Riding on the Coast Starlight - April 2010

Train 14 at Portland

Don’t know why they call it the coast anything, really.  It only follows the actual coastline for about 140 miles or so.  And it is not even the most spectacular part of the California coast.  But that’s like saying that cold water is not as wet as warm water, right?  I mean, any part of the California coastline can be pretty on its worst day.

I have as a “goal” – one item on my so-called “bucket list” – to ride all of Amtrak’s long distance trains.  I thought this would be easy until I started looking at the east and central train routes – the Cardinal, the Silver Meteor, the City of New Orleans, etc. When I thought about long distance routes only the western ones came to mind at first.  But my horizons have now been broadened, having had some opportunity in recent days to peruse Amtrak timetables and route guides while hanging out and waiting in train stations.  But that is a different topic.

A month or two ago, I started thinking about how I might go to Florida to see Mandy while she was there for the Super Bowl.  That didn’t work out – but then the idea morphed into going to New York City to visit with her there.  While thinking of the Florida rendezvous, I thought I could fold another travel wish into the planning – that of flying the longest possible continental USA air route – which in my estimation is Seattle to Miami.  So I started checking into that possibility, which in turn led to thinking about how to get to Seattle to start that flight – and since I had never ridden the Coast Starlight, that got included almost from the start.

In the end, the trip was from Phoenix to Los Angeles by air, by train to Portland, another train from Portland to Chicago, a road trip around Lake Superior including a stop in Dollar Bay, Michigan where I spent a summer with my Dad at age 11, then finally, a flight to Florida to spend some time on the beach. 

Two things that did not happen – the beach and the visit with Mandy. Mandy had moved home to Phoenix in the meantime. And the beach became Key West, Hemingway’s house, a lighthouse, and a cheeseburger in Paradise (at Jimmy Buffet’s place Margaritaville).  I did get to stand at land's end on the south side of Key West and look out at and across the water toward Cuba. And I never did accomplish that longest continental USA flight… that’ll have to happen on another trip sometime.

So, back to the train story.  I left Phoenix on March 29, 2010, on an early morning flight to Los Angeles.  I had to get to Union Station somehow within about two hours of landing.  This limited my options for ground transport.  I thought of the Super Shuttle vans but once I checked the fare, decided that a cab would be the better option since the price was nearly the same (within $20) and the Super Shuttle is not as reliable when you are pressed for time.  So, after I picked up my bags, I hailed a cab at the terminal curb and the cabbie got me to the station in plenty of time.  Once there, I had about an hour or a little more before departure time, so I worried about it for nothing.  But you know how LA traffic can be, especially when you are in a hurry. When you are in a hurry, there will always be a wreck on the LA freeway.

[Update: there is another option for transportation between LAX and Union Station and at a fraction of the cost -- the "Flyaway Bus."  For $7 (instead of $50 for a cab or shuttle), they will pick you up in front of the terminal on a frequent and regular schedule and drop you at a bus plaza adjacent to Union Station.  I just discovered this option and I used it this week (Feb 2013) on another trip, it was quick, efficient and comfortable!]

At Union Station, there is a special “lounge” for sleeping car passengers, which is Amtrak lingo for “first class.”  A rather sassy and jovial lady greeted and checked us in, showed the way to the continental breakfast items (of which I did not partake), and answered question after question from the mostly clueless waiting passengers. 

After waiting for boarding time to arrive, we were escorted by our first conductor to the waiting train, Amtrak’s No. 14, the Coast Starlight.  My car number was 1431 – which is Amtrak parlance for Train 14, sleeping car number 2 (or 31) which is always going to be the second sleeping car on an Amtrak train.  Ha…  I’ll bet you are now confundled! The first sleeping car on Train 14 would be designated 1430.  All sleeping cars on the train have as a prefix the train number, and then begin with 30, then 31, 32, etc.  My roomette was number 3.  On top of all this, there is also a Superliner (which is the type of railroad passenger coach) car number designation, and that is separate and apparently unrelated to all of the above – it is not used in train operations. So this last described car number designation is like the license plate -- and the first one, the 1430, is like the flight number... more or less.

1/2 of a Superliner Roomette

A roomette is a very small space, consisting of two facing recline-able chairs, with a window and a fold-down table between them.  While a very compact space, it is more than adequate for the comfort of one or two passengers.  The chairs fold flat to form a bed at night, and a second bed folds down from the space above the window (if needed). During the day, the two pillows supplied helped the squirmy Bob-passenger to attempt to remain comfortable without getting too achy.  Of course you could also get up and walk here and there, to and fro, any time you wanted to.  There was no pesky “captain” or flight attendant telling you to sit down, or not use your portable electronic device, etc.  I like this train travel, yes I do.

Oh… hurtling from car to car on a moving train?  This activity is the Great Equalizer – it makes all the graceful folks look just like all us awkward and clumsy folks. A train careening down the tracks at 81 mph or so is somewhat like a sailboat on a rolling sea – it alternately twists and bucks, lurches occasionally, and does its best to throw you against the walls, the seats, the ceiling, other passengers, etc.  It is most inconvenient.  And you never quite get used to it, although you do learn to brace yourself and hold on to seat backs, partitions, other passengers’ toupees, etc,  This helps a little.

I was shown to Roomette 3 by the sleeping car attendant – a harried woman who was “my” crew the entire journey – but I really didn’t see much of her.  She seemed a bit overwhelmed by the job, which was quite a contrast with the other Amtrak attendants I have encountered – Victor on the Southwest Chief and Mr. O. C. Smith on the Empire Builder, who each always seemed to have everything under control and made it look like an easy job. Which I am certain it is not. She meant well and I still tipped her at the end. Don't have her photo, but here's one of Mr. Smith...

Mr. O.C. Smith, Amtrak car attendant

The train rolled out of the station on time and headed north in a concrete canyon toward Burbank.  Even in the midst of the city, the train moved quickly to 60 and 70 miles per hour.  The top speed we attained on the journey was about 81 to 82 mph, and that quite frequently. 

I sat and toyed with my GPS unit – I wasn’t sure it was going to work on the train with all that surrounding stainless steel, but it did, and this made my time exponentially more enjoyable.  I had programmed waypoints using latitude and longitude, and set it for off-road travel.  This caused it to plot straight-line courses just like the crow flies (or in this case, the sea gull…), but it served the purpose and gave mostly accurate results along the way, especially as the train got closer and closer to a waypoint – usually the next Amtrak station stop along the route.

Bob’s onboard routine…  You tend to get comfortable – since a long distance train trip is going to take a day or two at least.  So I moved between the different venues aboard; there is the base – your coach seat or roomette.  You might (I might) sit there for awhile, playing my music and watching the scenery – reading – toying with the GPS.  Then, for a time, you might lurch down to the “lounge” car.  This car has larger windows that wrap high overhead, a snack bar, and is a “communal” seating area where you can scenery- gaze in concert with other Amtrak denizens.  It’s a great place to be social, if that’s what you like. 

Then, you might move to the dining car for your meal – and later back to the lounge or roomette again.  I tend to hang out in the lounge car if I know there is scenery coming up on both sides that I really want to see – the Columbia River Gorge, for example (but not on the Starlight, it doesn't go there), or perhaps the Santa Barbara – Ventura area coastline, Point Concepción, etc.

In the evening, I like to watch the scenery as it gets dark, and I stay awake usually until late evening – I turn the lights in the roomette off and sit quietly in the dark seeing whatever evening world we are passing through, pass by.  It is one of the things I always enjoy most while on a train – that evening quiet time -- and I have done this on trains since my first time on the Super Chief, in a coach seat, rolling across Illinois toward Fort Madison in June 1966.

By the time we reached the Camarillo area that first day, it was lunch time.  Do you know that Kaley Cuoco is from Camarrillo?  I didn’t. One Amtrak service feature I never did try was the room service for meals – you can have them brought right to your seat if you choose.  But I wandered down to the dining car each time – and that first meal was pretty good – a beef dish in a spicy sauce (rather Mexican in style). 

I fully expected to be disappointed in the food this trip – since Amtrak has gone to a mostly off-train preparation process.  Only a very few items are still prepared fresh on board – instead the entrees are prepared in a commissary and then reheated prior to plating and serving onboard.  For commissary food, as of 2010, Amtrak is doing a rather superb job in this regard.  I enjoyed all the meals except perhaps one (a macaroni and cheese plate).  Even that one was OK, really – it was just that there were other items I should have tried instead.

