Is an Amtrak Roomette worth the upgrade from a coach seat? 16 Hours in Amtrak's California Zephyr.

[Music] the wind's building over the Nevada Plains today as we pull out AR Reno Nevada we're taken to the rails traveling the way the American West was meant to be seen on an eastbound train speeding across the wind swep plane tonight that train is Amtrak's iconic California ZR as we ride through the night across the Plains and deep into Colorado's Rocky Mountains to Glennwood Springs Colorado in this part of the United States where towns and roads are few and far apart this train has bridged the gap between the American West since the Transcontinental Railroad was completed in 1869 and tonight I'm taking you with me as we explore this iconic [Music] train tonight we'll start our journey in Reno Nevada around 4 in the afternoon where we'll head out into the Nevada Plains for some onsp spiring sunset views as we head east through the plains of Nevada we'll wake up immersed in the Maes of Utah and finally the canyons and valleys of Colorado our journey will span some 665 miles of rail before arriving in Glenwood Springs Colorado some 20 hours later around 12:00 p.m. I arrived at Amtrak's Reno Nevada station following a day of skiing at Palisades Tahoe ready to board the California Zephyr after a few short moments I was able to check my ski bag onto Glenwood Springs I will note that amra's website states that oversized bags such as skis would be charged an oversized bag fee however I was not charged an oversized bag fee on tonight's Journey after a few moments in the lobby trying to determine where to go I found a stairwell hidden in the corner and followed this down to an ample waiting room where an amrak attendant scanned my boarding pass and told me which car I'd be boarding tonight this alleviated a good bit of confusion when it was time to actually board my train and made the train boarding process much smoother than it would have been otherwise [Music] just as our train was arriving into the station we were marshaled onto the boarding platform for the arrival of tonight's train after a few short minutes and with much anticipation our train finally arrived met with palpable excitement from all the passengers on the platform [Music] before long the conductor scanned my boarding pass and I stepped aboard this massive two-story Amtrak super liner train with a short flight of stairs and a few steps down the passageway I arrived in my roomat for tonight's [Music] Journey all right I'm on board the California Zephyr I'm just getting settled in now but first impressions is that the room is plenty spacious it's kind of plenty of space for me it's got a little tiny coat closet that I hung up my coat in and uh plenty of room for my bags and plenty of space to stretch out I just heard the Train's whistle sound so uh let's get ready to [Music] go as we pulled out of the Reno station I took a moment to relax into my seat and take in some of the scenery around me before I got settled into my roomat I enjoyed watching the urban sprawl of Reno pass as we whiz by on our train with the distant Nevada mountains coming ever closer with each [Music] minute as I'm getting settled in here um I'm just going to take a minute to show you around the uh the cabin show you all the amenities that amre has to offer in their room at since we're going to be here for a little while let's go ahead and test the recline of the seat there's a little lever the lever which is under the base of the seat allows that base of the seat to slide forward and Recine just a little [Music] bit you only have one person in the room you can kind of put your feet up on the other seat and then you can kind of lean Lounge back and uh you know if you want to read a book it's a great great position to read a book in um I have traveled in these with two people before it does get to be a little tight um you kind of have to work with if you have people with longer legs who gets to put their feet in which direction um it's completely manageable but uh that is something to consider if you have multiple people especially if they're big people you might want to consider one of the uh bedroom suites P out very difficult in a very difficult manner takes a little bit of force got a little checkers board set up plenty of room to do a little bit of work if you want to or Dine uh there's also a safety instruction manual and a copy of the menu for today on the super liner sleeper cars which Amtrak uses there are two levels of occupancy the upper level has 10 room Mets which I'll be spending tonight's journey in as well as five bedroom suites the rooms have two chairs which face each other and convert into bunk beds at night whereas the bedroom suites which are a little larger have a sofa which pulls out into a larger bed as well as a smaller upper bunk and a small reading share the upper level has one bathroom Shar between the 10 room ATS whereas the bedroom suites have their own bathrooms and showers on the lower level there are an additional four room ets a family Suite with bunks that can accommodate up to six people and an accessible room the lower level has an additional three toilets for the rooms the accessible room and the family bedroom as well as a shower and changing room which Services all 14 rets and the family [Music] bedroom fully settled into my room the only thing left for me to do tonight was to sit back relax and enjoy the trip into the Nevada mountains and out into the Nevada desert [Music] just look at these views out the window there's no better way to take in the views of the country than Through the Windows on Amtrak super liner train each sleeper car has a bathroom upstairs which we're in right now and they also have two bathrooms three bathrooms downstairs as well as a dressing slash shower room um so standard toilet kind of similar to an airline toilet um it's fairly clean um tissues toilet paper little trash can um toilet seat covers in general I think that the attendant on this train did a really good job keeping this bathroom clean so that is the blue review for today [Music] the steward of the train just came around and he uh he's going around all the rooms and he's asking everybody um what dinner reservations they want there was a 530 seating and also a 630 seating wow look at that you cannot beat that view look at that anyways there is a 5:30 and 6:30 seating and um cuz I just got on the train I kind of want to relax a little bit maybe you watch the sunset so I opted for the uh the later [Music] 6:30 mile by mile the views just kept getting better to the point when I was actually disappointed to see the Sun go down because it meant that my window viewing entertainment was done for the evening at least until the sun would come up tomorrow morning one of the key perks of having a roomat on the Amtrak super liner is access to the dining car I had access to dinner lunch and breakfast however due to the communal nature of the dining car I was not able to get as much footage as I would have liked to during dinner after I returned from the dining car I was pleased to find my room already turned down into bed mode for this evening I'm just laying here as I try to get some sleep um just listening the train go down the tracks