I once did a weekend trip from the Bay Area to Reno (on Saturday and back on Sunday), which was my first Amtrak experience. The schedule works out so you can take the California Zephyr both ways in the daylight. I figured I didn't want to ride for more than a day at a time, didn't want to deal with sleeping on the train, and I still got to see some of the most scenic train routes in the US. It was really cool, some of the highlights include: leaving the Bay Area right along the shore of the bay, including the lesser known "upper bay" (Carquinez straits), a huge (miles long) switching yard in Roseville, passing the Donner summit and the spectacular curves to come down from it, and the canyon of the Truckee river from along the river. On board, you get to meet and chat with a lot of interesting travelers, including lots of foreign rail buffs.
You get a seat assigned in the seating car, but you really want to make your way to the observation car and claim a seat with a better view. One disappointment was the lack of grandiose views of the Sierra Nevada. I'm used to driving and hiking there, and the train doesn't go through the most scenic parts (thankfully, I guess). There are some views of the American river valley, and the mountains a bit higher up, but not much of the high peaks around the Donner summit. Frankly, you get better views and get there faster on the highway (I-80), but I've done that so many times, it was neat to get different views for once. Except for one hour of 70mph on the way to Sacramento, he train felt lumbering and slow, and we did have delays here and there. The return train was 2 hours late, but I guess that is fairly good on a route all the way from Chicago (by American rail standards).
Reservations were easy online, I think it was about $60-70 each way. You can take AC transit from the transbay terminal across to Emeryville and a short walk to the Amtrak station (amtrak also runs their own busses from various locations, but you have to leave an hour earlier). In Reno, it was real easy to get a room within walking distance of the station downtown (at a casino or motel). I even had time to enjoy their river walk. All in all, it was a fun weekend, I'm glad I did it and I recommend it if you want to try the train in the US west.
You get a seat assigned in the seating car, but you really want to make your way to the observation car and claim a seat with a better view. One disappointment was the lack of grandiose views of the Sierra Nevada. I'm used to driving and hiking there, and the train doesn't go through the most scenic parts (thankfully, I guess). There are some views of the American river valley, and the mountains a bit higher up, but not much of the high peaks around the Donner summit. Frankly, you get better views and get there faster on the highway (I-80), but I've done that so many times, it was neat to get different views for once. Except for one hour of 70mph on the way to Sacramento, he train felt lumbering and slow, and we did have delays here and there. The return train was 2 hours late, but I guess that is fairly good on a route all the way from Chicago (by American rail standards).
Reservations were easy online, I think it was about $60-70 each way. You can take AC transit from the transbay terminal across to Emeryville and a short walk to the Amtrak station (amtrak also runs their own busses from various locations, but you have to leave an hour earlier). In Reno, it was real easy to get a room within walking distance of the station downtown (at a casino or motel). I even had time to enjoy their river walk. All in all, it was a fun weekend, I'm glad I did it and I recommend it if you want to try the train in the US west.