ALC Rail Writer
Engineer
After saying goodbye to Patrick, I said goodbye to LA. I vow to return someday!
The Coast Starlight had a nice long consist for the holidays. It ran as:
P42
P42
Bag
Crew Dorm
Sleeper (Superliner I refurb)
Sleeper (Superliner II)
Sleeper (Superliner II, Ullman Car)
PPC (Sonoma Valley)
Diner
SSL
Coach
Coach
Coach
Coach
It was nice to see a mix of the sleepers. I was in the middle sleeper, the A Bedroom. I have heard people complain to no end about the A room and I have to admit, most of the shouting is justified. On both the SWC and the CS I had the A Room. On the SWC I shared it with Todd. It wasn't as bad as a roomette, but without him taking a nap in the upper bunk it was cramped. As a larger man squeezing into the bathroom was annoying, as its entrance is cut inside a corner. On 28 from PDX to SPK I had the D bedroom and here are my observations:
- The mirror makes the room look and feel bigger.
- Having the entrance to the bathroom on the inside of the room makes it easier to get into, and offers more privacy (I wasn't getting dressed two inches from the door to the room)
- Anybody in the arm chair can put the arm up and sit side-saddle and stretch out.
Passing the bluffs over the beaches is amazing. Simply amazing, draw-dropping gorgeous. Patrick had advised me to go to the SSL or PPC during the 100-some miles we wind the coast. For photography purposes the SSL is annoying due to the inability to control the glare. In your own room or seat you can control the glare by adjusting the lighting or using your hands. As luck would have it I was on the West side of the train. However if you aren't on that side or don't give two squirts of diesel about photography-- the SSL is the way to go!
All meals in the diner were served on the real Corelle plates, bowels, mugs and glasses. For lunch I had the Chipotlé beef stew over rice, it was spicy and warming, but the side salad and roll cooled it down-- it was well balanced. I took my dinner in the PPC, I had the lamb and a bottle of the Hogue Chardonnay. Well I bought the bottle and had two glasses and saved the rest for the remainder of my trip. It was a nice touch to have 'my' bottle of wine to myself. The PPC attendant kept it in the cooler and refilled my glass from my bottle.
A word on smoking stops... it seems to me that the new thing is to call them, 'fresh air' stops. I guess somebody finally figured out 'smoking' has a negative connotation to it--
Roll-Your-Own or RYO cigarettes is not in any way looked down upon, but be prepared for the usual "is that a joint/roach/what is that?" from your fellow pax, possibly your attendant. The conductors seem to know.
Stops like the above at Santa Barbara are great places to smoke, get fresh air, watch train activities, take pictures, talk, walk, visit a store or whatever. Its really nice that since Amtrak has been running on time these days the padding in the schedule means that a 20-minute stop may turn into an hour, meaning it may be okay to stray from the train... as long as you know when to get back! It also means 5-minute stops become 20 minutes. This gives somebody more time to take in the fresh California sunshine.
Our attendant, a lovely woman named Lupé did a fine job as a TAS. She didn't wow me, but was genuine. She happily did her job and made sure her sleepers were satisfied. I was happy when she turned down the beds on our schedule, waiting until after out stop at San José to put the bed down-- it allowed me to get in a couple night shots.
One of the great things about the CS is that you go to bed as you wind your way into NoCal and wake up in the Oregon Cascades.
You go from a 90 degree smoggy day in LA to 30 degrees and snowdrifts... pack your Zicam if your nose doesn't like weather changes!
Breakfast in the diner was a nice serving of french toast, which had been prepared freshly (or at least doctored). On the SWC it was of the rubber boot variety. It was tough to chew and cut-- and sat in my gut like a cinder block. The toast on the CS was soft on the inside (not soggy, soft) with a crispy shell. Our little SA named José was a doll. He knows how to work his accent for a tip. "ess served weeth strrawberry jam".
After a flawless approach to PDX I met a family friend to pick up a six-pack of Sierra Nevada Pale Ale (one bottle of which I still have) and chew the fat. He managed to take a halfway decent picture of me at PDX.
I boarded 28... after a wonderful experience on the CS I guess it was a tough act to follow. We had a young TAS off the Xtra-Board named Chevy (or rather her name was T. Hao... thus Chevy Tahoe). The 28 sleeper was your standard Superliner II where half of everything doesn't work as it did when it was fresh off the line. Having the D room was nice, very nice. Safety instruction packets were missing for most of the car, she also apparently had no schedules, magazine, or anything on hand. Though she did have the champagne, as well as the boxed dinners.
I had a chicken and chick pea salad with hummus and pecan dessert. It was an attempt to be fresh and new-- but honestly fell flat. Give me an Amsteak any day of the week!
