Traveling between Emeryville, CA and Reno, NV on Amtrak

Sometime during or after my friend Jay's last visit out to see me in Dec. of 2018, when we took the "Capitol Corridor" from San Jose to Sacramento and return, to visit the California State Railroad Museum, an idea was hatched to ride the "California Zephyr" from Emeryville to Chicago.
We were booked to ride on March 1st, with the original plans being to take the "Capitol Corridor" from San Jose to Emeryville, where we'd transfer to the "California Zephyr" to Naperville, IL. However, just a few days before the trip, an avalanche near Truckee, CA, forced the "California Zephyr" to originate and terminate in Reno, NV for several days, including the day we rode. So, we ended up having my mother drive us to Emeryville, CA, where we boarded a "Capitol Corridor" train to Sacramento. At Sacramento, we were put on an Amtrak Thruway bus (which was better than I initially thought it would be) to Reno, where we'd board the "California Zephyr".