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I've ridden the Zephyr multiple times - it really can be a wonderful experience, and you will see scenery that is only available by train. A few pro tips:

- For two people, the roomettes are more confortable than the bedrooms, IMHO. Regardless, get a private room, the privacy and relative silence are well worth it.

- Bring some snacks and cold beverages. Water, coffee, ice are gratis.

- Your sleeping car ticket covers all meals in the dining car. Take full advantage of this.

- These trains almost never run on time. I once rode the Zephyr Reno -> Denver and we arrived 15 hours late on a schedule 29 hour trip - literally the next day.

You can't be in a hurry nor on any kind of schedule. Look out the window and enjoy the ride. Utah in particular is stunning beyond belief.

> Utah in particular is stunning beyond belief.

I tell everyone that Utah is the best kept secret in the country. I don't think anyone ever recommended it to me so I was in my late 20s before I traveled there and the landscapes blew me away.

What about alcohol? Does the dining car serve it or did you get your own?
You can bring your own, but technically you can only drink it in a private room. That said, I've seen people sipping in coach or in the observation car on every trip I've taken. Be discreet and don't overdo it. I've also seen a guy left in a tiny desert town in the middle of the night for being a belligerent drunk.
You can get beer and wine from the restaurant car or the snack car.

I believe if you have a roomette you can drink your own if you brought some.

I remember they give one free drink for lunch and dinner, and you can purchase extra.
This train is like a cruise on land, and I would 100% recommend it as long as you get the sleeper car!

Tons of amazing scenery, and conveniently accessible from the bay area!

Emphasis on cruise, my trip from Denver to SF took 36 hours but I thoroughly enjoyed it! I’ve done it twice, one in a sleeper and one in a regular car and the regular car wasn’t too bad. The seat is bigger than a first class airline seat and no one was sitting next to me anyway.

My only regret was I didn’t bring a cooler full of drinks like the pros.

> But in the early ’80s, the reality reversed: Air travel worsened (fares skyrocketed, carriers abandoned marginal routes, competition intensified), and some Americans turned again to their network of trains.

As all of my friends and co-workers relate the terrible experiences they've had with flying over the last year or two, I can't help but wonder if we might see this happen again. A guy can dream, I guess.

I feel like all America has to do is pass a law forcing the railroads to respect the passenger time tables, and even if it's Amtrak's fault that they missed a slot, yield to passenger traffic and enable them to run on-time.

If the trains had a reputation for not being overbooked, not being cancelled, and arriving at the time it says on the ticket, they could be a lot more popular.

I take Amtrak whenever possible because I hate the way people are treated in airports and I often meet others on the train that don't fly for one reason or another, but I am also enabled by a life that is unaffected if I arrive somewhere 12 hours late.

This is crazy. Freight trains in America do an important job. Long distance passenger trains in America serve eccentric hobbyists. The one is obviously more important than the other.
I didn't say "dismantle the freight companies", I said "prioritize humans arriving on time over corn syrup"
Logistics are important. Materials need to arrive when they're expected. People with a fetish for impractical modes of transit do not.
america must be the only country where reliable public transit is considered a sexual kink, thanks for the that.
Public transit is fine. Lots of people get around cities or connected metropolitan regions on rail, and that's great. There are plenty of places in America where we could usefully build more rail. These tracks do not have problems of freight preemption, because they are not used for freight at all.

Outside perhaps of the northeast corridor, there is very little of America that is well suited for long distance trail travel, with distances being too long, with too little population between metro areas, and the terrain too rugged. There are nonetheless people who want to travel in trains for trains sake. That's fine, I don't begrudge then their hobbies. But freight is important, getting supplies around in time for logistics chains to work is a serious business, and we should not imperil it so that a few eccentrics can have slightly freer access to their hobby.

I doubt it. Compare the time table for a flight vs train to the same destination. It's not even close to thinking American's and their "RIGHT THE NOWS!" attitude will put up with a train schedule. I say this from the inside. I've looked at the options, and there's no way with my limited time off that I'm spending all if it on a train. Get me there as soon as possible to use my limited there not getting there, then turn it around to come back. If your destination is the train, you're golden.
It really depends what you're looking for. The train in the US isn't for reliable fast transportation, it's for relatively comfy and relaxing transportation.

I did the trip from Montréal, Canada all the way to San José, California on Amtrak and it was fantastic. It allowed me to disconnect by staring out the window for a few days and literally not doing anything but relax without internet connectivity. It was fun to chat with people from all over the US over dinner, and hear a bit about their world.

But obviously the direct YUL-SFO is more efficient, it's just a few hours in a cramped and dry metal tube in the sky. That's what I'd pick, 100% of the time, if I need to be at my destination at a specific time with no time to waste traveling.

Even though I'd love it if there were more passenger trains, I definitely agree with you that it's doubtful that a lot of trips will be done by train. The US is just so large that flying really is the most sensical option most of the time.