The Unique Journey is Amtrak's Appeal

I have something of an obsession with train travel.

I haven’t decided if it’s become I’m from two of the most aviation-minded states in the nation, or if it’s because I’m on a constant quest to time-travel and learn about the nature of travel in bygone years.

With this in mind, I boarded Amtrak’s Coast Starlight at Oakland’s Jack London Square station late on a summer evening bound for Seattle. The journey was scheduled to take nearly 23 hours from the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay through Sacramento Valley and almost the entire length of the Cascades, from Mount Shasta to Mount Rainier and into the Puget Sound Region.

Waiting on the platform for the train—already thirty minutes late and in with no sign of arriving soon—the tone was set for the rest of the journey.

It reminded me of one of the enduring realities of train travel in the United States, where Amtrak owns only a small portion of the railroads on which it operates—all of it four time zones East: The freight railroads that own the track are required by law to give Amtrak trains priority, but this doesn’t always happen in practice.

The train ultimately arrived in Seattle three hours behind schedule, most of which was attributed to a Union Pacific freight train disabled for several hours in the shadow of Mt. Shasta. The conductors explained that the freight train was Union Pacific’s “money train,” which was such a profitable one for the railroad that it was the only train the Coast Starlight didn’t have priority over.

It afforded a welcome opportunity to get some still shots of the volcanic caldera in the morning light without the telltale fuzz of movement clouding the photo.

While onboard in my Roomette accommodations (slightly smaller than Bedrooms—which have en-suite shower and W.C.) I read some of the history of the route. When Amtrak was formed in 1971, it combined the day (Los Angeles to Oakland) and night (Oakland to Seattle) coastal services into a single train.

Today, the service is unique among Amtrak’s long distance trains for the inclusion of the Pacific Parlor Car, a vintage Hi Level car that serves as a bar, lounge and alternate dining venue for First Class (Sleeper) passengers.

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Speaking of food, dining tends to be a hot topic when discussing Amtrak.

The best way to describe it would be “institutional”—real silverware and plastic plates giving a somewhat picnic-like ambiance. That said, dining is where the real value is to be found in the price of the First Class ticket.

The price of the roomette I booked was a flat $249 in addition to my rail fare for up to two passengers. Had I consumed the same food and drink paying a la carte, my bill would have clocked in just shy of $100 for what amounted to an entire day on the rails.

Consumption is clocked with a similarly institutional zeal. First Class passengers are offered Pacific Parlor Car dining and were clearly advised via public address that the dining options were mutually exclusive. A request for a side of eggs with French toast at breakfast garnered a rather surly mention of an additional charge.

Dining reservations are taken for set times, but one should wait to be called via announcement or risk being sent packing with a “We’re not ready yet.”

Service aside, by the time I detrained in Seattle I felt pleasantly surprised overall by the quality of the food, which may have had more to do with having read ahead and having quite low expectations rather than any sort of miraculous achievement by the onboard dining staff.

French toast came with a cafeteria packet of “breakfast syrup” but were healthily portioned and tasty. The luncheon cheeseburger tasted freshly made and was the correct temperature. Salads were notably crisp and fresh, and a dinnertime surf and turf of flat-iron steak and shrimp was surprisingly well-executed given the rather unforgiving nature of the flat-iron cut.

It was all hardly worth a hundred bucks, but infinitely more worthwhile than running off the train to use the vending machines at each station stop.

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Even the entry-level roomette accommodations don’t leave much to be desired.

They’re made up in the evening and converted back during the day by an attendant, who also makes sure coffee, juice, and fresh fruit is available in the middle of the car each morning by 5:30. There’s one toilet upstairs and several downstairs, including a shower (quite an experience to use when the train is under way) with soap, towels and plenty of hot water.

Upon arrival in Seattle, I had a greater appreciation for the modes of travel that were available a century ago, remembering that the English word “travel” comes from the French “travail”, which means “toil”. It was a toil spending nearly a full calendar day on that train.

But there was reward in the details, like eavesdropping on surrounding conversations to learn a surprisingly large number of passengers had either joined the train or planned to disembark at smaller stations—a reminder of the yeoman service Amtrak plays in smaller communities with otherwise poor connections to the transportation grid.

En route, the imagination floated as we passed by American rural life around the tracks—no less than two open meadows where wild does kept careful watch over a pair of fawns in the pre-dawn hours, riverside picnics, fishing, and rope swings, farming, backyard maintenance and small-town rhythms.

Perhaps it’s the duration or the constant movement, or the curiously exhausting activity of “train surfing” while it rolls back and forth over the rails, but the feeling at the end is probably little different from what it was in the last century: At the end of the rail, one appreciates (perhaps more than ever) the luxury of a fine hotel—or better yet, the comforts of home.

The Takeaway: Amtrak’s long distance rail is a great way to visit smaller communities off the grid, see the country through a window instead of a windshield, traveling forgotten wilderness instead of interstate frontage roads and gas stations. Above all, it's a great way to suspend time and immerse oneself in the joy of the journey.

Pro Tips: Sleeper accommodations tend to sell out on popular routes during the summer, so book ahead for good pricing.

Bring shower sandals and toiletries. The only provided amenities in Amtrak’s shower compartments are soap and towels.

Beverage selections on Amtrak trains include a limited menu of Pepsi products but, unlike the airlines, feel free to bring as much of your own non-alcoholic provisions as you can within Amtrak’s carryon limits.