TRAINS & TRAVEL
P.O. BOX 10625
RENO, NEVADA 89510-0625
Chris@traintrips.biz Rail Tours Manager. For question regarding tour itineraries and details.
Deborah@traintrips.biz Office Manager: Accounting
1-800 359-4870 USA
1-800 752-1836 CANADA
1-800 266-8751 FAX
(530) 836-1944
OFFICE HOURS 9AM TO 5PM MONDAY-FRIDAY
PACIFIC WEST COAST TIME


EMERYVILLE-RENO-DENVER-CHICAGO-MINNEAPOLIS ONEWAY
TOURIST/RAILFAN TOUR
OCTOBER 9-12, 2009
This Excursion Is Limited To 30 Persons Only.
SOLD OUT - COMPLETED
ENJOY ALL 4 PRIVATE RAIL CARS WITH A SMALL GROUP
SUPER LOW FARES STARTING AT $298 TO RENO
DENVER
CHICAGO
MINNEAPOLIS




We invite you to join us onboard four luxury private rail cars that will be attached to the rear of Amtrak's California Zephyr from Emeryville to Minneapolis on this positioning move at very low fares that will include all of the first class award winning service by California Zephyr Railcar Charters and their award winning staff. . All four railroad cars need to be in Minneapolis by October 12 for the departure of the westbound SP 4449 Daylight steam excursion returning to Portland, Oregon from the Train Festival 2009 event in Michigan. Tickets are being offered to ride with us from Emeryville (Oakland) to Reno, Denver, Chicago or Minneapolis one way on this positioning move. These private cars provide an exceptional amount of lounge and sightseeing space and a high staff-to-guest ratio to better enjoy the spectacular scenery along the way. Service aboard the train features meals prepared and cooked on board the train and served on monogram china on damask table linens, full bar service, and deluxe Pullman accommodations featuring crisp starched and pressed bed linens, triple-sheeted, terry bath robes, and the usual amenities found in fine hotels.

OUR VINTAGE PRIVATE RAILCARS

Silver Rapids, a 1948 Budd roomette-bedroom sleeper, also built for the Pennsylvania Railroad as its contribution to the California Zephyr equipment pool for transcontinental service. Silver Rapids features eight roomettes accommodating one person each, and six double bedrooms, each accommodating 2 persons. Bedrooms each have an annex containing a toilet and sink; roomettes have a sink in the room. If two couples or a family are traveling together two rooms may be opened ensuite. A shower room has been added. Limited hot and cold beverage service is available.

Silver Solarium, a 1948 Budd Vista-Dome sleeper-lounge-observation car built for the California Zephyr. The observation lounge in the boat-tail of the car is a pleasant place to enjoy the passing scenery as we hurry on our way through the west. Silver Solarium accommodates 24 guests in its Vista-Dome. Sleeping accommodations include 3 double bedrooms, each accommodating 2 guests, and 1 drawing room, accommodating up to 3 guests. The drawing room and bedrooms each have an annex that includes toilet, sink and shower. Under the dome is a bar, which is an excellent spot to gather for a late-night libation.


DAY 1 FRIDAY OCTOBER 9: (B-L-D) Amtrak's California Zephyr originates across the bay from San Francisco in Emeryville, where we gather to await its appearance with our private cars on the rear. Amid the hustle and bustle of passengers seeking their assigned cars our professional staff greets our group and assists with luggage. A light breakfast will be served shortly after the 9:10AM departure from Emeryville. Members of our group get acquainted with each other in the domes and lounges as the train meanders along the shore of San Francisco Bay, on its way to Martinez and Sacramento. Passengers are also welcome to board at Martinez, Davis, Sacramento and Roseville. Luncheon will be served as we begin the ascent of the Sierra, along the route of the Central Pacific, founded in 1863 as one of the two companies tasked to build the first Transcontinental Railroad. Our route over the Sierras takes about 4 hours to complete, and includes breathtaking scenery as the railroad follows a continuous ridge high above the American and Yuba Rivers. After Donner Summit is reached, at approximately 6,900 ft altitude, we emerge high above Donner Lake, and we begin the descent to the high desert of Nevada along the course of the Truckee and Humboldt Rivers. For passenger going to Reno the train arrival time is at 4:00PM. Hors d' Oeuvres and Dinner are served after departing Reno as we head east across Nevada. Night owls may enjoy a libation in our two lounges, while those wishing to retire early will find that their rooms have been made down for the night by our attentive staff. Be sure to set your watches ahead one hour when you retire for the night.









