I Took America's LONGEST Sleeper Train: 3 Days!
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 23 ธ.ค. 2023
- This week I take a ride on America's longest train ride - the Amtrak California Zephyr from Chicago to San Francisco in First Class in their Bedroom Suite.
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Even with the terrible pizza, the trip was so much better than the cross country Greyhound nightmare. 😬
That should be Amtrak's advertising slogan. Amtrak! At least we're not Greyhound. Also, Greyhound Nightmare is a cool band name.
I'd take a cattle car over a Greyhound.
Crawling on your knees across the country is better than Greyhound was.😂
Train always better than the bus 😂
I'm from North Jersey so I'm officially a pizza expert and whatever that was, was not pizza. Legally it can only be called "Peetzah' Similar to wyngz and Cheez Whiz
That cold Pizza Hut dinner doesn't look fantastic but it does look a lot better than Greyhound leaving you outside a gas station in the Utah desert at 3am
Exactly
That’s 💯
It's a crime that Amtrak retired most of the glass top observation cars because the views from the upper deck were unbelievable.
What were they? Vista domes?
The observation cars now aren’t too bad.
The Empire Builder still has theirs.
The Zephyr has an observation car. I saw it in the consist during the video, so it was on their train. Amtrak retired some of the dome cars that were used back east-those were really old.
I love Noel he’s just a humble northerner who always dresses for comfort not to impress, and not pretending he’s an astronaut. You could give him first class food but he will settle for a bag of monster munch! Definitely one of my favourite TH-camrs have a good Christmas Noel 🎉
Yes he's genuinely a good guy!
Nice comment, but your sentence structure is embarrassing. Please brush-up on basic syntax. Punctuation matters. Use it like an adult.
no one asked @@clvrswine
@@clvrswine Brother its a youtube comment section not a bachelor paper
@@clvrswine give your head a wobble, it’s really not polite to call someone out over Grammer. It says more about you than it does them, it’s not clever, just rude!
It is inexcusable that they left Chicago without a chef. Amtrak is more expensive than flying in first class, when you're in a sleeper. The backup plan to feed dinner to passengers who've paid a few thousand dollars for a bedroom should not be random pizza delivery. i find it very hard to believe other kitchen staff couldn't step in and cook dinner that night. It's not like they serve gourmet french cuisine. It's all very basic food, and much of it is frozen and prepared. This type of service has always been a huge problem for Amtrak. They just don't seem to value their first class passengers.
From what I have read as well this is a regular occurrence
I enjoy your videos when you are by yourself, more enjoyable
2 chicken wings and a slice of cold pizza is way cheaper than a proper hot meal
Amtrak - $
Passengers- 0
I agree. Some of the staff should be cross trained to atleast a cook.
Maybe a union issue that the staff can’t cook?
Been on the Zephyr twice, beautiful trip. There's actually four types: bedrooms, roomettes, family room and accessible room. I'm a retired sleeping car attendant who worked mainly on the Capitol Limited between DC and Chicago. I must say you took that first night VERY well. You can ring for your attendant to make your beds up although many people do their own. A power strip and extension cord are helpful on train trips.
I've never made my own. I'm not all that sure how to do it.
I rode Capitol Limited from South Bend IN to DC in around 15-20th December 1998, I was 14. The train was suppose to arrive in SB around 11pm and had a 2-2.5hr delay, because The Zephyr arrived late in Chicago, and some passengers were getting from CZ to CL, do the train waited accordingly. It arrived around 1-1.30 pm, I slept through IN, OH, parts of PA, I woke up some time way before Pittsburgh, being able to see the appalachian and all the countryside to DC. It was an amazing perspective, to see that backroad US not seen before in movies as a I kid. Plus thebrought in some hired clown who blew baloons for kids, sorta like to make up for the delay? I rode CL back to South Bend on 1/2 jan 1999, arrived to a city covered by 30 inches of lake blizzard. Amtrak seemed marvelous in comparison to Polish postcommunist railways I rode as a kid in the 90s broke-ass-public-transit Poland. Thanks for bringing back the memory of America 25years ago. Magnificent time that was, especially being 14-15 and being able to see America at its best BEFORE 9/11, 2008 etc etc.
