I'm back from my lovely big August train trip for which so many of you offered such useful advice. Here is the first part of my report:
My trip began with an Empire Service trains down to NYC; as it was one of the trains that began in Albany, it was pretty much on time, as usual. I spent a few days in NYC seeing friends and family--even had a brief Long Island Railroad trip. Everything was fine except NYC was quite hot and sticky when I was there, so I didn't walk around as much as usual.
I left NYC's Penn Station on an early morning Regional to DC. Because I had a sleeper later that day (from DC to Chicago), I was able to use the NY Penn Station Acela Lounge. I arrived in DC and left my luggage in the Acela Lounge there, then had lunch in Chinatown and walked around the Mall, viewing the lovely gardens by the Smithsonian Castle and Arts & Industries Building and visiting the National Gallery, where there was a very fine little special Rousseau exhibit called Jungles of Paris. I also stopped at the newly reopened National Portrait Gallery, which I will see in greater detail later this year. I love that the DC museums are free, I can just bop in and out.
I left on the Capitol Ltd later that day, on which I had my sleeper. The train left on time but slowed down soon after, but the views were lovely, as always. The dinner was OK--I had the beef tips and cheesecake. I slept fairly well but awoke when we stopped in Cleveland, where the train was over 2 hours late. We had further delays through Indiana and arrived in Chicago over 4 hours late. This did not give me enough time to walk to the lake and back, as I like to do, but I was able to walk around a little bit after dropping my luggage at the Metropolitan Lounge. I then returned to catch the California Zephyr.
My Zephyr did the detour through Wyoming, definitely not as scenic as the regular route but still interesting to me. I was able to get a sleeper I could afford, but many others on the train had paid a lot more. The train was on time to Denver and early into Salt Lake City, even though we waited for over half an hour for the UP pilot replacing the other in Green River. But I did get to see the terrain in the approach to Utah from Wyoming, the prettiest part of the detour. What I didn't like was that, other than Green River, there were no stops--and there was no Trails & Rails guide describing where we were. I had to rely on the old Pioneer route guide that I'd printed up, especially confusing because I was going in reverse of the guide.
Anyway, in spite of arriving early in SLC, we lost lots of time during the night and were over 4 hours late getting into Emeryville. There was a bit of dawdle before the bus left--a passenger with lost luggage--and an unbelievable amount of traffic crossing the Oakland Bay Bridge, but because we could use a bus lane we got to Fisherman's Wharf just after ten, and I was lucky enough to grab a taxi to my hotel.
I loved San Francisco. I will write more tomorrow when I have a chance--I'm very tired now and going to sleep.
Posted by Mr. Toy (Member # 311) on :
Welcome to the left coast! Thanks for filling us in. I'm glad the food was OK and the detour reasonably interesting. I myself wouldn't mind doing the detour just to see something I've never seen before.
Posted by 20th Century (Member # 2196) on :
Thanks Sojourner. Happy to hear that you liked San Francisco. It is one of my favorites. Living on the East Coast I don't travel to the City by the Bay as much as I used to. Also I never traveled on the CZ through Donner Pass. However I did ride the train from Denver to Glenwood Springs. That was a breathtaking experience. Too bad your train did the Wyoming route, but as Mr.Toy stated it is always nice to see something different. Looking forward to reading more of your journey.
Posted by notelvis (Member # 3071) on :
Great report so far.....looking forward to more!
Posted by train lady (Member # 3920) on :
It's good to have you back. I enjoyed your report and am eager to reaad the rest.
Posted by Boyce (Member # 2719) on :
The mere mention of Fisherman's Wharf makes my mouth water, I was born & raised in Mobile, AL, and I am passionate about seafood. Although I've never been there and am green with envy, I still enjoy a vicarious trip. Tell me more.