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Author Topic: On the Coast Starlight
HopefulRailUser
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Off to Seattle on 14(20). After we parked in the long term garage at LA the very nice staff ordered a redcap to take us to the Metropolitan Lounge. Unfortunately that took so long he ended up taking us directly to the train. So no sweet and cappuccino for us today.

They appear to be assigning seats in coach and reported the full train status with all window seats taken. There are four sleepers and there is a Parlour Car.

Mary Lou is our friendly attendant. There are bottles of water in our Bedroom E, a CS timetable, no route guide, no menus. The TP is not on a roller so every time you open its little house it falls on the floor. Won't be good if the floor is wet from the shower.

Conductor just reported that we are waiting for #3 and will depart in about ten minutes. Well almost, left about 1/2 late. Announcements from Vally for dining room, Debbie in the PPC. Movies too, Frozen and Monument Men.

Had lunch in the PPC. Salmon, loxish, on a bagel with horseradish flavored cream cheese and onions. Pretty good. Wifi functioning, hurrah. Debbie is full of fun.

More later.

Regroup on the wifi. Connects but won't load anything. Will keep trying. Sent this via cell tower.

--------------------
Vicki in usually sunny Southern California

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smitty195
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So funny, Vicki. I was JUST about to write that I'm shocked and amazed that the WiFi is working, because that would have been a first for me. But alas, the last paragraph tells the real story. [Smile]

I guess you guys are taking a cruise? If you don't mind, please tell me the name of your ship. I've been doing "ship spotting" lately on my computer, and found a website that shows the exact location of all cruise ships. I'll tell you where yours is right now.

If I didn't have this little medical issue I'm dealing with, I'd drive to the SJC station to say hello this evening. But unfortunately, no can do. [Frown]

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sbalax
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Vicki--

The last time we were on the Starlight (September 2013) we had the opposite problem. The toilet paper was on a roll but there was no little door!

If you haven't seen it, go see "Monuments Men". I watched it between Rome and Newark along with something that was, apparently, truly forgettable. It's a great story and well acted. John Goodman really surprised me.

Frank in sunny and warm SBA

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smitty195
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I was just looking through this week's PPV offerings on DirecTV---thanks for letting us know about Monument's Men. The previews looked like it would either be a really great movie, or a really terrible movie----it was really hard to tell. Glad it's a good one!!!

Hey Vicki---guess what?? A friend of mine was your engineer today from Los Angeles to San Luis Obispo. He is now off your train, and is taking #11 back to Los Angeles right now. Today was his FIRST TIME operating a REAL TRAIN!! I'm not joking---totally serious. He returned from "Choo-Choo-U" last week at Amtrak's training facility in Wilmington, Delaware (he was gone for 4 months). But unfortunately, everything was simulators. The normal P-42 power that they have for training was not there and was needed out in the field for revenue trains, so all they could do was "pretend". So the first real train he operated was yours today!!! How was the ride, and the stops and starts? Was it jerky or smooth? I'd love to give him a hard time. [Smile]

BTW, he is not new to Amtrak---he's been with them for years. He just finished up as a Conductor on the Surfliners, he also got qualified as a Conductor on Metrolink (when Amtrak was running Metrolink trains), and before that he worked in the baggage room at the San Diego Amtrak station. But today, he's up in the head-end finally doing what he has dreamed of doing for a very long time. I hope the run went well. I won't know until he fills us all in either late tonight or tomorrow sometime.

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smitty195
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Also, I'll just throw this out there....another friend of mine local to me here in the Bay Area is doing something very, very special today. There is a 10 year old boy who has a heart defect, and has gone through multiple heart surgeries over the years. But he is also one of us----a railfan! His dream is to operate an Amtrak train over Donner Pass. He lives in Missouri.

Well, the "Make A Wish" foundation made it happen!!!!! He flew into Sacramento yesterday (Thursday), and today he is taking train #6 (California Zephyr) up over the hill from SAC to Reno. He will sit in the lap of my buddy and he will run the train! This is all in cooperation with many, many agencies (of course Amtrak is in on this, the local BLE, Union Pacific, Southwest Airlines, and several others). The kid doesn't know it yet (well, he does now---he should be in the cab as I type this!), but they got him real overalls to wear, an engineer's hat, and his own custom-engraved reverser key that the BLE made for him. It has his name on it and everything! (For those who don't know, a reverser key is what you need in order to make the train move. Without it, you're not going anywhere). He will stay the night in Reno tonight at the crew's hotel (Nugget in Sparks), and from there I'm not sure what happens. Maybe he flies home tomorrow? I'm not sure. But I do know the KCRA Channel 3 in Sacramento did a story on him arriving at the airport yesterday. The media were alerted regarding today, and hopefully it will be on the news tonight. My friend has had butterflies in his stomach all week---very, very nervous about the whole deal. Not for operating the train or anything like that, but he wants to make sure he makes this day very special for the boy and doesn't ruin anything. He won't----my friend is just a big kid himself, so they'll get along great.

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smitty195
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Correction, he is EIGHT years old---not ten. Here's a news segment I just found:

http://fox40.com/2014/06/19/i-just-wanna-drive-a-train-make-a-wish-helps-boy-realize-his-dream/

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HopefulRailUser
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Ha! He's not on his way home yet as we aren't in SLO yet. But tell him he did well. The conductor is good too, keeps us informed.

Frank, we waited in a siding for a SB Surfliner to pass. It was coming down from SLO and was all one level cars.

This sent via cell tower. Stupid wifi. It works on the Surflners. Why not here?

--------------------
Vicki in usually sunny Southern California

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HopefulRailUser
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Had lamb shanks in the PPC for dinner and omelette this morning. Both ok.

We are three hours behind this morning. The staff all say how lucky we are to see Mount Shasta. In truth I have seen it every time I have traveled on #14! Conductor hopes to make up an hour by Klamath Falls.

Scenery is fabulous.

--------------------
Vicki in usually sunny Southern California

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Vincent206
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Seattle will be sunny and warm this weekend. Enjoy your trip!
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smitty195
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Seattle----sunny and warm??? No way!!!! [Smile] [Smile]
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smitty195
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Vicki: I'm curious...could you tell if the omelet was freshly made on-board, or was it a pre-made omelet that a catering kitchen made off-site (like airline food) that was warmed up in the oven?
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yukon11
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I believe, Vicki, as you were traveling north on CS #14 as I was traveling south on CS #11. I went from Portland to Martinez and arrived, in Martinez, yesterday morning.

I hadn't taken the Coast Starlight for about 10 years. Living in San Jose, it was easy to get to the SJ station, by cab, and board the train. Not so easy since I moved to Santa Rosa. I simply do not want to drive to Martinez and leave my car, in the Amtrak parking lot, for a week. So, I figured I could take #11 back, from Oregon, at the tail end of a vacation.

I flew from Santa Rosa to Portland, on Alaska Airlines, last Sunday. The next day I flew to Redmond, Oregon. I had never been to central Oregon and really enjoyed the trip. I spent one night in Bend and the next day and night in Sisters, OR. I really liked the little town of Sisters. Just one strip of shops. In my mind, sort of a combination of Jasper, AB and Mendocino, CA. I had a rental car and drove back to Redmond. Flew to Portland last Wednesday. Had a very nice sockeye salmon dinner at Jake's Grill, in Portland. Then boarded CS #11 this past Thursday.

I had a sleeper, and the first thing I noticed was that the PA system wasn't working. My attendant said that no PA system was "an issue"..I agreed.

I didn't notice a lot of difference, in the Starlight, from ten years previous. I think my sleeper was newer than the one I had, before. I immediately went to the Pacific Parlor Car, hoping to purchase a glass of wine & cheese and crackers. They had purchasable wine but no cheese and crackers. The parlor car attendant said no info. as to when, if ever, they would offer cheese/crackers or any food with the wine.

Before, I sort of got the impression the Coast Starlight favored wines from Washington and Oregon. I'm not a wine snob, but I have always preferred California wines. The exception being Columbia Crest wines, out of Washington, which I like. I noticed they had some Calif. wines, both in the parlor car and the diner, as well. My table guests, in the diner, ordered a bottle of Francis Ford Coppola wine. I really like Coppola wines. If you are ever in my neck of the woods, a trip to the Coppola winery, about 30 min north of Santa Rosa, is worthwhile. They have an excellent restaurant, various movie memorabilia throughout the winery, and, best of all, a 1948 Tucker sedan on display.

Back to the CS, the "signature steak", in the dining car, was good. A couple of things which I don't think they had, 10 years ago, was a train tracker video in a corner of the parlor car. Also, you could get reservations for a light meal, in the Pacific Parlor car, as an option to the dining car. They had a baby-back rib dinner, of sorts, but when the attendant came around for reservations, the parlor car was booked, solid.

The same old, terrible coffee in the little niche between the bedrooms and roomettes. I wish Amtrak would consider a k-cup machine, instead, so that you could have fresh coffee 24-7.

I always have liked, on #11, the stretch between Oakridge and Klamath Lake. Usually a really pretty sunset. I took my camera, along, hoping to get some good pictures. However, the air was smoky no doubt due to some forest fire in the area. I am really bothered by the number of forest fires Oregon has, every year. I noticed quite a bit of thick growth in the forests, with a lot of brush and smaller tress up against the tall pines. I know the environmental people have a large influence, in Oregon, but I think they have to start selective cutting and allow conduit control burns to prevent huge fires. If the greenies continue to have their way, I can't help thinking the whole state will eventually become a raging inferno.

Well, off the soapbox. The train was on time all the way to Martinez. The local Enterprise car rental people picked me up at the station. I rented a car and drove back to SR. An enjoyable trip.

Richard

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palmland
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Sounds like a good trip Vicki and Richard. Glad to see the PPC is still running. Sorry to see the wine tasting go, but can't believe Amtrak doesn't at least sell cheese and crackers. Missing an opportunity.

While we have been to Portland, Oregon is one state we haven't really explored. Sounds like it would be well worth it. We have friends who, as newly weds long ago, once owned a bar in Coos Bay. They loved the place and we want to check that town out.

No comment on the Oregon culture. At least they have lots of streetcars.

I'm curious about why you miss the PA. I find it very intrusive and annoying. Only time it's useful is for the conductor announcements of delays and at meal times. Otherwise, turn it off. And on the CS, meal time announcements aren't an issue for us as we like to eat in the PPC and are there before our scheduled meal time enjoying the scenery.

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smitty195
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Richard: You are correct about the thick forests in Oregon. The "greenies" think it's awesome to let nature go, be free, and grow wild. To them, that's just lovely. But to me, a retired professional firefighter with a college degree in Fire Science, I know better. The thinning of the forests that the US Forestry Service used to do is what saved the forests from burning so badly. But now that they are so thick because they're not allowed to do trimming any more, nature is taking care of itself and is burning itself down. It must do this to survive----nature is an amazing thing, and it knows what to do when man screws everything up. But the greenies have no understanding or grasp of this. As long as they are not allowed to thin out the forests, the large forest fires will continue----resulting in death of humans and destruction of homes and other property. It's so ridiculous that it has to happen.
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George Harris
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Yukon11: There is a dedicated bus to connect Santa Rosa and the San Joaquin trains, I think the Capital Corridor trains as well. Is there such to connect to the Amtrak long distance trains? I do not know. If I was up there, I would be looking into it. Given the time, Golden Gate Transit can get you into San Francisco and you then get yourself to the Amtrak stop at the Ferry Building.

Smitty195: A few years back there was an article in Civil Engineering titled in effect, Nature: Raw or Cooked? It made the point that in reality nature is a long way from running free everywhere. The author also made quite a few points concerning the unintended and undesirable consequences of attempting to leave nature untouched. These "leave everything alone" environmentalists are especially unconnected from reality when they start talking about removing dams in California. Without the dams the Central Valley becomes a non-productive desert with frequent flash floods and the cities, including SF and LA unable to sustain their current populations.

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HopefulRailUser
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Made it to Seattle only an hour late. Unfortunately we arrived at the same time as the #7. It was 11 hours late. Talked with folks who picked it up at Glacier Park, it was 8 hours late there and they had to rent a room for the night. Very sad. The two trains arriving at the same time made the taxi line a bit hectic. But good Americans that we are we all queued up peacefully and things moved along well.

Smitty the omelet is made to order but it wasn't very good. A minuscule dab of cheese and a few tomato pieces and some chewy green obscure vege. I finished the day off with an angus burger for lunch and pot roast for dinner in the PPC. my opinion of Amtrak food is unchanged, it is edible but not much more.

All the crew we met were terrific. They enjoyed their jobs and were helpful in all ways. Good trip but glad to be in a big bed with no moving corridors tonight. Cruising on the Amsterdam tomorrow and will pick up the #11 on 7/7. Will report in then.

--------------------
Vicki in usually sunny Southern California

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smitty195
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As of right now (5:15AM Sunday morning), the ms Amsterdam is located in Seattle, but it's sort of difficult to describe where it is. It is not docked anywhere at the moment. Behind it right now is the Grand Princess, and in front of it is Norwegian Pearl. They are all heading in the same direction (south) between what I will call the "mainland" and Bainbridge Island. If you look at a map of Seattle and you can find "Carkeek Park" (a famous location for taking train pictures), that is exactly where the ms Amsterdam is right now. The website I'm looking at says she is preparing to depart on June 22nd (that's today) for a 14 day Inside Passage cruise to Alaska.

Itinerary looks pretty good:

-Seattle
-Vancouver Island (cruising)
-Ketchikan on June 24th
-Juneau on June 25th
-Tracy Arm on June 26th
-Icy Straight on June 27th
-At Sea June 28th
-Anchorage on June 29th
-Homer on June 30th
-Kodiak on July 1st
-Hubbard Glacier on July 2nd
-Sitka on July 3rd
-At Sea on July 4th
-Victoria on July 5th (depart Victoria at 11PM)
-Arrive Seattle July 6th at 7AM

That's a neat itinerary! Sounds like a lot of fun. I hope you are taking pictures and can show us a link like you've done in the past. Your ship looks very nice.

By the way, in case anyone is into "ship spotting" or if you are curious about where cruise ships are at any given time around the world, this is the best website to use for those tasks:

www.cruisemapper.com

That's where I got all of the above info from.

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Vincent206
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I had no idea Carkeek Park was good for shipspotting, too. At Carkeek, there's a pedestrian bridge over the train tracks that connects to the beach. From the bridge or beach you can see the trains coming along the shoreline from both directions and photographers have plenty of time to set-up their shots. Here's one picture taken from the pedestrian bridge. I've seen some fantastic shots that take advantage of the light from the setting sun. If I find any of those shots in the archives, I'll post a link.

I guess this isn't the summer to plan a trip on the Empire Builder. Last week, BNSF had a software glitch that shut down all rail traffic (freight, Sounder, Amtrak) in the Puget Sound region during the afternoon commute hours. That was quite the mess.

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yukon11
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Palmland:

Yes, no really big problem not having the PA system working. I had a couple of quartz alarm clocks with me so I knew, at least, I wouldn't miss detraining in Martinez if I couldn't hear an announcement. However, with no dining car announcements I got to the dining car before they were ready for the next call. No great inconvenience, however, but it would have been nice to hear the dinner calls. I hope you get a chance to explore other parts of Oregon, although Coos Bay and the Oregon coast are really nice.

George:

I was thinking of taking the Amtrak connecting bus between Santa Rosa and Martinez. However, the latest bus leaves SR at 6:15 PM and gets into Martinez at 8:50 PM. So, about a 2.5 hr. bus ride then a 2 hr. wait at the Martinez station for #14. Just way too long. The Alaska flight to Portland is only about 1.5 hrs.

Smitty:

Thanks for your input. As a retired firefighter I'm sure you can attest to the effect of modern environmentalism on our forest land. My uncle was a fire fighter, in Plumas County, back in the 1950's. He would tell us of the need for selective cutting and the need to take out old or diseased tress so they wouldn't become kindling for larger, out of control fires. I think environmental groups, such as the Sierra Club, did some good things, in the early days, with regard to decreasing air and water pollution. But now they are doing much more harm then good. I've heard the greenies never thought that the spotted owl was harmed by logging efforts. The Sierra Club, their fat-cat lawyers, an others, simply wanted to flex their muscles and display their political strength. Think about how many people, in the logging industry, lost their jobs because of the spotted owl affair.

Richard

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Gilbert B Norman
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quote:
Originally posted by yukon11:
Palmland:

Yes, no really big problem not having the PA system working.

What's wrong, in the case of PA issues, for having a set of chimes (NBC kind of stuff) aboard to use. That's how passengers were summoned to the Diner when I first went on a train during 1946. PA's are really an Amtrak-era creation - and apparently only get mixed reviews.
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yukon11
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEiER1PPMLI

Richard

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sbalax
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I have something like that bought at a yard sale. I suspect mine was for "domestic" use, though. Not on a train. I suppose I ought to research it some…

Frank in dark and cool SBA

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