My wife and I spent last night on the Starlight from Salinas to Salem. We had room #14 on the lower level of a sleeper. Overall the trip north was very good. We were nearly on time for most of the trip. About 20 minutes late out of Salinas, 30 late out of Oakland, but by the time we got to Klamath Falls we were dead on schedule. Our only real delay came just after Albany (where we were 15 minutes late) when we were delayed another 30 minutes by track work. Not bad timekeeping overall. One disappointment. The Pacific Parlor Car had a bad wheel and was replaced by a second Sightseer Lounge. My wife has never seen a Parlor Car before, and I was looking forward to having her ride one. The Sightseer lounge, with its outward facing seats, really discourages socializing. I noticed a big difference in the behavior of its occupants from the Parlor Car which puts people face to face.
Food was generally good, but not among the best I've had. Dinner was best. I had salmon, my wife had chicken. Both were very good. Breakfast and lunch were adequate, but nothing to get excited about. The apple/cherry cobbler dessert we shared at lunch was great, however.
We had a spectacular snowstorm as we crossed the Cascades. I went to the rear of the train for some photos, and could see that the snow was right to the top of the rails. The tree branches were loaded with snow, and it looked like Christmas.
My only complaint, is the same one I have on every trip: The more I use the Superliner rest rooms the more I despise them. Everything about their layout is wrong. Its not bad enough to discourage future train travel, but they really do need to rethink the entire design. But that is a topic for another day.
Our return trip will be on Sunday/Monday. We will have a Deluxe room (E) for a little change of space.
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Trust God, love your neighbor, and never mistake opinion for truth.
-Mr. Toy
The Del Monte Club Car
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