California Zephyr discussion 2023 Q4 - 2024

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Bedrooms A thru E are all on the same side of the train. Bedroom E is closest to the middle of the car but has the steps right outside the front wall. Bedrooms B to D have bedrooms on both sides and a connecting door that is usually closed. A has a bedroom on only one side and a wall on the other. We've traveled in all of them except A and don't see that much difference but Bedroom A is slightly smaller, maybe by a square foot.
 
Was on the CZ from OTM-RNO Feb 27th. Yes, we were delayed by 11 hours, but the staff were absolutely wonderful. The return trip was cancelled several times & we had to rent a a car to get back home. Won't go into details, but Amtrak customer service was poor. I have written to Amtrak to explain our story.
 
I rarely ride in bedrooms. IIRC certain ones have a little more room than the others. I would google best bedroom on a superliner to find this out. Perhaps someone will come along and tell you. You cannot predict which side a bedroom will be on. I would suggest booking two roomettes across the hall from each other. Or an even and odd number roomette in the same car. This guarantees that you are on the best side for scenery.
 
Bob Dylan said:
E is most people's favorite, with D being second choice based on threads here.( my choices also)
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That is my preference also. However, generally, E bedrooms are booked first, D bedrooms are booked next, etc. It is possible on a busy popular train, would will not have your choice of rooms. If the reservation system gave you room B, it is quite possible that no E, D or C bedrooms are available at this time. However, someone could cancel and other rooms will open up.
 
Interesting, I just received revised tickets from Amtrak for our round trip on CZ in July. The only differences are that the departure and arrival times for both directions have changed. When this happens, is it usually a one-time thing? The schedules on the website still reflect the old timetable.
 
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eaguy said:
Interesting, I just received revised tickets from Amtrak for our round trip on CZ in July. The only differences are that the departure and arrival times for both directions have changed. When this happens, is it usually a one-time thing? The schedules on the website still reflect the old timetable.
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I have also just received a "revised" Sales Invoice for my CZ trip Emeryville to Chicago in Sept 2024 (with no actual revision). Digging through the attached pdf eTicket and comparing it with the previous one shows earlier departure and arrival times.

Initial panic over !!

Last time I received revised Sales Invoices from Amtrak in 2022, they were actually revisions, because I had been bumped from Bedroom accommodations down to Coach !!
 
LongHauler said:
Looking at just the eastbound, it looks like the change is for all available dates starting April 8th. The website/app will catch up . . . eventually.
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It appears from popping in bookings to and from Elko, that one cannot buy a ticket for Elko starting April 8th. Is there another road around the Elko bottleneck? It looks like the Elko stop may have been cut from the Zephyr.

And is it possible they're adding a second rail through that area and need to shutdown for a while?
 
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LongHauler said:
It appears from popping in bookings to and from Elko, that one cannot buy a ticket for Elko starting April 8th. Is there another road around the Elko bottleneck? It looks like the Elko stop may have been cut from the Zephyr.

And is it possible they're adding a second rail through that area and need to shutdown for a while?
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What is the Elko bottleneck and what does “need to shutdown” mean?
 
Today's Amtrak is more a "Fair Weather" Operation, and so to be on the safe side... They cancel routes. I wonder if Bus companies do the same??

Anyway, here's the Tweet:

SERVICE ALERT: Due to a severe weather forecast, California Zephyr Trains 5 & 6, scheduled to depart (CHI)/ (EMY) on 3/13, are canceled between (DEN) & (GJT)/ (GJT) & (DEN) with no alternate transportation. Please call/text 1-800-USA-RAIL to make changes to your reservation.

https://x.com/AmtrakAlerts/status/1767765160716886123
 
JoeRids said:
What is the Elko bottleneck and what does “need to shutdown” mean?
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I should stress that I'm by no means expert -- and I probably don't know a lot of basics . . . so as soon as anyone knowledgeable shows up, you can probably discount anything I say that's not a supported fact.

My understanding is that there is a stretch of rail through a pass near Elko that is just one rail, shared by eastbound and westbound traffic. My understanding is that, with that "bottleneck," any issue occurring in that pass can shutdown traffic in both directions until cleared.

But in searching a bit, what I find is a Jan 2024 federal allotment of $28 million for improvements to Elko's yard. They hope the completed project will reduce the average of a 2.5 hour delay of freight trains through the area, as well as adding safety features to the yard.

