I live next to Denver Union Station and coincidentally I took the California Zephyr for the first time yesterday (Saturday). I wanted to experience the train going up into the Rockies and back. I was surprised that seats were assigned; I got an aisle seat. I could mostly catch the scenery anyway, but that was a downside. They were passing out tickets to give more people a turn in the observation car, but they weren't switching until after I was scheduled to get off. I went up to Granby, CO and back. It was a beautiful day (maybe the last one for the season?). Friday, near Oakland, the train that was taking me back was stuck waiting for a bridge malfunction, so it was 4 hours behind. By the time it got to Granby, it was supposed to be 2.5 hours late, but as the day went on the timeline got pushed back until it was 3.5 hours late. It picked me up as it was getting dark after sunset, and the ride back was in the dark. The trip was amazing and disappointing at the same time.