Yes, I would think you could walk to any of the nearby hotels during the day (I have not done that, but have been to the Emeryville station numerous times). Note: there is a pedestrian walkway with elevator from the station platform leading to the other side of the tracks, which would likely be the best way to walk to any of the hotels over there. I have seen people dragging luggage that way. The overpass is visible on google streeview from the station. The hotel may even provide a shuttle to pick you up/drop you off, so check that when you make a reservation.
No… the family gathering to which I’d be traveling keeps getting pushed back. We’re not getting together at Christmas since my sister can’t get time off from work then. The earliest she could do it is mid-January, but now my parents are pushing for us to visit during during spring time this time since Christmas is out. So it looks like I’ll probably be doing this trip in April or May now.
Ah, well - hopefully things will firm up soon! If it’s early to mid May, we might even cross paths.
If taking a sleeper on Amtrak ( bedroom or roomette ) I recommend taking a short electrical extension cord with you, as the electric outlets are kind of recessed and you might have a hard time with some electronics plugs that have the large transformer on the plug end.
The ones I’ve encountered (Superliner roomette) haven’t been recessed, but just on general principles I take along a 1-foot grounded cord with a three-outlet block on the end. Fits neatly in my backpack and I don’t have to decide what to plug in.
And make it one with multiple sockets on the end. The earlier generation equipment – built in the early 1990s before the personal electronics explosion – has only one dual-socket per compartment. The later generation equipment has two or three but you have no way of knowing which you’ll get.
Oh yes indeed.
One train video person I’ve watched says “the three Ps”. Powerstrip, pillows (bring your own) and prunes…
Well, Amtrak sells a coach kit for way too much money, and one of the things in that kit is a blanket. In July and August (when I have taken long trips) it gets cold in there, so make sure you are prepared for that if you hope to sleep on the train (I have always kept a light coat in my accessible luggage, which has been sufficient).
And finally, I’ve booked the trip! I’ll be going in mid May. I went with the California Zephyr from Sacramento to Chicago, overnight at a hotel in Chicago, and then Empire Builder from Chicago to La Crosse. I booked a Roomette on the California Zephyr, and just a coach seat on the Empire builder to La Crosse since that leg should be entirely during the daytime. I went with that route because A) I wanted to ride the California Zephyr, and B) with this itinerary I get to spend a day in Chicago.
Now I need to figure out some fun things to do during my Chicago layover. I think I’ll start a separate thread for that.
Too late to edit, but here’s that other thread:
Congrats! I don’t suppose you’re leaving on May 13th, are you? 'cause it’d be cool to have a mini-Dopefest aboard the Zephyr, if you were (we’re taking the train from LA to Emeryville on the 12th, then the Zephyr the next day).
Did you book a sleeper for the trip?
It would be a lie for me to say we’re counting the days until our trip. Right now we’re still talking about it in “months” 
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No, May 15, actually.
Yeah, I got a Roomette on the Zephyr.
For the Chicago - LaCrosse leg on the Empire Builder I just booked a coach seat, since that leg is entirely during the day.
Yeah - that part would be silly to spend sleeper money on - it’s only 5 or 6 hours, I think.
Our trip on the Coast Starlight is also mostly daylight - though we splurged the rewards points to get a sleeper for that - depending on the state of COVID, we may be glad of it, plus this way lunch and dinner are provided.
This morning I checked my phone and there was a push notification from Amtrak notifying me that the California Zephyr had been canceled. I checked their timetable for a range of dates in May, and all Zephyr trains are showing as canceled. Did you get something similar?
That will suck if they’ve canceled all the Zephyr trains during that time. I could go with the other idea of Coast Starlight and Empire Builder, but I booked a non-refundable rate for my hotel in Chicago, so I would be out that money. And I was looking forward to that day in Chicago.
I was reading elsewhere that Amtrak is extending their service reductions from the winter, so Sunday and Monday trains were cancelled for some time out. Not sure if there is an official explainer anywhere on this. Was any part of your trip on either of those days? I guess you could check to see if you can re-book your trip on other days of the week.
Yikes!
I just checked, and there was no such notification on my phone, and both the phone and the web page show our reservations still for the Friday departure (which, I just realized, means we’re travelling on Friday the 13th).
The service interruptions page at https://www.amtrak.com/service-alerts-and-notices does mention that many long-distance trains with daily departures have been reduced to 5 a week through late March - but that doesn’t sound like what happened with you.
I’d suggest calling Amtrak - some time when you can be on hold for hours, from what I can tell - and see what’s up. Maybe you can rebook and travel that Friday :D.
Editing: I just went to Amtrak’s page and looked for seats from Emeryville to Chicago on the 13th, and the 14th - and both showed availability on the Zephyr. trying for Sunday the 15th shows the Zephyr as canceled. Sounds like @snowthx is spot on about the cancellations being extended.
If you want to do this, definitely contact them ASAP. I suspect there will be a fair number of others doing the same thing, and you want to reserve your spot (with sleeper) before they’re all gone.
Hopefully they will not jack up the price - that would be really rotten of them.
Yeah, that looks like what it was. I called them and changed my departure to Saturday, the 14th. I’m not sure why it looked like all the trains on that route were canceled when I checked their timetable this morning. So now I’m leaving a day earlier, but I kept the second train the same, so that means an extra day for sightseeing in Chicago.
Funnily enough the price actually went down, so I will be getting a refund of $124. But now I have to add a second night in my hotel in Chicago, so it’ll probably be pretty much a wash.
Plus an extra day of food. Though, if you go to Giordano’s for a small pizza on your first day, you MIGHT be able to finish the leftovers in the 2 days before you get on the train for Wisconsin.
My original plan was to go to Giordano’s the first night, then eat the leftovers on the train to Wisconsin the second night since coach passengers don’t get complementary meals, then present whatever was left to my parents as a gift from Chicago. Now that I have two days in Chicago I might just go to Giordano’s the second night and basically stick with that plan, since I like to sample a variety of foods when I’m visiting a new place.