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Oakland Circle II Or My Last Steak on Amtrak? 4/29-30/2006

I suggested to Chris Parker that we ride the Coast Starlight before Simplified Dining was introduced on this route. As the Southwest Chief had already switched over, this might be my last chance for a steak on an Amtrak long- distance train. Chris agreed, so I used an Amtrak Guest Rewards companion coupon for the northbound Coast Starlight ticket. For the southbound San Joaquin, I used a "Take a Friend/Free Companion Fare Coupon" for that ticket. I then booked a night at the Jack London Inn. Chris had not travelled between San Luis Obispo and Oakland and to surprise him, I booked a sleeping car for that day, which meant our meals would be included.

Would we have a Pacific Parlour Car? Would the Coast Starlight still be serving steak? Only by taking this trip would we find out.

I drove to the Santa Ana station and parked.

The construction progression of the new platform and pedestrian bridge with the new northeast end wheelchair ramp.

The future wheelchair ramp on the station side.

The new waiting shelters.

Construction of the new southwest wheelchair ramp.

The bridge with scaffolding below. While on the platform, I met a group going north that had been told to go to the south end of the train to board and I asked if they had Pacific Business Class tickets, to which they responded "no". I explained to them that their car would be at the north end of the train and their leader said I did not know what I was talking about. So I went inside and asked the station agent where the Business Class car was, and he said it was on the north end. I walked outside and shared that information with the group's leader, who said that she never wanted to ride in a car with me and stormed off. I guess some people cannot accept being wrong.

I boarded this train bound for Los Angeles and settled in for the ride. My book for this trip was "Pirates of the Caribbean Dead Man's Chest". We stopped at Anaheim and Fullerton before making the sprint into Los Angeles Union Station a few minutes late.

Chris Parker soon found me waiting on a bench on Track 9 and we saw a pair of Metrolink trains, one for San Bernardino and the other for Lancaster. Pacific Surfliner 763 soon departed for Goleta before Pacific Surfliner 768 arrived and then left for San Diego.

Conductor Bob Riskie came by to say hello and then went to check out his trainset for Pacific Surfliner 572. A few minutes later, the Coast Starlight reversed into the station.

This train had P42DC's 117 and 118, baggage 1234, transition 39022, sleepers 32095 "Nebraska", 32015 "Tennessee" and 32088 "Maryland", diner 38055, lounge 32020 and coaches 34113, 34512 kiddie car and 34101. As you can tell, there was no Pacific Parlour Car in this consist. Our sleeping car attendant for this trip was Carilyn and we had to switch from room 2 to room 8, which was fine with both of us.

We departed on time then passed what was left of the former Southern Pacific Taylor Yard before stopping at Van Nuys then making our our way to Chatsworth, where we had a running meet with Pacific Surfliner 774.

Chris enjoying his first sleeping car experience. The Starlight passed through the Chatsworth Tunnels and on to Simi Valley.

At 11:30 AM, Chris and I went to the dining car, where we were seated with Mary and Mel going to Seattle. Christy, our waitress, was also an avid Coca-Cola drinker and her father had designed a large Coca-Cola plant. We stopped at Oxnard while waiting for our meals to be served.

I had the Angus beef burger, which was excellent, and ice cream for dessert, since that had returned to the lunch menu. I was extremely happy. At Santa Barbara, a fresh air stop, I talked with Carilyn who happened to be a big fan of Trainweb.com. After departing, we proceeded through Goleta, where Pacific Surfliner 763 was waiting to become 784. The mustard plants were in full bloom as we travelled west to Point Conception, by Jalama Beach and rounded Point Arguello on a cloudy day then made our way to Surf, Casmalia, Guadalupe, Grover Beach and San Luis Obispo.

The Coast Starlight at San Luis Obispo, a crew change point.

Conductor Alex Poppalopalous helped with baggage before he went off duty. Chris' new mileage started once we left San Luis Obispo and continued until we arrived in Oakland. We went to the dining car for the "wine tasting" with Chris having a Pepsi and me a Sierra Mist. The train climbed Cuesta Grade on this overcast afternoon and Chris was amazed. He had seen the tunnels for years from the highway and he was passing through them. At the north end of the Summit Tunnel, we exited into brilliant sunshine then stopped at Paso Robles before we went to the diner for our 5:00 PM dinner reservation. We crossed the Salinas River which is normally dry, but on this trip, had water flowing. We were joined by Marilyn and John, going home to Swan Lake, Montana after an around-the-world educational cruise.

My meal was New York strip, so I was able to enjoy one last steak, which was my goal for this trip.

Chocolate bundt à la mode was dessert. During dessert, we passed a Union Pacific derailment at milepost 149, complete with four cars on the ground and I learned from the conductor, during our fresh air stop at Salinas, that it happened over a month ago. We travelled by the Elkhorn Slough with many seals on its shores, through Watsonville Yard and the Pajora Gap before reaching Gilroy.

We arrived at San José early and Caltrain MP36PH-3C 924 was at the station. We departed on time and I introduced Chris to dark-room-after-sunset-scenery viewing. At Santa Clara, we waited for Capitol Corridor Train 751 before continuing to Oakland via Niles. We arrived at Jack London Station at 9:41 PM {9:32 PM}, ending a fantastic trip on the Coast Starlight.

Chris and I said our goodbyes to Carilyn, then walked the two blocks to the Jack London Inn, checked in and this time, received Room 202, the north end room away from the tracks. After watching a few minutes of "Jackie Chan's Operation Condor", we called it a night.

4/30/2006 The next morning, we arose at 6:00 AM and started our day with a great "waterfall shower". I checked my e-mail before joining Chris for a filling continental breakfast then we checked out and walked the two blocks to the Amtrak station where we watched Capitol Corridor Train 720 load its passengers and depart at 7:15 AM. Our train rolled through Jack London Square and into the station at 7:21 AM.

Our train to Bakersfield reversed into the station with cab car 9307 "Mount Baldy", café 8801 "Owens Valley", coach 8018 "Trinity River", coach/baggage 8201 "San Francisco Bay" and F59PHI 2004. We boarded the cab car and chose seats on the left side, then departed on time, met Capitol Corridor Train 723 just before the Amtrak Yard and rolled into Emeryville and Richmond on a beautiful clear morning. It became a hazy morning as our train cruised along San Pablo Bay and the Carquinez Straits to Martinez.

Chris was up at the front of the cab car videotaping our route to Stockton. At Port Chicago, we switched from the Union Pacific to the Burlington Northern Santa Fe and made our way to Antioch, then crossed the California Delta and met San Joaquin 711 at Trull on double track. At Stockton, the smallest group of passengers I had ever seen here boarded our train. We stopped at Modesto for a fresh air break then Turlock, passing San Joaquin 702 at Atwater and arrived at Merced for an extended fresh air stop. Before Madera, I bought a hot dog and enjoyed it to Fresno, another very extended fresh air stop.

At Conejo, we took the siding for San Joaquin 713 then proceeded to Hanford for another fresh air stop. Before Corcoran, we met BNSF 4422 West then ran to Wasco, meeting San Joaquin 715 at the Kern River bridge and arriving at Bakersfield at 1:39 PM.

The bus departed at 2:01 PM and went up the steep north face of Tejon Pass at 40 miles an hour. A car had gone off the northbound lane which we heard about on the driver's radio. So we all played "spot the car gone off the road" which we all won. The bus did really well on flat or downgrade, so we arrived at LAUPT at 3:53 PM, which gave me twelve minutes to get to Track 12 and Pacific Surfliner 582. I said goodbye to Chris and thanked him for coming with me before I went up to the correct platform.

I was greeted onboard by Conductor Rosie and minutes later, we departed on time with the train speeding to Fullerton and Anaheim. We met Pacific Surfliner 583 at CP Lincoln prior to me detraining at Santa Ana on time. I drove home, ending yet another fantastic Amtrak adventure.

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