Reagan's January 2015 Amtrak Winter Rail Trip Photo Galleries Are Ready To View

Rocky Mountains of West Colorado

I'm home in Nashville/Franklin TN - I returned home to Nashville Tuesday, January 27, after a good eight day journey that included flying from Nashville to Emeryville, CA, and a four day journey on Amtrak's California Zephyr and City of New Orleans across the snowy and beautiful Sierra Nevada Mountains and the Rocky Mountains through Chicago and on to New Orleans, LA.

I was so impressed with the winter landscape that I took over 900 photos.  Knowing only I would want to view all those photos at one sitting, I've divided them into eight galleries and will introduce them to you a gallery at a time via this blog with a few personal comments.  For anyone who wants to view all the galleries here is the link:  2015 Amtrak Winter Rail Trip January.

Days 1 and 2 Tuesday and Wednesday January 20-21

Departing Nashville by Air

Tuesday was Air Travel Day (Photo Gallery One).  Early Tuesday morning I departed Nashville via American Airlines at 7 AM on a nice clear sunny day.  After a short stay in Dallas/Fort Worth, I continued on to San Francisco on another American Airlines flight arriving about 2 PM Pacific Time.  Surprisingly after picking up my luggage, the Super Shuttle I  booked on line was prompt and delivered me to my Hyatt House Hotel in Emeryville by 4 PM after a tour through San Francisco and then across the Bay Bridge.  I have stayed in this hotel twice before so they know I like and give me a room overlooking the Amtrak Emeryville Station.  After arriving and unpacking, I discovered I had left my toiletry kit at the Embassy Suites in Nashville where I had stayed overnight Monday.  (I did call the Embassy Suites and they had my kit which I picked up on return to Nashville.)  So my first activity was to head to the Emeryville Target to pick up a new toiletry bag and restock.

View of San Francisco Across the Bay

Wednesday was A Day in Emeryville - Walk to Emery Cove (Photo Gallery Two).  Emeryville sits on the east side of the Bay Bridge and is a very clean modern city between Oakland and Berkeley.  After breakfast at the hotel, I began my day's adventure by visiting the Amtrak station for some rail fanning and also took a nice long walk from the hotel along the shores of the Bay out a long peninsular to Emery Cove.  There were lots of views across the Bay of San Francisco which was clothed in a light fog.  This photo gallery contains the views of my walk including a few pieces of unique art.

One of the Amtrak California Trains

Also Wednesday included Amtrak Rail Photos at Emeryville Station (Photo Gallery Three)  One of the reasons I enjoy being in Emeryville and at the Hyatt House Hotel is being able to watch all the passenger rail action all day long.  In addition to the two long distance Amtrak trains the California Zephyr and the Coast Starlight, there and multiple Amtrak California trains to Sacramento, San Jose, and inland to central California.  So check out some of my Amtrak action photos.

My 2015 Winter Rail Trip Adventure on the California Zephyr started Thursday, January 22.  The next blog updates will share with you those photo galleries.

You can click on any of the small photos in this blog to open a full size photo. Also click on the individual gallery titles to open that photo gallery on Reagan's Photo Galleries website.

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Found a YouTube Video of my California Zephyr Train Passing Through Agency, Iowa

On this last morning in New Orleans, I found this YouTube video of my actual California Zephyr train as we passed through Agency, Iowa.  I was riding in Car 32078 next to last car in the consist.  Thought you would like to see this video.

Leaving New Orleans -- I'll be catching a shuttle to the airport at 12 Noon for my 3 PM Southwest Airlines flight to Nashville.  With a blizzard going on in the northeastern USA weather in New Orleans is sunny and hopefully so in Nashville so do not expect any flight delay.

Since I plan to be back in New Orleans for a week in late May, I rested in my room most of Monday.  I did have some stomach problems overnight Sunday but did get to feeling much better yesterday afternoon so I walked over to the River Walk shopping mall attached to my hotel.  So I was able to get my beignets and Cafe Au Lait as well as soft frozen yogurt to eat.  Slept well Monday night and am ready to go home for a while.

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A Successful Winter Rail Journey on Amtrak's California Zephyr and City of New Orleans

I'm On Board and Ready to Travel 

Four Days on A Train --  For me, traveling across this great country from Northern California through Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Tennessee, Mississippi and Louisiana in four days is fun, educational, and inspirational.  Sharing close quarters and eating three meals a day with Australians, British, and Americans from all over our country was uplifting to me.  If only for a brief time, new friends are made and we share conversations that reveal we are very similar in our values and relationships.  Of course, the highlight for me was traveling through so much snow cover in the Colorado Rockies  Yes, I took photos.  Way too many but I will have them up on Reagan's Photo Galleries in a couple weeks.  Interestingly, the California Zephyr was ahead of schedule all the way from California to Chicago so we got more dwell time at most of the station stops since the train cannot leave a station until the scheduled departure time.  After about six hours in Chicago most the time spent in the sleeping car passengers' Metropolitan Lounge I boarded the City of New Orleans for a 8 PM departure from Chicago Saturday night.  Today our train had to follow a couple very slow Canadian National freight trains.  Canadian National now owns the former Illinois Central rail tracks on which the City of New Orleans travels.  Thanks to padding schedules we were only one hour late arriving New Orleans at 4 PM.  A short cab ride shared with a couple from England brought me to the Hilton Riverside Hotel right on the Mississippi River.  As I entered my room a large Norwegian Cruise Line ship was just outside my room window departing on a cruise in the Caribbean Ocean.

View of the mighty Mississippi from my Hilton Riverside Hotel room

I'm planning on a leisurely day Monday and Tuesday morning before my Southwest Airlines flight departs at 3 PM Tuesday to take me home to Nashville.  I will be looking forward to returning to New Orleans in May for a full week stay here at the Hilton Riverside Hotel.

I'll add all the photos for this rail trip to my photo galleries soon and will post a blog update with "links" to all the new galleries.  For now here are a few photos from my four day adventure.  These are small photos..  You can click on the photos for a much larger view of the photo.

Sierra Nevada's California

Sierra Nevada's California

Amtrak's California Zephyr

Sierra Nevada's

Sierra Nevada's

Sierra Nevada's

Sierra Nevada's 

Meeting the West Bound California Zephyr near Glenwood Springs, CO

Colorado Rockies Snow Cover-Impressive!

Colorado Rockies Snow

Amtrak Assistant Conductor at Fraser, Colorado

My Sleeping Car Attendant Tony in Denver Union Station

California Zephyr Engine 202 In Chicago's Union Station

Amtrak's City of New Orleans at Greenwood, MS

South Louisiana near New Orleans 

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Arrived Chicago on California Zephyr from San Francisco

Made  it  to  Chicago  on the  California  Zephyr  this afternoon. Waiting  for  the  City  of  New  Orleans  now.  Train was on time  all  the  way  and the snow in the Colorado  Rockies  was beautiful.  I took too many  photos.  I'll  share  them in my photo  galleries  after I  get home.  Here are three iPhone  photos  for now.  This post short as  I'm doing  it  on my tablet in Metropolitan  Lounge  in Chicago's Union  Station.

Colorado Rockies 

Colorado Rockies

Colorado Rockies

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Lots of Walking and Some Rail fanning in Emeryville, CA

Reagan - Across the Bay is San Francisco

A very full day - I began this day visiting the Emeryville Amtrak Station to see today's California Zephyr depart and rail fanning in general.  Walking from the station I discovered and enjoyed walking through a State Park along the Bay out a peninsula to an area named Emery Cove.  All along the paved walking path you could see across to the Bay Bridge and San Francisco.  The city itself appeared to be covered by fog.  In the photo above San Francisco across the Bay is in the background.  All the people I passed along the walk were very friendly and two very nice ladies took this photo for me.

I also passed a few pieces of unique local art work as I walked.  I've included a couple photos of this art work along with some selected scenes as I walked and a few rail fanning photos.  I did return to the Emeryville Station this afternoon to meet the California Zephyr as it arrived from Chicago.  The equipment on this train is turned overnight here in Oakland and will be my train Thursday morning. 

This is probably my last update blog post until Sunday night after I arrive in New Orleans.  Amtrak long distance trains do not have WiFi.  I might try to do a short narrative without photos update from my Samsung tablet using my Verizon cellular phone as a hot spot.  I will not take my laptop into the roomette on the train.  The 7 inch Samsung tablet is mainly my Nook(B&N) e-reader.

