AMTRAK. SEATTLE TO SAN FRANCISCO

4th - 5th April 2011

Double-decker Amtrac at rainy Seattle

Peep-peep "all aboard" for the Coast Starlight, the 0945hrs Amtrak train from Seattle to San Francisco. It was delayed 30 mins because it had to be 'fixed', and Seattle station is not a great place to be delayed at. Not even anywhere to buy a cup of coffee. They also made tannoy announcements, probably quite relevant ones in our case concerning revised departure times, but due to the quality of the speakers or acoustics nobody, not even the locals, could understand a word of them. Anyway, off we went at about 1015hrs for the 23 hour journey. I was slumming it in 'coach' class for this trip, ie not forking out for the sleeper car which gives you extra perks ( a bed, free meals, wi-fi and use of the luxurious Parlour Car ). As it was, this Amtrak iron horse is in a different class to the east coast models. The Chinese navvies who laid the line here must have been paid more, or drank less because, it was a flat and smooth ride. I was told that the rolling-stock was 1950s vintage ( same as the VIA trains ). It was solidly built, well refurbished and with better suspension, and this train had two decks. The top deck was seating with a lounge car and dining cars and the bottom, some seating plus a bar/cafe car, all the 'rest-rooms' and even an 'amusements' car with a small cinema and electronic game consoles. The reclining seats, as always, were spacious. To give you an idea; if the seat-back was in the upright position and I stretched out my legs, my feet did not touch the seat in front. A far cry from cattle-class on Brit railways or, as they say here, a whole different ball game.



Left: The lounge car; good views and downstairs to the bar and cafe.

  


Right: Dining car. You had to book a sitting and the conductor then called you over the intercom when your table was ready. Quite civilised. No queuing or waiting.

Left: This was the 'parlour car' for use by the sleeper ( 1st class ) passengers. I was rudely reminded by the first stroppy and unhelpful member of any staff that I have met so far in all of North America, that I was NOT ALLOWED in here. I said I just wanted to have a look. She ( for she was a bossy and unpleasant young woman ) tried to make life difficult. Luckily a more senior chap came along and pleasantly told me to go ahead. I gave two fingers to Miss Stroppy which hopefully annoyed her.  



It was an interesting journey. From rainy Seattle we passed Boeing Field ( where Boeing tests and delivers aircraft ) down low lying ground via Tacoma, Centralia, Kelso-Longview and across the state boundary into Oregon at Portland. From here the terrain started to get hilly and wooded and then became mountainous through Salem, Albany and Eugene up to Chemult and Klamath Falls. We hit the snow-line at some point and there were mountains on either side going up to 14,000 ft. It was dramatic scenery. The sky was grey and it all looked very cold and, unfortunately by this stage it was getting dark so no pics worth taking.
As always on Amtrak, there were sensible and audible announcements ( thankfully no 'elf and safety rubbish ) giving information which was timely, useful and often amusing. They have a way of talking to passengers as rational human beings rather than 'cargo'. For example... "we encourage everyone to make full use of the bar facilities on board, however please be reminded that if anyone behaves in a drunken fashion or becomes in any way a nuisance to fellow passengers, their trip will end at the next station!" Also......" Please do not smoke in any part of this train, however for those passengers who enjoy a stogie you are welcome to get off for a smoke break at Eugene, but don't go too far away. If you miss the train there it's a $300 cab ride to join us again at Chemult, and there's always one!" It would be inconceivable for drunken rowdy yobs to annoy fellow passengers on these trains. Mobile phones are not permitted to be used in the dining cars. It is a civilised and pleasant environment with smart and helpful staff, apart from Miss Stroppy who rather let the side down.



Right: I was in the rear coach. They normally have a window at the back which allows you to see behind. I think this was going over a river bridge south of Portland, Oregon.









I had a reasonable sleep ( in no worse comfort than business class on Vietnam Airlines, which, I appreciate, may not say a lot ) and woke up with a slightly stiff neck just before we reached Sacramento, California. There were now blue skies and palm trees and we were back at sea level, so quite a climate change. Interestingly, there is no rail station in San Francisco so I got off at a place called Emeryville at 0845hrs where we were put onto a bus and driven for 30 mins, over the Bay Bridge to the Ferry Building in town.




Left: Blue skies on arrival at Emeryville, Ca.










There is another, indeed the only other, Green Tortoise in San Francisco into which I had already booked. I was looking forward to it. According to Miss Nosering in Seattle they were due to have a 'Killer Pool' and 'Crab Racing' night on the night I arrived. I was  quivering with anticipation...............!