Coast Starlight, July 30

[trainfanmom]

Wow, I can’t thank you all enough for your hints and advice. Our day trip on the Coast Starlight was amazing! We arrived at Union Station at 8:30 am. While my hubby was parking the car, I left my mom and kids with the luggage and went to pick up our tickets. No one was in line so I just went to one of the agents. After getting the tickets, he directed me to the Traxx lounge for our “welcome reception.” When my DH came inside, he took both kids to the platforms where they were able to see a number of metrolink trains as well as a Surfliner. During that time, my Mom and I relocated our stuff to the Traxx lounge and settled in. Compared to the queue line of people for coach, we felt like royalty in the lounge area, LOL.

The conductor came by around 9:30 and got all the tickets collected and then we followed him to the train where we met our car attendant. Of course the first thing I noticed and pointed out to the kids was the Pacific Parlor Car (woo hoo, LOL). Because I had read so much on this message board before leaving, I knew right where we were going so our attendant left me to direct our little group to our room, LOL. The early boarding gave me plenty of time to take the kids up to see the engines (my son’s favorite engine is the Genesis so he was delighted to see one up close and personal, LOL). Then we settled into the family bedroom and were amazed at how much space we had. We left our big bags in the luggage rack so all we had were our backpacks, but those fit nicely under the couch. The kids quickly checked out the amenities in the room and in no time our attendant was back with our champagne and sparkling apple cider.

We left at 10:15 on the dot and I only lasted about 5 minutes in the room before I asked if the PPC was open. My son was too excited about the room so he stayed with my Mom while my daughter and I went exploring. We were the first people to discover the PPC and had fun touring it and chatting with the attendant. I asked about the wine tasting later and he said that they would be playing a movie downstairs for the kids at the same time (woo hoo again, LOL). A few more people starting coming in (including my Mom and son) and in no time my kids found another little girl to hang out with.

We made early lunch reservations (hoping to have early lunch and dinner in case we arrived early to San Jose) and were the first group seated at 11:30. I had the Angus Burger and my Mom had the special (chicken in mushroom sauce over rice). The kids both had grilled cheese. We all found the food very satisfying and our dining car attendant was wonderful. She was so friendly and it really added to the enjoyment of our meal.

After lunch we enjoyed the beautiful coastline and further explored the train. During lunch, we had been seated close to the little girl my kids were playing with earlier so she ended up going back to the room to play with my daughter. My son wanted to see out of the back of the train so I took him on the long trek to the last coach car. I checked out what coach was like as we passed through those cars. The seats seemed quite nice but I am afraid that after our treatment in the sleeper car, we will never be able to travel in coach, LOL. On the way back, I tried to get my son to sit in the observation car with me for a minute to look at the coast but he wanted to get back to our room.

Soon it was 3:00 and we all (including the other little girl and her parents) headed back to the PPC for our wine tasting. The kids went downstairs to watch Harry Potter while the rest of us enjoyed some adult conversation. They only had 26 people attend the wine tasting (even after offering it to coach passengers for $10). I was surprised more people in coach didn’t take that opportunity to spend some time in the PPC but I guess they didn’t know what they were missing. While we were there, the train went around the horseshoe curve that I had read about here. Luckily we were seated on the inside of the curve and what an amazing view it was to be able to look one direction and see the engines and then look the other direction and see the last cars.

All too soon it was 5:45 and they were calling us for dinner. My Mom and I had the Braised Flat Iron Bordelaise, my daughter had the hot dog and my son had the pizza. Again, we were all very satisfied with our meals (which says a lot considering my kids are very picky eaters). We had a different attendant this time and while she wasn’t as outgoing as the first, she was still very friendly and it made for another great meal. My son fell asleep in my lap at dinner so when we returned to our room, I laid out the upper child’s bunk and he happily climbed in there. There was still plenty of head room, even with the bunk down, for my daughter and I to sit underneith it. Of course my son didn’t stay long but he did rest for a few minutes.

We arrived into San Jose a few minutes early and it was time to say goodbye to our new friends. I was disappointed that our trip was over already but I think 10 hours was perfect for my son’s first trip (he was just about ready to be done with our trip). My daughter and Mom, like me, were perfectly content to have stayed much longer though.

As the service was excellent, we left nice tips for all. Our car attendant didn’t really need to do much for us but he was always around and very pleasant to talk with. The car was stocked with water, ice and coffee every time we needed it. There was also fruit in the morning when we boarded.

We really enjoyed this trip and have decided to make this a yearly trip to visit my sister. Since we had also checked out the other rooms on the train, we may try two upper level roomettes next time (they were a lot bigger then I was expecting) or even a bedroom if they will let us book 4 people for a day trip. We did enjoy the quiet of the family room and I would certainly book it again. I can’t wait to plan our next trip now

 

[MrEd]

Thank you for the nice report. Glad you had a great time.

 

[Rail Freak]

It's always nice to hear a positive Amtrak Adventure, brings back that excitement as you read it!!!!

RF

 

[Bob Dylan]

Great report,glad yall enjoyed the trip,its only 3 weeks and Im ready to ride again!I too really liked the

horseshoe curve which the traveler said was called: "the horseshoe curve"!Roomettes arent bad but

they will only allow 2 people technically,most folks are able to get an infant in w/o hassle but there is

nothing wrong with coach either on this great day trip and the $$$ you save will pay for the food and

if available the wine tasting!The sights just as great from the ssl with the peons!LOL!!!

 

[jackal]

Great report, and thanks for coming back to share!

I don't think Amtrak will allow 4 people in a bedroom, even if it's just for a day trip. It never hurts to call and ask, though!

Safe travels and make sure to keep us apprised of your future plans!

 

[sunchaser]

Glad you had a good trip (especially with the kids along)! I know sometimes it's a challenge to keep kids occupied- even on a train! I hope the next trip goes just as well. Maybe next time you can go for an overnighter. I think the kids would enjoy waking up on a train!! You did not mention if you had your meals in the PPC- we did at every opportunity. It was more cozy & wasn't nearly as busy. Hubby & I really enjoyed the PPC, it really enhanced the overall trip. Thanks for the report!

 

[trainfanmom]

Thanks everyone Sunchaser - we ate both meals in the dining car because of the kids. I figured that since the menu was limited, they wouldn't have kids meals (but, stupid me, never thought to ask, LOL). It worked out well though because we spent quite of bit of time in the PPC anyway so we got to experience both.

I wanted to spend a little more time in the regular observation car but it was always packed when we went in there and I felt guilty taking up space there since I had the beautiful PPC car that I could use. If I had been by myself, I could easily have spent all day in the PPC but the kids really enjoyed the family bedroom so we went back and forth quite a bit. It was nice to be able to close the door to our room and let the kids play without worrying about disturbing others. They were very good walking down the halls, etc once I pointed out to them that people were in the rooms and they needed to keep their voices down. But inside the room, my son was able to spread out on the floor with his toy trains and just play

I see now what people meant by the windows in the family room being smaller though (and the way our car was situated we only had one seat on the coast side, as opposed to the other side of the room that had two seats by the window). I think next time we will try to book two upstairs roomettes (hopefully across from one another) so that we can experience that ride also. I'm hooked now ;-)

 

[the_traveler]

One of the advantages of the PPC that I like is the meals are different offerings than other trains (and the CS diner). After having the same choices on the Crescent, CL and EB (for instance), I look forward to a different choice. (And they can get a "regular" child meal from the diner for the PPC, I think!)