I took lots of photos for my photo galleries after I get home.  Here are just a few.   You can click on the photos to see a larger version.

Emeryville Art

More Emeryville Art

Unique Wind Direction Vane

San Francisco Across the Bay

California Zephyr Arriving in Emeryville

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From Nashville to San Francisco and on to Emeryville

Nashville - Music City USA

Yes, that's Nashville in the aerial photo I captured departing Nashville this morning at 7:30 AM.  Thankful for smooth flights to Dallas/Fort Worth and San Francisco arriving around 2 PM Pacific Time.  The Super Shuttle ride to my hotel in Emeryville was not bad as I was in the Hyatt House Hotel by 4 PM.  That's not bad considering we traveled through downtown San Francisco and then over the Bay Bridge in very heavy traffic.  

Today's excitement--yep, I left my toiletry bag with lotions, toothpaste, Zyrtec, etc. in my room at the Embassy Suites in Nashville.  Hopefully, I can get it back when I get home.  Anyway, I made a quick trip to the nearby Target to restock up on my needed supplies.  Fortunately, I packed my Norelco and diabetic meter and other expensive items separately so I only had to get the basic stuff.  

It's just 10 PM here but after a full day traveling, I am tired and ready for sleep.  Looking forward to hanging loose tomorrow and doing just a little rail fanning.  

Here's a few more photos I took today traveling.

Sun Rising at Nashville International Airport

Flying over Tennessee

Approaching Dallas/Fort Worth

Northern California Mountains - About an hour before landing at SFO

Entering the Bay Area

And finally in Suite 401 at Hyatt House in Emeryville

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Reagan's Winter Amtrak Rail Adventure Begins

Hyatt Place Hotel - Emeryville, CA

I have planned and packed and am spending the night at the Embassy Suites - Nashville Airport to be near the airport for my 7:30 AM American flight to Dallas-Ft Worth Tuesday morning and then on to San Francisco(SFO) arriving 1:50 PM Pacific Time.  Should be interesting getting from SFO to my hotel in Emeryville/Oakland across the Bay.  I have a shuttle reservation with Super Shuttle so hopefully I make it to the Hyatt Place Hotel sometime tomorrow.  I'll let you know how that works out after I get to the hotel.  

I will enjoy two nights and a day in Emeryville and yes, I'll do some rail fanning since my hotel overlooks the rail tracks and Emeryville station from which the California Zephyr departs 9:10 AM Thursday morning.  I hope to post a photo or two to my Reagan's Travel and Photo Galleries Update blog.

Emeryville Amtrak Station - View from Hyatt Place Hotel

The two photos above are from my 2013 visit to Emeryville Photo Gallery.

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Amtrak California Zephyr to Chicago; Roomette and Train Tour

Just a few days now before I fly to San Francisco to begin my Winter Rail Trip.  In fact, I'll be riding on Amtrak's California Zephyr Thursday, Friday, and Saturday January 22-24. This video was made on the California Zephyr.  

Several have asked me what it was like, if I had a room, etc, on the train.  This 21 minute Amtrak California Zephyr to Chicago, Roomette and Train Tour You Tube video was made on same train I will be traveling from Emeryville, CA, to Chicago.  I will be in a roomette.  Each sleeper car has a Sleeper Car Attendant who helps you board and then takes care of you in your roomette by setting up the room at night for sleeping and then put the room back into daytime mode each morning.  Meals are served in a dining car and are included in the sleeper car ticket.  There is also a Sightseeing Lounge Car with large observation type windows with a cafe in the lower level.  The Sleeper Car Attendant and Dining Room waiters are with you the entire trip Emeryville to Chicago.  Along the three day journey the train stops at several stations to change operating crews(engineers and conductors).  At these stops which can be 10 minutes up to one hour(Denver), passengers are allowed to get off and stretch your legs, exercise, etc.  This video gives an excellent overall view of what one can expect as a passenger.

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Amtrak Winter Rail Adventure is Just One Week Away

Yep, in one week January 20 I fly to San Francisco, CA, to stay two nights at the Hyatt House Hotel in Emeryville before beginning my winter Amtrak California Zephyr trip.  That's the hotel in the picture above taken from the Amtrak station in October 2013 as I arrived on the California Zephyr.  Even though I did this previous trip in October, an early snow in the Sierra Nevada's whetted my appetite to travel this train again in wintertime.  Here are a few photos from my photo galleries albums CALIFORNIA ZEPHYR OCTOBER 2013.  You can see all the photos in these photo galleries by clicking on this album name.  Also you can click on the photos in this blog for a larger photo.