I traveled on this route in August this year in Coach. It was a great experience and all the people I met on my journey were soo nice. Being only 18 I felt very safe at all times and the staff was very kind. (Still had an 8 hour delay 😂)
They do have delays for sure, but the thing I’ve noticed is that unlike a plane, no one seems to mind! No one is in a hurry on a train. In fact, I’ve kind of welcomed the delays-more meals! lol
I did this in August as well!
No matter what happens on Amtrak (I once had a nine hour delay because some idiot tried to beat the train to a crossing and failed), you're not going to lose a kidney like Greyhound!
Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year mate!
Whenever a train and car tie, the tiebreaker goes to the train, haha.
Or lose a head. Check it out. A true Greyhound story
@@willee5348it happened in Canada in 2008, dude who did it was convinced the guy he killed was a zombie.
@@willee5348 I was just thinking that
Amtrak! At least we're not Greyhound.
You’ve been to more states than I have and I’ve lived in America my whole life! Living vicariously through you with these videos, I love watching people travel.
Nothing like cold burnt pizza, and a glass of wine! Amtrak is cutting new ground!
I think this sounds decadent.
It looks like a much better experience than the Greyhound bus
Few travel options in the world are worse than Greyhound. Buses in developing countries are usually better than Greyhound
Yeah with Amtrak making less stops than Greyhound.
As ever Noel, a well polished travelogue, every bit as good and enjoyable as the old BBC Holiday reports. You’re delivery gets better and better, and it was so nice to see Rachel steal a bit of the limelight! Well done again mate, really enjoying watching you on your travels.
Many thanks!
Thanks Noel, stuck on an oil rig in the North Sea, fantastic to see the scenery, looks like a fabulous trip. Merry Christmas to you and your family :)
jeez dude, must be rocking and rolling with the weather out there
@walterfillingham527….Awww, Merry Christmas 🎄🎁 up at the COLD 🥶 North Sea 🌊 my friend!! Sending you sunshine and warmth from Arizona 🙋🏽♀️🌵🌞💕
Great to see Rachel again. Hope Amtrak gave some sort of discount for the trouble you went thr.
So happy to hear how your wife, loved spending time with you.
I work part-time time for Pizza Hut. When warm & fresh, their pizza is among the best. When burnt & cold, it truly does transform itself into flavored cardboard.
We do however have a few customers who request their pizza be slightly burnt.
Pizza hut is too greasy. I have to sop the grease up with multiple paper towels just to be able to stomach it.
I’m that guy 😂
Love seeing you guys make the best of every situation! Merry Christmas to you and yours, Noel! Thanks for all of the great content!
Thank you!
Hi Noel! when you mentioned that you liked the leather on the seats and it reminded you of Delta, there’s actually a reason for that. For a couple of years, former Delta Air Lines CEO Richard Anderson was placed in charge of Amtrak to help aid in the company’s recovery. During his time in the company he incorporated some of the Delta flair at Amtrak. Happy travels!
But he has no idea about how to operate a RR... and he doesnt understand the market of the long distance trains.
And unsurprisingly the new Venture cars that are eventually going to replace the Amfleets have seat material that looks quite similar to Delta seats, though it's the exact same seats which are on the brightline trains (which is a good thing as those seats are exceptional).
You deserve a medal with what you willingly subject yourself to with the various means of travel across the globe. And you never break the positive attitude!! Keep up the great work!
Well done Noel & Rachel, That was a journey, despite the lack of a chef for the 1st 24 hours you guys made it seem so relaxing….. thank you for sharing.
I've taken this twice from Grand Junction to Denver and finally last December from Emeryville to Denver. Such a beautiful stretch of scenery
Great video as always Noel! Merry Christmas and a happy new to you and your family.
