On-time arrival of CZ from CHI to SAC

[SweetSue]

After our first LD trip on the SWC two years ago, with no major delays or problems, hubby and I are taking a 15 trip on the CZ, CS and EB in mid-Sept leaving from CHI. I have all the reservations made for rental car and motels during our stop offs, my biggest worry is that the CZ may be late getting into SAC. The timetable says it arrives around 2:30 pm. We plan to get our rental car and drive to Three Rivers, at the entrance of the Sequoia and Kings Canyon Nat'l Parks. I have a motel reserved there for that night that we arrive in SAC and so it will be a four hour drive once we get off the train. My concern is that the rental car desk (Budget) will be closed if we arrive say 4 hours late. (I reserved it online where they will bring the car to you) I looked at the average on time schedule for the CZ and it seemed to be pretty good and really late now and then. I'm thinking I should cancel the motel reservation just in case we get in late and need to stay in SAC that night. I was wondering what is anyone's experience on the on-time arrival of the CZ into SAC.

 

[caravanman]

Hi,

I have taken that train to SAC several times, and it has always been on time for me. To be honest, untill you step off the train yourself at SAC on the day, there is no real way to know in advance how it will turn out. How much of a gambler are you, will it matter if you miss your first night at the motel, how late can you cancel the motel and still get a refund.. are there any other car hire options that are open later.. All travel has some uncertainty, that is what makes it fun for me. I guess you need to look at the worst case late arrival, and think how that could be best managed in advance?

Have a great trip!

Eddie

 

[tp49]

One other thought. Would it be possible to change the car reservation location to the airport (SMF)? Reason being is that there is a bus operated by Yolobus which goes from downtown Sacramento about two blocks south of the station. Since rental locations at the airport are open later than those downtown if you're running late it might save you some worry.

 

[sunchaser]

After our first LD trip on the SWC two years ago, with no major delays or problems, hubby and I are taking a 15 trip on the CZ, CS and EB in mid-Sept leaving from CHI. I have all the reservations made for rental car and motels during our stop offs, my biggest worry is that the CZ may be late getting into SAC. The timetable says it arrives around 2:30 pm. We plan to get our rental car and drive to Three Rivers, at the entrance of the Sequoia and Kings Canyon Nat'l Parks. I have a motel reserved there for that night that we arrive in SAC and so it will be a four hour drive once we get off the train. My concern is that the rental car desk (Budget) will be closed if we arrive say 4 hours late. (I reserved it online where they will bring the car to you) I looked at the average on time schedule for the CZ and it seemed to be pretty good and really late now and then. I'm thinking I should cancel the motel reservation just in case we get in late and need to stay in SAC that night. I was wondering what is anyone's experience on the on-time arrival of the CZ into SAC.

You will probably be fine. Just keep watching the arrival times. I think you would be able to take the San Joaquin from SAC to Hanford & take the Ambus to Visalia. From there you take a Visalia Transit Van to the park. Call 1 877-287-4453 (Visalia Transit) Try a dummy trip on amtrak.com from Sacramento to Visalia, for the day of your arrival in Sacramento.

 

[ThayerATM]

After our first LD trip on the SWC two years ago, with no major delays or problems, hubby and I are taking a 15 trip on the CZ, CS and EB in mid-Sept leaving from CHI. I have all the reservations made for rental car and motels during our stop offs, my biggest worry is that the CZ may be late getting into SAC. The timetable says it arrives around 2:30 pm. We plan to get our rental car and drive to Three Rivers, at the entrance of the Sequoia and Kings Canyon Nat'l Parks. I have a motel reserved there for that night that we arrive in SAC and so it will be a four hour drive once we get off the train. My concern is that the rental car desk (Budget) will be closed if we arrive say 4 hours late. (I reserved it online where they will bring the car to you) I looked at the average on time schedule for the CZ and it seemed to be pretty good and really late now and then. I'm thinking I should cancel the motel reservation just in case we get in late and need to stay in SAC that night. I was wondering what is anyone's experience on the on-time arrival of the CZ into SAC.

The OTP performance of the CZ has certainly improved over the past few years.

BUT, and that's a serious "BUT," things can always go wrong. If I'm looking for same-day connections, I always plan for for an overnight. If my arrival is to be an early day arrival and the departure of the next connecting train is late in the next day, I'm willing to gamble a little. Still... I prefer to hedge my bets and give myself an extra day of bumper.

Amtrak's pretty good --- but when it comes to re-arranging hotel reservations at the last second, then the ripple effect of

re-arranging resrvations down the line for the rest of the trip, the extra cushion between train arrival time is a lot more comfortable for me.

 

[sechs]

As a furthur point, if you're going to go to Sacramento, you might as well actually visit it. It's not that horrible a place.

Spend a night, visit the state railroad museum, and take your long car trip fresh the next day.

 

[SweetSue]

Thanks everyone for the advice. We've got a little time yet to decide what we want to do as far as just spending the night in Sacramento so we don't have to worry about the train arriving late or if we should take our chances and leave it as is. We have a multitude of other places we are planning to visit and driving through the national parks are a big part of it. We are actually going to Zion nat'l park in Utah after Yosemite, Kings Canyon and Sequoia. Staying at Zion Nat'l for three nights then heading to Vegas a few days before going back to the LA area to visit with family and then to get on the CS. We are so excited for this trip. Our first LD trip two years ago was the best ever. Not everything went smoothly (toilets in our car on the SWC couldn't be used any longer before we got to Flagstaff) but all in all it was the most relaxing cross country trip I've ever taken.

 

[Chris J.]

I had a missed connection between the Chief and the Starlight (Chief was 6hrs late that day, every other day in the month it was on time of would've made the connection). As a result I missed the coast bit of the Starlight, and was put on a bus to Bakersfield and up the inland route. Amtrak did sort me out and i got to San Francisco, but I had planned to do the coast route.

My luck to be on the one Chief that was badly delayed I guess. The other connection I made on that trip (San Joaquin to Northbound Starlight) worked fine; but the SJ doesn't cover the distances of likes of the Zepher or Chief.

I guess I'll just have to do the coast run on another trip ...

 

[SweetSue]

I had a missed connection between the Chief and the Starlight (Chief was 6hrs late that day, every other day in the month it was on time of would've made the connection). As a result I missed the coast bit of the Starlight, and was put on a bus to Bakersfield and up the inland route. Amtrak did sort me out and i got to San Francisco, but I had planned to do the coast route.
My luck to be on the one Chief that was badly delayed I guess. The other connection I made on that trip (San Joaquin to Northbound Starlight) worked fine; but the SJ doesn't cover the distances of likes of the Zepher or Chief.

I guess I'll just have to do the coast run on another trip ...

Exactly what I'm thinking, my luck would be that the CZ would be extremely late THAT day!!

 

[zephyr17]

While timekeeping has improved dramatically the last couple of years, there is always the possiblity of a late train. I'd build in a layover in Sacramento. There is the RR museum, which is great, and the RR museuem is in the Old Sacramento area, which is fun anyway. Even if the train is late, but not quite enough to impact your plans, do you really want to ruin the experience worrying about it?

BTW-while Amtrak handles passengers mis-connecting due to late trains very, very well, if the train is late to your destination station, they don't do anything. They've fufilled their commitment to get you to your destination and since you don't have anymore onward travel with them, there is nothing to protect. I don't mean this as a criticism in any way, just stating a fact.

 

[SweetSue]

BTW-while Amtrak handles passengers mis-connecting due to late trains very, very well, if the train is late to your destination station, they don't do anything. They've fufilled their commitment to get you to your destination and since you don't have anymore onward travel with them, there is nothing to protect. I don't mean this as a criticism in any way, just stating a fact.

