My wife Judy and I just returned from our first long distance rail trip. Here are a few of our impressions on rail travel - Amtrak style.
We caught the California Zephyr out of Emeryville on Monday morning, overnighted in Denver Tuesday night, boarded the Desert Wind Wednesday morning and arrived in Los Angeles Thursday afternoon. Four days and two nights on the train - We can't wait to do it again!
The in-laws gave us a ride to Emeryville (about an hour from where we live). As we arrived at the station, the new Amtrak California locomotive was just pulling out for it's run to Sacramento. We had about 45 minutes to wait for the Zephyr to arrive so we spent the time strolling around the Emeryville station. The new building is large, light and airy - projecting a sense of anticipation and a bright future for rail travel. For me, it was a welcome change from the down-at- the-heels old Oakland station. I'm glad that California, at least, is still interested in mass transit.
Finally the California Zephyr arrived! It first glided past the station on the far tracks allowing me to get some good distance photographs. The Zephyr was pulled by two Amtrak F40 locomotives followed by three material handling cars, a coach dorm, two sleepers, two coach/baggage cars, a Sightseer Lounge car and the dining car.
The Superliner equipment is impressive - 20 ft. tall, 80(?) ft. long, stainless steel construction. Somehow they radiate an impression of sheer mass unmatched by anything else I've seen. As the Zephyr backed into the station, I was amazed at how quiet something that large can be. Except for the rumbling of the engines at the head of the train, it was completely silent - almost floating in it's immensity.
A crowd of about 70 people had gathered and were milling about the platform waiting to board or see friends off. The station crew had to keep shepherding people back from the edge of the tracks. A good thing this was since the silence and size of the train combined in some strange fashion to make it almost invisible. The mind cannot seem to grasp that something that size can indeed be moving.
With practiced ease, the station crew and conductors ushered everyone aboard, quickly directing people to their proper cars. There was only fifteen minutes to board the passengers and make sure no well wishing family members were left on board as the train pulled out so, unfortunately, our family had no time to tour the train.
This was to become one of the themes of the trip. While the train was moving, time seemed to stop - there was no rush, no bustle, endless time for any endeavor... While the train was at a station, time assumed a sharpness not normally encountered in everyday life. When the call to board was made, passengers were almost sucked into the train and it started at once to move. Several times we had to sprint for the only remaining open door while still close enough to the train to touch it. I'm not sure if they would have waited for us or not! We did lose a passenger at the Davis stop - our lunch partners at our first meal reported seeing him sprinting for the train as it pulled out...
As we boarded the Zephyr, we were greeted by Randy, our car attendant and directed to our deluxe sleeper room 'D'. Randy, and Lee, the attendant we had on the Desert Wind, were to be one of the joys of the trip. Of the many features that sets rail travel apart from any other mode of transportation, the personal, friendly, interested service we received was a major one.
The deluxe sleeper was quite a luxury. A couch, movable chair, built in bathroom, shower, sink and vanity - and a large window, 15 ft. off the ground through which a 'Movie of America' was continuously playing. What more could one ask for? For luggage, we brought one medium sized soft-sided case for clothes and two packs for food, books, and toys. The suitcase fitted perfectly on an overhead shelf in the sleeper and everything else fitted neatly under the seats.
The Zephyr pulled out of Emeryville while we waved out the window. The adventure had begun! Throughout the trip I was impressed by how smoothly the engineer managed to start and stop train. I was often unable to tell we had begun to move except by looking out the window. In fact, at anything under about 50 mph, the train often felt quite still.
Moments after departure, Bobbi Smith, our Chief of On Board Services showed up at our door to greet us, collect our tickets, and give us our meal vouchers. Bobbi, like many of the Amtrak personnel we met, was a long time employee who approached her job with a fresh attitude each day. There was no rush in her presentation - Bobbi made sure that we understood all about the meal system and stayed with us long enough to make us feel very welcome. In retrospect, I believe that the service people on the train view it more like a bed and breakfast than a mode of transportation. After all, they live there much of the time -it has to become like home to them. Bobbi was a bit bemused by our itinerary - I guess most people use the train to get somewhere rather than riding it as an end in itself.
Shortly after Bobbi left, Randy appeared to explain the workings of the sleeper. Randy had been with Amtrak for three years and was still on the 'extra' board. As such, he only worked when needed by the line. I fear the outlook is not good for him with the cuts and all - It looks like anyone with less than 6 years is likely to get the ax in the current budget shortfall. It is a pity, really, because he did so much to make our trip memorable.
Randy was on the young side and full of enthusiasm. He offered to get meals or drinks for us whenever we liked, made up the beds evening and morning - prepared coffee for the car in the morning and apologized for the lack of an evening 'sweet'. While we didn't take advantage of many extra services, it was nice knowing that they were there.