I have Fibro and muscular pain that I have to take pain medicine for, and Crohn's. Rachel is so strong for agreeing to go on this trip. I've been and it's some incredible strength with that kind of nerve pain because sleeping on a moving vehicle is so uncomfortable and painful with Fibro--the ache feels like laying on concrete that's also too hot. I don't think I could do it in my 30's. She's amazing
Merry Christmas Noel and family. This video is a gift as it was my parent’s favorite trip on Amtrak.
Oh Amtrak. Always putting the passengers first. 🤣🤣🤣
"Bloody hell man!". OMG, Rachel is amazing!!!
The banter between you and Rach is absolutely hysterical and wholesome. Glad she is doing better and seems to be back to her normal self!
Also I have seen some properly nuked pizza hut, and what y'all ate made what I have consumed look raw. Apparently they are cremating pizza in Iowa.
Winter Park resident here! I've been watching your videos for a couple of years now and it's awesome to see you passing through my neck of the woods. Cheers and happy holidays Noel and Rach!
Thanks for watching!
Union Station is one of the gems in Chicago architecture - glad you were able to see it. Hope to take the Zephyr trip one day. Merry Christmas Noel! And Rachel! Hope you enjoyed the trip.
Hello from New York. We have taken the Auto train the last 2 years staying in a roomette which is the size of a small closet. Last year the train was delayed 7 hours ,and they bought in Pizza Hut to eat in station 😅. This year we have a bedroom,looking foward to extra space. Terrible about the cold and burnt dinner. If u call Amtrak customer service they might issue future credit
Noel and his wife are so cute. I love it when she joins him. They have the cutest dynamics between them. ❤️
I love your videos because you tell it like it is. I've been on the trains of Europe, Japan and here in the US. And your Amtrak experience is very similar to the ones I have had. Just add on the Amtrak employee who barked at us as if we were cattle at the Los Angeles station and our Los Angeles to Seattle trip would have been nearly identical to yours. Every few years I get the urge to take a long trip on Amtrak thinking surely the service has gotten better. And every few years I discover it's the same. I'm thinking of taking the NYC to Chicago route someday. Hopefully, Amtrak will finally get it's act together by then.
Best thing about Reno? Only 40 miles from Lake Tahoe. That is a truly gorgeous part of the country.
Nice video mate. I absolutely love these long train journeys. I recently took the old iron ore train from Narvik in Norway, to Luleå i Sweden. Great trip as well, through some very barren land.
Had a similar issue on the Empire Builder last year - electrical fire in the kitchen car shortly after leaving Chicago, so no food for the entire trip. The crew did pretty well organising pizza and Subways to be delivered as well as pastries for breakfast but it was a bit disappointing given the food on board is supposed to be pretty good!
And because it was a fire we couldn't eat in the dining car so had to go and collect food and eat in cabins
Yeah, they can't replace those superliner cars fast enough, the newest ones were built in the early 90s, most were built in the 80s.
I love your reactions, this one was extra funny with the two of you trying to do the beds after wine lol. The music as you both are trying to do the beds fits perfectly. Wonderful duo you are!
Glad you enjoyed it
Funny part of the video 😅
was on the zephyr early nov, absolutely loved it. beautiful views, gd meals and most importantly, a nice comfy spacious seat. loved how the conductors introduced the famous scenery with little jokes and stuff to make it even more entertaining. btw, i would consider the texas eagle to be the longest route, a couple cars splitting off midway to join the sunset limited doesnt discount the rest of the train still making the 65hr journey from chicago to LA..
This is a trip I’d love to take! Thank you for such an entertaining and detailed video! Merry Christmas to you and Rachel! ❤
Glad you enjoyed it!
First Jeb Brooks, then Will from Trek Trendy, and now Noel! Amtrak Trains are very underrated and deserve some love!
Even Eva zu Beck has done an Amtrak video a few years back.
Safiya just posted an Amtrak review too!
