Amtrak California Zephyr from Chicago to San Francisco

[Music] welcome aboard the most scenic train in the united states amtrak's california zephyr hello jet setters and rail fans i'm jeb brooks from greenergrass.com right now i'm in chicago it's time to head over to san francisco and i'm traveling on board the most scenic train in the united states this is the california zephyr this train passes through seven states over two thousand four hundred thirty eight miles in a scheduled fifty one and a half hours we'll climb to nearly ten thousand feet and spend two nights on board after a two o'clock departure on wednesday from the windy city we plan to arrive at 4 25 on friday afternoon in emeryville just outside san francisco we were traveling in late april 2021 when the weather in chicago can be predictably unpredictable a sign of what was to come on this trip i was not traveling alone my enthusiasm for amtrak sparked interest from a few of my friends who you'll get to know over the course of our trip out west that's shawn craig and alan and all of us headed to union station to begin our journey we got our start at this beautiful historic train station stepping into this train station it just is a real sense of occasion it feels um as magnificent as this journey is going to be truly the right way to start something like this as as you look around at this absolutely magnificent room our first stop was the metropolitan lounge all passengers booked into sleeper car services are granted access to this lounge which is really nice a great place to sort of settle in and get ready for your trip the lounge offers plenty of seating for kids and adults there are showers and even bag storage there are also places to charge up and knock out some work unfortunately during our visit there was no food on offer first meal on the zephyr is dinner so we're going to grab a quick bite to eat here at the station so we've got a little food in us before we begin the journey thankfully union station has plenty of options for hungry travelers we each grabbed a bite from different restaurants and then found a table sitting together there's a nearby convenience store to visit before the long trip [Music] union station is fantastic i could have spent a lot more time in here exploring here's the waiting area for coach passengers but it was this map of amtrak's root network that really caught my attention it really gave me a sense of the vast swath of the country we'd be traveling we returned to the lounge just before boarding began again [Music] train five is boarding track 18 here we come is about to kick off the anticipation is real this is uh i mean boarding anything is exciting uh but a long haul train is something special unlike my previous experiences on amtrak there were plenty of employees there to show us the way to our rooms now we'd each booked our own room two guys chose roomettes and two of us chose bedrooms we'll explore both room types on this trip and that brings up one of the greatest benefits of a sleeper car it's our dedicated sleeping car attendant ours was fantastic he was so kind and enthusiastic ready to support us in any way he could without much effort i found my room see in the sleeper car closest to the dining car made it smooth as silk just getting settled in here and then once we go on we'll take a look around the room but feels like home it's amazing just how many moving pieces and parts are required to make one of these massive machines work a successful trip depends on so much but when i noticed our 2 o'clock departure time it slipped past i thought maybe one of them wasn't cooperating there's a leaking shower and they're having to move the people who are in the room with the shower forward but the concern is we'll run out of water uh because they can't figure out how to stop the leaking so hopefully they sort all this out but your guess is as good as mine at this point the probably about 10 minutes late because that shower mishap but i guess they sorted it out hopefully we won't run out of water time will tell but we're headed out of chicago the zephyr's name derives from the greek god of the western wind zephyrus so it felt good to be blowing out of the station on our westward journey now this seemed like a good time to familiarize myself with a room amtrak offers a number of sleeping accommodations on these long-haul trains should i put together a video highlighting the pros and cons of each one let me know for now this bedroom can easily offer sufficient space for two adults to sleep now the four of us were comfortable hanging out here during the day the sofa converts to a bed that's a little wider than a twin and the upper bunk folds down but it's not quite as wide there's a closet which was ideal given the changing weather conditions we'd experience on this journey it was great to have easy access to my coat it's possible to adjust the room's temperature here where there's also a plug and a reading light amtrak stocks bedrooms with a number of pillows but i still brought my own all the way from home there's a chair a mirror and luggage storage right here there's also another light call button an adjustment for the in-room speaker over there by the sofa the bedroom also includes a sink along with one million other tasks he completed our room attendant helpfully emptied the trash can every day as well the table made me feel gratitude for the extra united airlines sanitizing wipe i'd picked up on my trip to chicago this was pretty disgusting there's still another reading light over the chair there's a bathroom and a shower in the bedroom and this as far as i'm concerned is the number one reason to select this space over all of the others available on amtrak having your own bathroom is great that said don't forget your toiletries amtrak only supplies towels and soap and with that i was settled in amtrak's flexible dining was on offer for this trip we were able to try nearly every dish so keep watching to see the jeb score award-winning amtrak flexible dining dish of the year i'll give you a hint it's not the meatballs as we made our way through the chicago suburbs we received some helpful amtrak advice from the speakers above please make sure you flash the toilet once again when you use the restroom please make sure you lock the door only 30 minutes after leaving chicago we hit our first stop naperville and with naperville in our dust i decided to head out and find the guys hello jeff brooks what's the what's happening you know what amazes me is you know we've only been 30 to 35 miles out of chicago right and it's always getting into a fairly non-populated area it just brings on the point of how expansive the united states is and speaking of expansive we're in a bedroom and there's room for four uh for grown guys kind of to hang out and uh as sean would say chit chat uh uh but uh but yeah it's actually pretty comfortable considering kind of what we've got here a roommate we'll take a look at that a little later i think that's better suited for one of us uh to be in a time but we'll try it out with as many people as we can fit into a room at we spent the next several hours just taking in the scenery telling stories and jokes we all agreed this was the most relaxed we'd been in a while we marked landmarks like interstate 35 we imagined what the menus were like at restaurants like family restaurant but most of all we just enjoyed each other's company it's one of the great benefits of train travel those of you who've seen my previous videos may know that i am a big fan of consuming prunes because the food on the train tends to stop me up alan seems to be really offended at the idea of eating prunes so let's find out why it's time to prune up we decided to move up to the observation car to take advantage of its more expansive views that meant first passing through the dining car more on that in a bit dinner's coming up soon seats in the observation car are available on a first come first serve basis and they're available to everyone on the train no matter which class of service you're in that said when the train got more full and the views more impressive the conductor enforced a two hour time limit in here in the middle of the car you'll find some stairs if you head down you'll find food and drinks available for purchase in the cafe just like the observation car the cafe is open to everybody on the train [Music] galesburg marked our first fresh air break this is always a highlight for me it's the first stop that gives me my true impression of the scope of the train and this was a big one there were three coach cars an observation car a dining car three sleepers and two engines it was huge time to hop on board this was galesburg traveling by train has this really strange power it somehow warps time what would seem like an eternity in the real world passes effortlessly on board here on amtrak it seems like time is marked mostly by meals but there are certain landmarks that retain a significance that everyone on board appreciates and along this route there are several the rocky mountains the moffat tunnel donner lake and we'll see them all but the first was crossing the mighty mississippi i've flown over this river more times than i can count and i've always thought of it as a long river it stretches 2 320 miles between minnesota down to new orleans but it's also a massively wide river and this train really highlighted that fact for me it took us 90 seconds to get from one end of this bridge to the other crossing the mississippi also marked the border between illinois and iowa we just entered the second of seven states [Music] [Music] every stop tells a story mount pleasant iowa for example is home to iowa wesleyan college america's oldest co-educational college west of the mississippi sleeping car passengers were invited to make dinner reservations with the dining car attendant we'd set ours for 6 30 and as the sun got lower on the horizon we headed up to eat dinner includes a small salad some bread a main course and a dessert here's the asian noodle bowl chicken fettucini and the ever-present meatballs and to be honest there's not a lot of difference between the three well it's time for another meatball just like i remember as we ate dinner we passed through ottumwa iowa it's the home to actor and comedian tom arnold after dinner we headed back to allen's bedroom to hang out a while longer it was really great to have this space to ourselves that was that was that was really cool just uh caught a swedenburn as we were traveling through iowa which is pretty impressive this is one of the most beautiful sunsets i've ever seen i mean no doubt about it traveling in amtrak really gives you the opportunity to take in such beautiful views and shortly after sunset i headed back to my own bedroom for what i hoped would be a solid night's sleep tomorrow morning i'll wake up i guess with an hour time difference and hopefully uh even more interesting scenery so time for bed see you in the morning ladies and gentlemen good evening once again this is johnny your attendant here in the 531 folks i'll be leaving the car for my evening as i slept we passed through nebraska i woke up about 5 15 mountain time near brush colorado that was a great night's sleep i feel really incredibly well rested slept almost all the way through the night i'm looking forward to a beautiful day today i understand the views are going to be incredible coffee should be ready in about 45 minutes we could get the day started off right as the sun crept up over the horizon i decided to head over to the observation car to wait for that coffee however thankfully our sleeping car attendant so i was up early and offered to pour me a cup i sure was grateful tipping room attendance is appreciated but not expected but what do you think what's an appropriate amount should you do it at the beginning or the end of a trip let me know below [Music] as we made our way toward denver two things happened first we started seeing snow and second we headed to breakfast reservations were not required for breakfast it was first come first served and we were first breakfast of champions the spinach tomato onion mozzarella provolone and parmesan breakfast omelet was new on the menu and i can only describe it as a crunchy we'd made it to denver but first had to reverse into the station now this was also going to be a refueling and service stop for the train which meant we'd be able to get off and stretch our legs welcome to denver we've got a little bit of a longer stop here on this effort up to an hour i think so i'm gonna go check out the station let's uh let's go [Music] explore [Music] [Music] excited to be here at the denver union station apparently the real good stuff is about to kick off uh amazing views the rest of the morning as we make our way up into the into the rocky mountains and uh had enough time to grab a quick shot of espresso so ah man that's good all right let's head back on board and get this show on the road [Music] fueled by that shot of espresso i was ready to post up in the observation car for what would turn out to be some of the most amazing views i've ever seen in my whole life just take a sip cover your lip and enjoy your trip we're here to help folks but we got that policy that we need to enforce and with that out of the way let's leave the city behind and climb up into the rocky mountains as i think back on this trip it's the views we encountered here on the morning of our second day that really come to mind i've driven through the rockies i've flown over the rockies but there's something about experiencing them from the train that's just different in almost no time after departing denver the show began it's no wonder so many passengers board in denver for a day trip through this part of the country i gotta tell you i'm having so much fun just reliving this as i'm editing the video i definitely hope you'll enjoy watching it too and if you do maybe you'd consider hitting that like button or maybe even subscribing for more videos like this we encountered more tunnels than we could count [Music] it was impossible not to think about the people who built this amazing track [Music] this is mind blowing uh what we're seeing out the window right here it's almost as though it's not real because it's just so breathtaking this has got to be the most scenic train in the united states by a mile [Music] because the train was so full the conductor asked everyone to limit themselves to two hours in the observation car and after about an hour and a half we headed back to our rooms and the views from there were equally impressive there's no way around it this is incredible these are some of the most beautiful scenes i've ever uh i've ever seen anywhere on the planet let alone from a train i've mentioned in a previous video traveling by train through weather is a really relaxing thing and right now there's a little bit of a snowstorm going and it's it's just it's nice and comfortable to sit in here in this in this bedroom kind of stretch out have space to yourself and and drink it in and i'm lucky enough to be able to hang out with sean he's uh he's over there and we're just hanging out and enjoying a little peaceful relaxation the impressive views would soon be cut though our conductor announced that we needed to remain where we were for the next 10 minutes or so because we were about to go through another landmark on this trip the moffat tunnel so it's just reading up in the moffat tunnel and it opened in 1928 it saved like uh 176 miles off of the trip uh between the pacific and denver uh which was unprofitable because the snow removal efforts were so complicated i'm going to show you now what it looks like as we're traveling through the moffett tunnel so that you can experience exactly what we're experiencing ourselves and it went on like that for another 10 minutes we had to remain where we were because opening doors between cars while in there would have allowed noxious fumes to get in and nobody's got time for that our next stop was winter park where we had just enough time to get out and stand in the snow what do you think of uh colorado snowing in april love it we found ourselves in fraser canyon following the fraser river we made it to granby colorado the gateway to rocky mountain national park just got an announcement the train is uh i believe the conductor said pretty dang near full uh with 200 passengers on board it's really exciting to see amtrak coming back this is a wonderful way to see the country a wonderful way to get across the country so i think there are a lot of people who are here for the scenery even more people here because they need to go somewhere the snow turned to rain when we reached gore