There were many rockslides in the area. BNSF had its work trains out in full-force. The highway was covered and there were slow-orders on the tracks, but we still made it to SPK on time.
I spent most of the night run in Chevy's compartment chewing the fat with her as we chugged along to SPK. She had somebody boarding the H-room there and the conductor had asked her to stay up. I wanted to get into my room on 8 and not feel rushed in the morning, so we both agreed to keep eachother up. We talked about everything and shared stories about everything from other routes, accidents, she has a fear that she'll be involved in a derailment some day...
It was funny to teach her how to pronounce Bombardier. She has a thick Asian accent and sometimes it can be hard to understand her PA announcements, but up-close she is a happy and genuine person who is happy to do her job. If she doesn't know what she's supposed to do, she's eager to learn. After all its bom-bah-dee-aye.
At SPK I took in a few puffs and some night shots-- watched them combine 28 and 8 (very cool to watch). As soon as the flags were removed and it was clear I moved up the platform to the 831 car. I was greeted by a thin Southeastern Asian attendant with a very feminine disposition. Our conversation went as follows:
Attendant: "Are you in my car?"
Me: "831."
A: "That's me, and you must be Micah."
M: "How did you know? Did Jason send a note ahead of me or something?"
A: "It was just written all over your face. Here, allow me to show me to your room."
After going up into the room, he helped be unpack briefly. My bed was already put down. The room was booked from SEA-CHI and that I could board anytime through ESM in the next morning. Many attendants may have taken this to mean I was boarding in ESM and left it down since I would be boarding in the morning. However the Attendant knew who I was and figured I would board at SPK. Even if I hadn't, he went the extra mile to prepare for either arrival.
I love the redesigned Deluxe Bedrooms... with the blue-nightlights and glossy plastic finish, it screams fresh, modern, flowing. It felt like a cruise.
A: "There you go, is there anything else you need?"
M: "No no, I only want this bed."
A: "Very well. Breakfast is served in the diner which is two cars forward. If you need anything else press the call button here, my name is Gul."
M: "You're Gul?"
A: "Yes, I am Gul."
M: "I've heard a lot about you Gul."
A: "You have? From where?"
M: "Tomorrow. Good night."
The train lurched as we departed SPK. I fell back into my bed and smiled as I turned the blue light off. I picked up my phone and set an alarm, then right before I fell asleep, sent out a tweet: "I heart Gul."
Coming up, Part IV: SPK-CHI, and a man named Gul
Album of pictures from my entire trip can be found here...
The Coast Starlight had a nice long consist for the holidays. It ran as:
P42
P42
Bag
Crew Dorm
Sleeper (Superliner I refurb)
Sleeper (Superliner II)
Sleeper (Superliner II, Ullman Car)
PPC (Sonoma Valley)
Diner
SSL
Coach
Coach
Coach
Coach
It was nice to see a mix of the sleepers. I was in the middle sleeper, the A Bedroom. I have heard people complain to no end about the A room and I have to admit, most of the shouting is justified. On both the SWC and the CS I had the A Room. On the SWC I shared it with Todd. It wasn't as bad as a roomette, but without him taking a nap in the upper bunk it was cramped. As a larger man squeezing into the bathroom was annoying, as its entrance is cut inside a corner. On 28 from PDX to SPK I had the D bedroom and here are my observations:
- The mirror makes the room look and feel bigger.
- Having the entrance to the bathroom on the inside of the room makes it easier to get into, and offers more privacy (I wasn't getting dressed two inches from the door to the room)
- Anybody in the arm chair can put the arm up and sit side-saddle and stretch out.
Passing the bluffs over the beaches is amazing. Simply amazing, draw-dropping gorgeous. Patrick had advised me to go to the SSL or PPC during the 100-some miles we wind the coast. For photography purposes the SSL is annoying due to the inability to control the glare. In your own room or seat you can control the glare by adjusting the lighting or using your hands. As luck would have it I was on the West side of the train. However if you aren't on that side or don't give two squirts of diesel about photography-- the SSL is the way to go!
All meals in the diner were served on the real Corelle plates, bowels, mugs and glasses. For lunch I had the Chipotlé beef stew over rice, it was spicy and warming, but the side salad and roll cooled it down-- it was well balanced. I took my dinner in the PPC, I had the lamb and a bottle of the Hogue Chardonnay. Well I bought the bottle and had two glasses and saved the rest for the remainder of my trip. It was a nice touch to have 'my' bottle of wine to myself. The PPC attendant kept it in the cooler and refilled my glass from my bottle.
A word on smoking stops... it seems to me that the new thing is to call them, 'fresh air' stops. I guess somebody finally figured out 'smoking' has a negative connotation to it--
Roll-Your-Own or RYO cigarettes is not in any way looked down upon, but be prepared for the usual "is that a joint/roach/what is that?" from your fellow pax, possibly your attendant. The conductors seem to know.
