Coast Starlight discussion 2023 Q4 - 2024

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A recently posted trip report mentioned Drawbridge, that odd assortment of long abandoned, weather-beaten shacks located on the San Francisco Bay mudflats and which the Coast Starlight goes passed. (Once a thriving community of railroad workers, bootleggers, and duck hunters, Drawbridge is now protected by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service as the only “certified” ghost town in the Bay Area.)

The question was raised as to what Drawbridge looks like today. (The last time we saw it was in 2000 and it was pretty dilapidated back then.)

Can someone who has ridden the Coast Starlight recently give us an update on Drawbridge?
 
Wanted to share a small data point. I rode the CS 14 LAX-EMY on March 2nd and there was a baggage car but no transdorm. Two coaches and two sleepers on the rear, with 1431 being the last car on the train. 1431 was also used as the crew car.

Otherwise it was a really chill trip with an hour delay south of San Jose due to a car on the tracks and a necessary track inspection afterward, but everyone was in good spirits and they let us walk around on Caltrain's Blossom Hill platform as we waited to get the all clear to continue, which was thoughtful. Me and my wife were the only two people connecting on to the San Francisco bus at Emeryville, but they had the bus wait 15 additional minutes to catch the 8 connecting passengers from an hour late San Joaquins 719.
 
How is the baggage car then accessed? Does a crew member need to go outside every time to open doors, then climb back in and out again?
 
Howdy folks,

Just got off a trip on the Starlight and I had a few random questions I know you'll have the answers to:

1. On the lower floor of the coach trains there are 4 bathrooms on either side and then at the end a door marked "lounge." What's inside?

2. On the upper floor of the observation car there is some sort of service kiosk that looks like at one point it could be used to serve something like drinks or ice cream maybe? What's the history behind it and when is the last time it was in use?

3. In the Family Bedroom the instruction panel calls it the "Superliner Economy Bedroom." When was that nomenclature phased out in favor of the current Family Bedroom? In that time, what was a Bedroom and Roomette called?

4. On the relatively straight track between Paso Robles and Salinas there are quite a few random slowdowns. Are those speed limits due to track conditions?
 
TrainPerson said:
Howdy folks,

Just got off a trip on the Starlight and I had a few random questions I know you'll have the answers to:

1. On the lower floor of the coach trains there are 4 bathrooms on either side and then at the end a door marked "lounge." What's inside?
Click to expand...
IIRC, there were a couple of these on the Eagle. At one time this was the smoking lounge.
TrainPerson said:
2. On the upper floor of the observation car there is some sort of service kiosk that looks like at one point it could be used to serve something like drinks or ice cream maybe? What's the history behind it and when is the last time it was in use?
Click to expand...
I've never seen this in use. Would be a nice place to serve drinks and relieve some of the congestion in the snack bar.
TrainPerson said:
3. In the Family Bedroom the instruction panel calls it the "Superliner Economy Bedroom." When was that nomenclature phased out in favor of the current Family Bedroom? In that time, what was a Bedroom and Roomette called?
Click to expand...
Always saw it advertised as "Family Bedroom". Economy, it ain't, although sometimes it can be less expensive than an upstairs bedroom. It's my favorite ride.
TrainPerson said:
4. On the relatively straight track between Paso Robles and Salinas there are quite a few random slowdowns. Are those speed limits due to track conditions?
Click to expand...
Sorry, haven't been on that run since before they took the First Class lounge car.
 
TrainPerson said:
Howdy folks,

Just got off a trip on the Starlight and I had a few random questions I know you'll have the answers to:

1. On the lower floor of the coach trains there are 4 bathrooms on either side and then at the end a door marked "lounge." What's inside?
Click to expand...
I've gone in one of these once during a non-busy period onboard because I'm curious and nosy. However that was only briefly 5+ years ago, so my memory is hazy. It's an odd space but basically is an antechamber/vestibule area with a large mirror and a few padded bench-type chair(s) or something similar? And a sink or two?And a number of outlets etc., and then it leads into an additional toilet/sink the same as all the others. All in all a very odd/seemingly unused space today and feels like a piece of another era.

I've seen it in some cars marked as the "Ladies lounge" or some such (my girlfriend was with me when I went inside and I had her check first) but not everywhere. I am guessing that this was meant to be, at the time of building, a 'nicer' old-fashioned larger space for women to "get ready" on the long trips Superliners take. But others probably know more.
 
TrainPerson said:
Howdy folks,

Just got off a trip on the Starlight and I had a few random questions I know you'll have the answers to:

1. On the lower floor of the coach trains there are 4 bathrooms on either side and then at the end a door marked "lounge." What's inside?

