. Occasionally there will be a trans-dorm generally used by the staff but they will occasionally sell space in it also. I believe these are usually numbered 39.

As for the "smoke breaks" although they can shorten these if the train is late, there are situations where they still have to take some time, for example refueling stops. Or in those rare cases where trains split/join - there are only 3 of these: Albany on the Lake Shore Limited, San Antonio on the Sunset/Eagle, and Spokane on the Empire Builder.

 

[Jack in England]

Haven't got a problem sitting with other passengers but when it's about 1/3 full and you are the last batch of diners you could be offered the option of sitting else where

 

[WesternLancer]

The way to avoid this situation is to always try to reserve a room in the base sleeper that will always be in the consist (formation) generally this is the lowest numbered car. For example for the Westbound Southwest Chief (train #3) the sleepers would be car numbers 330, 331, 332 (if there are 3 sleepers). If a car was cancelled due to a shortage they would remove in this case 332, then 331. So always try to book in 330 the lowest numbered car. This isn't possible on the web site, you would have to call. It is best to join the Guest Rewards system not only because you get points each time you travel that can be used for discounts or upgrades, but also because they have their own dedicated reservation agents and usually your call gets answered quicker than the main reservation line.

Edit: I should explain the car numbering in case it is not obvious. It is the train number + the car suffix which for sleepers will start at 30 or sometimes 31. Note that the lowest numbered sleeper is next to the diner, the next one next to that car, and so on. Occasionally there will be a trans-dorm generally used by the staff but they will occasionally sell space in it also. I believe these are usually numbered 39.

As for the "smoke breaks" although they can shorten these if the train is late, there are situations where they still have to take some time, for example refueling stops. Or in those rare cases where trains split/join - there are only 3 of these: Albany on the Lake Shore Limited, San Antonio on the Sunset/Eagle, and Spokane on the Empire Builder.

This is really helpful info - thanks for posting!