California Zephyr discussion

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tgstubbs1 said:
What did they do for you in stead of the meals?
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Dinner- 2 pieces of Pizza Hut pizza and a small salad
Breakfast- cereal and bananas
Lunch- Subway sandwich

First world problems and all, but my older son really likes the Amtrak grilled cheese sandwich and was looking forward to it all year. We like the Amtrak meals, so it was disappointing not getting what we paid for.
 
coalman said:
Did you take your trip in this 500 year snow winter? Was there lots of snow? any holdups?
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I was on the Jan 4-6 westbound Zephyr. It was spectacular. We seemed to always arrive just after an additional dusting, but rarely was it snowing where we were -- how that happened while traveling into the weather systems, I don't know.

Our attendant was great (wish I could giver her name). She was helpful especially at arrival. The dining crew was wonderful, the cook met me on night 2 with my drink order from night 1 - wow. The waiter was a sub on the crew and was personable and handled the rushes like a pro. The attendants and dining crew seemed to get along well and the attendants even pitched in a little in the dining car.

The snow was wonderful -- especially in the Sierra Nevada. We saw a bald eagle flying just about 25 yards out over the river west of Grand Junction and then another further away in Nevada.

Our only delay was that we sat in or near Elko for about 3 hours in the middle of the night. I think we trimmed a little off that delay by the end.

If you're gonna time machine back for a trip during that winter, I don't think you could do a lot better.
 
coalman said:
Did you take your trip in this 500 year snow winter? Was there lots of snow? any holdups?
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Hello! I did do it, I’m been meaning to post about it with pictures but life keeps getting in the way sadly. There was snow, not too much but still enough for it to be beautiful, and fortunately no holdups 🙂 I will try to write a post about it soon!
 
Just got an updated "eTicket and Receipt" for hubby's and my CZ trip 9/30-10/5. No change in fare or accomodations; just an earlier departure time for the Lincoln Service train we'll be catching on 9/30 to connect with the westbound CZ in Chicago. 25 more minutes in Chicago (if everything's on time), so more time to pick up lunch or hang out in the Metropolitan Lounge. A much nicer change than what I had feared!
 
ca2zhawkeye said:
What is the highest elevation on this route: Chicago, Omaha, Denver, Salt Lake City, Emeryville
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Denver is the highest (their nickname is the Mile High City). Soldier Summit UT is roughly 7700 above sea level, Donner Pass is a bit under 7100 feet above sea level.

SLC is around 4000 feet, Omaha 1060, Chicago around 600 feet, and Emeryville is a whopping 27 feet.
 
I have been to Pike's Peak, 14,111 feet above sea level. I have also been to Denver 5,276 elevation, both 40-plus years ago. My parents took us five children in a car. I wonder if the ascent to Fraser is slow enough to adapt to the elevation.

Paniolo Man said:
Here's an odd #5 I saw today in Price. Seems like the consist is backwards and 3 private cars on the back.
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I have looked in many places. What is the consist? Thank you ;-)
 
ca2zhawkeye said:
I have been to Pike's Peak, 14,111 feet above sea level. I have also been to Denver 5,276 elevation, both 40-plus years ago. My parents took us five children in a car. I wonder if the ascent to Fraser is slow enough to adapt to the elevation.
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I'm sure people have different tolerances, but the westbound Zephyr does a 10- or 12-hour climb from 1000 ft in Ottumwa to 5000 ft around the NE-CO line. You're moving about the interstate-speed of a car, at most, so if your body could tolerate the ascent in a car, you can probably tolerate the ascent by rail.

Either direction, you will spend more than 24 hours above 5000 ft, with a few exceptions (such as dipping down to 4000 feet around Salt Lake City) and go up above 7500 ft multiple times.

Eastbound, you will climb from 250 ft in Roseville to 7000 ft at Donner Pass in about 4 hours. I suppose if you're going to feel effects, it would be then.
 
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For people in good health it is unusual to feel too much of anything for a climb from sea level to 7,000'. People who can generally fly can deal with that on a routine basis. Of course people who do have respiratory issues need to take additional care to know their individual limitations and behave accordingly.

The bottom line is unless one has significant respiratory impairment, a trip on the Zephyr will be mostly a non-event as far as altitude effects go.
 
jis said:
For people in good health it is unusual to feel too much of anything for a climb from sea level to 7,000'. People who can generally fly can deal with that on a routine basis. Of course people who do have respiratory issues need to take additional care to know their individual limitations and behave accordingly.

The bottom line is unless one has significant respiratory impairment, a trip on the Zephyr will be mostly a non-event as far as altitude effects go.
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I've paid several visits (including twice via the Southwest Chief) to ex-neighbors of mine who retired to Taos, NM, elevation about 7,000 and higher in the ski areas. Despite having asthma I never felt any ill effects from the altitude.

But their sweet cat had heart trouble and the vet said "Get her to lower altitude, fast." Within an hour the husband had bunged the cat into the car and set out on the 2,000 mile drive east to bring her to stay with me. Two years later she succumbed to an embolism, which was heart-related, but would've died much sooner in NM.

Taos is magical. But you'll need a car. It's easy to get from Albuquerque to Santa Fe by rail (see, e.g., Planning southwest trip) but no further.
 
I know on a roadtrip from Oaxaca (mile high) to Huatulco (sea level) we stopped above 10,000 feet and ate at a restaurant where I was dumb enough to order up some carne asada. With a belly full of beef at 10,000 feet, I fairly immediately needed to sleep.

Up to now, I've eschewed the steak on the Zephyr's high-altitude day. But, really, I never felt anything but normal on the Zephyr. Next time, I may throw caution to the wind and have the steak.
 
I wonder what ca2zhawkeye's actual concern about altitude is and how much adaptation he or she needs or is expecting. If you fly, you routinely go from airport altitude to a cabin pressure altitude of 7,000 to 8,000 in about 30 minutes and then back down at the destination. If you drive I-70 west from Denver over the continental divide to Silverthorne (bottom of the descent from the Eisenhower Tunnels under the divide), you will go from Denver's altitude of 5,280 to over 11,000 feet and back down to about 8,800 feet in a little but over an hour. And from Sacramento, I can drive to my home in Reno in about two hours going from sea level to about 7,200 at Donner Summit and back down to 4,500 in Reno. All of these are far faster altitude changes than you'll do on a train since trains are never as fast in the mountains.
 
lstone19 said:
All of these are far faster altitude changes than you'll do on a train since trains are never as fast in the mountains.
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That sounds about right. I haven't been through the Rockies via ground transportation since I was a toddler, but I remember when the hubby & me were crossing the Appalachians on the interstate highway to visit relatives in the Carolinas. While the typical speed limit on the Interstate was 65mph on flatlands, it was reduced to 40mph in the mountains. (Presumably to negotiate curves and avoid rockfalls.)
 
I had a roomette on the Cal Zephyr last July. It was a very scenic trip. However an elderly lady from Massachusetts riding with her daughter felt altitude sickness on the climb out of Denver. She did not realize that the elevation was that much different than the mountains in New England. They rented a car in Grand Junction and got off the train driving to family in Utah for the remainder of her trip. I understood she had respiratory issues and always hoped she enjoyed the car better. I lived in Montana, Wyoming, and Colorado for many years, and still enjoy every time I can return to the Rockies. The CZ west out of Denver is worth the trip, stunningly scenic.
 
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