April 07, 2015
Amtrak Los Angeles to Seattle 1010a – 837p +1 Coast Starlight First Class

Oh my God! What are the odds?! Waiting at the door to my car was my old buddy Jay Etz. Jay’s been a car attendant with Amtrak for over twenty years and this is the second time I’ve had him as my car attendant on the Coast Starlight, the first being last year about this time. The fun part of all this is that I first met Jay and his wife back in 2005 while riding the Navimag ferry between Puerto Montt and Puerto Natales down in southern Chile. Jay, Fred and I all exchanged greetings and – with plenty of time to go before departure – I invited Fred onboard for an impromptu tour of the train. This is my 36th ride aboard the Coast Starlight so I’m a pretty capable guide.

Fred had ridden the Starlight before, but only in coach between Los Angeles and Oakland. Needless to say he was pretty impressed by the Pacific Parlour Car and the deluxe bedroom accommodations which, unlike the roomettes, are ensuite and include a shower.




Deluxe Bedroom on the Coast Starlight



Deluxe Bedroom seating



Deluxe Bedroom shower and toilet


An announcement rang out over the PA advising that departure of Amtrak’s train number 14, the northbound Coast Starlight was imminent. All visitors should now leave the train. I bid so long to Fred with a promise to upgrade him on his Alaska Airlines flights up to Anchorage and back later this summer. The doors were closed, the whistle sounded a couple of times and we were off, gliding smoothly out of the station and into the vast LA suburbs.

For many people, the name Coast Starlight suggests a ride predominantly along the Pacific coast. This is completely understandable given Amtrak’s somewhat misleading emphasis on coastal scenery along the route between Los Angeles and Seattle. On the cover of Amtrak’s brochure promoting the Coast Starlight is a picture of the train skirting the Pacific Coastline above Santa Barbara. The brochure then opens to a beautiful two-page spread of the Coast Starlight rolling through coastal splendor just south of Santa Barbara.




The Coast Starlight along the Pacific Coast north of Santa Barbara
Photo courtesy of Amtrak


The next page serves up yet another picture of coastal bliss with the statement: “Turn yourself over to the ultimate off-road adventure. The Coast Starlight is ready to carry you along the rugged Pacific Coast in complete and total comfort.” Continuing on, potential riders are advised to “Get up from your seat and wander around. Catch a view of America’s West Coast few people ever see.” Below this statement are two small pictures of coastal scenery and on the opposite page is yet another full page photo of the train heading north out of Santa Barbara.

Finally, on the last page: “Collect breathtaking scenic vistas along the ever changing Pacific Coast route that stretches from Los Angeles to Seattle.” This is accompanied by a map that clearly shows only a tiny portion of the route even touching the Pacific coast. For what it’s worth, only about 120 miles or 9% of the route’s 1390 total miles actually offer ocean scenery.




Route of The Coast Starlight


While everybody loves a view of the ocean, it’s a shame Amtrak doesn’t give equal billing to the spectacular non-coastal scenery along the route. There’s lots of it.

That said, the coastal scenery is very pretty indeed and we were fortunate to have a bright sunny day on which to enjoy it.




Enjoying the view from the Pacific Parlour Car



Refugio Beach from the Pacific Parlour Car



Pacific splendor from my room


North of Santa Barbara the Coast Starlight rolls through Vandenberg Air Force Base...




Rugged Pacific coast along Vandenberg Air Force Base



Rocket launching pad at Vandenberg Air Force Base


Soon after the route turns inland through the beautiful farmland and mountains of central California…




Pretty farm country south of San Luis Obispo



Wine country up by Paso Robles



Beautiful green hills north of Paso Robles


During the 10 minute stop in San Luis Obispo I was met by an old friend from Denali and her boyfriend. It had been over ten years since she’d worked in Alaska but we’d kept in touch over the years. She brought me a bag of California almonds, a loaf of homemade Pilot Bread that her boyfriend had baked and a bottle of my favorite hot sauce – Cowboy Caliente Sauce – made in nearby Pismo Beach. It was a nice sunny California afternoon and life could hardly have been finer.

At dinner I was joined by a lady who was born in the same room as her grandfather in a cabin in Kansas. She now lived in Jay, Oklahoma but was headed to Sacramento to visit her daughter. Also joining us was Arlene, a neighbor of mine from downstairs in my sleeper. I’d seen Arlene on two or three occasions during the trip and on each occasion she was having a tough time remembering her car and her room. This held true even downstairs in my car where there were only four roomettes and she was in the room right next to mine! She seemed reasonably lucid at dinner however and was well aware that she’d be detraining at Portland the next day. Completing our dinner table quartet was Guillermo, a Mexican national from Durango, Mexico. He spoke excellent English and was riding up to Salinas to visit his brother. He was a bit young to remember the good old days of Mexican railroading but said he was very impressed with how much room there was around his seat back in the coach car. Now he wanted to ride the train back down to LA as well.

After dinner I called a friend of mine who lives up in the hills above Los Gatos. We’d be meeting up in three days at a concert in Paso Robles and I just wanted to touch base. It just so happened that he was down in San Jose to drop his daughter off at a friend’s for the night. Really? Well I’ll be coming through there on the train in about an hour! With a twelve minute station stop and the train station not too far out of his way, he said he’d swing by and say howdy. Really? Any chance you could swing by a liquor store and pick me up a small bottle of Jack Daniels? No problem!

And so it was that I was met along the route for the third time today. Jay, who by now had witnessed friends meeting me in LA and San Luis Obispo already today, was impressed. Rock stars don’t have it so good! As for the whiskey, I find it goes well with rail travel. Mind you I’m not sitting in the lounge car getting tanked. It’s hard enough to walk around the train without being tipsy and to me personally there’s no joy in getting drunk. Rather, I enjoy a glass or three of good whiskey – preferably bourbon, actually – and I enjoy sharing a good time. Amtrak charges $7.00 per airline style mini and for the price of three of those I can get a big 750ml bottle that’ll pour many more amongst my onboard companions. I consider it money well spent.

We lost a lot of passengers at San Jose – traditionally the busiest station except Portland on the route - and by the time we pulled out of the Oakland suburb of Emeryville at 10:00pm I was the only one sitting in the Pacific Parlour Car. I could have headed back to the main Sightseer Lounge Car but I was pretty comfortable in the big overstuffed swivel chairs where there was also Wi-Fi available, a service offered only in the Pacific Parlour Car. Eventually a couple who’d boarded at Emeryville came in for a look around but for the most part it was a rare quiet night.

I should note here that the Coast Starlight is one of Amtrak’s most popular trains and from my experience it is usually very well patronized. I’ve also been involved in some pretty raucous parties in the lounge car, the most memorable of which involved a bunch of us heading up to Portland and Seattle to see the Grateful Dead in August of 1983.

We were running right on time as we accelerated out of Sacramento at midnight. This is one section of the trip where I’d love to be six or seven hours late someday. From Sacramento the Coast Starlight heads north to Chico, Redding and on to Dunsmuir before rolling past the base of 14,179’ Mt. Shasta and on into Klamath Falls. It’s some very pretty country up there that unfortunately is traversed in darkness on both the north and southbound runs of the Starlight. Indeed, I find it interesting that the only portion of the trip traveled under starlight is through the mountains, far from the Pacific coast. Still, I guess I can see how Coast Starlight sounds more alluring than Mountain Starlight.

If you wake up early enough and weather conditions permit, you’ll be treated to a pretty view of Mt. Shasta. It’s better yet if the train’s running a little late. Here’s a photo I took a few years ago in June when we were running about an hour late. It was 7:30am and the proximity of the summer solstice meant the sun was already fairly high in the sky.




Mt. Shasta as seen from the northbound Coast Starlight


This morning found me blissfully unaware of Mt. Shasta as we rolled by presumably on time at about 6:30am. Instead, I was lying in bed snuggled under my big wool blanket, too comfortable to be bothered with getting up for the view. That said, should any of you find yourselves riding northbound on the Starlight, particularly if it’s your first trip, I’d recommend getting up to check it out. I mean honestly, how often do you get to ride on a train within ten miles of a 14000 foot high volcano? So far as I know, this is the only place in North America and one of only a couple in the world where this could be said to be true.

The train makes a service stop in Klamath Falls, Oregon which translates to about ten minutes sitting at the station while trash is disposed of, water and ice are restocked and occasionally fuel is added. I quickly got dressed and hurried a couple of cars down to the station building where I picked up a copy of the local newspaper. Amtrak used to provide a copy of the morning paper to its First Class passengers but now that some of those papers are selling at $1.50 or more, this service is no longer offered.

