2 DAYS on Amtrak Coast Starlight Train from LA to Seattle

home for the next 34 hours the coast Starlight this is going to be an Epic Journey can't wait to share it with you let's get on board the west coast of the United States offers stunning scenery and there's no better way to see it than from Amtrak's Coast Starlight from La all the way to Seattle we'll see stunning coastlines and marvelous Mountains from the comfort of an Amtrak bedroom as we decide whether the West Coast really is the best coast we'll leave Los Angeles just before 10 in the morning our trip will take 34 hours and cover nearly 1400 miles as we wind our way up the west coast of the United States we plan to arrive into Seattle just before 8 o'clock tomorrow night hello jet Setters and rail fans I'm Jeb Brooks from greenergrass.com right now I'm in Los Angeles we're getting ready to head up to Seattle Washington on what some have called America's most stunning rail journey this is the coast of Starlight I've only ever boarded a long distance Amtrak train in Chicago so this is kind of strange but boy is this a beautiful station check it out and there can be no doubt about it Los Angeles Union Station is a remarkable space opened in 1939 this building Blends Spanish and Art Deco into one of the most distinctive in the Amtrak Network waiting areas are limited here though don't arrive too early you'll be out of luck there are plenty of restaurants and even a convenience store in here though because we were booked into a bedroom we had access to the Metropolitan Lounge here so we headed upstairs to check it out it's a relatively small space there was an unsecured room to store our bags like most of the other passengers we felt comfortable leaving them here for the duration of our visit limited food and drink options are available there's also a cabinet with artifacts highlighting the rail Heritage of this region I really like this but more than anything it was really quiet when it was nearly time to board passengers were given a choice if you wanted assistance an Amtrak employee would give you a ride otherwise you could walk which is what we chose to do at other Amtrak stations an employee guides passengers to their train I guess they're short staffed here because I was just volatile to be the leader on the way to the train I've never had that experience so hopefully I don't lose anybody in the way thankfully we all made it to our track here we go this is us Coast Starlight all the way to Seattle this is going to be an Epic Journey I just know it question will we be able to find our car this time well we're 1431 whatever that means wish us luck in the past we've struggled to find our car and with nobody to guide us here we just walked along the train looking for something that said 14 31. we finally found it from there though we made our way upstairs to room B in the super liner we'll have plenty of time to explore our bedroom here we are home for the next 34 hours Let's debating on Audible Starlight darkbound to Seattle Washington you want some coffee not at the moment thank you this is a little different than the experience departing Chicago that's kind of dark and basementy this is um daylight and sunshine right on time let's go see the West Coast [Music] it's slightly disconcerting [Music] once we lost sight of the skyline the views departing Los Angeles left a lot to be desired a good scenery was still ahead of us our first stop though was the Burbank Bob Hope Airport one of a handful of airports in this country with Amtrak stations can you name the others there's no doubt about it Amtrak is all about the scenery but let's face it it's not always it's not always magnificent here I mean there there's it's not always perfect so Jeff we're about 30 minutes into this journey when can we expect to enter the rail zone I'm there it's happened we are in the rail Zone and for those who don't know what is the rails of about 30 minutes after you start any long-haul Amtrak Journey really any long-haul rail journey you just sort of get into this feeling this sense of just absolute calm and relaxation you can only get on a long-haul train journey I'm not feeling it yet should I be concerned yes I think we need to seek medical attention okay in order to help speed up Suzanne's entry into the rail Zone we decided to make our way to the sightseer Lounge to get there we passed through another Sleeper Car the dining car and a business class car it's always a good idea to find your way here but it was particularly beautiful as we passed through the San Fernando Valley [Music] foreign waiting for a southbound train to come by we're just stopped here for a little bit uh we went up to the observation car the sightseer lounge and the good side the left side of the direction of travel was full so we decided to come back here so we'd have a better view of the coast as we get up here but lunch is coming soon it's at noon got a reservation so we'll be back in the dining car in not too long we waited for the Pacific surfliner which soon passed we made our way through some of California's most verdant agricultural regions which did nothing but make us hungry for Amtrak's traditional dining you see unlike the trains back East these Western trains currently offer the traditional dining that's another way of saying real food if you want to spend more time with the menus check out greenergrass.com menus foreign next up the Pacific coastline [Music] I think that's the uh that's the ocean [Music] [Music] where else in the United States can you literally watch waves crash from Amtrak this is a really remarkable route [Music] Sleeper Car passengers like us were able to reserve a time for lunch and dinner or have the food delivered to our rooms by sleeping car attendance breakfast was offered on a first come first serve basis if there was additional space in the dining car at meal times business class passengers were able to pay twenty dollars for breakfast 25 for lunch or 45 for dinner we'd made a noon reservation with the hope of catching more views of the coast like this from the dining car thankfully we planned well time for lunch let's head back there this was also our first time sitting with other passengers on any Amtrak Journey which added a new layer of enjoyment to our time on board that also made filming a little more challenging we don't like to record other passengers unless they want us to and as we made our way towards Santa Barbara two other passengers joined us for lunch the scenery and the conversation made the time between ordering and receiving our food fly by [Music] turned out everybody at the table opted for cheeseburgers and everybody at the table seemed as happy as I was with him after lunch we return to our room for even more remarkable views and despite the low clouds the afternoon was one of the most relaxing I can remember experiencing onboard Amtrak how was your lunch I loved it I thought it was really tasty um I love a hamburger and there's something special about eating a hamburger on a train overlooking the Pacific coast am I right totally absolutely you got the hamburger too what you think yeah very good very nice I think this was our first time um dining with other Amtrak passengers so that was kind of a fun angle to like get to know why other folks are riding this train and it seems like everybody well the other two people at our table the two other people at our table were running for the same reason we were they wanted to see the scenery and check out California from A New Perspective which this is the way to do it at least so far I mean it's beautiful out there isn't it oh sorry what was that I got distracted by the views [Music] the name of this train the coast Starlight combines the names of two pre-amtrack trains that once served this stretch of the continent the Southern Pacific Coast daylight and the Starlight that said those two Services would only have gotten us as far as San Francisco but we're going all the way to Seattle on this trip before the Advent of this service in May 1971 you would have had to have changed trains in San Francisco to reach Portland OR Seattle [Music] [Music] [Music] all told we hug the California coastline for about three hours and every minute was spectacular but the coast Starlight is about even more than just these specific Pacific Views keep watching to see even more but first it's time to take a closer look inside the train it's time for a room tour we have booked the bedroom here on Amtrak and it's really quite comfortable for two people I would say it's still quite cozy though and you probably want to know whoever you're sharing with pretty well like if your socks are smelly you're going to know about it whoops you've seen any of other videos you might be familiar with the Amtrak super liner bedroom still I want to show you around a little bit here so you've got your sink which is great you've also got this killer bathroom and shower combination right here which is fantastic and a real treat of a bedroom because otherwise you'll be sharing bathrooms and showers downstairs with other so it's a real treat to be in a bedroom you've also got this great chair here which is one of my favorite places to sit and enjoy the trip looks like Suzanne's enjoying it too belong here there's a sofa which converts into a bed as does this upper bunk at night now your room attendant is happy to turn that down for you it's a good thing we have our own bathroom the bedroom really is large it's one of those things though that's tough to demonstrate on camera but we did our level best if you book a bedroom you might be wondering what can you do with the space well we put it to the test here is the two of us standing next to each other is this room big enough to dance to Charleston is it big enough for a lunch [Music] one and a half is this room big enough to do a push-up yeah it is if you do choose to do a push-up in this room I would highly recommend washing your hands after and just like that we've left the coastline behind [Music] we really had left the coast behind and entered an entirely different world I've always dreamed of coming to San Luis Obispo I just love the name and that dream is coming to reality right now welcome San Luis Obispo is a fresh air break what do you say we go check it out it was a welcome treat since we hadn't stepped off the train in Santa Barbara during the last fresh air break because that's when we were eating lunch we started to nod off a little there but this uh California Sunshine wakes you right up we boarded early in order to find a spot in the sightseer lounge and securing our seat was richly rewarded as we climbed up on our way to Paso Robles [Music] delays on Amtrak are not unexpected but it can be a bit disheartening to get passed by a bicycle we didn't wait long though [Music] along this section we climbed over 1 000 feet in only 11 miles passing through several tunnels [Music] like so much of the coast Starlight this is really beautiful at nearly five o'clock I headed downstairs to the cafe to buy a snack and a couple of beers this Cafe is open to everyone on the train to purchase food and drinks [Music] foreign we toasted our adventure and enjoyed golden hour hippies it's like [Music] there's nothing else like it our seven o'clock dinner reservation was getting close so we headed back to our room to enjoy the last few minutes of the sunset before heading to the dining car as the sun goes down on another amazing day of Amtrak travel I just feel so grateful to have the experience to to see the world this way there's nothing quite like Amtrak but for now it's time to head up for dinner [Music] we sat with another couple who were just as friendly as our lunch companions dinner is a three-course Affair Suzanne started with a coconut crusted shrimp and I kicked things off with the Mexican souffle for the main course Suzanne had the panko chicken and I had Amtrak's signature steak which was an absolute highlight for the entire trip we shared a piece of cheesecake before returning to our room which had been transformed during dinner into a whole new place [Music] all right this is the bed as you can see it's it's substantial look I'm uh five feet 11 inches or 180 centimeters and I've got plenty of room I slept for about eight hours before waking up 5 30 in the morning near Mount Shasta there's no way around it that was not a great night of sleep you know how we shoot you straight usually my Amtrak sleeps great that just wasn't I don't know if the track is rough here or I don't know I just didn't get a great night's sleep but looking forward to a beautiful day breakfast should start in about an hour and I'm excited to see what Oregon and Washington State have to offer I grabbed a cup of coffee in the hallway outside our room and watched the sun slowly light up the Northern California landscape sleep or no sleep it was to be another beautiful Amtrak morning [Music] before too long Suzanne woke up too it was time to have breakfast let's get some coffee and give it a go breakfast service began at 6 30 and was served in a first come first serve basis we had no trouble finding space when we arrived in the dining car at 7 15 just as the sun was topping the nearby Cascade Mountains we pulled into Klamath Falls just over the Oregon border when our food arrived Suzanne had the scrambled eggs and I had the breakfast quesadilla we pulled away from Klamath Falls and caught a brief glimpse of Mount Shasta before grabbing a cup of coffee and returning to our room just back from that really delicious breakfast and we're passing upper Klamath Lake talk about great timing it's beautiful morning just entering having entered the great state of Oregon beautiful part of the country that I'm sorry to say haven't spent more time in but glad to be here today on the train and I wasn't the only one feeling more refreshed following breakfast Sunshine a little bit um yeah it's giving me life I feel a little bit more peppy right now [Music] getting to see Oregon like this is illustrative of Amtrak's tri-fold purpose in my mind it's first it's an amusement park ride it's a great time second of all it's public transportation of course it gets you from one place to another but third perhaps most importantly it's a National Treasure we spent the morning climbing up into the Cascades Amazed by tree covered Peaks and occasional Vistas across the Wilds of Oregon welcome to chambolt Oregon this is the closest Stop to Crater Lake which is definitely on my bucket list have you been what's it like from there we continued our climb following along the Willamette River and passing through a total of 22 different tunnels soon though we encountered a lot of smoke from forest fires burning in the Pacific Northwest as we traveled through this almost mystical landscape we couldn't help but let our imaginations run free we may lose a viewer or two here but I want to take a look at my shirt that's Sasquatch the area in Rwanda where the mountain gorillas were discovered is smaller than the area here in the Pacific Northwest where the so-called Sasquatch is said to possibly be living in other words it's not crazy to think it's somewhere out there there's a large priming I mean just take a look at this dense forest it's thick nearly impenetrable dark a great place for a large primate to live in my opinion now I'm not a zoologist so I really don't know what I'm talking about but come on it's not crazy right while dreaming aside the smoke became incredibly thick as we descended into the valley below pretty Smoky out there the smoke was so thick in fact it prompted an announcement from our conductor saying the fires posed no danger to the train smoke has a real accurate smell to it [Music] it's almost lunchtime and after the last three meals dining with our fellow passengers uh the introvert in me is coming out and we've decided to have lunch in our room today just kind of a cozy lunch for two be very nice it always is nice to eat your room a benefit of Amtrak without a doubt but first it was time for another fresh air break here in Eugene Oregon despite the lingering smell of smoke it felt so good to get off of the train and stretch since the last time we gotten off was back in San Luis Obispo it was three o'clock the day before 21 hours ago welcome to Eugene Oregon this is the westernmost City in the entire Amtrak Network this is also the first time since San Luis Obispo we've been off the train boy does it feel good to stretch legs and stretch them we did with almost 30 minutes to burn here Suzanne always a bit more adventurous than me decided to really explore as much of Eugene as she could we're not supposed to leave the train what are you thinking it was one block but soon even she decided it was time to get back on board so we made our way there heading upstairs to our room where we would soon be trying lunch our room attendant brought lunch only minutes after we departed Eugene we laid everything out on our table and began opening up the dishes for Suzanne it was the Chili Bowl and I opted for the Mixed green salad with some chicken on it the chicken was tough but the salad was fresh [Music] this on the Amtrak can sometimes feel that hard to come by so sometimes I pick up my own snacks gonna supplement lunch with little apple I picked up in La we continued our journey northward through Oregon stopping at places like Albany and Salem and passing through towns like Oregon City the first U.S city Incorporated west of the Rockies so you may have noticed we've been spending a lot of time in our room today but not exactly intentional just the observation car has been full every time we've gone in there to try to grab a seat every seat has been taken three hours after Eugene we reached Portland another fresh air break and another truly beautiful station we were glad to get out and explore a bit here Portland is known as the city of roses and is the largest in Oregon it's one of only four cities in the U.S with an extinct volcano within its borders what a truly beautiful station I just love seeing a new station like this one bear in mind if you do get off the train and head out of the station you're gonna have to stand in line to get your ticket checked again here this is what's called a closed platform so you got to make sure you take your ticket with you we moved through the line fairly quickly made our way across the platform and back onto the train where we snagged seats in the sightseer Lounge we soon crossed the Columbia River to enter the third and final state of this trip welcome to Washington [Music] unfortunately just on the other side of the river we faced our first significant delay of the trip but even it was only 30 minutes as we waited for this Freight traffic to clear [Music] the rest of the journey into Seattle went by relatively quickly dinner was tasty Suzanne and I both had the salmon which seemed fitting in the Pacific Northwest we shared a slice of the lemon cake enjoyed more conversation with fellow Travelers and took in a magnificent sunset the food on this trip was heads and shoulders above anything currently on offer on board the East Coast trains but the stake was the unquestioned highlight for me there's no doubt about it there is no better way to experience the United States of America than from an Amtrak train this was a remarkable trip on a remarkable route can't wait for the next one if you're considering this trip I'd encourage you not to miss the section between Simi Valley and San Luis Obispo those Coastal views are not to be missed but that shouldn't take away from this morning's Trek through the Oregon mountains that was also incredible that said I really wish we'd gotten out in Portland yeah we would have missed that one last dinner but this last section is dark we pulled into Seattle only uh 20 minutes late all in the coast Starlight is not quite the same as the cross-country trips from Chicago but definitely deserves every bit of credit it gets as America's most stunning rail journey between now and the next time see on the rails that's awkward we're gonna be moving that here we are on a beautiful agricultural part of California stunning isn't it this is a really special route or route if you care to go that Direction look you're like I'm working jump yeah you gotta go back to work I'm working I'm working cutting room floor yeah probably not gonna make even more smile like you should be happy about this Charleston I don't know what was the cut I didn't get it yeah too close between now the next time Oh I thought you just moved

Channel: Jeb Brooks

Views: 1,396,891

Keywords: Coast Starlight, Amtrak, Amtrak Overnight, Amtrak Bedroom, Amtrak Coast Starlight, Amtrak California, West Coast Amtrak, USA Trains, amtrak coast starlight, amtrak train, amtrak sleeper car tour, train travel, long distance train, amtrak review, train review, dining car, amtrak guide, long distance train travel, long distance train ride, long distance train in usa, long distance train journey, amtrak sleeper train, amtrak sleeper bedroom

Id: ggC5N6GnqFg

Length: 27min 13sec (1633 seconds)

Published: Sat Oct 22 2022