Stops like the above at Santa Barbara are great places to smoke, get fresh air, watch train activities, take pictures, talk, walk, visit a store or whatever. Its really nice that since Amtrak has been running on time these days the padding in the schedule means that a 20-minute stop may turn into an hour, meaning it may be okay to stray from the train... as long as you know when to get back! It also means 5-minute stops become 20 minutes. This gives somebody more time to take in the fresh California sunshine.
Our attendant, a lovely woman named Lupé did a fine job as a TAS. She didn't wow me, but was genuine. She happily did her job and made sure her sleepers were satisfied. I was happy when she turned down the beds on our schedule, waiting until after out stop at San José to put the bed down-- it allowed me to get in a couple night shots.
One of the great things about the CS is that you go to bed as you wind your way into NoCal and wake up in the Oregon Cascades.
You go from a 90 degree smoggy day in LA to 30 degrees and snowdrifts... pack your Zicam if your nose doesn't like weather changes!
Breakfast in the diner was a nice serving of french toast, which had been prepared freshly (or at least doctored). On the SWC it was of the rubber boot variety. It was tough to chew and cut-- and sat in my gut like a cinder block. The toast on the CS was soft on the inside (not soggy, soft) with a crispy shell. Our little SA named José was a doll. He knows how to work his accent for a tip. "ess served weeth strrawberry jam".
After a flawless approach to PDX I met a family friend to pick up a six-pack of Sierra Nevada Pale Ale (one bottle of which I still have) and chew the fat. He managed to take a halfway decent picture of me at PDX.
I boarded 28... after a wonderful experience on the CS I guess it was a tough act to follow. We had a young TAS off the Xtra-Board named Chevy (or rather her name was T. Hao... thus Chevy Tahoe). The 28 sleeper was your standard Superliner II where half of everything doesn't work as it did when it was fresh off the line. Having the D room was nice, very nice. Safety instruction packets were missing for most of the car, she also apparently had no schedules, magazine, or anything on hand. Though she did have the champagne, as well as the boxed dinners.
I had a chicken and chick pea salad with hummus and pecan dessert. It was an attempt to be fresh and new-- but honestly fell flat. Give me an Amsteak any day of the week!
There were many rockslides in the area. BNSF had its work trains out in full-force. The highway was covered and there were slow-orders on the tracks, but we still made it to SPK on time.
I spent most of the night run in Chevy's compartment chewing the fat with her as we chugged along to SPK. She had somebody boarding the H-room there and the conductor had asked her to stay up. I wanted to get into my room on 8 and not feel rushed in the morning, so we both agreed to keep eachother up. We talked about everything and shared stories about everything from other routes, accidents, she has a fear that she'll be involved in a derailment some day...
It was funny to teach her how to pronounce Bombardier. She has a thick Asian accent and sometimes it can be hard to understand her PA announcements, but up-close she is a happy and genuine person who is happy to do her job. If she doesn't know what she's supposed to do, she's eager to learn. After all its bom-bah-dee-aye.
At SPK I took in a few puffs and some night shots-- watched them combine 28 and 8 (very cool to watch). As soon as the flags were removed and it was clear I moved up the platform to the 831 car. I was greeted by a thin Southeastern Asian attendant with a very feminine disposition. Our conversation went as follows:
Attendant: "Are you in my car?"
Me: "831."
A: "That's me, and you must be Micah."
M: "How did you know? Did Jason send a note ahead of me or something?"
A: "It was just written all over your face. Here, allow me to show me to your room."
After going up into the room, he helped be unpack briefly. My bed was already put down. The room was booked from SEA-CHI and that I could board anytime through ESM in the next morning. Many attendants may have taken this to mean I was boarding in ESM and left it down since I would be boarding in the morning. However the Attendant knew who I was and figured I would board at SPK. Even if I hadn't, he went the extra mile to prepare for either arrival.
I love the redesigned Deluxe Bedrooms... with the blue-nightlights and glossy plastic finish, it screams fresh, modern, flowing. It felt like a cruise.
A: "There you go, is there anything else you need?"
M: "No no, I only want this bed."
A: "Very well. Breakfast is served in the diner which is two cars forward. If you need anything else press the call button here, my name is Gul."
M: "You're Gul?"
A: "Yes, I am Gul."
M: "I've heard a lot about you Gul."
A: "You have? From where?"
M: "Tomorrow. Good night."
The train lurched as we departed SPK. I fell back into my bed and smiled as I turned the blue light off. I picked up my phone and set an alarm, then right before I fell asleep, sent out a tweet: "I heart Gul."
Coming up, Part IV: SPK-CHI, and a man named Gul
Album of pictures from my entire trip can be found here...
