I did that very same trip last fall (except my stop is CMO, the next station north of KFS). I chose to take the Zephyr eastbound, and the SW Chief westbound, and here are my reasons:
- I've taken the CZ westbound, and the midnight connection in SAC was a killer for me. Yes, it'll be a little easier if you stay on the Zephyr all the way to EMY, but you'll still have a late evening connection, and it gets later really fast if the nporthbound CS is running late. Wouldn't you rather already be on the CS? Whether you you take the SWC or the CZ westbound, you'll be on the SAME DAY'S TRAIN once you pass the connection point.
- If you connect from a southbound CS to the eastbound CZ, it's a morning connection. Breakfast in Sacramento, and an hour or two to walk around, and then you are on the CZ headed into the Sierra mountains.
- If you stay on the southbound CS all the way to LAX in winter, one of the best parts of the trip (the southern California coastline) will be in darkness. If the train's at all late, you don't even get to see the descent from the Coast Range into San Luis Obispo in daylight. Trust me, I always travel in winter, and that's one of my most frequent rides. The northbound CS goes through this section in late morning thru mid-afternoon.
If you really, really need to take the route in the opposite direction (for your own reasons), here's what I have done when connecting to the Sunset Ltd: Hubby and I stay in San Luis Obispo, at the
Peach Tree Inn. It's quiet and reasonable. We've looked at Santa Barbara, and decided it was way, way above our budget (OK, we stayed there once, on the floor of a friend's apartment way up in the north end of town. It was worth it for the walk in the hills with the friend, and picking up the tree-ripe oranges that had fallen outside the fences on the sidewalk. I never had tree-ripe oranges before). SLO has a charming walkable downtown, and an every-Thursday-night
downtown farmers market. From SLO, you have to take an early morning Surfliner to LAX, but the coast view makes getting up early worth it!
We've also gone all the way to LA, and stayed in a modest motel in Chinatown. We loved the food, and the other tourist opportunities.