DAY 2 SATURDAY OCTOBER 10: (B-L-D) In the wee hours of the morning our train was serviced in Salt Lake City, and we continue our journey east through Provo, then on a spectacular climb over the Wasatch, cresting at Soldier Summit. Breakfast buffet will be served between 7 and 9 AM, so you may get up at your leisure. Our train follows the Price River Canyon through Castle Gate and the stop at Helper. Continuing eastward the train races across the desert toward Green River, where we reach the lowest altitude we'll see today as we cross the town's namesake river, the major tributary of the Colorado River. We pick up the Colorado River shortly before leaving Utah, and will follow it upstream for more than 200 miles and 5 major canyons. Our stop at Grand Junction, CO provides us with an opportunity to step off the train and to enjoy some fresh Colorado air. Our next stop is Glenwood Springs, at the west end of Glenwood Canyon, inspiration for the Vista-Dome concept in 1945. The best place yet to view this stunning canyon is from your seat in the vista-domes, where every seat is a window seat. Don't forget to look down at the river, too. Glenwood Canyon is a mecca for kayakers and rafters. We crest the Continental Divide while inside the Moffat Tunnel, which at 6.2 miles is the 4th longest railroad tunnel in North America. At a summit elevation of over 9,200 ft it is the highest railroad tunnel in active service in North America. After leaving the Moffat Tunnel we begin our crooked descent of the Front Range of the Rockies into Denver. When we pass Plainview we begin to see the lights of the city of Denver far below. We'll enjoy dinner aboard the train before we arrive at Denver Union Station at 7:38PM. After the train is serviced departure is scheduled for 8:10PM for the night run across eastern Colorado and Nebraska.

STEPPING BACK IN TIME WE VIEW THE SCENERY ACROSS UTAH AND COLORADO ON THE FORMER RIO GRANDE ROUTE.










MOVING FORWARD IN TIME TO PRESENT PASSENGER TRAIN OPERATIONS ACROSS UTAH AND COLORADO












DAY 3 SUNDAY OCTOBER 11: (B-L-D) As you wake up to a new day we will be crossing western Iowa. Our staff will be busy preparing breakfast and you can enjoy the passing scenery of Iowa and Illinois. Lunch will be served before the scheduled arrival of 3:50PM. For those passengers that will continue on with us to Minneapolis tomorrow we invite you to use our private rail cars as your hotel. You are welcome to hit the town for the evening or stay with us and enjoy dinner onboard. The rail cars will be parked at Chicago Union Station for the night.







For the Railfan there are plenty of trains to ride in and around Chicago




DAY 4 MONDAY OCTCOBER 12: (B-D) We will served you breakfast before you can go out and explore downtown Chicago if you choose. Our private rail cars will be attached to Amtrak's westbound Empire Builder which departs Chicago at 2:15PM. Once we depart you can enjoy the passing scenery of Northern Illinois and Wisconsin from our Vista Domes as the staff prepares dinner. Arrival in Minneapolis is scheduled for 10:31PM. We invite our passengers to stay onboard for the night if you choose. The cars will be parked at the station for easy access.



