Taking the train in California

The last time I visited California, we flew in (as usual) to the bay area. Now, my parents live in the valley, which usually means renting a car and driving down to visit. It's about a 3.5 hour drive from my in-law's house to my parents' house.

Last time, driving wasn't really feasible. Saul needed to stay in Mountain View, which meant I would have to drive alone both ways. It was also going to require some backtracking in order to meet with some friends in Sacramento No fun at all. So at my parent's suggestion, I looked into the train.

End result: I took the train from Fremont to Fresno, then Fresno to Sacramento a few days later. It was fantastic, and we are now taking the train on every trip like this (which happens at least twice a year). The pros and cons.

Cons:

• Very few trains. Like, there was only two trains each day from Fremont to Stockton (a transfer hub). At 4pm and 5pm. If you want to come back to Fremont, well, your SOL. The trains only go from Stockton to Fremont in the morning hours, which meant I couldn't possibly take the train from Fresno back to Fremont. This is a one way trip only.
• Very few trains again. There's a train that goes from Fresno to Sacaramento. Direct, no transfers. Unfortunately that train only goes at certain times of the day. The other times, there's a train that goes to Stockton, but then you have to get off and take the bus to Sacramento. Now, there were so many people doing this, they had two buses. Why exactly can't we just have the train keep going? It would have been full!
• The website is pretty terrible.
• Any European taking the train would laugh at us. Stockton, the primary hub, has only one track next to the loading area. This means that if two trains come in at once (which happens a lot), one train parks in the middle of a multi-lane boulevard. All traffic is shut down, the conductor opens a single door, and passengers walk into the middle of an intersection to board the train. It was pretty funny. And the Europeans would probably find it pretty backwards and hillbilly.

But there were many many pros:

• Only had to arrive 10 minutes before departure, and that was only so I could print my ticket.
• No checkin lines.
• No security lines.
• No gate loading lines. I waited 2 minutes because an elderly passenger was having trouble on the stairs.
• Legroom! Oh my was there legroom!
• Everything is a carry on.
• Power for my laptop.
• Wifi on the commuter trains.
• And on non-commuter trains, I could usually wardrive (wartrain?) at station stops long enough to send and receive email.
• Enough space to actually use my laptop. With tables and everything! The seats in airlines have become so cramped that I can't even open up my laptop.
• Cheap. My ticket across California cost $90, roundtrip. It would have been cheaper had I purchased in advance and been able to use my student discount. Certainly cheaper than either flying or renting a car.
• Fast. If you take the train through the central valley, it goes the same speed as driving.
• Food that is cheap and tastes reasonable. Even real-sized beer!
• No crying children. The babies are all zonked out from the rocking, and the older ones are all fascinated.
• My ears don't pop.
• No seatbelt signs. Feel free to get up and move around the cabin. Heck, go over to the other cabin. Do a jig. There's even a dining car with more tables, in case you want a different table style.
  
• No problems with liquids, swiss army knives, or knitting needles.
  

Total time from Sacramento to Fresno, via train: 3 hours. Driving time is about 15 minutes less. Works for me!