Amtrak round trip EB, CS, CZ videos

Buster · Oct 19, 2012

Back in February some friends suggested that we join them on an Amtrak round trip from Chicago to Portland on the Empire Builder, Portland to Sacramento on the Coast Starlight, and then back home on the California Zephyr.

This was my first Amtrak experience. The last train I'd rode was the Eurostar in 2010 so prior to the trip I did quite a bit a research on this site & others which proved very valuable. I took a load of HD video on my travels, basically for my in-laws in the UK, and in the spirit of giving something back I decided to post some of it here.

I like trains but I'm not a hardened rail fan so my videos tend to focus on the view outside the train rather than the train itself. Having said that here are my Empire Builder & Coast Starlight efforts. I'm still working on the Zephyr and will post a link here when it's done.

Thanks to all the Amtrak Unlimited contributors here for making my rail trip smoother and much more enjoyable.

Empire Builder Chicago - Portland Views

GG-1 · Oct 19, 2012

Aloha

I have moved this to Trip Reports as the linked video's tell an excellent trip story, while the do not help to explain how to take train pictures.

Thank you for excellent work

jb64 · Oct 22, 2012

I enjoyed watching your videos. Thanks for sharing.

Buster · Oct 24, 2012

GG-1 said:
Aloha

I have moved this to Trip Reports

Thanks Aloha - I wasn't sure where to post it so this helps. I'll post my California Zephyr video here also

TraneMan · Oct 26, 2012

Thanks for sharing your video!

Buster · Nov 6, 2012

Tripadvisor published my Coast Starlight review. I included a shout out for this excelelnt site

“A retro experience”

Reviewed November 3, 2012 NEW

We traveled from Portland Oregon to Sacramento on the Coast Starlight. The train crew was excellent. The Parlor Car - a unique feature on this train - was fun and even had wifi (occasionally). On returning home I put together a brief travel video for this trip. You can find it on YouTube here

We had a full size bedroom and in general it was probably worth it. However I was very impressed with the coach accommodation which had tons of room for my lanky 6 foot 7 inch frame. Our rooms were fairly clean and spacious once we figured out how to store nonessential luggage downstairs in the baggage compartment. Using our shower was amazingly easy for someone my height but could be a challenge for a heavy person. The beds were comfortable and we slept well. There was a shortage of power outlets for all our gadgets but we'd done some research ahead of time ( http://www.amtraktrains.com ) and took a multi outlet adapter. Dining car food was good and the company congenial. The population in first class was older and a little more reserved than the folks in coach who tended to be younger and more outgoing. Temperature control was the only negative in our room. The room had a thermostat but it seemed to be totally ineffective. Bottom line a great travel experience as long as nothing is schedule critical. An excellent way to see America and meet new people. Recommended
Visited September 2012