Randy had a wealth of train stories to tell and didn't mind taking the time to tell them even though he obviously had lots to do. He knew all of the people mentioned in Henry Kisor's book 'Zephyr' and hoped to appear in a book one day himself - well, this isn't a book, but perhaps it will do :-)
The deluxe sleeper is 6'6' by 7'6' and takes up most of the width of the car. There is room left for a narrow aisle running the length of the train. Or car was the third sleeper from the head of the train, so we had all of the traffic from the first two cars plus curious coach riders who wanted to see what a sleeper was like - Randy was kept busy for the first few hours turning the tourists away :-) At no time did the foot traffic become objectionable - we were hardly aware it existed.
Back to the sleeper... Judy and I are on the small side, so we found our quarters to be quite luxurious. We had no trouble sleeping together on the 6'6' x 3'4' lower berth. We both tried the 6'2' x 2' upper berth but found it to be slightly annoying to climb into - and you can not see out the window when you are in it...
The room had a sink with vanity mirror. The water was *very* hot - even on the cold side for some strange reason. If you ran it long enough, it became cooler - not an annoyance for us, but interesting. The water taps were spring loaded meaning the water did not run unless you were actively pushing the lever - sort of a deadmans switch. This made it the usual gymnastic event to wash ones hands - but again not a major problem. Judy found that it made removing her contact lenses a bit of a chore.
The combination bathroom/shower was exactly like a motor home bathroom/shower. You have a temperature control and a removable water wand that you can use to wash yourself while seated. I can imagine if you are on the large side, this system would be difficult to use - in that event there is a much larger shower facility on the lower level of the car. You do, however, have to share that one with all of the economy sleeper residents. There is a button that you use to turn on the water. I believe it was supposed to be an intermittent switch like the ones on the sink; However, in our bathroom the water stayed on - much more satisfactory. Having read horror stories about travelers inadvertently showering themselves while attempting to flush the toilet, I was relieved to discover that the buttons for the two functions are now widely separated. I found it important to use the towel to wipe up every bit of excess water from the walls and floor after taking a shower - otherwise some forgotten pool would soak you the next time you entered the bathroom. For some reason the air on the train was very dry, so the towels quickly became dry as well.
Speaking of dry air, Judy and I were often feeling dehydrated. We drank close to three bottles of water each every day on the train. Since we were both recovering from colds this was a major annoyance. The next time we take a train trip, we will take a small ultrasonic humidifier with us! The real luxury of the deluxe bedroom, and one that will ensure we book one for all future travel, was the private bathroom. Because of all the water we drank, and perhaps the vibration of the train, we both had to use the facilities several times during the night. This was no fun at all on the second leg of our journey when we were in an economy sleeper and had to venture into the hall each time.
In the deluxe sleeper, there was plenty of room under the chair and couch to store our personal packs and camera equipment. The suitcase fit neatly on the overhead shelf. I stored my one dress shirt in the narrow closet - this was to almost prove my undoing later in the trip.
Hand and bath towels were provided as was soap. We also had two route guides and two copies of the Amtrak 'Express', the in-flight magazine.
One more thing about the deluxe sleeper - since the 'public' side of our car had a row of windows as well, as long as we left the curtain open we had a view out both sides of the car almost as good as the one from the lounge car. This by itself was almost worth the added expense of the room.
All of this preparation and getting acquainted took us through Martinez. Since Judy and I had ridden a Capitol along this route earlier this year, we didn't mind missing that bit of scenery. We caught a glimpse of the Glomar Challenger, the mothball fleet, and watched as the train crossed a bridge over the Sacramento river.
After a quick trip through the train to check out the coaches, dining, and lounge cars, we returned to our sleeper and settled in to do a bit of reading. I had brought 10 pounds of books expecting to read a lot on the trip. What I found instead is that I spent most of my time gazing out the window as the scenery went by - the only reading that I did was after dark before going to bed. Next time I'll take more film and fewer books!
We read and gazed as the train swept up the Central Valley towards Sacramento. The gentle rocking of the cars and the general sense of quiet was extremely relaxing. We both quickly dropped into that timeless place where you know that not only is there nothing you HAVE to do, there is nothing that you CAN do besides read and relax. I cannot recall the last time I felt that peaceful.
Approaching the Sacramento station, we paused for a few minutes at the drawbridge to let a long freight clear the switch ahead of us. As the freight crept by in the opposite direction, I was amused to see a hobo riding a gondola car. He appeared to be a clean cut, college age kid off for an adventure of his own. Perhaps I'm getting old, but I much preferred our nice warm sleeper to the thought of riding a gondola - maybe 15 years ago :-)
All Amtrak trains are non-smoking now (!), so the train makes periodic 'smoke stops' to accommodate the addicted. Sacramento was one such stop. As we pulled up to the station, an announcement was made that we would hear time and again, warning passengers to not leave the platform and to board quickly when the call was made. |
