travellingcari

Agree w/ Jackal re: Vandenburg. As an east coaster, I also loved the oceans there. However I think going northbound you'll also have less of the boredom with the central coast that I had going southbound which was the only part of the train where I was like GET. ME. OFF.
Northbound will you get Shasta in daylight? THat could be a good reason to do SJC - SEA. I think it's also the only one that you definitely see no matter the weather.

jackal

Whoops, I missed that. For some reason I read it as LAX-SJC or SJC-SEA.

If you skip LAX-SJC, you won't see any coastline for the whole trip except for a brief bit around Point Defiance in Tacoma (which is pretty). Personally, I think it's worth the extra cost and time to do the LAX-SJC section.

I agree with travellingcari--the Coast Starlight is a much better northbound trip than southbound trip. Southbound you'll end up missing the most scenic parts of the Cascade Range in darkness, and if it's late, you'll run the risk of hitting the Southern California coastline late in the evening as well, and the enjoyment of that stretch of track is compromised by the imminent arrival of the train in LAX. Much better to do the trip northbound, when the scenery aligns better with daylight and the prettiest parts aren't at the end when you're antsy.

airride

thanks jackal & travellingcari !!!
based on your inputs have decided to do LAX-SEA and see both CA coast and OR greenery, will meet SJC friends probably in the next west coast trip...

travellingcari

If you can try to be on the right side of the car when you hit mid Oregon, the Cascades are stunning. There's a huge man made lade/reservoir that when set against the mountains is stunning, even in drout.

since WiFi/cell signal through oregon is somewhat iffy outside the cities, can be fun to travel with an AAA Triptic or similar. One woman in the Parlor Car had an atlas and that was just amazing to plot it all out

jackal

Great idea!

If you have the room, these are super great to travel with:

http://shop.delorme.com/OA_HTML/DELi...?section=10096

Costco often has them for very good prices, but they usually only carry the state that the warehouse is in (so you'd need to find a Costco in Oregon to get an Oregon one--kinda difficult if you're starting in LAX). If buying in advance for a train trip, try Amazon. Check them out at your local Costco or bookstore to see what they're like first, though, and see if you'll find it worth carrying, as they're pretty large.

travellingcari

Oh awesome, thanks for sharing that link. I may need one for an upcoming New Mexico trip
Apologies for the atrocious spelling above- I can't spell the condition caused by a lack of rain but there's no excuse for my man-made "lade".

boxo

I am doing SAC-SNS Wednesday next week and am debating whether or not to do Business Class (+$25) for the experience. Any changes/improvements since the last post 1.5 years ago?

ETA: what is the frequency of Trails & Rails volunteers on board? mostly weekends, or random and unpredictable? My one SNS-SJC last year had a retired married volunteer couple who "worked" SJC-SLO-SJC that particular day. Can't remember what day of the week it was...

ETAA: I found last year's schedule. The program runs April-Sept. https://www.amtrak.com/ccurl/156/39/...6-Schedule.pdf

Dromomaniac

Anybody know if the Pacific Parlour Cars are back in daily service?

Dromomaniac

To answer my own question... YES, they are.

Disappointed, though, that films are no longer shown on the lower level. Still, the PPCs are a nice treat on this route.

uaflr

Parlour car is meant to be classy - when I travel in sleeper I eat all the complimentary food offered at the 3 meals served. This was actually more food than what I actually needed - gained weight!

There are snacks in the Lounges at the station or you could stock up before boarding the train.

SCEflyer

You might want to check the Passenger Train board on Trainorders.com. Recent postings there indicate that only one PPC is in service, your post below this one not withstanding. The people who post on Trainorders are consistently reliable, in terms of their information on points like this.

travellingcari

Oh I know, but sometimes you just want a little something. Or what's served isn't what you like.
I don't think snacks mean it's not classy. If it were supposed to be classy they wouldn't serve soda in cans (not that I care about drinking from a can, but it isn't "classy").
I highly doubt you gained actual weight on a 36 hour train ride. More like retained water from a lack of activity than eating more than some fraction of 3,500 calories.

cwc

Next Thursday we will be on the Coast Starlight 6 people (2senior, 3 adult & 1 six yr). We booked 2 roomette and 1 bedroom. The senior is in the bedroom & adult+kid in the roomette. I was told the train configuration only have bedroom upstairs and roomette downstairs. We cannot have all the roomette & bedroom together (either all upstairs or all downstairs). Is this true?

BelmontRef

No, not at all true. Superliner sleepers have 10 roomettes and 5 bedrooms upstairs and 4 roomettes, the family bedroom, and the accessible bedroom downstairs.

MADPhil

As BelmontRef says, this is not true. However the upper level roomettes tend to sell first so it may be that there are no available upper level roomettes. If you are in the same car then there is not much distance between them. The lower level has a more restricted view but is handy for the shower and the luggage racks! I think that Amtrak.com has layout diagrams.