The art of riding long-distance trains in the US

It’s interesting how quickly a 17 hours train ride goes when you had a 55-hours long one just a couple of days before 🙂 .

Anyway, the ride on the Coast Starlight from San Francisco (Emeryville) to Portland went quite smoothly, and the view over the forests and lakes of Northern California and Ontario were quite spectacular, with snowy peaks in the distance and quite a lot of different birds flying around in the early hours of the morning (I just realized I don’t have my camera with me… so for the pics you’ll have to wait 🙂 ).

Other than that, the vibe on the Coast Starlight was not as great as on the California Zephyr, probably due to the fact that there were a lot less tourists, and a few more “interesting characters” (but for the people and stories you’ll have to wait for the dedicated post I am working on… There are quite a few “pearls”, I promise!).

In any case, based on my now extensive experience in riding on Amtrak’s lines, I have put together a few quick notes and suggestions I hope will come handy for those considering doing the same trip in the future.

Riding the California Zephyr – a practical guide

If you are only interested in the scenic part and you don’t hate yourself enough to sit on the train for an extra day (and night) looking at farms, then your best option is to travel on the California Zephyr from Denver to Sacramento/San Francisco, or vice-versa.

My coach ticket from Chicago to San Francisco costed USD 170, but prices vary depending on dates and demand.

The seats in coach are pretty roomy with plenty of leg space and they recline quite a lot, so they are reasonably comfortable for a night or two. Just make sure to avoid the first row by the car’s door, as those seats don’t have a footrest, and to bring warm clothes as Amtrak likes its air-con set to “penguin” mode.

While in Europe you would typically get a specific seat assigned to you when you book the ticket, Amtrak only guarantees you will have a seat on the train (i.e. they don’t sell more tickets than they have seats for… so no one gets dragged out in the middle of the night in Omaha 🙂 ), but those are not pre-assigned so you can typically just pick the first available one you find. However, on the Coast Starlight to Portland, the conductor assigned me a specific seat when I boarded, which is kind of annoying particularly if you are travelling alone and you get seated next to a random person while the rest of the car has plenty of empty seats (they say they save them for couples travelling together that board later on, but in my case those all boarded in Portland so I could spread on a double seat the whole night without anyone bothering me 🙂 ).

All of the cars are double-deckers, so when you book your ticket you can choose if you want a seat on the top floor or on the lower level, where also the toilets are located (so I’d pick an upper level seat).

All seats also have a power outlet (but no USB ports. These are  located under the window, which makes them a bit harder to access if you are sitting on the aisle and the window seat is occupied by someone else. The seats don’t have an armrest in between either, so it can be a bit awkward if you end up being seated next to someone you don’t know (or someone really big…). At the same time, if no one is sitting next to you the double-seat is a lot easier to enjoy.

Travelling in style (?)

If you prefer more privacy or have hopes for a more comfortable night sleep, Amtrak does offer a few ”luxury” options, which however look better on the website than in real life.

The conductor gave me a quick tour of the sleeper cars, so I could confirm first hand the disappointment of some of the other passengers at the size and comfort of these options. The 2-bed roomette for instance in reality looks like the berths that sailors on submarines sleep in, with barely any extra space and with not much headroom either, so not a recommended option for those suffering from claustrophobia. The larger ”family” rooms for 4 are not much bigger, but can cost up to a couple of thousand dollars one way.

The major issue if you are travelling alone is however that you cannot just book one bed, you need to reserve the entire room/roomette, which can end up costing quite a lot. The sleeper cars have also a couple of showers (which I heard were pretty ”compact” too), while the coach cars only have regular toilets, although a couple are slightly bigger and include a small ”dressing room”, so you can at least freshen up and change if you want to.

The Coast Starlight also offers a “business class” service. which is only slightly more expensive than coach I did not see it in person, but I think the seats are the same but with added perks like free wifi, a coupon for the cafe and an invitation to a wine tasting (stress on “invitation”… you still need to pay extra for the wine and snacks 🙂 ).

In the end, you are most likely to spend most of your awake time in the car where the observation deck (and the cafe in the lower level) are located. The observation deck has a few chairs and sofas that can be oriented to make it easier to look out through the window. This area can get crowded at times and people are invited to take turns in the chairs, but in my case most of the times there was plenty of seating available for everybody that wanted to be there, and I personally spent most of my time there, moving around between different seats.

The cafe serves drinks, snacks and hot food (microwaved) and it is open most of the time during the day. Prices are not terribly high but selection is limited, so I am happy I had done a bit of shopping before boarding and I could enjoy the fruit, snacks and water I had with me.

A couple of things to keep in mind in this department:

1. you are not allowed to consume any alcohol not purchased onboard, so it makes little sense to stock up on booze (unless you like living dangerously);
2. even the longer stops don’t typically last more than 20 minutes, so you won’t have a chance to run and buy something in the stations without seriously risking to be left behind.

During the trip, I would recommend to test at least once the restaurant. The food is OK, but having a proper cooked meal on a train is quite an experience and the prices are not too bad (e.g. USD 25 for the steak). The only catch is that seats are limited, so you need to book in advance, although in my case that was really only enforced for dinner (at lunch, showing up early was enough to at least be put on the wait list and get a seat relatively quickly). The restaurant manager walks around the train taking reservations a couple of hours before the meal, starting with the sleepers and then moving on to coach (he will not take reservations in the observation deck, so you need to be at your assigned seat when he passes by to get one).

The staff will try to fill up all tables, so you’ll end up being randomly seated with other passengers, which offers the opportunity to make some new acquaintances and for some very interesting conversations.

The only issue I encountered with the restaurant is actually quite funny: the restaurant is located above the kitchen, and the two spaces share the same ventilation system. Understandably, the kitchen staff kept putting the air conditioning to the max to cope with the heat of their working station, but that also meant turning the restaurant above into a freezer (so bring a sweater 🙂 ).

All meals are included if you are travelling in a sleeper car, although to be honest even with this ”perk” I still think those options are overpriced.

In general, I enjoyed this experience quite a lot, thanks also to the very friendly and attentive staff, particularly on the California Zephyr. During the most scenic parts of the ride they even had commentary with interesting details and fun facts about the areas we were passing through (all in the typical “American announcer voice” that made the whole thing even more funny).

I think this covers the most important bits, let me know in the comments if you have any additional question!