I don't see a timeline for completion, and I cannot say that the money dedicated for improvements is related to the fact that tickets into or out of Elko cannot be bought for dates between April 8 and the most future date Amtrak is currently selling tickets for (Feb 11, 2025).
 
I guess the bigger question is, will this work necessitate some sort of bus substitution, or will it just limit access to the Elko station?
 
I wonder if the service through Elko is being disrupted by the freight derailment that occurred on 2-26. We were delayed there by aprox. &7 & 1/2 hours.
 
I think the bottlenecks on UP around Elko are a result of directional running on to separate rights of way. Years ago the Southern Pacific and Western Pacific (IIRC) had separate rights of ways between Winnemucca and somplace in eastern Nevada or Western Utah. There is a control point east of Winnemucca called Weso where the two rights of way split going east bound. They parallel each other but are often miles apart. The rights of way are on opposite sides of a river as they pass through several canyons between Winnemucca and Elko. There are few places where trains can switch from one track to another. So if an eastbound freight breakdown in front of 6, 6 will be delayed. If a WB freight breaks down in front of 5, then 5 will be delayed.
I use an app called GPS tracks, which allows one to download maps ahead of time so you can have GPS access on your iPhone even if there is no cell signal. You can zoom in on these maps to see the alignments of the two separate rights of way. It is pretty cool once you understand what is going on.

I am not an expert on this, and Union Pacific which now owns both rights of way should not be criticized based on my understanding of operations. I probably do not have all of the information.
 
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Steve4031 said:
I think the bottlenecks on UP around Elko are a result of directional running on to separate rights of way. Years ago the Southern Pacific and Union Pacific (IIRC) had separate rights of ways between Winnemucca and somplace in eastern Nevada or Western Utah. There is a control point east of Winnemucca called Weso where the two rights of way split going east bound. They parallel each other but are often miles apart. The rights of way are on opposite sides of a river as they pass through several canyons between Winnemucca and Elko. There are few places where trains can switch from one track to another. So if an eastbound freight breakdown in front of 6, 6 will be delayed. If a WB freight breaks down in front of 5, then 5 will be delayed.
I use an app called GPS tracks, which allows one to download maps ahead of time so you can have GPS access on your iPhone even if there is no cell signal. You can zoom in on these maps to see the alignments of the two separate rights of way. It is pretty cool once you understand what is going on.

I am not an expert on this, and Union Pacific which now owns both rights of way should not be criticized based on my understanding of operations. I probably do not have all of the information.
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That is a good explanation except that the separate rights of way years ago were Western Pacific and Southern Pacific. Union Pacific was not in the picture at that time. Corrections would be welcome.
 
Which car was pulled from the zephyr sometimes? Seems like I'll finally be able to get on the Zephyr this summer, but I'd like to be in the car that isn't at risk of being taken off.
 
Rasputin said:
That is a good explanation except that the separate rights of way years ago were Western Pacific and Southern Pacific. Union Pacific was not in the picture at that time. Corrections would be welcome.
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The paired track operation was a measure adopted by the USRA during the WWI nationalization. It is similar to the paired track Joint Line between Denver and Pueblo. The latter's lines are closer together, but both the Nevada and Colorado paired track operations are:
  • More efficient than two separate railways.
  • Less efficient than a double-track line (such as PDX<>TAC shared by BNSF and UP).
For similar wartime reasons, Alberta had a paired track operation west of Edmonton prior to the creation of Canadian National.
 
Just got a revised departure time for my CA Zephyr departure from Emeryville in August. I have a roomette.
New departure time is 8:25 AM. Does that men I get breakfast on board? Thanks.
 
CdSull502 said:
Just got a revised departure time for my CA Zephyr departure from Emeryville in August. I have a roomette.
New departure time is 8:25 AM. Does that men I get breakfast on board? Thanks.
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Don't know about breakfast, but Arrow tells me the CZ's departure time from EMY changes from 0910 to 0825 on 8 April and remains so for the foreseeable future. No change noticed in its 1400 departure time from CHI.
 
This is likely the result of OTP negotiations with UP. Amtrak must pursue agreed to “certified schedules” with the carrier before they can file a complaint with the STb (as they have done with the sunset limited.)
 

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