San Francisco to New York tips?

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young-lecky

Joined
May 28, 2017
Messages
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In September I have booked a ticket from San Francisco to New York with a stop over in Chicago.

Over all its something like 4 days travel, but being from the UK its kind of a once in a lifetime trip.

I have a reserved coach ticket, and was wondering does anyone have any tips for getting a good seat, best views, best sleep etc. along the way?

Also, my 6 hour layover in Chicago (could of been 3 but thought I'd take the longer on to get into the city a stroll), does my checked luggage transfer trains by itself or do I have to collect it on arrival and check it in again before departure?

Thanks.
 
Hi,

Welcome to the forum.

Chicago is an interesting city indeed, but do be aware that Amtrak trains are often late running, so you might find that your expected 6 hours sightseeing is much reduced.

You have chosen the most spectacularly scenic train, in my opinion. The scenery up to Denver is super, that from Denver to Chicago has much less of interest.

Try to obtain a seat in the lounge viewing car asap from Emeryville, although you will get good views from your coach seat too, the lounge offers big windows and seats will be in demand. There are great views on both sides of the train, but I seem to remember the right hand side heading to Chicago was the best.

I find sleeping "sitting up" almost impossible, so I often try to have a sleep at night in the lounge car. 99% of the folk on the forum frown on this practice, but it works for this pensioner... :D

Your checked luggage will be transfered between trains, no need to worry.

Have a great trip,

Ed.
 
It does sound like a great trip as is, but if you can possibly afford the upcharge for a roomette on at least one of your legs I would encourage you to do so. The difference between coach and sleeper aboard Amtrak is much, much greater than the difference between coach and first class on an airliner.

Myself, I am willing to tough out coach for a single night, but two nights or more and I'm searching for sleeper accommodations.
 
young-lecky said:
Also, my 6 hour layover in Chicago (could of been 3 but thought I'd take the longer on to get into the city a stroll), does my checked luggage transfer trains by itself or do I have to collect it on arrival and check it in again before departure?

Thanks.
Click to expand...
If you are new to Amtrak the train that leaves Chicago earlier gets to New York about 3 hours LATER than the train you booked. So not only do you get more time in Chicago you get to New York earlier. Also trains from the west are delayed from time to time so it's better to book a later train anyway so you don't miss your connection.
 
On the California Zephyr there are good views out each side of the train.
Plus you can sit in the Sightseer Lounge car (SSL) that has big windows for site seeing.

As far as specific sights:
http://discuss.amtraktrains.com/index.php?/topic/62808-sights-on-the-cz-route/?hl=%2Bglenwood+%2Bcanyon
Day 1 you'll cross the Sierra Nevada mountains topping out at Donner Pass, just above and west of the site where the Donner party, a group of American pioneers was forced to spend a winter near what is now known as Donner Lake.
40 miles or so after leaving Reno at the small town of Hazen the train will head across the Forty Mile Desert in Lahontan Valley.

In the morning the train will be just east of the San Rafael Swell which will be in the distance out the right side of the train.

At the same time on the left side will be the Book Cliffs that extend all the way to the start of De Beque Canyon after Grand Junction, CO.

A bit later the train will start following the Colorado River as it goes through very scenic Ruby Canyon. Watch for campsites used by river rafters through there. Rafters on the river sometimes give the train passengers a 'moon' salute.

The train will be by or near the Colorado River for some 250 miles.

The descent down the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains is scenic too.

Sleeping in coach is made easier if you have a travel blanket and a horseshoe shaped neck pillow, a travel pillow, or both types of pillow.
Not having a seat mate also helps a lot.
A shot or 2 of a distilled alcoholic libation helps to get to sleep.

Some coach passengers sleep on the couple of couches in the SSL car, or on the floor of the SSL car between the seats and the windows.
The Conductor usually rousts those people between 5:30 and 6 AM so early rising passengers that want to can sit in the SSL car to watch sunrise.
 
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Of course the California Zephyr starts at Emeryville. You probably won't have much time to do anything in Emeryville after the bus from San Francisco, save maybe the Public Market across the tracks. There's a bridge over the tracks to walk there. I don't like it much (I used to be great) now, but maybe Peet's Coffee. They will do a custom pour-over cup of coffee with any of their standard beans. I think they might also have press pots too with a similar price. I recommend the Arabian Mocha Sanani. If you had time in Emeryville, I guess a popular thing to do is take a picture in front of Pixar headquarters.

In Emeryville, coach seating is probably going to be where you're assigned to a particular car where most of the passengers will be destined for Chicago. Perhaps they'll fill the car with passengers destined for Chicago or near it. The seating should be more or less open at that point, but theoretically some crew could decide to assign seating.
 
I second the suggestion to consider upgrading to a roomette for part of your journey if you can possibly afford it. In addition to having a flat bed and private space at night, advantages include:

- No playing the seatmate lottery - although the roomette sleeps two, if you book one as a single traveler, you'll be the only one in it.

- A guaranteed window seat

- All meals in the diner included (excluding alcohol and gratuities)

- Access to a shower - sleepers have them, coaches don't.

If you can't or don't want to upgrade for an entire leg, it's possible to upgrade for just part of one - just Denver to Chicago, for example. You'd need to call and have an agent manually modify your reservation for you, though - I don't believe it's possible to do it yourself online.
 
You are looking at three nights sitting up in Coach, so I would also suggest at least one night in a roomette. The rest at night should make your trip more enjoyable so if this is a trip of a lifetime, you want to be rested to enjoy it.
 
One way to prepare yourself for this trip might be to preview what you'll see along the way - so you don't miss anything. Here's some of the preview tools I use:

• Amtrak Route Guides for the California Zephyr... https://www.amtrak.com/ccurl/692/258/Amtrak-California-Zephyr-Train-Route-Guide-2014.pdf ... and Lake Shore Limited... https://www.amtrak.com/ccurl/991/310/Amtrak-Lake-Shore-Limited-Train-Route-Guide.pdf If you like going through tunnels, there are about 40 of them between Emeryville CA and Denver CO. One is about 10km in length.

• Google Earth lets you travel along above the route at an altitude of your choosing. Sometimes, it's difficult to tell which track the train will follow, so I use this to help me find the way: https://fragis.fra.dot.gov/GISFRASafety/

• Topographic maps can help give a clearer idea of what things are really like along the route, especially names of things like towns, lakes, rivers, etc.: http://www.mytopo.com/maps/index.cfm?feature=gwinn&state=0

The length of your two train routes is almost 5500km and there are a lot of things to see. Even on a moonless night, there are the yard lights of the farms in the plains states and the lights of the little jerk-water towns along the way. Enjoy your trip.
 
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anumberone said:
Best advice I can give is re-book from coach to roomette. With meals included in the fare along with the added convinces its a no brainer.
Click to expand...
I agree.

I can't imagine trying to sleep so many nights in coach (although people do it) and going without showers.
 
Although i'm sure the OP has already made his reservations, my advice would have been to break up the trip with a day or two in Denver or Chicago. Three straight nights on a train can be rough, even in a sleeper.
 
We have a daughter in San Francisco, so when we travel there we go to Chicago (2 days), spend the night in a hotel,

then travel onto San Francisco (2 days). We do the same on the return trip. Makes the trip more enjoyable.
 
We travel Amtrak using a mix of coach and roomette and only a few weeks ago made a 2 day journey in coach just to see how that compares a 2 day roomette trip.

We would still travel coach for say a 12 hour day journey but will always try to afford a roomette for single or multiple nights. As a fellow Brit we found the interaction with Americans was far greater in sleeper with meals included, but we do travel as much to meet people as to ride the train and see the views.

Just our opinion, but if cost is the reason try to make savings elsewhere and ride at least part in sleeper.

BTW, it's easy to alter bookings by calling an Amtrak agent, they have been extremely helpful to us at all times.
 

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