PRICES             PRICES ARE PER PERSON

EMERYVILLE TO RENO................$ 299 (Two meals and full access to all 4 cars)
EMERYVILLE TO DENVER..............$ 799 (One night in sleeper-full bar-6 meals)
EMERYVILLE TO CHICAGO.............$ 999 (Two nights in sleeper-full bar-8 meals)
EMERYVILLE TO MINNEAPOLIS.........$1699 (Four nights in sleeper-full bar-11 meals)
PORTLAND TO OAKLAND OCT 21-22.....$ 749 (One night in sleeper-full bar-2 meals)
FINAL PAYMENT IS DUE AT TIME OF BOOKING

TOUR BOOKING CONDITIONS

TOUR PRICE: All tour prices are corrected to November 1, 2010 and are subject to change without notice, at any time. All prices based on double room occupancy. We reserve the right to change tour prices if necessary.

PRICES DO NOT INCLUDE: Personal items, meals not listed in the itinerary, laundry, phone calls, excess baggage charges, rental cars, side tours, insurance, passport fees including visas, vaccinations, gratuities, medical costs, tips to train or motor coach staff, extra tour costs due to unanticipated changes in the itinerary for reasons beyond our control, including weather, travel conditions, or cancellations, government intervention, sickness, political disputes, and failure of transportation or other causes beyond our control.

TRAVEL AND HEALTH DOCUMENTS: A valid passport is required for our international tours. In some cases a visa is also needed. Consult your health professional for the recommended immunizations and documents. Trains and Travel International , here on referred to as TTI, assumes no other responsibility if a client is refused entry into a country. Cost and cancellation fees will be paid by the client in the event they do not have valid documents.

CHANGE OF ITINERARY: We reserve the right to substitute, alter or modify the tour if any unexpected and unforeseen conditions beyond our control preventing the completion of such. Conditions can include weather, train schedules, equipment, motive power, revision of train consist, train delays, labor strikes, political disputes, derailments, closure of a rail line, break down of railroad or motive power equipment, railroads not honoring contracts and bus equipment problems. We will always endeavor, in each case, to provide substitutes, if any changes take place. TTI is not responsible for canceled trains, delays, hotel rooms, route changes or missed connections, for any reason whatsoever. We will not give refunds if such conditions or cancellations take place.

TRAVEL INSURANCE: Travel Insurance is mandatory for all tours. This insurance will cover and give the tour members many benefits and protection. Benefits include baggage, accident, life, trip cancellation, sickness, bankruptcy, strike, weather conditions, employer termination or layoff effecting you or a person sharing the room with you, terrorist incident in your departure city or city of destination, jury duty, you are subpoenaed, hijacked, or quarantined, your residence or traveling companion residence is rendered uninhabitable, emergency military duty, traffic accident, single supplement upgrade when your traveling companion cancels their trip, trip interruption, trip delay, missed connections, itinerary change, emergency medical benefits, medical evacuation, baggage delay and loss, pre-existing medical conditions if enrollment is within 21 days of your invoice date, burglary of you or your companion before departure, felonious assault of you or your traveling companion before departure, 24 hour hotline emergency assistance, emergency cash transfer and more. We will supply you with a travel insurance brochure with rates and application when we mail you the invoice after trip deposit is received. Travel insurance protects your vacation investments and is a very good investment for your travel and vacation money. US law allows us to offer this insurance to all persons Worldwide. We will accept a "refusal of travel insurance wavier" if you do not wish to purchase any travel insurance. FOR CUBA: Because of the nature of these tours travel insurance is MANDATORY for everyone. We have a special American travel insurance company that will insure all folks going to Cuba on legal US approved tours. This insurance information will be sent to you upon receiving your booking.

