Amtrak: My Experience and Things to Know
I’ve always loved train travel. You get to walk around, eat a meal in the dining car, sleep in your own room, bring all your luggage, see all the landscapes up close and personally, and don’t have to wait in long security lines, or be at the station two hours ahead of departure. It’s glorious. As such, it’s always made me sad it never really caught on here in the states for travel, as much as it has in other countries. In fact, it’s so unpopular here, I never even considered it as a way to travel the states, until about a year ago when people started posting an article about how you could go coast to coast for only $200. I was intrigued.
Having - very sadly - lost my flight benefits this year, and being extremely poor because of my money pit of a house, international travel during spring break was not an option for me. As badly as I wanted it, I just knew I shouldn’t, so I set my sights on seeing my own country. Intrigued by this cross-country train trip, I did some research and decided I wanted to ride Amtrak’s California Zephyr. Everything I read said it was the most beautiful of all the Amtrak trips, and it would take me to a beach, so I was happy. Instead of doing the full route from Chicago, I decided to hop on in Omaha (closest stop to Wichita), and skip out on all the mid-western farmland I get enough of in my Kansas life.
I boarded the train at 10:50pm, and immediately fell asleep. When I woke up it was 7am, and we were in Denver. More people got off than on, and I think my car was about 1/4 full. I had brought books, movies, journals, and my computer to keep me busy on the 50 hour ride, but ended up spending the entire day just staring dreamily out the windows - usually in the panoramic observation car. Any time I tried to start reading or writing, I would feel like I was missing out on something out the window, so I finally gave up trying, and just eased into a day of absolutely nothing. Y’all, it was pure bliss.
At exactly 9:51am we were entering the Moffat Tunnel. It is the fourth longest tunnel in North America, at 6.2 miles long. It is the highest point of all the Amtrak routes, and it took over 5 years to build. The tunnel was built with hand drills - basically guys chiseling rock with a small hand tool - and some days would only get 7 inches! When the two groups finally met in the middle, they were only 2.5 inches off. It was a very impressive story for a very impressive tunnel. Sadly, the man who designed the tunnel died right before construction even started.
At 10:10 we had a fresh air break in Fraser/Winter Park, Colorado, and shortly after were in Grand Junction. Grand Junction didn’t seem like much, but after that stop I was the only person in my entire car! I pretty much had the car to myself until Salt Lake City at 10:30pm, where maybe a handful of people trickled on, and it stayed like that until I pulled into San Fransisco.
From everything I had read, one of the best parts of ‘riding the rails’ is to eat dinner in the dining car. The conductor comes around a few hours earlier and takes reservations, and then you get sat at a table with random other passengers. That first night I was sat with a couple from Arkansas, and I’m gonna guess they were in their late 60s. They shocked my socks off by telling me they were proud of Kansas for voting in Laura Kelly for governor, and telling me that they avoid Koch brother products whenever possible. They also told me how important it is for me to get other “young people” like myself out to vote because they just can’t understand all this “Republican nonsense.” It was a lovely meal. (Oh, the food was meh. A step above airplane food, a few steps below real restaurant food. I got chicken and vegetables and it was $18.50 with no tip. The views were nice though.)
Sunday morning we got to Reno, Nevada, and ended up leaving over an hour late because there was so much snow. For the rest of the trip there was a lot of stopping and going because we were going through a legit blizzard. The trees right outside my window were weighted down by over a foot of snow on each branch, but I couldn’t see much beyond because it was just pure white.
We ended up getting to San Fransisco about 2 hours late, and just in time for the mayor to announce a shelter in place order. Luckily my friends I stayed with live directly across from Golden Gate Park, and straight down the street from the beach. Each day I took their dog on a walk and that was about it.
On Wednesday morning I headed back to train station for my trip back. By this point Corona panic had reached a fever-pitch and I was very glad I had my Lysol wipes and hand sanitizer with me. I assumed the train would be even less crowded because of all this, but actually it was the opposite. It still wasn’t full, but there were definitely a lot more people than on the way out. Before we even pulled out of the station, one guy was already asking about when the next smoke break would be. When he was told an hour, he threw a fit, and very soon after the cabin filled with the smell of cigarette smoke. I was annoyed.
