California Zephyr - The Journey

Train travel is rather unusual in the US with people always either driving or flying. However, given the time and the choice of a proper route, train travel in the US can be rewarding as I found out aboard the California Zephyr, arguably the best scenic train ride in the country.

Seven odd souls of us started from the Chicago Union Station. We took train # 5, California Zephyr, from Chicago to Emeryville, California. This journey was one of the best that I have ever made. We had reserved coach seats. Being students, it was hard to afford better accommodation. These seats were big and comfy. Pillows were supplied by the train attendant, so overall it was pretty nice. Sleeping in the seats was rather a problem on the first night, though we did manage to get some sleep. The second night was much better, may be the body got used to it. A light blanket helped as it got chilly during the nights.

The seats had big windows with curtains. However, we spent most of our time in the lounge car. It was the best there to enjoy the scenery. The first day was not very special. After the train departed exactly at 2pm from the Chicago Union Station, it cruised through the fall colors and the corn fields of Chicago and the surrounding area. The second day, the Zephyr reached Denver in the early morning. It had snowed the previous night and it was pretty cold. The train halts there for an hour and we took the opportunity to walk around. However, much to our dismay the station was bland. There was hardly any activity with no stalls whatsoever. That was so unlike an Indian station where you can find a whole new world, a different dynamics on its own. I guess the US train stations used to be like that during the golden days of the railways here before they died down with the expressways and the airways coming in.

The part of the trip that followed through the whole day was a delightful experience. If you love to see nature at its best, you cannot miss this part of the California Zephyr. The train gradually started its ascend into the Rocky mountains. As it gained height and emerged from one of the numerous short tunnels, the whole city of Denver could be seen at a distance. The trees on the snowy mountains painted a portrait that looked like the pencil sketch work of a fine artist. The view was amazing. During its course in the mountains, we went through the Moffat tunnel, 6.5miles long located at an altitude of 9500ft above the sea level.



Once past the Rockies, we once again entered an elegant exhibition of the fall colors in the gallery of the Colorado canyons. As we went through the Gore, the Byers and the Red Canyons breathtaking views unfolded in every other turn. I remember my friend joking that we are moving our heads like watching a tennis match to capture the views on both sides. The landscape started with yellow grasses at the bottom, followed by the grey or the red granites, topped with a layer of green pine trees embellished with a touch of white snow. We were also fortunate to spot a few bald eagles nesting in the high leafless trees.






When we entered the Glenwood Canyons, the snow was back. Hot sulfur springs could be seen at places which gave the name to our next stop, Glenwood Springs. What sets this canyon different is the presence of the spectacular stretch of the highway I-70. The highway comprising of a lot of tunnels and bridges were built at a staggering cost of 40 million USD per mile to preserve the beauty of the canyon. I guess very few places have to offer such a blend of natural beauty and engineering marvel.

The canyons ended in a rather flat landscape with smaller mesa mountains scattered around. This was the first time that we saw clear blue sky with copious sunlight. It led the way for a superb light and shadow effect all around us. The moon which was up after a little while only added to the spectacle.




We went through the lunar landscape to enter the glittering industrialized area of the Salt Lake City at night. The next morning, we were in the great basin of Utah and Nevada. It was a desert with dry land, short bushes, small hillocks and white salt marshes. The treeless snow clad mountains of the Sierra Nevada loomed at a distance. However, the real spectacle was in the sky. Long stripes of sirus clouds lit with the early sun rays, the rainbows and the stunning nacreous clouds soothed our minds at the day break. After crossing Reno, the train gained altitude quickly with shrap loops to reach the pine forests and the Truckee River in the Sierra Nevada. We tunneled through the summit of the Sierras to emerge to the sight of the Donner Lake. By now we had entered California. Once we were through the great hole, a 1659ft long tunnel through the toughest part of the Sierra, we descended fast to the marshy lands of California with a lot of birds. The great hole was dug by Chinese workers mostly by hand tools, progressing a few feet a day at most and often impeded by extreme weather conditions. We had to get off one station before Emeryville as the Bay Bridge was closed. We took a bus, which was included in the itinerary, to reach the downtown of San Francisco.



The trip was so enjoyable not just because of the views but also for the company. Taking such a long journey is boring if you are alone, especially at night. It is good to have a book or a deck of playing cards. However, being in a group of seven, we hardly had to think about how to spend time. It was a perfect trip.