and it's actually a really relaxing experience so I think with that I'm starting to doze off I'm going to head to bed but I will see you all tomorrow when I wake up there despite a full night's rest I woke up not quite ready to explore the train for the day so I took a few moments and I sat there in my bed the windows open admiring the sunrise to the Utah canyons and Maes as our train snaked its way through the canyon I couldn't help but admire the scenery around me it really was quite impressive and it made me ever more excited to see all the scenery that we would experience as our day Drew on today [Music] got to say that review after sleeping in this bed as a larger guy um I had my head on this side over here as opposed to forward the forward end as you can see there's this little armrest here um I probably should have put my head over on that side in hindsight because this little armrest here was a little tight when I was trying to lay down um wasn't bad if I was sleeping on my back but if I tried to sleep on my stomach it was a little tight so just just so you're aware a larger person might find this bed a little tight and maybe that's a situation when you want to opt for the bedroom um as I've said my shoulders are about 24 in wide so you know you can kind of use that as a comparison to go off of [Music] having enjoyed the sunrise I decided it was time to make my way to the dining car so I made my way to the dining car and as I sat there I enjoyed the Amtrak railroad French toast and a cup of coffee to the scenery of the Utah towns and Mesa passing by around me after breakfast it was time to make my way back to my room where I would enjoy some more scenery before finally going on to explore the sightseer [Music] Lounge as I continued to admire the scenery around me I could tell that we were in a different state and yet even as the scenery changed around me it was still ever so all inspiring the Colorado mesas made their way to a bit of fog before we made our way out into the high desert and into the Canyons of Colorado before making our way onward ever closer to our destination of Glennwood Springs as I continued to admire the views out the window it reminded me of just how different and relaxing travel by train is my private roomette afforded me space and relative Comfort to sit back read a book and admire the scenery unfolding around me as made my way deeper into the book page by Page my concentration broken only by C ual stairs into the scenery around me and eventually by sips of coffee as I held myself to the coffee available in the passageway outside of my [Music] room eventually however I decided was time for my relaxation to give way to productivity so I got my laptop out as it turns out the table provided in the room at is plenty of space to spread out and work on my laptop I'd say that even if I was sharing the room there would be plenty of space for both of us to work this certainly is an advantage to travel by train as opposed to flying or driving there's plenty of space and time afforded to have a productive workday even as you make your way towards a destination [Music] I've been in my room this morning just trying to get a little bit of work done get a little bit of reading in but uh I was just informed that we are passing through a canyon so I think this is a good time to go check out the observation lounge and the observation car and the snack car so um let's go check that out the observation car called a sightseer Lounge by Amtrak is located in the middle of the train and is accessible by both Sleeper Car and Coach passengers seats in this space are on a first come first serve basis so if you want a good spot I suggest you get there particularly early for some of the more Scenic spots along this route as I sat in the S Seer Lounge I admired the 25m long stretch the Ruby Canyon as it passed before us interestingly enough the only way to see this Canyon aside from a rafting Expedition is by riding the California Zephyr this is just proof positive that there really is no better way to see the country than by train with Ruby Canyon behind us we pulled in a Grand Junction Colorado for a fresh air brake I found that these fresh air brakes are a great opportunity to get off the train and walk around for a bit so I made my way through the coach car to the exit these coach seats are plenty roomy enough for any length of time with ample recline and a large footrest that pops out of the seat thanks to newly refurbished seats in this car the seats now have a modern look and the final fabric of these seats much cleaner feel to [Music] them backboard the train now the conductor provided us with an update as to our arrival time in glwood Springs welcome aboard if you boarded here at Junction been on board you probably already got all the rules just friendly reminder for the passengers boarding here at Junction local time 11:00 a.m. we'll keep it posted as we continue Eastward today just about 40 minutes off [Music] schedule shower SL dress room on this train um right now it's pretty clean um when I came in yesterday it was a little less clean but you have a mirror um selection of towels soaps shower uh it's fairly clean today um you can definitely tell the attendant did clean it you have a little shower head um it's kind of a tight space I would definitely recommend shower shoes and then uh last night just kind of put their towels on the floor there but you really can't fault Amtrak or the attendant for that um that's really just on the users just use good etiquette just kind of you know kind of take care of each other and we won't really won't have that issue um so yeah that that's pretty much it it's pretty Bare Bones it's clean and uh I would definitely recommend to [Music] shoes having left Grand Junction we were ever closer to a destination of gunwood Springs as the red Canyons transformed into snow covered mountains the conductor announced my stop and it was time for me to head towards the [Music] exit reflecting on my journey I really enjoyed the chance to see the countryside in such a unique and picturesque manner the pace of the train really encouraged me to slow down and enjoy each passing moment also of note The Zephyr was one of the few ways I could ski for a full day at Palisades Tahoe and still get some skiing in the following day at Aspen and if I wanted do I could do it all via public transportation and with a full night's sleep that's an option not offered in domestic [Music] Aviation thanks for coming along with me on today's Journey if you enjoyed today's content take a moment and subscribe to my channel so you can be the first to follow along with my next adventure I'd also like to thank all the the staff and crew at Amtrak who really strive to make each mile by rail a wonderful experience until the next time so long and safe travels

Channel: Linking Adventures

Views: 1,931

Keywords: Amtrak, California Zephyr, Travel America by train, american sleeper train, amtrak roomette, amtrak sleeper, best way to see the united states, travel the american west, train, train overnight, how is amtrak roomette, amtrak roomette worth it, how is amtrak, amtrak glenwood springs, amtrak reno

Id: Iz3215lHOqE

Length: 18min 8sec (1088 seconds)

Published: Fri May 03 2024