# Coast Starlight (April 28, 2011)



## trainman74 (May 5, 2011)

I had made plans in mid-February to meet up in San Francisco for an "urban hike" on April 30. In late February, I saw that roomettes were still available in the lowest bucket on the Coast Starlight, so I booked a LAX-OKJ train ticket with a Thruway connection to SFS (San Francisco-Shopping Center, the closest bus stop to my hotel in the Union Square area).

I got dropped off by a friend at L.A. Union Station at about 9:15 and checked in at the Traxx bar, where conductor Dottie lifted my ticket. We were "released" to Track 10 at about 9:50.

I walked to the platform, and the CS consist backed in a couple of minutes after I arrived, with private car Cyrus K. Holliday bringing up the rear:







I was in the 1430 car, room 2. The SCA Bob could apparently tell I'd done this before; I could hear him giving some of the other passengers a longer "welcome" speech than he gave me. He did offer me apple cider or champagne -- I chose the latter, since it was after 6 PM _somewhere,_ after all.

Departure was a couple minutes late by my watch, at 10:17. The dining car LSA soon came around taking lunch reservations, and I selected 11:45. I was called pretty much on time, and was seated with a portion of a big group of adults and kids that were traveling to San Jose for a "history bee"-type competition. I'd noticed some of the kids running around earlier -- in fact, one had tripped in the hallway outside my room and was chastised by Bob for running. It turned out that four members of the group were in two facing roomettes downstairs in the 1430 car, and the rest of the group was in coach, which can obviously be a recipe for disaster when there are kids involved.

At any rate, I had the Angus burger with cheese, and the chocolate-peanut butter ice cream for dessert. Both very tasty. The woman next to me had the lunch special, a chicken cacciatore, which also looked very good. I finished just as we pulled into Santa Barbara, and went out to get some fresh air.

After the Santa Barbara stop, I got one of the swivel seats in the Parlour Car for the most scenic part of the ride. That meant I didn't have far to go for the wine tasting at exactly 3:00. Debbie was the Parlour Car attendant, so we got her spiel about the economics of the Parlour Car, and a sales pitch for souvenirs. I'd liked one of the wines, so I took advantage of her special offer to buy a CS wine glass and get it filled with wine for free.

Incidentally, although the Parlour Car wi-fi was active -- my iPhone could see and connect to the "AmtrakConnect" network -- it didn't seem to actually be working, even in places where the phone itself was picking up a 3G connection. I gave up and turned wi-fi off.

Two of the adults from the big group showed up late for the wine tasting and seemed a little annoyed that Debbie wouldn't "go back" and give them the wines she'd already poured. Then Dottie found them and chastised them; I didn't hear the whole conversation, but I did hear "we can't have them running back and forth between the coaches and sleeper all the time; it's not safe for my crew," "there are only supposed to be four people in those rooms," and an offer to upgrade the people in coach for the rest of the trip (which would have only been SLO-SJC, although it might have been worth it, since it would have included dinner).

Following the wine tasting, I stepped off briefly in San Luis Obispo, and did the same in Salinas. We stayed a couple minutes down. I considered walking down to get another look at the Cyrus K. Holliday at both stations, but decided I'd need to save my strength for the hike I'd be doing on Saturday, or something like that.

The infamous Conductor Phil had taken over for Dottie at SLO, so everyone got to enjoy his travelogue, including the "eclipse" gag.

I had a dinner reservation for 7:15 and was called at about 7:20. I sat across from a couple from Vancouver who'd been booked via the EB for a trip to Chicago, but found out when they'd gotten to Portland that their EB was annulled due to flooding, so they'd decided to do a West Coast trip instead. I had the fish selection, a salmon, which was pretty good, although the accompanying vegetables were a little overcooked. Dessert was cheesecake with peach topping.

There was no chance to step off the train in San Jose -- the CS was making a double spot due to construction on the platform.

Arrival in Oakland was about 10 minutes down. I was the only one detraining from the 1430 car. I handed Bob a $5 tip, and he seemed appreciative -- he hadn't had to do much for me, but if nothing else, the bathrooms were staying pretty clean.

This was the first time I'd taken the Thruway bus to San Francisco, which had only about 10 passengers. It seemed as if it took a very convoluted route, especially between the Hyatt-Financial District and Ferry Building stops, but it did make the trip a little faster than the timetable indicated, and I got off on Market Street pretty much on time.

On Sunday, my legs sore and feet blistered, I caught BART at the Powell Street Station and transferred at SFO for a United Airlines flight back to LAX. I'd initially contemplated doing the trip in the reverse order -- plane northbound, train southbound -- which would have put me on the CS on the day of Amtrak's 40th anniversary. However, departure time for the Thruway bus connection is at 7:15 A.M., and I decided that would be a little too early in the morning.

I'll be back on the CS on June 6-7, this time southbound on an AGR redemption, going all the way from SEA to BUR.


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## jb64 (May 5, 2011)

Nice report. I am booked on the CS northbound in March and very much looking forward to it. Was curious, you didn't say whether your meals were in the Parlour car or the diner.


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## Rail Freak (May 5, 2011)

Nice report, thanx! I'll be on #14 from LAX-PDX next month. Your report got my juices flowing, cant wait!!!


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## Cristobal (May 5, 2011)

jb64 said:


> Nice report. I am booked on the CS northbound in March and very much looking forward to it. Was curious, you didn't say whether your meals were in the Parlour car or the diner.


My guess is that his meals were in the diner since he mentions tablemates. My experience in the PPC is seatings are typically singles or couples only since the tables are a bit smaller than those in the diner.

Nice report BTW. I've had the opportunity to enjoy conductor Phil's travelogue as well.


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## Rumpled (May 5, 2011)

Good report, so what was the hike?


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## trainman74 (May 6, 2011)

Yes, I ate both lunch and dinner in the diner. I'll try the Parlour Car meals on my trip in June.



Rumpled said:


> Good report, so what was the hike?


We did 20+ miles -- across the Golden Gate Bridge and back, then via Fisherman's Wharf, up to Telegraph Hill/Coit Tower, down the Embarcadero to the Ferry Building, then through the Financial District, Civic Center, and the Mission District, and then up to Twin Peaks and back down. Especially coming near the end, getting up to Twin Peaks was _hard_, but I'm glad I pushed myself to do it.


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## amamba (May 6, 2011)

Was the wine tasting free? Just curious, it was free when I was on in March and they said that was new. Did they allow coach pax in to the wine tasting? Some people were wondering about that as well.

Did the souvenir wine glass purchase give you free wine all evening? That is what they were offering in the PPC in March as well.

Sounds like a great trip!


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## trainman74 (May 9, 2011)

amamba said:


> Was the wine tasting free? Just curious, it was free when I was on in March and they said that was new. Did they allow coach pax in to the wine tasting? Some people were wondering about that as well.


It was free (or perhaps "no additional charge" would be more accurate). Coach passengers were not invited. Including me and the two women who showed up late, there were 13 people at the wine tasting.



> Did the souvenir wine glass purchase give you free wine all evening? That is what they were offering in the PPC in March as well.


Unfortunately, only one glass of wine was included with the purchase. I bought another glass of wine later, to drink with my dinner in the diner, and Debbie served it in one of the regular glasses rather than my souvenir glass (which she also washed and put in bubble wrap for me).


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