After Departing Reno, NV, we entered the Sierra Nevada's
This is view from last car of the train as we approached Truckee, CA

We made a station stop in Truckee, CA

View of California Zephyr traveling over snowy Sierra Nevada's

View of California Zephyr traveling over snowy Sierra Nevada's

View of California Zephyr traveling over snowy Sierra Nevada's

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First 2015 Amtrak Trip January 20-27

My first 2015 Amtrak Rail Adventure -- I depart Tuesday, January 20, flying American Airlines to San Francisco, CA.  I will stay two nights in Emeryville, CA, at the Hyatt House Hotel adjacent Amtrak's Emeryville station.  Thursday morning, January 22, I will board Amtrak's California Zephyr departing at 9:10 Pacific Time in Sleeping Car 631 bound for Chicago, IL, via Reno, NV; Salt Lake City, UT; Glenwood Springs, CO; Denver, CO; Omaha, NE; and Otumwa, IA.  Highlight of trip will be traversing the Sierra Nevadas and the Rocky Mountains.  The California Zephyr is scheduled to arrive in Chicago mid afternoon Saturday, January 24.  I will be connecting to Amtrak City of New Orleans departing Chicago at 8:05pm Saturday night in Sleeping car 5900 traveling overnight via Memphis, TN, arriving in New Orleans mid afternoon Sunday, January 25.  After two nights in the Hilton Riverside I will depart New Orleans via Southwest Airlines at 3pm Tuesday, January 27, bound for home in Nashville/Franklin, TN.  I'll post update blogs here while traveling so sign up your email to receive and read the blog updates in your email.

Photo Galleries from my 2014 Amtrak trip -- I did this trip in reverse last July and posted two galleries from both of these trains in my photo gallery website here:  Gallery 1 - California Zephyr and Gallery 2 - City of New Orleans.

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Welcome and PLEASE SUBSCRIBE To Receive Email Updates

Yes, welcome to my Travel and Photo Galleries Update blog.  Primary purpose of this blog is to update you on my travel and other photo gallery updates on my website Reagan's Photo Galleries.  Why a blog linking to my photo galleries website?  So you can SUBSCRIBE to receive notice each time I update my blog and photo galleries website. If you would like to keep up with my travel and other photo gallery updates, please do subscribe to this blog. Please submit your EMAIL to receive email notice when I update this blog and my photo galleries.  I will post to this blog each time I add photos to the website and I'll also post "as I travel" updates to this blog.  So, welcome, and please subscribe using the email signup gadget in the right side column beneath my name and "about me".

My first 2015 Amtrak Rail Adventure -- I depart Tuesday, January 20, flying American Airlines to San Francisco, CA.  I will stay two nights in Emeryville, CA, at the Hyatt House Hotel adjacent Amtrak's Emeryville station.  Thursday morning, January 22, I will board Amtrak's California Zephyr departing at 9:10 Pacific Time in Sleeping Car 631 bound for Chicago, IL, via Reno, NV; Salt Lake City, UT; Glenwood Springs, CO; Denver, CO; Omaha, NE; and Otumwa, IA.  Highlight of trip will be traversing the Sierra Nevadas and the Rocky Mountains.  The California Zephyr is scheduled to arrive in Chicago mid afternoon Saturday, January 24.  I will be connecting to Amtrak City of New Orleans departing Chicago at 8:05pm Saturday night in Sleeping car 5900 traveling overnight via Memphis, TN, arriving in New Orleans mid afternoon Sunday, January 25.  After two nights in the Hilton Riverside I will depart New Orleans via Southwest Airlines at 3pm Tuesday, January 27, bound for home in Nashville/Franklin, TN.  I'll post update blogs here while traveling so sign up your email to receive and read the blog updates in your email.

Photo Galleries from my 2014 Amtrak trip -- I did this trip in reverse last July and posted two galleries from both of these trains in my photo gallery website here:  Gallery 1 - California Zephyr and Gallery 2 - City of New Orleans.