RESPONSIBILITY AND LIMITATION OF LIABILITY: Accepting your payment represents an agreement that you understand all the conditions, to be a member of our tours. TTI gives notice that they are acting agents for the owners, contractors and suppliers, providing the transportation and all related travel services and assume no responsibility for injury, sickness, damage, loss, additional expenses accidental delay or irregularities which may be caused through willful or negligent acts or omissions on the part of the companies providing or engage in transportation, accommodations or services related to the accomplishment of the tour. Nor do we assume responsibility for natural disasters, social or political upheaval, acts of terrorism or acts of nature. TTI reserves the right to substitute hotels, tour leaders, equipment, motive power, trains, onboard accommodations, routes and to alter the itinerary when deemed necessary without notice. The right is also reserved to cancel any trip or train prior to departure for any reason . TTI is not responsible for expenses incurred by tour members in preparing for the tour, including non-refundable airline tickets, visa fees, planning, phone calls, or any other expenses. TTI reserves the right to decline to accept, or ask to leave a tour, any person whose actions impede the daily operations of a tour, welfare or enjoyment of other tour members. TTI cannot give any refunds for any unused services. The terms contained herein shall serve as a waiver of liability to TTI. Assumption of risk on behalf of the client, their heirs, executor, administrators, successors, and assigns for any and all known persons injuries

RESERVATIONS: A deposit is due in our office within 14 days after you make your bookings. Full payment is due 90 days before departure. You will receive an invoice, reservation form and current tour bulletins with your confirmation and travel insurance forms. No notice for final payment will be sent to you. It is your responsible to make the final payment on-time.

CANCELLATIONS: TTI does not accept cancellations on the phone. Cancellations must be received by postal mail, email or fax before any refunds will be considered. Allow enough time if sending your written notice by US mail postal system. When a written cancellation is received in the Trains and Travel office this will be the effective date of the cancellation. Please take note that it can take up to 60 days to to process some refunds. Cancellation refund rules: 100 days prior to the start of any tour you will receive a full refund less a $100 per person administration fee. 99 to 61 days before the departure of any tour there will be a 80% cancellation penalty based on the full cost of the tour. Cancellations received 60 or less days before the start of any tour will not receive any refund. GW Travel Ltd has their own cancellation rules and these will apply. If booking on GW Travel Ltd ask for cancellation rules.

PRE-DEPARTURE TOUR BULLETINS: Tour bulletins will be sent to clients that have booked on tours operated by TTI. Bulletins include travel info related to the tour. Final documents will be sent out about two to three weeks before a tour begins. We offer tours operated by other companies and they may or may not send out tour bulletins and updates and most send out final documents only one to two weeks prior to the start of their tours.

PAYMENTS: Payments can be made with personal check drawn on a U.S. Dollar account, money order for U.S. Dollars, bank wire transfer, or credit card. We accept Visa, Master Card, Discover or American Express. Final payment for all tours is due 90 days prior to departure. If final payment has not been received 7 days after the due date, a late fee of $50 per week will apply.

SINGLE SUPPLEMENT: All prices are based on double room occupancy. We will try and match you with a roommate if one is available. If not, you may be charged the single room supplement listed for the tour you are booked on. Single rooms may not be available in some remote locations and on some trains.

TOUR REFUNDS: If for any reason tour members amend or delete any arrangements during travel, and leave the tour on their own, we cannot give any refunds on unused portions of the tour. If buses and trains are cancelled by the carrier or there is a labor strike or they go out of business, we cannot be held responsible and we cannot give refunds. Travel insurance will protect you for any of these reasons. If TTI needs to cancel any tour everyone will receive a full refund. Please take note that in some cases refunds can take up to 60 days to process.

PARTIAL TOURS: We will allow passengers to join or leave a tour at certain points. It will all depend on the tour and the conditions. Give us a call and we will try and work up a custom option for you.

MILEAGE COLLECTORS: Mileage collectors please take note that TTI does not cater just to mileage collectors. We cater to all folks that enjoy trains and Rail journeys. We give strong warning that itinerary and route changes do happen and this is totally beyond our control when it does. If the only reason that you would want to book a tour is to collect the rare mileage, you need to understand that possible route changes do happen.



01666  visits since May 11, 2009.

Last modified: Thursday, 12-Jan-2012 08:17:40 PST