Trip Report

Capitol Corridor Oakland-Sacramento Round Trip

April 20, 2002

Here is a trip I recently took on the Capitol Corridor from Oakland to Sacramento.

I have taken the Capitols a few times. I work for a law enforcement agency and find in very relaxing to take from Oakland to Sacramento for training. In my line of work the rest is a needed break. On this trip I decided to take the whole family. I took my sons Robert Junior (R.J.) and Christopher and my wife Karen.

We started out from home at about 9AM April 20th, Saturday morning. We planned to catch Capitol Corridor train #728 which departs at 1050AM. My wife was amazed at how new and up to date the station was at Jack London Square. I have to say at this point I was really impressed on the station attendants. Jerry and Ernie that were working that day started playing with my boys. They offered the boys breakfast rolls which of course both of my kids gladly accepted. I later wrote a letter to Amtrak to tell them about how great the both of them were. Amtrak actually called me to follow up on my letter. I was impressed with that.

728 was on time and as we got on board the station attendants got on the address system to give my boys a nice send off for their first trip. My wife's first statement was that the trains were so new and the inside of the coach looked wonderful. We had a great trip up to Sacramento. The train was on time and we detrained in Sacramento.

We spent most of our day in Old Sacramento. Had lunch at a great place that served Mexican food.

We took train # 545 back to Oakland. I was really happy to see that there was a Superliner I coach used in the line up on 545. It brought me back to my days of train travel when I took both the Coast Starlight and the California Zephyr. I love riding trains it reminds me of the days when I rode as a kid from Bakersfield to Richmond. My dad retired as a Train Master for Santa Fe Railroad. We boarded and sit on the Superliner I coach car. Because the train had come into Sacramento in one direction the seats were backwards. Meaning we had to sit looking away from the direction the train was heading. My wife didn't really care for that. I loved just being on the Superliner.

I took some photos from the end of the train. Included are some of the engineers area. I don't know why but it was not blacked out so you could see in the compartment. I also took some digital photos looking out of the rear of the train onto the tracks.

Enjoy the photos and take the Capitols if you get the chance. It is a great way to travel. More soon as I will be taking the Coast Starlight tomorrow (4-30-02) to Portland, Oregon. I plan on taking notes and sending it to you all.