Wednesday, April 22, 2026
After the previous night’s pleasant dinner, the one thing we weren’t worried about was the quality of the food. As soon as we boarded the California Zephyr in Sacramento, however, we were informed that there was no dining car. The lunch plans were not clear yet–they would let us know. Eventually we were called to the observation lounge and given a choice of a fast-food burger or chicken sandwich and either fried onion rings or fried green beans. Onion rings stone-cold, burger barely warmer than room temperature. We had to balance everything in a box and do the zig-zag train shuffle through the cars to our room. At dinner they did a little better. We were seated in stages in the observation lounge and served basic hot dinner choices, including pastas, salad, and bread, packaged cookies for dessert.
We heard rumors that the dining car had been sidelined by a fire, then by a “hot wheel,” that was threatening to catch fire. It was surprising to find out eventually that the car was sidelined several days before. Why weren’t we notified in advance, so we could bring food? We were disappointed in how this was managed, but we were offered compensation, nobody starved, and the trip was not spoiled.
We traveled through the spectacular Donner Pass, which was brilliant green against the fresh white snow which had fallen overnight and was still falling.
As we passed through less populated areas, if often seemed as if the rural communities turned their backsides toward the train. It wasn’t unusual to see a gorgeous, snow-covered mountain hovering above industrial sites, trashy trailer parks, and construction equipment dumps. The bus park was one of the more attractive. Later, the skies cleared as we passed through wilder, more open desert landscapes. The clouds scattered beautiful dark shadows over the mountains.
The steward put the bunk beds in place early: around 8pm. That gave us less room to stretch out–we sat scrunched into opposite ends of the lower bunk. But we slept well enough, once we were tucked in.
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