While I was off the train I paused to take a couple pictures of our 60 year old Pacific Parlour Car…




Pacific Parlour Car at Klamath Falls



Pacific Parlour Car logo


Continuing north out of Klamath Falls, we stopped briefly at Chemult, Oregon (Serving Bend and Redmond) before beginning the long climb up into the Cascades. It was dark when I did this portion of the trip last week, so I was thankful for the daylight, diffused though it was due to clouds and snow flurries. Even though it was early April, winter wasn’t quite done with the Cascades yet.



Early Morning in the Pacific Parlour Car



70°F inside, 35°F outside


As we crested 4,852’ Cascade Summit and began the long descent down to the Willamette River valley, springtime returned to the Cascades. Snowy mountains gave way to green forests and bucolic pasture land as we followed the river down to Eugene, Oregon.




Descending through 4000’



Rocks tower above the train outside Eugene


At lunch I was joined by Brian & Jan Herbert. Brian is the son of acclaimed science fiction author Frank Herbert. The saying “Like father, like son” is particularly applicable in Brian’s case as he is the author of dozens of novels including multiple prequels to his father’s science fiction classic “Dune”. He and Jan were on their way home from a 30 day cruise around the South Pacific. No fan of airplanes, Brian preferred land based travels. He and Jan had been on a wide variety of cruises all over the world, not to mention a far variety of trains. We had a good time trading travel stories as well as recommendations. Though I’m not a big fan of science fiction writing, one of Brian’s more recent books, “Ocean” is described as “An Ecological Thriller” and sounds like a fun read. I’ll have plenty of time next fall while pursuing MVP75K status on Alaska Airlines.

We arrived about 10 minutes early into Portland, which allowed me a chance to visit the small gift shop inside the station. They sell a few items of interest to railfans such as t-shirts and magazines. I was looking for a small lapel pin embossed with the iconic logo of the Great Northern Railway. Surely you know the one, featuring a mountain goat perched atop a rocky promontory. I found it!

Outside the station I got a nice photo of two P42DC locomotives parked directly outside the station door – never seen that before! – in addition to a nice shot of the Spanish built Talgo Train awaiting its departure to Eugene.




P42DC locomotives parked at Portland Union Station



The Talgo Train sits at Portland Union Station


The ride north from Portland up to Seattle offers pleasant though hardly dramatic scenery. I spent a couple of hours with Brian and Jan up in the Pacific Parlour Car before having a light dinner in the diner and then returning to my sleeper to pack up and get ready for the next phase of this trip.




Dinner on the Coast Starlight


Some of the best coastal scenery on this trip comes as the Coast Starlight rolls north along the shores of the Puget Sound. At this time of year the sun sits low in the sky as we pass under the Tacoma Narrows Bridge and then continue up the shoreline up to Seattle. North of Portland the skies had cleared and those of us with cameras ready were treated to some pretty sights…




Approaching the Tacoma Narrows Bridge



Tacoma Narrows Bridge in silhouette



The Puget Sound as seen from my sleeper



Pretty spring evening on the Puget Sound


It was 7:50pm when we powered past Boeing Field. A long row of freshly painted 737s could be seen awaiting delivery to their respective airlines. Two of them were destined for Seattle’s hometown carrier, Alaska Airlines. I look forward to flying upon them someday soon. At present I’ve flown all but 12 of Alaska’s 43 737-900s. Collect them all, I say!

An announcement rang out over the PA advising that our arrival in Seattle would be ten minutes early. While most passengers would greet this development with glee, for me it was a bit bittersweet. Here I had just spent the past eleven days and roughly 200 hours on seven different trains, and though my tickets showed a variety of different destinations, my real destination was the way I got there - traveling in comfort and enjoying decent food and drink, all while meeting some interesting people and journeying through some of the prettiest landscapes on the planet at a pace that allowed me to truly appreciate its beauty. I can’t wait to do it all over again someday soon!




Seattle’s King Street Station – A nice place to end the ride


At the same time, this trip is only just getting under way. Ahead lies a week long road trip through southern and central California followed by premium class travel to Chile and South Africa, not to mention a barbecue rendezvous in Kansas City and a spectacular narrow gauge train ride before I head back to work and start earning the money that will pay for my next adventure.

So – assuming you’re still with me and haven’t nodded off to sleep by now, let’s relocate to Seattle Tacoma International Airport to commence the next chapter in this grand adventure.