U just listed all the travel TH-camrs I watch, except for Kara and nate
@@ItzChickenYall me too.
I think Paul Lucas from Wingin It has done Amtrak videos too.
I actually took that same train from Grand Junction Colorado to Ottumwa Iowa a few years ago. It was before I had my spine surgery so I was already in horrible pain but by the time we got where we were going (both ways as we took the return trip as well) I was in excruciating pain and could barely walk. It was so rough we couldn't sleep. I hope Rach didn't experience pain like I did. Love to see her travel with you. Merry Christmas and a wonderful New Year to you both and to your family! Looking forward to more great videos.
Hey Rachell !!!!! Hey Noel !!!!! Great to see you out and about Rachelle. Im PROUD of you!!!!! ❤😊
Thank you for posting and doing this trip! You've convinced us to do it...hopefully with a chef onboard!
Have fun!
Glad you got to go on this trip - you got authentic Amtrak there. Amtrak is one of those things in the US that is both amazing and terrible at the same time. The scenery and staff are almost always amazing. The fellow passengers are almost always great people. But the rail cars are in terrible condition and the administrative staff - it leaves a lot to be desired. If anything goes wrong with the food, you're on your own. Which at $1k per person, is inexcusable.
Amtrak could be so much better if they actually invested in the hard product and the food. But good luck with that.
Loved this Noel and Rach, thank you. Merry Christmas to you both and your family.
As you paid for the bedroom, I don't understand why you didn't ask for the attendant to prepare your beds. You've paid for that, plus a little tip. Also, if you had purchased the trip INTO San Francisco, there is a bus that takes you from Emeryville to downtown SF. Then a cheaper Uber ride to the DoubleTree.
I take the Coast Starlight from Los Angeles to San Francisco every year. I use the through service to downtown SF. I love Amtrak.
Please don't misconstrue these comments. I truly enjoy your travels. I follow with much contentment!
Supposedly, there is a location in the Rocky Mountains where the campers, hikers like to moon the Amtrak trains!😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
Merry xmas noel and rach! Great to see you back on a video since the scare in vegas - happy new year to you both!
Merry Christmas Noel to you and your family. Love the videos may the new year bring more excitement and more brilliant content
Happy Christmas Noel to you & your family. Thank you so much for another year of superb videos. Keep up the good work. Hope you have a brilliant 2024.
Thank you!
Much better than the Greyhound 😆 This could be quite enjoyable i think.
I ''attacked'' Denver from both LA and Frisco by car years ago, and both were my favorite trips in the US.
Just the beauty and change in landscape, absolutely spectacular. I can highly recommend.
Take your time, 3 or 4 weeks. Easy to find cheap motels.
Thank you ! Fun video !
I love when the two of you travel together, adds a lot of extra entertainment
Happy Christmas Noel, Rachel and family - hope you have a lovely break. Loved the scenery in your video. We’ve done a similar trip by road and recognise the Utah and Colorado bits especially. Thank you for the escapism provided in your videos and wishing you a very happy 2024!
As an airline family, we do travel more via airlines but I love train travel. Wish the US had more!
I personally love seeing Rach on trips with you!
Happy Christmas to you and your family!
Glad to see Northern California added to your bucket list. That Truckee stop remains on my mind from my Zephyr trip in 2000. I guess that's why it's called the California Zephyr and not the Colorado Zephyr
Yea hello Rachel great to see you again. This is the trip I am thinking of going on in the spring. Awesome job. Hello from Pa USA. ❤❤❤❤
Great vlog as always! Super that the mrs could be by you side. Keep up the good work! Merry Christmas from Norway!
I took Amtrak from NY to Austin TX a few years ago. Got a roomette with my daughter and I got to wiggle into the top bunk and I’ll tell ya, it was tight. I don’t think I could do that again. Otherwise, I loved riding Amtrak. They treat you very well.
Noel I love when you ride Trains and Buses , this is a real Xmas treat ! Merry Christmas from my family to yours ! X
Great trip report Noel. Enjoyed watching as always. Merry Xmas to you and Rach and the kids. Looking forward to 2024's adventures.
