Since there is some time built in between the ride from Fullerton to LA
to board the Coast Starlight, Don and I always took the redcap cart
(left) to the "Metropolitan Lounge" with coffee for Don and Dr.
Pepper for me plus restrooms.
The Coast Starlight offers Coach or "accommodations" in the form
1, a lower level accessible room with toilet, 2. Bedrooms
with toilet and shower, and 3. Roomettes, with 2 day seats which can be
made into 2 single bunk beds. Matthew is in the day setup
above. Right is an empty Roomette with facing day seating and a
bunk that drops down.
Both seats in a roomette. The small lever under the corner of the
seat is used to realease it to make a lower bed. Curtains over
the windows and glass door for privacy. Thin matress, sheet, and
blanket are stored in the upper bunk.
Between our shoulder and the window are the controls in these 50-year
old cars.
Left top is the white reading light button, middle "Music Control" and
there is no music, below is the call button for the car attendant, and
the 3-way light switch - full lights, night light, no lights.
Right, the other control panel with reading light button, heating
control that can change the temperature 1 degree, (a better way to
control the temperature, usually cooler at night, is to slightly open
the sliding door - with the curtain still closed.) Finally an
electrical plug, so bring a power bar if you have more than one thing
to plug in.
Our car attendant and the Metro Building, visible from our gate 10B
Coast Starlight Room before departure.
North of Ventura the track is right on the beach, left, to begin "The
Longest Ocean-View Train Ride in America".
Right, the red window escape lever is perfect for holding an iPhone to
take a video out the window.
Entering Santa Barbara is a nice view of an estuary and the ocean
beyond with the SB Zoo on the right which Don and I took his grandson
Ryan to one trip.
Right, Historic Santa Barbara Station where Don and I made many uses
coming into and out of Santa Barbara on the Pacific Surfliners and
through town on many Coast Starlight trips.
The same menu for the entire trip even on mult-day trains.
Remember: (Double-click
any photo in this report for a larger copy of the image; Click
BACK in your browser to return to this report.)
.
Lunch on the Coast Starlight is usually during the stop in Santa
Barbara. Don's favorite lunch was the Angusburger, above, with
more coffee.
After Hwy. 101 leaves the ocean
view west of Santa Barbara and turns inland, the Coast Starlight
continues along the coast around Hollister Ranch and Vandenberg AFB
through unspoiled scenery as it was in 1849 and earlier. As we approach
Point Conception, only train riders and the few decendants
of Hollister Ranch residents see this and similar views .
Jalama Beach campground, reachable by road from Lompoc, CA, is one of
only 2 beach access points in this long stretch.
Left, Over 2 hours of views like this from our Roomette 10 in Car 1431.
Right, I wondered if this was a
portion of a Space X rocket being delivered to their launch site inside
Vandenberg AFB. An oil drilling platform beyond in the Santa
Barbara Channel. A fellow passenger had worked shortly on
one and related that workers on those platforms worked 5 days in
a row with with "wonderful food".
This is a safe harbor near Space X's launch area. Former
President Reagan's ranch is back east a few miles.
This spot is where Queen Elizabeth landed with her personal yacht to
visit him at his ranch.
Left, Near Point Arguello Lighthouse. Right, Vehicle Assembly
Building, see the US flag?
More Vandenberg buildings
Surf "Station" is just some benches, but it is the only train access
for Lompoc, California. Right, nearby Surf is Ocean Beach Park east of tracks.
Sand dunes at Minuteman Beach.
As the tracks leave the ocean view and turn inland, down in the valley
El Rancho Road makes an "S" with Point Sal Road.
Soon we were in the "Breadbasket of America" south of Guadalupe.
.
Right, perhaps the best looking house within view from the tracks near
Tenth and Pacheco in Guadalupe.
Grapes maturing between Los Rancho and San Luis Obispo.
Left, Amtrak.com's app for locating all Amtrak trains is fun to follow
to identify your current location (blue arrowhead).
Right, At the same time you can check the schedule from the Internet to
see if you are on time.
San Luis Obispo is a crew change stop, longer than normal, and Don used
to love to go inside and get a snack or local newspaper.
Lead Siemens engine 338 and second Siemens engine 301 with 50th
anniversary logo at San Luis Obispo.
Left, The horseshoe curve above San
Luis Obispo is a good place for a shot of the train. Many times
on trips through here with Don, I would go to the last car so I could
get the locomotive and most of the train. This time I was too far
forward.
Right, There are many sharp curves and
tunnels on this climb, so another curve allowed a shot of the lead
locomotive.
Left, as we took a siding, I looked on the app to see that the
southbound Coast Starlight was approaching, and it soon passed on the
main line.
Right, Salinas Station, also a stop where Don used to get off and look
at the vintage train cars on the east of the station.
When Matt was taking a closeup of No. 1237, it reminded me that I had
photographed Don at this very spot on past trips.
Right, it is a long way from the front sleeper cars back here where the
steam locomotive was, so I worried about Matt getting back in time, but
he reboarded in a coach car, near the rear and walked through the train
as we departed, to get back up front where our room was.
Evening light at Elkhorn Slough and Morning light at Upper Klamath Lake.
Todd, Onboard Guide in the Sightseer/Lounge car.
On first Friday each month, in the Sightseeing/Lounge car, the
Klamath County Museum sponsors 2 guides from Klamath Falls to Eugene
who give an excellent narration of the beautiful route through the
mountains. Left, Jan from Kansas City, heading to Seattle,
volunteered to be a contestant in a trivia quiz as we crossed 75 feet
above Hwy. 58 over Willamette Pass.The guide, Todd, also mentioned that
the longest stretch of track without a station stop on the Oregon
portion of the Coast Starlight trip was Chemult to Eugene - over 120
miles at 1.8% grade on the track.
In case you are on this trip with these guides, here are the
answers to the trivia challenge:
Oregon Motto: "She flies with her own wings"
Oregon Vegetable: potato (Mostly sold to Lays)
Oregon State Steak: TBone
Oregon State Beverage: Milk
Oregon State Microbe: Brewers Yeast
Oregon State Bird: Meadowlark
Oregon State Soil: Clay loam
During the lengthy time the guides speak, there is plenty of time
to meet your neighbors in the sightseeing/lounge car. I noticed a
lady folding origami cranes which she gave to several of us and said
she made them to give away. I asked for her name and to write
down the blessing: Joanne was her name and her blessing
was: "Peace, Blessings, and Good Luck".
I had photographed the Oakridge
Office Bridge many times on this route and told Todd I'd like to be
alerted when it was coming up. He did just that and said this was
the longest covered bridge in Oregon and was called that because it
used to be for lumber mill office workers to cross this river, many
times in the rain, to get to the mill itself.
