COAST STARLIGHT
Day Two

Some of the most impressive scenery traveled through by the Coast Starlight is north of Sacramento, up through northern California, the Siskiyous and on into southern Oregon. Unfortunately most of this landscape is traveled through at night thus depriving us of some magnificent scenery along the way.

Perhaps the most dramatic of that scenery is represented in California’s Mt. Shasta, towering 14,179 feet above sea level and probably 10 or 11 thousand feet above the level of our tracks. Had we been on time, we’d have been rolling past America’s second highest volcano at about 6:00am – a time when most of us would have been comfortably slumbering through the last hour or two of a good night’s sleep. This morning however, thanks to our three hour delay, we rolled past Mt. Shasta at about 9:00am. I was up and ready with my camera.



Mt. Shasta towers above the Coast Starlight


Leaving Mt. Shasta behind


Southern Oregon is a lot drier than northern California but no less beautiful. I fired off a couple of photos and then headed up to the dining car for breakfast.



Southern Oregon scenery


Southern Oregon scenery


Morning ambiance in the dining car


Veggie Omelet & Chicken Sausage – A delicious start to the day


Klamath Falls, Oregon is what’s considered a “Service Stop” where garbage is disposed of and necessities like water and ice are restocked. This translates into about a fifteen minute stop, more than enough time to step off the train, enjoy a few lungful’s of crisp morning air (or a cigarette), and maybe purchase a copy of the local paper. I managed to accomplish all of that (except the cigarette) before we re-boarded and continued on up the tracks to Chemult and beyond.

In the Pacific Parlour Car I enjoyed multiple cups of good hot coffee while putting in some much needed work on this trip report. There is so much to report upon over this month and a half long trip! Who knows how far along I was on that cold sunny April day as we climbed out of Chemult and up into the Cascade Mountains. As I sit here now writing this it’s a crisp cold night in Denali National Park with snow forecast for the higher passes along the route I’m scheduled to drive tomorrow. My run earlier today was cancelled due to the 8” of snow that fell west of Polychrome Pass last night. That unplanned extra free time this afternoon allowed me to write most of the narrative covering this trip aboard the Coast Starlight. So – I’m about one month behind.,

Looking back, I started working on the preamble to this report in late February. Now, after months of writing, the end is finally in sight. But then the writing is only part of it – albeit a big part, to be sure. I’ll bet I’ve invested a good 200 hours into this report since February - possibly more. I don’t have an editor of course, so once I complete the narrative I’ve still got to go back and proof read the over 90000 words of text and then install vB code and finally the approximately 500 pictures that will accompany this report. If all goes well, I’ll hopefully have this ready for you all to read by sometime in early June.

A fellow FlyerTalker once opined that given the relatively short amount of time that the average trip report is actually relevant and appreciated in this forum, it hardly seems worth the time and effort to produce a report of the size and scope that I often do. It’ll be read and appreciated for perhaps two or three weeks and then – that’s it – it’s just another report amongst the hundreds submitted here that will soon be forgotten as new reports continue to arrive.

What can I say? That’s a condition that we trip reporters accept here at the Trip Report Forum – regardless of whether we publish a short 30 picture photo-report with 1000 words of descriptive text or a book length effort like this one. At the end of the day I am just thankful to have an audience that for the most part understands and appreciates the type of travel that I do and the style in which I write about it. Outside of FlyerTalk, with only a couple of exceptions, none of my friends or acquaintances have any real interest in reading about premium class airline experiences, inflight service or rail travel.

To be sure, my style of travel incorporating so many flights and long train rides wrapped around short stays in places like Helsinki, Fiji or the American West is not for everyone. In fact, I’ve yet to meet anyone who would want to join me (or in some instances who I’d want to join me) on a trip of this style and length. That’s not to say I don’t have plenty of friends and relationships outside of my travel life but nobody I know shares an interest in going about their travels in the way that I do. For me however trips like this are the stuff of dreams – dreams borne of a lifetime love of just going somewhere. Planes, trains, cars, boats – it doesn’t matter. Let’s Go!

As to these reports, they are a labor of love – a love of travel. I enjoy writing them and am tremendously grateful to those of you who’ve indicated via your comments that you’ve found my reports worthy of the considerable time you’ve invested in reading them. I’m also thankful that through FlyerTalk my reports will live on in cyberspace. Thank you FlyerTalk and Flyertalkers!!! ^ ^


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From what I can see, it sure looks as if the Coast Starlight lost a lot of its riders to the various Bay Area stops we made last night. The load this morning was light throughout the train, including here in the Pacific Parlour Car as we climbed through the Cascades. Here’s the view from my table as I typed away on this report…



Relaxing in the Pacific Parlour Car


Heading forward to my favorite photography portal, I fired off a couple of photos as the Coast Starlight made its way ever higher into the snowy Cascades.