2. On the upper floor of the observation car there is some sort of service kiosk that looks like at one point it could be used to serve something like drinks or ice cream maybe? What's the history behind it and when is the last time it was in use?

3. In the Family Bedroom the instruction panel calls it the "Superliner Economy Bedroom." When was that nomenclature phased out in favor of the current Family Bedroom? In that time, what was a Bedroom and Roomette called?

4. On the relatively straight track between Paso Robles and Salinas there are quite a few random slowdowns. Are those speed limits due to track conditions?
Click to expand...
3. They probably just replaced the tray table with one of the ones from the back-stock. I doubt that one is the original.

4. On certain parts of this subdivision the UP requires trains slow down at every grade crossing to ensure that the gates activate.
 
3. When the Superliner I's first came out, the accommodations were called "Deluxe," "Economy," "Special," and "Family;" all with the suffix "Bedroom." The fixture you saw labeled "Economy Bedroom" in a Family Bedroom was undoubtedly a replacement using excess or salvaged stock. Also, the Family Bedroom was once labeled room "F" instead of "15."
 
OmahaRoad said:
I've seen it in some cars marked as the "Ladies lounge" or some such (my girlfriend was with me when I went inside and I had her check first) but not everywhere. I am guessing that this was meant to be, at the time of building, a 'nicer' old-fashioned larger space for women to "get ready" on the long trips Superliners take. But others probably know more.
Click to expand...

Back in the '90s when I started riding, it was indeed the "ladies' lounge." It was a space where women could have a wash-up and change their clothes, do their makeup or use a sink without occupying the toilet room, and use a toilet that was not open to men. Since it privileged one sex over the other, the labeling was changed to unisex some time after 2000. Now the anteroom (which has no lock) is a pretty useless space, because no one would strip down to the skivies for a "wash-up" when a member of the opposite sex could walk in at any time.
 
oregon pioneer said:
Back in the '90s when I started riding, it was indeed the "ladies' lounge." It was a space where women could have a wash-up and change their clothes, do their makeup or use a sink without occupying the toilet room, and use a toilet that was not open to men. Since it privileged one sex over the other, the labeling was changed to unisex some time after 2000. Now the anteroom (which has no lock) is a pretty useless space, because no one would strip down to the skivies for a "wash-up" when a member of the opposite sex could walk in at any time.
Click to expand...
Along with having the Ladies Lounge, the double-size restroom was marked as a Men's Dressing Room. In cars equipped with it, I still try to use it for washing up and shaving before breakfast in the dining car. That's considered weird behavior by Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari, who I've heard sneering at the idea that coach passengers might change clothes or wash.
 
oregon pioneer said:
... Now the anteroom (which has no lock) is a pretty useless space, because no one would strip down to the skivies for a "wash-up" when a member of the opposite sex could walk in at any time.
Click to expand...
I have only inspected this area once, but I didn’t realize there is no lock on the door! I wonder why they would take the lock off?
 
UserNameRequired said:
I have only inspected this area once, but I didn’t realize there is no lock on the door! I wonder why they would take the lock off?
Click to expand...
To my knowledge, there has never been a lock on the door to the "lounge," only on the inner toilet door. Putting the lock on the outer door would defeat the purpose of allowing up to two people (there are two sinks in the lounge part, I think) to do their makeup and hair, or just have a washup and clothing change, without having to keep others from using the toilet.
 
oregon pioneer said:
Back in the '90s when I started riding, it was indeed the "ladies' lounge." It was a space where women could have a wash-up and change their clothes, do their makeup or use a sink without occupying the toilet room, and use a toilet that was not open to men. Since it privileged one sex over the other, the labeling was changed to unisex some time after 2000. Now the anteroom (which has no lock) is a pretty useless space, because no one would strip down to the skivies for a "wash-up" when a member of the opposite sex could walk in at any time.
Click to expand...
I'm curious what spawned this change. To the best of my understanding it is not illegal or against regulations to provide women more restroom space than men in the US. In a number of municipalities it's actually against new build code to not favor the women's restroom by a significant margin.

oregon pioneer said:
To my knowledge, there has never been a lock on the door to the "lounge," only on the inner toilet door. Putting the lock on the outer door would defeat the purpose of allowing up to two people (there are two sinks in the lounge part, I think) to do their makeup and hair, or just have a washup and clothing change, without having to keep others from using the toilet.
Click to expand...
Considering how much time we spend on LD routes, how small Amtrak restrooms are, and how much they can can stink late in the trip, it would be nice to have a lockable changing area separate from the toilet. If it were up to me the lock would be moved to the outside so the full space would be usable again.
 

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