canyon which offers the wildest commercially available white water in colorado i decided to pass on that and head to lunch instead the only available reservation was at 2 30 so we opted to have lunch delivered to us about 11 30. craig went for another new item on the menu the cod sean tried the shrimp and lobster sauce and it was the red wine braised beef for me based on craig's enthusiasm for its flavor it looks like the cod might need further investigation standby so this is the midpoint of the journey here we've made it halfway uh halfway to san francisco this is glenwood canyon a popular destination for outdoor sportsmen and apparently the anti-train crowd oh my gosh look at this they're mooning we just got the zephyr salute uh i believe which is a a greeting here on the on the california zephyr uh i i gotta tell you not not my favorite greeting but i like these views [Music] [Music] we'd reached the confluence of the roaring fork in colorado rivers at glenwood springs which marked another opportunity to get off the train and stretch our legs but it was not a long stop and we were back on board on our way to grand junction and the nearby utah state line amtrak's california zephyr takes its name from the original train that was operated jointly by the chicago burlington and quincy railroad the denver and rio grande western railroad and the western pacific railroad it was inaugurated march 19 1949 and from its earliest days the marketing and advertising for this route has focused on the spectacular views along the way i think you can see why [Music] in 1983 the original zephyrs operators elected to join amtrak which eventually led to the train's current routing and service after leaving grand junction we were heading for utah and the spectacular ruby canyon whose red rocks impressed us as we searched for promised jackalopes among the bushes now despite our best efforts we never did see any of those rabbit-like animals with antlers [Music] dinner approached shawn went with the chicken marsala i chose the chicken fettucini and the cod grew in popularity with alan jumping on the bandwagon and craig opting for it a second time was this a fluke or a trend more to come and this was not to be a late night for me sadly i slept through utah and part of nevada but after a great long night's sleep i woke up near winnemucca nevada about a quarter to six pacific time just as the sun was coming up and like the day before i headed straight for the observation car stopping just long enough to get a cup of coffee that was a really good night's sleep actually i slept uh better than the night before and now just kind of enjoying a little bit of coffee in the observation car shawn's getting some work done and uh getting ready for breakfast in uh just a few minutes it's important to know there's no wi-fi available out here so you're well served to use this trip as an opportunity to unplug and relax [Music] before we knew it the sun was up and breakfast was on the table i started with yogurt and followed it up with a breakfast sandwich both were exactly what you'd expect them to be just fine craig chose the omelet and offered an interesting description a little bit like a prison breakfast not that i would know and with questions still floating through my mind i decided it was time to head back to my room well suzanne your creative director my fiancee is meeting us in san francisco so that means it's time to do something i've never done before this is the first time i've ever taken a shower on a train here goes nothing not only were the instructions intimidating but the advice to try it seated was made even more unpleasant by the fact that the seat was a toilet i secured the curtain turned the knob and nearly froze to death it was really cool well that was cramped and cold uh and difficult but i can now say i have successfully taken a shower on a train i do feel a lot more refreshed and ready to go so it's still morning i mean it's only uh 7 35 and we don't get into emoryville until uh later in the afternoon like 4 o'clock or so so plenty more train to ride i wondered how many of the passengers up there knew what they were missing out on down here it was time for my first and only game of euchre and in a classic example of beginner's luck i won our next stop was the biggest little city in the world a station i'm sorry to say i found a little disappointing i'd never been to reno and would have loved to have seen at least a street or something but this station is about 30 feet below and under threat of being left here forever the conductor discouraged us from wandering too far oh well there were some interesting historical artifacts inside as we left i asked to check out shawn's roomette as you can see with his bags it's a little cramped now there's also bag storage downstairs just as an fyi but we decided to invite alan over to see how comfortable the two of them would be it's not bad it's really feel your feet up you're comfortable yeah with one person it's outstanding since that seemed to work why not try it with three people i'll say this uh three people in a roommate is a little bit it's a little bit tight three three three grown men in in a room that is probably a bit a bit too much and having gone our separate ways so we could breathe again we were on route to the california border first stop in the golden state truckee you know i don't think there's anything quite as relaxing as just listening to a good audio book and taking in the scenery [Music] we're just passing through the the donner pass which in the winter of 1846 into 47 the donner