The California Zephyr - Train from Chicago to San Francisco Bay Area (Emeryville)

Here are some pictures from the second (and obviously the longest) part of our train trip.  We took Amtrak's California Zephyr from Chicago's Union Station to Emeryville (which is just east of San Francisco).  The ride itself is about 51 hours long, give or take.  It took us about 53 hours due to a broken rail somewhere between Winnemucca and Reno, Nevada.

We highly recommend getting a sleeping car room if you're travelling that far with a child.  Some rooms are larger than others; you can take a "virtual tour" of the different types of sleepers using the Amtrak website. With the sleeper, you're also getting three meals a day in the dining car.  The food isn't fantastic, but it isn't terrible either (and it definitely beats airline food on the few flights where airlines still serve food).

Waiting to depart from Union Station in Chicago:

Leaving Union Station:

The observation car:

The California Zephyr leaves Chicago around 2pm.  The remaining daylight hours on the first day take you through the outskirts of Chicago, northern Illinois, and portions of Nebraska.

The stop in Naperville, IL (a Chicago suburb):

Cars waiting for the train to pass:

Passing a northern Illinois gun shop:

A caboose near the train tracks:

Windmills:

Train station in Galesburg:

The Zephyr:

Nearby old train:

The train station in Omaha, Nebraska: