Train trip ..... part I

The California Zephyr is the train that connects Emeryville, California, a town adjacent to Oakland and across the bay from San Francisco to Chicago, Illinois.  At 2,438 miles (3,924 km) it is one of the most scenic train routes, with views of the Sierra Nevada and Rocky Mountains and the Colorado River.   

The actress Eleanor Parker who was born in Ohio, broke a bottle of Champagne and declared, “I christen thee the California Zephyr”, and thus she christened the first train in San Francisco on March 19, 1949.  In the same ceremony Soprano Evelyn Corvello sang the Star Spangled Banner. 

We boarded the train in Emeryville.  The train arrived and departed on time.  Daryl a friendly conductor helped us find our car and compartment.  He informed us about the amenities in the car and our compartment, the etiquette and what to expect such as dinner times, snack and other times during the trip.  He helped us load the suitcases and was responsive to all our needs during the entire trip.  Interestingly he knew the names of all passengers in his car and always called us with our last name.  Our room had two large comfortable seats facing each other.  At night Daryl prepared our beds (a lower and an upper).   The compartment had a wall outlet which is very useful for charging smart-phones, computers etc. The last two coaches are sleeper cars.  In front of them is the dinning car and ahead of it is the observation car with more cars between it and the locomotive. 
http://blog.postcardgallery.net/transportation/transport02.htm

The observation car has swiveling seats and large windows on each side as well as ceiling windows.  In the observation car volunteer train enthusiasts provide narration with geographic and historical information of the sites we passed by. The top speed of the train is 80 miles per hour and the trip’s average is 40 miles per hour.

• There are several advantages to traveling by train for example 
• The two seats in our compartment were larger than the first class seats on airplanes.
• There are four clean roomy restrooms in each car.  There was not even one occasion during the 2-½ day trip that a passenger had to wait because they were all occupied.  The shower room was as big as those found in hotels and it was kept clean and like the restrooms it was readily available.
• Breakfast, snacks, drinks, lunch and dinner real china and silver are used and four separate calls made for to accommodate different times passengers are used to and like to eat.
• Amtrak employees are friendly and helpful and they truly serve the passengers’ needs.
• Passengers are for the most part friendly.  They select this mode of transportation, because they are train enthusiasts or they are afraid of flying, or have medical conditions that preclude air travel.   The majority are retirees thus not in a hurry to reach their destination.
• Also there is an abundant opportunity to walk the length of the train from car to car and exercise while looking at beautiful landscapes.  
• The main disadvantage is that it takes two days to travel the distance that the airplane does in four hours.  In any case if time is not an issue it beats air travel hands down and brings back the romance of travel of yesteryear.