Summary of the California Zephyr train trip –
Length – 2438 miles (3,924-km)
Duration – approx 52 hours
Frequency – daily (between Chicago, Illinois and Emeryville, California)
Accommodation – Coach seat (seats similar to the flight first-class), roomettes (sleeping berths but with very limited space for baggage), bedrooms
Amenities – Dining car with service of breakfast/lunch/dinner at affordable rates, Lounge car with big windows to enjoy the scenery and a snack bar, changing rooms in each car, checked baggage service
Scenic attractions –
• Rocky Mountains
• Sierra Nevadas
• Moffat Tunnel
• Colorado's Gore, Byers, Red and Glenwood Canyons
• Truckee River
• Donner Lake
Useful Link - http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/ContentServer/Page/1241210579555/1237405732517

It's a long way to the pacific ...

This is definitely last minute. A few hours to board the train and here comes my pre-journey write-up. However, if that makes you think that I was not preparing for trip, you are grossly mistaken. The map of the route, essential to-do lists for the train, the games, the food, the books, the direction printouts, the reviews of the salient points are all ready to accompany me on this would-be memorable trip. Train journeys, as I think of those in general in India, are anything but relaxing. Those who have been on the local and even not-so-local trains know what I mean. If you don’t, I will explain another day. That is a story in itself. However, I have been lucky to be on a few long distance train rides which were really pleasing. So I had a taste that train travel can be fun given a comfortable seating and an enjoyable company. However, this is much more than that.

We are going to take the California Zephyr, a 52 hour journey from Chicago to San Francisco. San Francisco is a great city in itself. But here, it is the road that leads there matters more than the destination itself. We will pass through the Rocky Mountains and the Sierra Neveda, follow the Colorado River as it grows from a narrow spring to a more formidable river, pass through long tunnels and finally cruise along the pacific coast. If that doesn’t sound exciting to you, I don’t know what will!

When I told my roommate of this plan, he asked,”Are you crazy?” Well, I guess crazy I am. Not because I am taking this long journey but because yesterday I hunted the public library to find the only book I found online which deals with this particular journey titled “Zephyr: Tracking a Dream Across America” and also because today I am penning this write-up down just four hours before the train departs Chicago and my bags are still not packed.

The Regular Blogger

Yeah, the name is a misnomer! As I find it extremely unpleasant to work on a perfect day with the right temperature in the comfort zone, bright and sunny with a comfortable breeze, my instinct naturally inclines to composing a blog post (read I am being very lazy today and decided to write an insignificant blog post where hardly anybody reaches up to reading this sentence).

The sense of not posting for ages was making me a bit uncomfortable. So I turned to google blog search to find some company. (I had nothing to write about so I took an easy way out to make the size of the post look worthwhile.) I searched for particular phrases to look for lazy bloggers like me.

"I have not posted for ages" - 37
"I have not posted for quite some time" - 43
"I have not posted for so long" - 2,113
"I have not posted for long time" - 4,450
"I have not posted for long" - 5,302
"I have not posted for a while" - 15,871
"I have been lazy" - 254,401
"I am so lazy" - 302,675
"I am lazy" - 1,325,293

Relieved that I am not the only lazy blogger and satisfied that at least you went through the post till the end, I put my pen down for the day.
(God! Somebody went through this whole post. Ah! I am definitely not the only person not working. Wait! You are not supposed to read this part.)

The Dog Years

Long back, I had come across an article called ‘The Cat Years’ in the Readers’ Digest. It compared the adolescent and the early youth years of children as ‘cat’ years. It is the time when the children are alienated from their parents. The pampered kid days get over. Parents seem to be too old-fashioned, out of sync, non-compromising and frustratingly non-understanding. The way they do things makes no sense. They seem too uncool. The dependence and the appreciation are lost. This has a similarity with cats that, unlike dogs, never become completely dependent on their masters. Though they might return at times for food and shelter, they prefer to have an individual independence. The author of the article asks the parents not to worry too much about the children during the ‘cat’ years. It is all natural for the children of that particular age. He ends the write-up with a promise that the ‘dog’ years will be back. I think he was right.

