BTW Does anyone know if Roasie Ellis still works on the Coastal Starlight? I thought I saw her onboard the Capitol Corridor train?

Before Levar's ride we see Levar in the Redondo Junction meeting Roasie Ellis and Roasie lets Levar blow the horn as Roasie drives the train. After this we see Roasie bringing the trian into the station and Levar boarding the train.

As the show goes on Levar reads the book Kate Shelly and The Midnight Express by Whitman(?). And we see more shots of Roasie driving the train up the coast. She explains how she grew up by a railroad track as a kid and how that she enjoyes the sound of the horn. She said that whenever she comes by a railroad crossing she blows the horn and explains that noone should stand on a railroad track.

We also see shots of the Pacific Parlour Car.

In the show they talk about the Transcontinetal railroad and there is this song called"Transcontinental Railroad" And it shows Levar in the sleeper car and sitting in coach.

And we also see the diner car and Levar bedding down for the night. And at the end of the show when he gets off the train he says "Guess how I am getting Home,I'm taking the train"(something to that effect). The conductor had this unhappy look on the face.

Well if you have not seen this program I would suggest you rent it for your kids who have never been on a train.

This was the one show that got me into Amtrak. Amazing at how one show can get a person like me wanting to take the Coastal starlight.

The Starlight (in this episode) was pulled by F40's, and if I recall right the Superliners were all in phase III (possibly some still in phase II but unlikely). So this would pre date the Pacific Parlor cars. And the date you give (1991) would confirm this perfectly.

I bet it was a regular Superliner lounge. It is possible that a Hi-Level lounge was in the consist (as well as several other Hi-Levels, notably the dorm) but the Hi-Level lounge would not be a Pacific Parlor car, but just an ordinary Amtrak (Hi-Level) lounge.

Something also makes me want to say that Levar did not stay on the train long enough to actually sleep on it. The bedroom scenes they shot almost had the feel that the train was stationary in the LA yards. I think there were a lot of inconsistencies with the footage including different consists, but it's been a while since I have seen this episode so I may be wrong. But it is very likely that several (interior) shots were done with stationary consists in the LA coach yards. A lot easier than to shoot on a moving (revenue) train.

Great Reading Rainbow episode though, the best in my opinion (although the book could have been better).

But it makes sense to me that Levar would only take a day trip (accounting for why the coach, diner, and lounge scenes were real). He would take #14 as far as San Louis Obispo and then take #11 back to LA (back when this was shot the schedules meshed a little better, as did on time performance). I would doubt they would go through the expense of taking a longer trip. But it is possible. But for some strange reason something in my head is saying that the sleeping car scenes didn't seem like they were shot on a revenue (normal) run, and were done in a rail yard at night.

But I really need to see this episode again. I think it's been 5+ years since I've seen it.