It's less known outside of the region, but there are times when the Coast Starlight offers snow scenes and challenges comparable to the Rockies or the other Cascades crossings. Opened in 1927, the Cascades Line between Dunsmuir and Eugene through Klamath Falls and Oakridge bypasses the original cheaply engineered up and down Siskiyou Line (Ashland - Medford - Grants Pass - Roseburg). It does this with long, steady grades, between Klamath Falls and Eugene reaching an altitude at Odell Lake of 4,844 feet. Pacific rainstorms can easily become thick blankets of snow.
Travel between the West Coast cities is more intense north-south than east-west. My mother was in her 30's before she left the Pacific Time Zone. By then she had already visited a foreign country. My parents went to sunny Southern California for their winter honeymoon -- on the train. Here are some winter scenes on the Coast Starlight route.
Spring Break in 1967. Back to college from San Francisco.
Mt. Shasta at dawn in March 1967.
Far northern California in March 1967, a snow-sprinkled lava field.
Foggy Sacramento...
Crescent Lake, Oregon
Riding above the clouds.
And into rainy Portland., connecting Train 28 awaits across the platform.
Travel between the West Coast cities is more intense north-south than east-west. My mother was in her 30's before she left the Pacific Time Zone. By then she had already visited a foreign country. My parents went to sunny Southern California for their winter honeymoon -- on the train. Here are some winter scenes on the Coast Starlight route.
Spring Break in 1967. Back to college from San Francisco.
Mt. Shasta at dawn in March 1967.
Far northern California in March 1967, a snow-sprinkled lava field.
Foggy Sacramento...
Crescent Lake, Oregon
Riding above the clouds.
And into rainy Portland., connecting Train 28 awaits across the platform.
Last edited:
