Recent content by ParanoidAndroid

People just sit there. I've done that once, and I didn't feel unsafe. There will probably be other ticketed passengers around, and the Amtrak staff have a good view of the waiting room. But of course something could happen, theft is probably the most likely possibility. I was there during the...

Sounds difficult to arrange. Coordinating any food to be loaded onto the train from a 3rd party at intermediate stops sounds tricky, though I've heard about it. Ordering catering for lunch/dinner sounds somewhat doable. For breakfast my best guess is something non-perishable is loaded on in...

https://asm.transitdocs.com/train/2025/2/9/A/41 This evening's departing Floridian operates without a cafe/lounge car! Would the diner handle all food service somehow?

I think many "stops" in the booking system aren't served by Amtrak-bookable buses at all and just remain in the system because no one took them out. Casper is probably one of them and I think all of them Wyoming are this way too. At Kingman, the van to Las Vegas leaves right after the westbound...

The only direct route there runs Santa Barbara - Oxnard - Bakersfield - Barstow - Las Vegas. It doesn't stop at LAS (the airport), instead use LVT (south strip) or LVS (downtown). You can either (1) Start your itinerary somewhere along this route, or (2) Start your itinerary on a route that...

Sounds like fun! I grew up in Southern California so stuff like this tickles my heart. Thanks for the photo. Is that a passenger I see on the platform for a fresh air stop?

According to the Rail Guide, the portion from approximately Claremont to San Bernardino is the former ATSF route, and between LA and Claremont is a mix of Pacific Electric and Southern Pacific. The former ATSF route from LA to Claremont is mostly part of Metro's light rail A line now, soon to...

Haven't heard much word about the downed power lines outside of LA, it happened between 8-9am yesterday. The attached photo from Metrolink between 7th St. and I-10 shows them down across the river, which is also where Amtrak's maintenance facility is. Yesterday's arriving Coast Starlight got...

You do need to transfer from the Coast Starlight to a Pacific Surfliner train to go to San Diego. The default option is to transfer at Los Angeles Union Station (9:11pm -> 10:10pm) and get to San Diego at 1:04am. If this is too late night an arrival for you, you could get off the Coast Starlight...

I rode 421 (south/westbound) through this area on December 21st. We were 4-5 hours late, and the fresh air stop was Texarkana. Confirmed on asm.transitdocs, we were stopped at Marshall and Longview (and Mineola, blocking traffic) for a while too, but they weren't fresh air stops unless I missed...

For what it's worth, I saw San Joaquins Venture Cafe cars 9801 and 9802 on 710 at Emeryville on the 2nd. Not sure how much information is online about these cars, so I thought I'd mention it here.

It will take more time but it'd be a more comfortable trip & easier to arrange last-mile transportation if you took the Sunset Limited into Los Angeles and then the Pacific Surfliner to Fullerton and the connecting Amtrak bus to a downtown Palm Springs stop (PSS or PSP). Less issues than taking...

I'm aware other people might disagree, but I think you should be ready for plans to change. Based on speed & position data from asm.transitdocs.com, I believe this train has not stopped at this station most or all days since at least the start of April, even though it may have a recorded...

Just to clarify, those are connecting buses originating in Oakland. For the trip you mentioned, the bus leaves there at 10pm and gets to Santa Barbara at 6:30am. Train 770 starts that morning in Goleta, just 1 stop west, and at Santa Barbara picks up the passengers connecting from the bus. Two...

As far as I can see, the Yosemite buses have been coded in very poorly for some city pairs this summer. I think it'd be easier to book the YARTS segment through YARTS. An example of a dumber one - if you try to book anywhere on the 120/395 route to San Francisco, you get these long transfers...