Lately, I have discovered a renewed attachment to my parents. I have started to appreciate their efforts and sacrifices, may be for the first time truly in my life. I have heard my mom talk about how helpless she felt at times with my six-month-old brother and three-year-old me when my parents moved into a new town. My father’s office was 50km away from home and those were the days without telephone. How painfully she had discovered the fact that kids start crying when they hear another one cry. These days when I am irritated by kids crying in the flights, I wonder how my mother could cope with those times. Last March, when I was waiting for a friend near SFO, I saw a Korean mother desperately trying to control her two sons. They were running around, standing up on railings, shouting, laughing, jumping and were ready to do anything except listen to their mom. It reminded me of my mother again. She must have been in similar situations quite a few times. Then there were times when we didn’t want to go to the school, when we wouldn’t stop nagging, when we were adamant to get something impractical and just won’t listen to logic, and above all when we fell sick. It must have taken a lot of courage, patience and dedication just not to give up. That too without recognition. I doubt how many, if any, person has ever complimented my mom for raising her children the way she did.

However, in spite of her tremendous perseverance, she at least had someone to blindly depend on; my father. I guess he had none. The amount of responsibility he has borne for his family, even beyond the four of us, with such ease and elegance, it is unbelievable. We have hardly seen our father get angry. I have never seen him getting stressed. What’s most astounding is that I have never seen him get tired. Even today he is ten times as active as I am. His office work takes up close to twelve hours. He has to take care of the domestic needs, grocery shopping, car maintenance, accounts management and still doesn’t shirk away from his morning walk at six, remembers to polish his shoes and never fails to call up his father every other day. And as I mentioned earlier, he does all that seemingly without effort. He is always calm and never without a smile. And you can’t miss his intelligence and sincerity in everything he does. Surprisingly, somehow he still harbors a kid’s mind somewhere inside himself. He is not afraid to admit that he was wrong, doesn’t hesitate to ask questions if he needs to and sometimes burst into laughs so loud that we jump off our seats. People have their ideal personalities in life. But it is so difficult to be a Amartya Sen or a Vidyasagar or an Einstein. I will be happy if I can get close to being my father.

The funny aspect of this blog is that I am right now putting in front of the whole of the world to see what I can’t express to the persons I really owe everything to. It just feels so awkward and stupid to go to my parents and say that I am amazed and inspired by them everyday.

The Other Side

Ever since she arrived at the city, Smriti has been fascinated by its charm. It defines why the US of A is called the melting pot of the world. As she was standing at the cross-section of 42nd and 10th, she once again appreciated the diverseness the city has to offer. The collection of people white, black, Hispanic, middle eastern, Indians, Chinese wearing formal suits, trendy jeans, baggy pants, funky t-shirts, traditional thobes, colorful sarees, beret caps, English hats with their hair swinging low, trimmed, spiked, colored, spiraled, tucked … The walk sign went on. The small world stepped on to the street absorbing Smrity in its course. She blended in the crowd of New York.

Smriti hated walking with ipods. She considered it an awful way of cutting oneself off from the world. Only fools walk listening to ipods. They don’t know how much life they are missing all around them. She was despising the white leads that ran from the side pocket of a Chinese girl and culminated into two soft tiny earbuds, when she spotted Alec.
“Hello Smriti!” greeted Alec, his long sharp face beaming with a hearty smile.
“Hi. How are you doing?”
“O, I am great. Thanks. What’s up? Walking around alone on Friday night? Still no friends in New York! Are you staying alone?” Alec worked in the same office with Smriti. He knew a bit about her.
“Oh no! I can’t imagine living alone. It would be so boring. I live with another girl. But she had to leave for her friend’s wedding this morning. She had invited me too but I couldn’t get a leave.” Smriti made a sad face, pulling her cheeks down, curling her lips and the eyes subtly wet. Alec couldn’t hide a smile; however promptly wiped it off.
“It must be hard to be away from your family.”
“Sometimes it is. But not always, if you have friends. In Mumbai, it was so much fun. I was there before coming to New York, you know that, right?” Alec had no idea but he dared not interrupt Smriti, who didn’t wait for his response either. “We were eleven people in our group. We all used to go crazy every other day. You can’t imagine office colleagues being like that. Chitchats, leg-pulling, movies, eating out, hunting the malls, beaches, chaats, long drives …” Smriti’s voice drifted. Alec opened his mouth to say something. “You don’t know what a chaat is, do you?” Alec swallowed whatever was coming out. “Don’t worry, I will make it and invite you to my place someday.”
“I am sure,” Alec faltered, unsure what an unknown Indian dish would be like, “it will be very good.”
“You bet. I made it for Kumar’s birthday. Everyone liked it. It was yummy! Kumar was a really nice guy. We packed everyone else to go to the movies every Friday. I love watching the first day first shows. And did I tell you about our Goa trip?” Smiriti with her eyes round and glowing continued, “It was awesome! And guess what happened there. I told you about Rahul, that lethargic idiot; he never used to talk much. We were celebrating New Year’s Eve on a beach and I asked him to sing. You should have seen his reaction. That was his worst nightmare. But I was stubborn and so were some others. We pressed him, coaxed him, abused him. And finally he gave up. He sang. And …”, she slightly swayed her head from side to side, “what a voice he had! We had no idea. It was breathtaking. I will show you the pics from our Goa trip one day. Oh! Actually there is one on my desk in the office. The whole gang. When I get overloaded with the work, I look at it. The spirit inside helps me keep going.”
Smriti paused as she relished the spirit once more.
Alec grabbed the chance. He spoke his eyes squinted, “Aaaaa …. You know what! I actually have a friend waiting at home and I am supposed to get back with a pizza in five minutes”, he kept his lips slightly pulled in and pressed together as he finished.
“I am sorry. I kept you waiting too long.”
“No problem. Now I know where I have to go when I have to relax in the office; to imbibe the great Indian spirit”, Alec smiled as his voice switched to a melodramatic tone in the last part of the sentence. Smirity giggled. “Catch you later.”
“See you.”

Smirity was at the verge of the sidewalk when he heard Alec calling from behind, “Hey Smriti”. She turned. “We are driving to Rochester tomorrow morning. Would you like to join us?” Alec screamed.
“I would love to.” She shouted back. There was no second thinking, she always loved going out. Alec held out a thumbs-up and hurried towards the pizza place. Smriti waved and turned back to cross the street.

No sooner had she stepped on the road, when a chill ran down her spine. There was an SUV with its beam light on headed straight for her. She hadn’t noticed that the walk sign was off. Her senses went numb. The muscles refused to move. Everything seemed distant. What remained was all but a blurred vision like a painting obfuscated by an upturned glass of water. The isolation from the outside somehow triggered her inner core. Her first fleeting memory, the jealousy for her neighbour’s talking doll, the excitement of receiving her first prize on stage, the pride on her first composed poetry, the agony of her best friend’s death, the shock of her first period, the sensation of her first kiss, the confidence in joining the first job, the satisfaction of buying her parents first gifts, the thrill of leaving her country brushed past her. All her momentous feelings, treasured and loathed alike, came pouring down on her as if someone had opened an over-packed cupboard.

It took her a few seconds to realize that she was actually still alive. The car had screeched to a halt few inches from her. She was safe, although shaken. She stepped aside. Now she could see the driver, a middle-aged gentleman, gazing at her muttering under his breath. As Smirity mumbled a thank-you, she couldn’t miss the look on his face, a strange amalgamation of alarm, rage, disgust and relief. Deaths and near-deaths have peculiar effects on human beings.

Her initial plans were to go back home and cook. But it was too late and the recent encounter had left her is a disarray. She took the easy refuge of the glittering Macdonalds on 8th street. By the time she collected her order from the counter, she had already spotted the only Indian in the store. To fully recover from the shock, she needed to talk and the guy at the corner table looked like the perfect companion for a little chitchat.
“Excuse me! Can I sit here?” The guy seemed lost in his thoughts. “Excuse me!”
He looked up, inspected her for a moment, then appearing utterly confused in face of this unforeseen predicament of a girl wishing to talk to him, replied, “Ahhh … I am expecting someone.”
She didn’t really believe that. It was a bit embarrassing too. But now she had no choice. She apologized and took a table by the street from where she could observe the passersby. She wished she could see someone familiar! She hadn’t even taken her first bite when she watched the guy at the corner table pick up his bag and leave. So he wasn’t actually waiting for anyone. He just avoided her. That didn’t make her feel good. As she pecked at the burger, she tried to concentrate more on the trip tomorrow. This would be her first trip outside New York. Alec was a nice guy, and it got to be fun. That worked. Her mood improved. She could feel the excitement and the liveliness creeping back into herself.