Looking ahead during the long Cascade climb


The Pacific Parlour Car is the next car back


As we climbed ever higher clouds gathered, the wind picked up and snow began to fall. I returned to the warmth of the Parlour Car and enjoyed the view with coffee and a granola bar. For a short while I had the entire car to myself.



Snowy ambiance from the Pacific Parlour Car


The view from my office


It’s a long descent through heavily forested countryside from Cascade Summit down to the Willamette Valley. I decided now was a good time to grab a quick shower before lunch. At this time of day the demand for showers was minimal. Throughout the trip Jackson had done a great job of setting up and breaking down the roomettes for day or nighttime use. He’d also seen to it that the shower suite remained clean and well stocked. I found fresh towels and personal sized soaps ready to go. Hot water was abundant and when later I emerged in fresh shirt and jeans I felt imminently presentable for luncheon in the diner.



Luncheon view in the Willamette Valley


Unfortunately we’d not been able to make up much of our three hour delay - incurred late last night when a freight train apparently encountered engine trouble up the track from us. The result of this was that our scheduled 8:30pm arrival into Seattle was now looking like it was going to be closer to 10:30pm - or later. Upon arrival in Seattle I still needed to get out to the airport, catch a shuttle to my hotel and then be up and at ‘em for a 6:05am departure to Anchorage. That didn’t leave much time for sleep.

The good news was that my ticket from Seattle up to Fairbanks was a mileage award ticket. As a top tier elite member in Alaska Airlines’ Mileage Plan, it was no problem to call and change my point of departure to Portland, Oregon with an overnight in Seattle. Thankfully award space was available on a number of evening departures from PDX up to SEA. I booked a seat aboard the 7:30pm departure, operated by Skywest with an ex-Horizon CRJ-700.

As for my rail adventure from Chicago to Portland, I had a wonderful and relaxing journey across the country. I met a lot of interesting and entertaining people, ate some delicious meals and took in some of the finest scenery America has to offer. That I was able to close out the rail portion of this month and a half long odyssey aboard the Coast Starlight was an added bonus. Between the Pacific Parlour Car and the wonderful scenery enroute, the Coast Starlight really epitomizes the fact that train trips are all about the journey, not the destination.



Crossing the Willamette River on final to Portland’s Union Station


Portland’s Union Station – One of my favorite train stations


Portland Union Station Main Hall


Our arrival into Portland’s Union station was about an hour and a half late at 5:00pm. From the station it’s a short two block walk up to the light rail stop where a single connection from the green line to the red line light rail trains will get you out to Portland International in less than an hour. I arrived with enough time to enjoy a beer and a plate of delicious crab cakes at Stanfords before making my way down the artistically adorned A Concourse to my waiting CRJ. Our 8:30pm arrival into Seattle allowed me plenty of time to enjoy a good night’s sleep at the Ramada Inn before returning to the airport for my early morning departure back home to Alaska.


April 20, 2017
Alaska Airlines Seattle to Anchorage 605a – 845a 737-900 Economy Class
Horizon Airlines Anchorage to Fairbanks 943a – 1038a DHC-8-400 Economy Class

April 21, 2017
Alaska Airlines Fairbanks to Seattle 550p – 1025p 737-900 Economy Class

April 22, 2017
Alaska Airlines Seattle to Phoenix 945a – 1242p 737-900 Economy Class

Well yes, technically speaking I am returning home to Alaska and I suppose I could have just ended this trip report right here but the reality of it is that the planned drive from Phoenix up through the Desert Southwest and Rocky Mountain west to Colorado has been a part of this itinerary from the very beginning - one that is anticipated with every bit as much enthusiasm as my stops in Bangkok or Bali.

Conversely, this little side trip back up to Alaska is of no real consequence except that it allows me to get my driver’s license reissued and to pick up a new credit card so that I can fly back down to Arizona and carry on with the rest of this trip. While acknowledging the above flights as part of this overall trip, I don’t see much point in detailing them. I did manage to get a couple of pictures on my 5:50pm departure from Fairbanks back down to Seattle on the 21st.



A beautiful evening to fly over Alaska


Alaska’s Miso Chicken Dinner


So noted - let’s head on down to Arizona and resume our travels at Phoenix’s Sky Harbor International Airport where a new Mitsubishi Outlander and five days of overland adventure await me.