Each time we stepped off the train, Randy reinforced this warning so they must lose quite a few people this way. I know we lost at least one student on our trip...
After Sacramento, the call for lunch was made. We had awaited this moment with a bit of trepidation, since neither Judy nor myself are particularly gregarious and we knew each meal would be spent with a new set of strangers. At lunch we were quickly seated and barely had time to introduce ourselves to our tablemate before the attendant arrived to take our order.
Amtrak is clearly making an attempt to return a bit of the elegance of the railroad dining experience. We had white linen tablecloths and napkins, a nice silk flower in a vase, real china and silverware and cooked to order meals. That first meal both Judy and myself had barbecued pork sandwiches. The pork was excellent, although we both felt that the amount of sauce was excessive. For dessert, I had apple pie a la mode and Judy had the banana nut cake. Both were excellent! The pie tasted homemade and the banana nut cake was indescribable. yum. we both ended up eating more than we should have over the course of the trip!
Martha, our first dining companion, turned out to be a teacher traveling to Denver to visit family. We had a pleasant conversation and it was she who told us about the unfortunate student we had lost at the Davis stop. There were four of them traveling together - all four had entered the station together. When they returned to the train, the fourth student had remained behind for some reason for a few extra minutes. Well, to make a short story shorter, the train left with the unfortunate student running along in it's wake - I wonder what finally happened to him?
On the other hand - when we pulled out of Emeryville, the train moved a few dozen feet and then stopped again. It appears one of the attendants had noticed an elderly woman waving from the window of a late arriving taxi and had held the train long enough for her to get on board...
So our first dining adventure was pleasant. We were to meet many people on board the train and it is indeed one of the benefits of train travel. It was a pleasure to make the acquaintance of new people and then see and greet them several times over the course of the trip. With a couple of notable exceptions, everyone was cheerful and had interesting stories to tell.
After lunch we began the long climb into the Sierra. I wish I had started to take pictures at this time, but I was so caught up in the experience itself, I didn't get the camera out until we started the climb into the Rockies the next day.
We have driven this route before and often observed where the SP tracks went. It was fun identifying the old landmarks from a new perspective.
About this time, the Westbound Zephyr - number 5, roared by on the opposite track. If I had been alert I could have captured it on film. but no matter, I would have two more attempts during the trip... :-)
Throughout the rest of the day, we climbed over the Sierra, past Donner lake, stopped briefly at Reno and, as the sun set, headed through the Nevada desert for Salt Lake City, the Colorado Rockies, and Denver.
Interestingly enough - the Sightseer Lounge car was rarely completely full throughout the entire trip. At any time except right before meals, we could always find two seats together - even when passing through the most spectacular bits. Right before meals the car filled up with people waiting for their reservation number to be called.
We apparently did not have a guide from the Sacramento railroad museum on board this trip. I understand that they do not work the train during the winter so announcements about the scenery were sporadic and brief. Since this was our home ground, so to speak, we didn't miss them. The next day, however, Amtrak more than made up for the omission in the Sierra by providing an excellent announcer for the Rockies.
Night time on the City of New Orleans, err, California Zephyr. Dinner was by reservation only. Bobbi came through again to ask us what time we would like to eat. We had our choice of times at 15 minute intervals from 6:00pm to 8:30pm. We chose an early seating and spent some time chatting about the train and the pending Amtrak cuts. As you might expect, all of the employees are upset and worried about the future of the line - even those with enough seniority to ride until the end. Bobbi regretted the lack of announcements through the Sierra, but told us about a conductor who made wonderful announcements in the Rockies - she thought he might come aboard at Salt Lake and was proved correct.
Dinner - Amtrak has started a system where they have five fixed menus that are changes in rotation. We were able to experience two of them during the course of our journey. That first night, both Judy and myself elected to have the prime rib. It was indeed cooked to order and was passable fare. We both enjoyed the meal. We had our choice of soup or salad with various dressings. Our tablemates this meal had the pasta dish and the chicken (a honey glazed half chicken that looked wonderful! - unfortunately, the menu changed that night and I was unable to try it.)
Jack and Janell were from Firebaugh, California - a small farming community in the Central Valley and were on a round-the-country train trip purchased for them by their children. They run a restaurant called 'Prime Time' and this was the first time they had closed the place in 26 years! We will stop by there to eat the next time we drive to Yosemite.
Speaking of meals - I was a bit shocked to see that very few people tipped the wait staff. These folks worked hard and since it was a restaurant, albeit an unusual one, I felt that they should be tipped at least as well as waiters in an unmoving one. The staff clearly thought so too, since they went out of their way to thank me the next time they saw me :-)
There was a movie in the lounge car that we managed to avoid. 'Naked Gun', I think.
