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I made my long-awaited journey on the northern half of the Coast Starlight this past weekend. I made this reservation around Thanksgiving and I have certainly learned a thing or two about Amtrak lore, largely from this board, since then. I traveled with a friend and we shared a standard sleeper. It was crowded and a bit stuffy at times but OK. We traded off upper/lower. Lower is definitely roomier (laterally esp) but upper was OK since I don’t have claustrophobia. There were quite a few empty standards on the way up (5/13) and a lot of empties on the way south (5/17). Most of the deluxes seemed to be occupied. NB there were 3 sleepers, 3 coaches, baggage, diner and 2 sightseer lounges. SB 3 sleepers, 4 coaches, Pacific Parlour Car, transition sleeper, diner, and sightseer lounge + 2 locos. Alas, no Pacific Parlour Car NB and since we didn’t know any better the lounge car seemed an OK substitute. We left Emeryville half an hour late. After breakfast Mt. Shasta hove into sight and stayed with us for a good 2-3 hours and we were rarely out of sight of snow capped peaks most of the way. Lots of beautiful rivers, lakes, wetlands and attendant fauna. We arrived in Seattle at 10pm, an hour and a half late, to lots of activity and crowds at the King St. station. On Sunday we took #11 coach to Portland and the coaches were filled. Again there was no Parlour Car, but we felt this increased our odds for the next day. Monday we enjoyed the Metropolitan Lounge in Portland Union Station waiting for #11 which was about 45 minutes late. Happily the Parlour Car was there! After dropping our stuff in #3, we went there and got a seat. It was very nice and the attendant, Nannette, was very personable. Sociable wine tasting ensued and lots of pleasant conversation aided by a friendly car-wide game of trivia questions from Nannette. Food was adequate if not outstanding, although both the New York and T-bone steaks my companion got were excellent. We arrived in Emeryville an hour and a half late. NO PROBLEM!! Next time I would make the stop in Portland northbound, as was suggested by Mr. Dilly on this board back in Nov. – I wonder what’s happened to him, by the way? And I would take one of the Cascades trains for the rest of the trip just to ride on one. I saw a train in a station marked “Cascades” and it looked pretty much like a commuter train. Not what I expected; are these the Talgo sets I’ve read about? So the trip was relaxing, the scenery unbeatable, the opera in Seattle grand, the symphony in Portland sonorous, both cities awesome in their pristine springtime floral orgasm and Johnny’s a bigger Amtrak fan than ever. Next up Santa Fe and the Chief in August, if I can wait that long!
Posts: 326 | From: San Antonio Texas USA | Registered: Dec 2003
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That sounds like a wonderful trip! I'll be on the Starlight (again) in June, and am hoping the parlour cars will be in service. Portland is beautiful in the summer, especially during the Rose Festival.
Posts: 133 | From: Florida, U.S.A. | Registered: May 2004
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