While we* ate, the train was moving on toward Ventura and Santa Barbara.  Once at Ventura, it followed the coastline – practically right on the beach itself – all the way to the Vandenberg AFB area, where it left the coast and followed the agricultural valleys north through Salinas and around the edges of San Francisco Bay to San Jose and Oakland. 

*When eating in the dining car, you share your table with other passengers. Meals are typically by reservation – the dining car manager comes around in the morning asking for your choice of lunch times and in the afternoon, for supper. Breakfast is usually first-come, first served; at least that has been my experience so far.

Sitting in my roomette, I listened to my “MP3 player” and toyed with the GPS, while watching the coastal and valley scenery roll past my window.  Mostly I had the best view on my side (left, west), but when there were interesting things to see on the other side, the opposite roomette was empty most of the time and I could simply jump across the aisle for that view as well.  That opportunity ended sometime in the night when that space was filled at an overnight stop – maybe at Sacramento.  It’s funny, it is only ten days ago and I already cannot remember anything about who occupied that roomette -- except that they did.

After supper that first day I sat in my seat and watched the San Francisco-area stations roll by in the dark – and watched for the bridge across the upper reaches of San Francisco Bay to come into view (late in the evening).  This bridge crosses the channel at Martinez between San Pablo and Suisin Bays.  During this time, the car attendant had me step out for a moment or two while she prepared my bunk.  Once across that bridge, I drifted off to sleep and slept through the night.  I did awaken once or twice.  I planned on waking for Lake Shasta – but failed to accomplish the goal.  It was still dark, a fact I would have anticipated if I had thought much about it. 

Cascades scenery and
the Coast Starlight

I finally got myself up and moving (next morning) in the vicinity of the California/Oregon border and Klamath Falls.  It was snowing!  And foggy too.  I followed our progress as we headed up into the mountains toward the Willamette Divide, and over to Eugene, and of course the Oregon Cascades mountain scenery was very pretty.  We followed the upper Willamette River and some other streams as well as we rolled down from the mountains into the valley, where we stopped in Eugene, Albany and Salem before arriving in Portland almost on time. Train time for me is measured by meal time – so breakfast was Klamath Falls and lunch was Eugene to Albany.

Scheduling is always a potential issue on an Amtrak train -- for example, the Starlight has often been called the Starlate by some familiar with its spotty record for on-time performance. But the cure for this is to relax, take it as it comes and make sure you have flexibility in your schedule and planning.

Probably the highlights of the journey were seeing surfers doing their “thing” along the coast north of Ventura, and that snow-fall between Klamath Falls and Eugene.  The golden light of the afternoon was also very beautiful on the farmlands and dry hills in the agricultural areas around Salinas and San Jose.

Another highlight was the attendant in the Pacific Parlor Car – a refurbished Santa Fe “El Capitan” car (a special feature of the Coast Starlight) that was magnificent inside with elegant appointments and wood paneling.  The attendant was extremely personable and outgoing – he had something fun to talk about just about each time you’d see him.  He seemed like a guy who really liked his job, and that made him great to deal with and talk to (kind of like a young Mark Twain). 

I had snagged a couple of snack bags off his counter while he was away – I thought since they were laying out there unattended that they must be free.  But the more I thought about that, the more I doubted it.  So as I was walking past later on, I asked him… and of course that sack of peanuts and some other similar item (can’t now remember the other one) were not free – so I had to pay for them.  He was the guy who conducted the wine and cheese tasting party onboard – but not being a wine taster I skipped that particular pleasure (I'm not much of a cheese-eater either).  Anyway, he didn’t seem to resent my initial unwitting theft of his snack products and no armed officers took me off the train subsequently so all is well that ends well. I think.

So that’s my first ride on the Starlight – Ron and Micky picked me up at Union Station after I grabbed my bags – and we went out for pizza.  I’ll probably ride this train again – maybe both ways and from San Diego next time (that is a separate train, but you can ride all the way from San Diego to Vancouver (B.C.) with only two train changes.  I’ve got to do that.