No criticism taken, I certainly would NOT expect Amtrak to compensate me for not being able to make it to my motel destination because I couldn't get a rental car due to a late train. That is why I am trying to plan ahead and rearrange my itinerary now. I'm going to first check out how long the airport rental desk is open and will most likely cancel the motel for the first night and take a chance on getting a room without a reservation either in Sacramento or where we originally planned to stay if we get in on time, or I might call the motel to see how late we can cancel the reservation that day without being charged. Otherwise, we can decide what we are going to do as we get close to our destination. I have a notebook/folder with all of my reservations, printouts, maps, phone numbers of the places we will be staying, etc so I can call ahead once we see what time we will be arriving. (And even though my husband who is not a techy would probably want me to stay away from a computer on the trip, I might just have to take my laptop in case I need to research motels, etc) This is the only part of the trip that I was worried about since I have read this forum over the last couple of years and know the possibility of a late arrival. We love the fact that taking the train is an adventure and there is no need to feel anxiety over the possibility of missing a reservation, which would ruin the relaxation that we want with this trip, hence the change in plans will be a good thing. And.... I might even get to see something in Sacramento!

Thanks for the suggestions everyone!

 

[Sam31452]

Question:

Why don't you travel by train to Hanford, CA and get yourself a hotel there?

Connecting train departs SAC 4:55 PM and arrives in Hanford at 8:39.

It's a guaranteed connection, so Amtrak will have to take care of you in SAC if the connection isn't possible.

This wil save you the rental fee for the car too and will allow you to enjoy a central valley sunset (they aren't that bad).

Edit: In SAC the Youth Hostel is the mansion to stay.

I don't like Youth Hostels at all, but if it's a mansion i'll make an exception.

 

[sunchaser]

There's a Vagabond Inn right across from the Amtrak Station in Sacramento, in case you think you may need to stay overnight.

Within a block of the station, is Old Sacramento. There's a Railroad Museum, restaurants & shops. The web address is oldsacramento.com.

There's always an off chance it could be late, but that time of year, you would not have to deal with weather related delays!!

 

[SweetSue]

So, We've decided to continue on to Fresno from SAC. I will need to add that to my reservations. We were going to end the first leg of our trip in SAC and rent our car there but now if we take the San Joaquin to Fresno and spend the night there we can have our rental car delivered in the morning and the car rental is much cheaper even. I actually have enough AGR points to have this segment free. My question is: When I call to add this to my CHI-SAC reservation, will it be considered a guaranteed connection in case the CZ is late and we miss the SJ? I am confused by the timetable. Can someone explain what time the SJ leaves SAC and when we get in to FRESNO? Is 455pm the time it leaves SAC? Sorry, I don't understand the connecting services and such.

Thanks, SS

 

[George Harris]

There are multiple trains on the San Joaquin route. Four originate in Oakland, two in Sacramento. There are bus connections Sacramento - Stockton for those that originate in Oakland. Likewise, buses San Francisco - Oaklanad - Stockton for those that originate in Sacrmento. So, if you miss the 4:55 pm train out of Sacramento which shows a Fresno time of 8:06 pm, there is a 6:25 pm bus to Stackton, connecting to a train which shows a Fresno time of 9:55 pm. I express the Fresno times the way I do because these are defined as leaving times, and in all cases where we have been on time out of previous stop of Madera the train has arrived in Fresno about 10 minutes before these times. If the CZ is way late, the first train out of Sacramento in the morning is at 6:40 am, followed by a bus at 7:55 am. These trains show Fresno times of 9:55 am and 11:35 am, respectively.

In general, the San Joaquin trains run exatly on time or very close. As a rider of these every few months, I have had only two trips that were more than a very few minutes off. That one was on the evening train out of Oakland. The evening train out of Sacramento had some form of breakdown and was stashed in a siding somewhere around Merced. Our train backed into the siding and coupled on, including all the power and train control cables. This whole procedure took about an hour. There was almost no time made up, so that translated into being right at an hour late into Fresno. The only other time was due to heavy rain with some mudslides between Richmond and Martinez that had one track blocked. For that, we lost near an hour by Martinez, but made up about 20 minutes of that by Fresno.

The BNSF track these trains run on south of Martinez out of Oakland or Stockton for the trains out of Sacramento is mostly single track with fairly heavy freight traffoc. but you would not know it by the way the trains operate.

 

[Rail Freak]

I had a missed connection between the Chief and the Starlight (Chief was 6hrs late that day, every other day in the month it was on time of would've made the connection). As a result I missed the coast bit of the Starlight, and was put on a bus to Bakersfield and up the inland route. Amtrak did sort me out and i got to San Francisco, but I had planned to do the coast route.
My luck to be on the one Chief that was badly delayed I guess. The other connection I made on that trip (San Joaquin to Northbound Starlight) worked fine; but the SJ doesn't cover the distances of likes of the Zepher or Chief.

I guess I'll just have to do the coast run on another trip ...

Fortunately, I made the SWC- CS connection but, my camera batteries died. I'm making a point of going again to take photos of SLO- north ( where ever the prison is - NORTH, Unbelievably Gorgeous)!!!!

RF

 

[Notelvis]

There's a Vagabond Inn right across from the Amtrak Station in Sacramento, in case you think you may need to stay overnight. Within a block of the station, is Old Sacramento. There's a Railroad Museum, restaurants & shops. The web address is oldsacramento.com.

There's always an off chance it could be late, but that time of year, you would not have to deal with weather related delays!!

I second this suggestion.

The Vagabond Inn is not fancy but it is clean, reasonably priced , and incredibly well located for the Amtrak passenger.

Having an itinerary that won't be trashed by a train that happens to be late will give you a little more peace of mind AND if the CZ does happen to arrive on-time, the Old Sacramento area with it's railroad museum, eateries, and the riverfront is certainly worth an evening.

 

[jmbgeg]

After our first LD trip on the SWC two years ago, with no major delays or problems, hubby and I are taking a 15 trip on the CZ, CS and EB in mid-Sept leaving from CHI. I have all the reservations made for rental car and motels during our stop offs, my biggest worry is that the CZ may be late getting into SAC. The timetable says it arrives around 2:30 pm. We plan to get our rental car and drive to Three Rivers, at the entrance of the Sequoia and Kings Canyon Nat'l Parks. I have a motel reserved there for that night that we arrive in SAC and so it will be a four hour drive once we get off the train. My concern is that the rental car desk (Budget) will be closed if we arrive say 4 hours late. (I reserved it online where they will bring the car to you) I looked at the average on time schedule for the CZ and it seemed to be pretty good and really late now and then. I'm thinking I should cancel the motel reservation just in case we get in late and need to stay in SAC that night. I was wondering what is anyone's experience on the on-time arrival of the CZ into SAC.

Here is a thought. Monitor the on time performance of your train in route by www.amtrak.com (if you have Blackberry or similar with internet access) or by cell phone to Amtrak. I trust those updates more than on board personnel. If it is clear 6-24 hours before scheduled arrival that you will misconnect with your hotel, call and see if they will cancel without penalty. I have done this and cancelled with a major hotel chain where I had a non-changeable pre-paid hotel room and they gave me relief when I explained the circumstances.

 

[tp49]

So, We've decided to continue on to Fresno from SAC. I will need to add that to my reservations. We were going to end the first leg of our trip in SAC and rent our car there but now if we take the San Joaquin to Fresno and spend the night there we can have our rental car delivered in the morning and the car rental is much cheaper even. I actually have enough AGR points to have this segment free. My question is: When I call to add this to my CHI-SAC reservation, will it be considered a guaranteed connection in case the CZ is late and we miss the SJ? I am confused by the timetable. Can someone explain what time the SJ leaves SAC and when we get in to FRESNO? Is 455pm the time it leaves SAC? Sorry, I don't understand the connecting services and such. Thanks, SS

Looks like the connection from the CZ to the San Joaquin @ SAC is a guaranteed connection. The connecting train is train 704 departing SAC @ 4:55 PM and arrives in FNO @ 8:06 PM. If the connection was missed they would most likely accommodate you on the bus connection to train 718 in Stockton. The bus leaves SAC @ 6:25 PM and you would ultimately arrive in FNO @ 9:55 PM.

Here is the link to the San Joaquin's schedule.

 

[Guest_George Harris_*]

So, We've decided to continue on to Fresno from SAC. ...

The Fresno station is the beautifully restored Santa Fe station. Open ticket office, frequently with two people behind the windows, always lots of people around. Generally between 30 and 50 people on and off at that stop. On holidays, can be over a hundred on/off on one train!