Early the next morning I headed to the lounge car for some coffee, and then sat in the observation car to enjoy it, as I did every morning. Though the cabin was fuller on this trip, the observation/lounge car was completely empty! I spent most of my time in there, enjoying all the views I missed due to snow and darkness on the way out. Eventually two older guys joined me in there, and we sat in silence, until a fourth guy - probably around my age - walked in. He sat down for about two minutes - far away from the rest of us - and all of a sudden started screaming at us the most hideous profanities and telling us to leave him the eff alone, and on and on. Then he just walked off. Soon after the conductor came in to see what was going on, but didn’t see the guy. A few minutes later the guy came back and he went downstairs to the lounge store. I was waiting for him to come back up so I could go tell the lounge worker that was the screamer, but ended up not needing to because the guy started screaming at the lounge worker. The two conductors come barrelling down the aisle, right as the lounge worker and the angry guy are coming upstairs, and they all stop directly behind where I’m sitting. The angry guy is yelling at everyone to just leave him alone (he clearly had mental problems), and they started asking him what he was doing in the sleeper car cabin because he didn’t have a sleeper car. The guy said he wasn’t in there, and the conductors told him there were several witnesses who saw him go in a room, sleep there, and then the next morning they found the room all messed up. They told the guy that he would have to pay for the room, or he would be kicked off and arrested at the next stop for theft. The guy said he didn’t have the money, so they escorted him back to his seat and sat with him an hour until the next stop where the sheriff was promptly waiting to haul him away! It was insane.
The rest of the trip was pretty uneventful after that, though there were more delays due to more snow. I didn’t think the trip back could be better than the trip out, but I definitely enjoyed it so much more! The landscapes were just so stunning, and we went through gorges that we must have gone through at night on the way out. Plus this time I actually got to see the Tahoe area, and it was so magical covered in snow. My favorite spot though was a gorge between Green River, Utah and Grand Junction, Colorado. We got to go directly through it, and it was really special to ride through with the cliffs towering over me on both sides, and just feeling completely enveloped in the rusty rocks.
We ended up arriving almost 4 hours late to Omaha, which only meant getting there at 9am instead of 5am. Overall the trip was wonderful, and I think anyone even thinking about it should just do it. I’ve been to a lot of different places around the world, but this was in my top 3 most beautiful.
So, what are my tips?
I highly recommend the Zephyr, and if you can only do one way, do from San Fransisco to Chicago (or at least Omaha - I can’t vouch for anything past that point), instead of Chicago towards San Fransisco. (But if you can do both ways, do that.)
Take your own food. I ate in the dining car 2 of the 3 nights just because I wanted the experience, and I highly recommend it, but it is very expensive. I took a loaf of bread, peanut butter, honey, chips, Babybell cheese, Cliff bars, apples, oranges, and peanut butter M&Ms. Every meal not in the dining car I had a little picnic for myself in the lounge car, and it was delightful. You are also welcome to bring alcohol, and they sell alcohol and snacks in the lounge car as well. The coffee was also surprisingly decent each morning, and if you take your own tea bags, you can get all the hot water you want for free!
Don’t set a schedule. Both ways we were delayed by a few hours, and each trip took over 50 hours. Sometimes we got to stops on time, and sometimes we were a couple hours off - you just never knew. Enjoy the slow pace and relax. You will get there when you get there, so it’s best not to make any plans around your anticipated arrival time.
Take advantage of the observation car. I was so surprised at how many people just sat in their seats the whole time! The observation car is so cool! Plus, you get to hear a lot of fun facts and tidbits in the observation car, but not in the cabins because they don’t want the sound to disturb sleeping/napping passengers.
Take Lysol wipes. Even if you aren’t traveling in the middle of a world pandemic, those bathrooms are pretty gross. (Bonus tip: make sure the bathroom door is locked. Twice I walked in on guys going number 2, and I can’t erase that from my memory.)
Make friends with the crew. The lounge guys were so nice, and both of them had been working for Amtrak for over 20 years! They were experts on all things California Zephyr, and one of them would show me cool photo ops and tell me the history of different stations we passed through.
Price check different legs of the trip, or buy an Amtrak rail pass - like a Eurail, but for USA. I didn’t do this, but got to thinking when the whole guy stealing a sleeping room thing happened. They told him that for that one night, he would owe around $116. I was surprised at how cheap this was because to get a room for the whole trip, it was over $900, but just getting a seat I paid $327, so the room would cost almost triple. If there’s a way to only pay for the room during sleeping hours though, I think it would be worth it. For example, I got on around 11pm in Omaha and could have slept until Denver, and then gotten a regular seat from Denver until Salt Lake City, and then paid for a room to sleep again. I’m not sure of all Amtrak’s rules, but I will definitely look into this next time. Honestly, I slept pretty well in my seat though, it’s mainly so I would have my own bathroom that it would be worth it for me, but I’m pretty weird about public bathrooms. Also, I didn’t realize we had a pass similar to Eurail, but they actually have some great deals, and that way you can get off and on when you want, if someplace catches your eye.
Pack layers and an eye mask. Sometimes it was hot, and sometimes cold, with no rhyme or reason, so it’s nice to be able to add on or peel off. Also, the eye mask was essential for sleep as they leave some lights on so people can get around if they need to.
Have any of you taken Amtrak before? I’d love to hear your stories or tips for future trips!