My husband and I watch trains on YouTube every evening. One of the locations we watch is Fort Madison, Iowa. It is on the Southern Transcon, so 80 or so trains a day, pass by. We heard that they have a River and Rail Weekend at the station, and since we had no plans for vacation this year, this was attractive to us.
I began by trying to book the trip on Amtrak. The Southwest Chief was easy and I booked us the Roomette. We then wanted to link up with the California Zephyr in Galesburg, Illinois, which is about one hour north of Fort Madison, so since there were no rental cars in Fort Madison, I booked the rental car in Galesburg. It seemed easy for us and we would be back in the afternoon, after our train got into the station, in time for the Hawaiian Luau and arrival of SWC #3 which gets into the station at around 6:30PM. I booked a local Quality Inn, a bit outside the immediate area, but with the rental car, this seemed fine for us. We intended to spend 3 nights there.
I then tried to book the California Zephyr, and found out that when all information was placed into the website, it would say that there were no Roomettes available for purchase. I then called Amtrak, and they found out the same thing I did. They said I would have to book coach. I then did that online, and it cost me about $200 for the two of us. We knew we would have to rough-it, by eating our own food, and sleeping on a chair, but for 2 days we figured we would manage. Galesburg to Emeryville, California (outside San Francisco).
I then tried to book the Coast Starlight for the final leg of the journey, to get us to Los Angeles. The Amtrak site informed me that I had enough points in my account to purchase a Roomette for the journey, so we did. After 2 days in Coach, we thought it would be a good change for us. I booked a hotel, Hyatt House, right outside the station, for showers and a real bed, to sleep on.
We left our car at Burbank Airport, and took the Metrolink train into Union Station, all was well. At the time we were supposed to leave, we were informed there was going to be a 30-minute delay, due to a mechanical issue. Eventually, they brought us up onto the platform and we waited…and waited. After an hour, they took us back to the Metropolitan Lounge, and we waited some more. The total wait ended up being 3 ½ hours late out of Union Station.
During the middle of the night, I felt the train stop. Not unusual, but it went on and on. 4 hours later, they got a new crew to drive the train, and off we went again. Now over 7 hours late. It was daytime, so we kept losing time, as many freight trains delayed us more and more. By the time we got to Fort Madison, it was over 11 hours late and 10:30PM at night. No Luau, no rental car, but we had a hotel, so we called a taxi, and they drove us over to the Quality Inn. In the morning, we decided we would take the train up to Galesburg, and get our rental car. We get back to the station and spend some time talking to other railfans, taking photos, and all around having a nice time…except our train was 2 hours late, and thus, too late for our rental car company (which closes at 12PM on Saturday). This delay meant we did not get onto the train, and we canceled the rental car. We were now in taxi land. They had a food truck at the station, so we got a bbq sandwich that we split, for lunch. We had a river cruise scheduled at 2PM, and we walked from the station to the marina. Made it in plenty of time and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. Highly recommend this, if you ever decide to go to the River and Rail event. The marina is right next to the Turnwater restaurant, and we went to dinner there. Bar food basically, but we enjoyed watching the boats and trains as we ate. The drinks were good, too. Back at the hotel, we had a late dessert at the restaurant across the parking lot. The desserts were huge, but very good. That boded well for the next night’s dinner.
Sunday we did our laundry, and used the free breakfast to also give us a free bagel lunch. We were carrying food with us, so we added chips and dessert to lunch. For dinner we walked across the parking lot to the Buffalo61 restaurant for dinner. The burgers were OK, but I had onion rings and they were just fine. Unfortunately, we did not go anywhere that day. So, no River and Rail events.
Monday morning, we rode the train up to Galesburg. We brought another bagel lunch with us and sat at the station watching trains and resting. When dinner time was coming I ended up walking to a restaurant called Landmark Café and Creperie. Excellent food (a turkey sandwich on sourdough), which we augmented with our chips and their strawberries. I would love to return to this restaurant someday. The crepes look excellent. At 4:45PM our train came, and off we went. Our lower-level coach car was filled, though several people left almost immediately at the next station, so we ended up in the final seats at the end of the car. Not perfect, but the best we would get. Nighttime came and we slept OK, but not great.
Tuesday arrived, and there was Denver, Colorado. This begins the most wonderful part of the journey, the Rocky Mountains. We found out that they have to give out passes for passengers who want to spend time in the Sightseer Lounge. We decided to go with the view we had, and after going to the Café Car part of the lounge, I was glad I did. It was packed with people trying to get photos of the Colorado River. Thankfully for us, the train crosses over it about half way through the journey, so both sides of the train get views of the river. Sometimes you can see river rafts going through the rapids, and other times, wildlife enjoying their lives. We spent most of the day in Colorado, and then off to Utah, and bed. The chair was even worse the second night, but we survived and woke up in Nevada, by morning.
Wednesday is basically the Donner Pass area of California. Again, it is a must-see part of the journey, with a totally different look to it, then what we passed in Colorado. We had our final lunch at the Café Car, a Nathan’s Hot Dog and a drink. We congratulated ourselves from making it through the 2 days of the Coach Car, and got ready to de-train in Emeryville, California. The hotel worked out just fine, but the food in the bar was bar food. Let the buyer beware. About a half block down from the hotel, is a food court called Public Market. We believe we would have had a better meal, if we had made the effort to walk over to it. Otherwise, showers, and an early bedtime, were a welcome comfort.
Thursday we woke up early and had breakfast at the hotel, though we could have had something on the train (so they said). Our train was on-time, and off we went to Los Angeles. Once again we were treated like royalty, but we had to sit with other passengers for meals, which I hate to do. The first couple were OK, the second couple were not OK. Sigh… We finally got to Van Nuys, and the next station stop (early) was ours, Burbank. We got down to the lower level, and got our luggage together. We were ready, when the train stopped. We were told it was police activity on the tracks, and it went on and on. Finally, after an hour or so, they backed the train up to Van Nuys, and we decided to Uber our way to the Burbank airport parking lot. Thus, ended our journey. Not totally good, but not totally bad, either As to COVID-19 protocols, we did mask the entire way, in Coach, on the California Zephyr. When appropriate, we masked at other times. So far, no illness has occurred to either of us. May it stay that way.