party came through here they got stuck because of a number of factors a bad winner they left too late they took a wrong turn a lot of reasons unfortunately some of them who survived had to resort to cannibalism so it's a pretty grim chapter of us history anyway it's interesting to be right here in donner pass we crept along at an interminable pace dragging this much machine up the sierra nevada is no easy task but there's no need to rush it with ever-changing views the clip didn't really matter [Music] it was soon time for lunch the train was a lot emptier between grand junction and emeryville so we did not need a reservation i've heard a lot about this pod so this is the time and i was not the only one all four of us ordered it moment of truth tastes like fish fish sticks and we have our winner the jeb score award-winning amtrak flexible dining meal of the year award goes to the cod we're slowly making our way uh to colfax california named for us grant's vice president skyler colfax little known fact there and i really wish amtrak would communicate with us about what's going on i don't know if we're on time or we're delayed the track of train feature of the amtrak website seems to be down right now so i'm kind of like not sure what the schedule is or what's going on um so that would be really nice if amtrak were a bit more proactive with their communications there's a big difference between this and the southwest chief and that's this third day so if you take the southwest chief from chicago to la you wake up on the third day pretty much in los angeles with this particular train however you wake up in the third day you have basically a whole rest of that day to pass because we don't get into emeryville if everything's on time until about four o'clock in the afternoon so it's a really it's a much different uh travel experience in that regard you sort of have to remember to think about how you're going to use today now i've had a nice time just kind of hanging out with my friends napping a little bit and looking out the window but this third day is a consideration if you're thinking about the zephyr if you don't want to spend 52 hours on board i'd recommend hopping on the train in denver for the ride up to grand junction that's a real highlight but we're not done yet before too long the sacramento skyline came into view and we got out to stretch our legs one final time we seem to be gaining speed or maybe time felt like it was moving more quickly for whatever reason the bay area was coming fast there's no doubt that the zephyr lived up to its reputation as being the most scenic train in the united states this journey has been breathtaking practically from the first second we left chicago the views have been unlike anything i've ever seen from a train from the great plains through the rocky mountains the sierra nevada i mean here to california northern california it's just such a stunning journey we've still got a little bit of time before we make our way into emeryville and then on through to san francisco the last few stops came quickly and i gathered my things here we are in emeryville last and final stop everybody's off here let's go thanks to some incredible engineers and talented dispatchers we arrived in emeryville 40 minutes early getting into san francisco requires booking an amtrak bus or having your own separate transportation after 52 hours and 19 minutes we'd made it from chicago to san francisco and had an amazing adventure to boot between now and the next time see on the rails hey we're going on a train you guys are really making some progress with their bags hopefully i'm a little bit more graceful i'm reading up on the rules of euchre because i know you're very interested in the game that was developed in the napoleonic era and then goes past it starts with the benefit of it goes past his fingers have you ever seen a baby kitchen if you have would you please leave a comment more time to get on board this is galesburg did you say des moines oh that's how they were supposed to be pitted uh but there's not a lot to see so instead you're looking at me your lucky bastards so this is grand mesa this is grand mesa the world's uh highest flat top mountain there's no way to be sure but uh alan seems to think that's grand mesa but he said that about every mesa we passed but i think at this point at this point we're going to go with that's grand mason you know i don't think that was a great nap a huge shout out and thank you to alan craig and sean for joining me on this trip and an even bigger thank you to you for watching all the way to the end this was my most ambitious project ever it started with five and a half hours of content and to distill it down to this was an incredible challenge but so much fun let me know what you think in between now and the next time see you on the rails

Channel: Jeb Brooks

Views: 2,662,930

Rating: 4.9103928 out of 5

Keywords: Amtrak, California Zephyr, Amtrak California Zephyr Chicago to San Francisco, California Zephyr Amtrak, Amtrak Bedroom, California Zephyr Roomette, California Zephyr Bedroom, Amtrak Zephyr, Amtrak California Zephyr, Chicago to San Francisco Train, Train, Train to California, Long-haul Train, California Zephyr Chicago to San Francisco, california zephyr, amtrak california zephyr, rocky mountains, train travel, train ride, glenwood springs, sierra nevada

Id: m1gRPEZdKyI

Length: 34min 12sec (2052 seconds)

Published: Sat May 08 2021

Reddit Comments

[u/Wantinaintgettin]

Great stuff. The Empire Builder is one of my favs.

[u/LevelIllustrator2534]

Who is lot