You guys are the loveliest couple. Always enjoy when you bring along Rach!
The only time I’ve been on an Amtrak train where they had catering brought to us. We were running 14 hours late from glacier Park in Montana heading into Portland.
When we got to Pasco, Washington, they had KFC brought to everybody on board. Great memory now, and it was a great experience, because I got to see Idaho in the daylight.
So I feel your pain a little bit on not being able to get real meals on the train
You know it's going to be a good one if the title says America, train and 3 days :D.
I wish you and your fam good holidays and best wishes for the new year!
certainly different from London to Brighton!!!! So envious to see the amazing views and the lovely sunsets....Thank you.....Lovely to see the both of you looking so well!
Merry Christmas! Thanks for all the entertainment and education throughout the year.
Nice video! Wish you'd been able to see more of Reno as they lowered the station below street level and you only see the old parts of town. Though you did get a nice picture of where we board our dog in Reno (Pet Playhouse) and thought that was funny. We have been planning to take the Zephyr from Reno to Emeryville and back just for a fun weekend. Gonna definitely do thanks to your video! Awesome as always!
I thought this would be just another zephyr video. However, you (and Amtrak) managed to make it unique. Nice.
Wow Noel, this ride sounded so scenic. Thank you for the descriptions! Glad to see 1st class Rach on form!
Loved the video, such beautiful scenery wow! thank for sharing. Wishing You Noel, Rach and all yours, a very happy and blessed Christmas, and wonderful New year. 🎄🥂🥳😮
Thank you so much!
Done Chicago to LA with my wife in a roomette 8 years back and it was a nice experience to enjoy once. We still talk about it fondly. Respect to the attendants who just did an amazing job.
Fantastic video. Great to see Rachel joining you on this occasion. Here's wishing you and your family a happy Christmas. 😊😊
Thanks so much! 😊
Thanks Noel, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you and your family
I just took that train from San Francisco to Reno, NV in standard and it took me 10 hours to get there. We had a delay of 5 hours. Made the delays of the Deutsche Bahn look tame. For you it was the chef! I got an email that there will be reimbursement for the delay.
At least you got the chance to take images from the Donner Pass by daylight...
Delays are mostly (but not all) an issue of the host freight railroad.
My grandfather was an Amtrack engineer for 40 years and - just kidding. Good video.
Love watching you n rach travel together her adding her spin to the trip ❤
Love your videos ! I just found them. You have a lovely perspective on cross country travel by rail (or by bus, for that matter). So much fun to see you travelling together. Many many years ago I travelled across Canada by rail with my husband and we brought our own (shh) alcohol. It really helped lol!
Loved your scene of going across the bridge into San Francisco!
Travelled on the Ghan from Adelaide to Darwin in the NT last year. I can sympathize with you on the bedding arrangements as I to drew the short straw and ended up with the top bunk and the gymnastics required to climb onto it. When it came to the sleeping car, the five star dining car, and the lounge car, they were leaps and bounds ahead of what Amtrak seem to offer. If in Australia sometime take the trip, you wont be disappointed.
The lack of a chef was bad enough but where was your sleeping car attendant to make your beds? I hope you didn’t tip him or her!
you guys are so awesome. my mummsy and I just decided tonight that we are going to go to Alaska on the ferry. Your channel really inspires me to make the most out of life.
It was great to see, the Mrs. with you Noel❤
Noel you would never make it on a naval ship where the midshipmen had bunk beds with half the space
So nice to see Rach in this video, you're a lovely couple. Enjoyed tagging along with you on this trip!
I live about 45 minutes from the Emeryville Amtrak station and have actually considered taking the California Zephyr all the way to Chicago. I definitely may have to give it a go as it looks like a great way to see a large part of the USA. Great video
Merry xmas Noel! Hope for more fantastic adventures next year! Would love to see more challenges this year 😁
In the early 2000s I spent 30 days doing a figure 8 around the USA on Amtrak. Started in LA and finished in LA 30 days later.