Since the sun had set, the view out the windows was non-existent. We returned to our sleeper for the night. Randy, helpful as always, popped in to magically turn the couch into a bed and to set up the overhead bunk - complete with ladder. The upper berth was an amazing piece of engineering with struts and belts and snaps that all clicked into place in less that 60 seconds.
As I mentioned earlier, I enjoyed climbing into the upper berth, but neither of us chose to sleep there because of the lack of view and inconvenience of getting up and down. For people of girth, it must be a real problem.
Both Judy and I fell asleep almost instantly. The rocking of the car and the 'rhythm of the rails' was soporific. We didn't sleep very deeply however, and each woke up several times during the night. At no time did we have trouble getting back to sleep, but we were a bit tired in the morning. Again this was no problem since we didn't have a very active day planned :-)
Tuesday morning. Sometime in the wee hours of the morning we had joined up with the 'Desert Wind' from Los Angeles into a new, longer California Zephyr. We exchanged the two F40 locomotives that had pulled us through the Sierra for a new, futuristic 'Genesis' type engine assisted by another engine I could not identify.
With the train now almost doubled in length, and the track becoming much more curved, I could often see both the head end of the train and the trailing lounge cars at the same time. It was here that I remember the camera and started to get some great establishing shots of our train against some spectacular scenery.
I had brought a couple of toys with me to while away the time. The first one, a handheld GPS receiver, proved almost useless. It could track the satellites well enough, and it did it's usual spectacular job of reporting location, speed, and altitude - but knowing our location wasn't very useful. The maps I had brought along didn't identify the rail line and were not detailed enough to provide useful reference information. Even with more detailed maps I doubt if I would take it on another rail trip.
What *was* interesting and useful was the scanner I brought along. In the end, we left it turned on most of the time - tracking mileposts and detectors and comparing them to the timetable I had brought along. In this fashion we were able to identify several places we would like to drive back and visit. I was also able to precisely identify the time and location we were to meet the Westbound Zephyr on Wednesday and got several spectacular photos.
Where was I, oh yes, Tuesday breakfast. We shared the Amtrak special French toast - it was as wonderful as people have said! I had the scrambled eggs (also available over and up) with grits, toast, bacon AND sausage :-) The sausage was turkey sausage and fairly bland, but all in all the meal was very edible.
Since we were traveling first class, the meals were no additional charge. We were supposed to be billed for extra items like my side of bacon and bottled water, but I believe the only thing we were ever charged extra for was the wine at dinner.
One tablemate at this meal was another Janell, a teacher returning home after visiting her children in California. Janell also runs a bed and breakfast in Logan, Utah - who knows, we might end up there some time. Unfortunately, I cannot recall our other breakfast companion...
Most of the people we met on the train provide a good example why we should keep Amtrak running - since cost was a major feature in their choice of Amtrak as a means of travel - without Amtrak, these folk would not travel or certainly not get to visit family and friends as often as they can now.
As Bobbi promised, our trip through the Rockies was accompanied by an excellent announcer who called out many points of interest along the way. I'll spare the details here since many of them are described in the California Zephyr/Desert Wind route guide. Suffice it to say that we intend to spend a future vacation in the thermal pools at Glenwood Springs.
Lunch on the second day was bacon burgers all around. Our tablemates were two Australians traveling as part of a group of 6. They described a Sydney to Perth rail trip that they had made that sounded wonderful - I wonder how we can work that into our vacation plans?
At Winter Park, the highest stop on the journey, I took it into my head to walk up to the head end of the train and examine the locomotives. Judy came with me and just as we started back to our cars we heard the call to board. Everyone popped back into the train and the attendants started pulling in the step stools they use to get into the train. We headed for the coach car closest to us and the attendant closed the door! So we started to run (at 9'000 ft and 15 degrees!) towards our car (its a LONG train) and we were suddenly confronted by an empty platform. With visions of that hapless student flashing through our minds we wondered if we were going to have to spend the night looking for a place to stay at a resort town that was undoubtedly booked solid. Just then, Randy stuck his head out the door and saw us. He stepped out of the train and put the stool back out. We rushed aboard and collapsed panting on the stairs just as the train started rolling.
I really think the train ought to whistle two or five minutes before departure.
There are 42 tunnels between Salt Lake City and Denver. The longest one, the Moffat tunnel, was just ahead. This tunnel is 6.2 miles long and the third longest in North America We had to wait six or seven minutes before entering the tunnel while giant fans exhausted the diesel fumes from the tunnel that were left by the freight train the preceded us. It takes 10 minutes to traverse the tunnel and all passengers are instructed to remain in their cars or rooms while the crossing is being made. Fumes from our locomotives begin to penetrate the cars a few minutes after we enter the tunnel - if one of the doors between cars is opened at this time, heavy black diesel smoke would swirl though the car and make life unpleasant for everyone concerned. |