LA - Chicago - Boston - Philadelphia - Atlanta - New Orleans - Memphis - Chicago - Seattle - LA. I slept on the train the whole time…but not all fancy like you did! 20 year old me is jealous haha. I just slept in my seat. It was a trip of a lifetime though. Just me, my backpack, a handwritten journal, and a camera. I think about it often!
I do remember we got delayed for 12 hours in Albuquerque on the LA to Chicago route! So that was fun haha on the bright side I had 12 hours to learn how to spell Albuquerque because I was staring at the sign from the train window.
I live in Memphis currently 😅❤🎉
Its lovely to watch you both travelling.
I think my husband and myself would have been arguing who wasn't sleeping on that top bunk😂
it is always nice to see rachel traveling with you
Another Sunday, another Noel adventure! Season’s Greetings. All the best from Belgium!
You'll have to come up and do the Rocky Mountaineer train between Vancouver and Banff in Canada one summer. It's SPECTACULAR and the service is unparalleled. Full recommendation!
Isn't a sleeper though...
@@frederickvondinkerberg7721 Never said it was. The onboard experience is one of the best (if not the best) you’ll find in North America though.
@@kyle604 which is it's main problem... turn it in to a sleeper and cross the entire country
@@frederickvondinkerberg7721 It's a daytime leisure train route for tourists. Past Banff is boring and non-scenic on a train line. It's also extremely expensive as it is. If you want to go across the country, Via Rail exists. You may see it as a "problem", but it's extremely popular because of it's length and route.
Texas Eagle is longer, as you don't change trains, so you have the same sleeper all the way. They add cars or combine, but as a passenger, you don't change anything.
I took the Texas Eagle 2 years ago and a month ago and loved it. Enjoy traveling on Amtrak cross country. Food was great!
Why didn't they just have the porter make up the beds?
Was looking for this comment, lol. Texas Eagle longest route. =P
Watching your content already since 2019 and I love the variety of transportation mode you cover. You actually inspired me starting my own travel channel, and I’m loving doing it.
Keep up the good (and inspirational) work 👍👍
Awesome! Thank you!
How lovely to have a video on Christmas Eve. Made my day. More train videos.....yes! Try the Spanish ones, super fast, smooth and clean.
Although the food experience wasn’t what you paid for and expected, I’m glad you got one of Amtraks “refurbished” sleepers with an updated cabin.
How many sleepers on the Zephyr are the “renovated” ones? Taking the CZ from Chicago to Emeryville in early Feb. Reserved a bedroom and would love to have a refurbished one!
@@tomulator they are mixed up system wide. No way of knowing if you will get one until you board. They are doing a handful of refurbishments per month on sleepers, diners, lounges and coaches. Maybe another year or two until the whole fleet is done.
It's so wonderful to see your wife back in action! Hope she's feeling better
Lovely video! Thanks for your shout out to my town, Chicago!
I will have to do this trip soon. Thank you for sharing your adventures.
This looks like a LOVELY trip!!! In 2024, I want to travel more, but slow travel (car or train). This channels gives me lots of ideas 😁
Love it when you two do trips together, very sweet x
Great vlog as always! Not been to a pantomime this crimbo season but watching you and Rach make the bed half cooked more than made up for that. Hilarious!😂
Merry Christmas to you and your family and all the best for 2024! ❤
Merry Christmas 🎁🎄 Mate and thanks for the always uplifting content! Let’s go in 2024
It's rather annoying to see so many negative comments. Amtrak is not for those you want to save money, but for those who want to see the vast diversity of landscape of North America.
My 1st year in the United States as a freshman at Northwestern University in Chicago my friends and I crisscrossed the country from New York to Chicago to Seattle down to LA and then back again and loved every single second.
What we seem to have here are a bunch of tourists, not travelers.
Great to see Rachel back traveling with you. Glad to see she's doing well