Coast Starlight Discussion

I would compare the price of a coach ticket against the price of getting a ticket that includes sleeping accommodations considering the following:

a) All meals are included with the price of your sleeper ticket - where coach they are not.
b) Extra luxury of the Pacific Parlor Car for sleeping car passengers only.
c) Prices for roomettes and even bedrooms have often been cheap on certain days compared to other prices I've noticed from time to time.
d) The comfort of having a sleeper with shower and restroom facilities nearby (or in your room if you choose a bedroom).

I took the Coast Starlight from Los Angeles to San Fransisco and decided to take a roomette just because it is a long journey and I had work I wanted to do etc. All told, it was likely equal to that of the coach fare, if not cheaper, when adding in the free meals I received as a sleeping car passenger. Like Mr. Norman, I would strongly recommend taking this trip overnight in a sleeper.

Keep in mind also, that the northbound Coast Starlight often has better daylight timing for the California Coastal and Cascade Mountain scenery. But with summer approaching, longer daylight hours work in your favor, let alone the fact that the Starlight has been having better on-timep-performance, making your chances to see good daylight scenery either way. However, I still prefer to take this route northbound.

Hello All,

I will be traveling from Sacramento to San Francisco for two weeks, May 18-30. I want to know the quickest way to get into SF
- From Sac-Take Amtrack to Richmond and Bart to SF
-or From Sac- Take Amtrack to Emeryville and then Bart to SF?

Please let me know the which one is the fastest option:0)

Thanks

Z

Quickest way to SF from Amtrak - depends where you're going in SF. I've done both and last time did the bus to the Ferry Building as my meetings were just a few blocks away. It worked fine. I'd say depends upon what hour you're traveling. If its the normal back-up times on the bridge, then I opt for BART.

Using Amtrak to Emeryville with an Amtrak bus to Fisherman's Wharf takes 2.4 hours. The BART option might leave you sitting in Richmond for a while waiting. Why there is a Capitols train leaving Sacramento 15 minutes ahead of the Coast Starlight puzzles me. The Amtrak buses take 40-50 minutes from Emeryville into the city and wait for the passengers from the train to board the bus.
If you want to go to a specific address in San Francisco the quickest way is to drive a car.

lwoods, where in the city are you going (perhaps the courthouse?)

geddes wrote:- Why does it take 12 hours to get from Oakland to Los Angeles on the coast starlight? It's only a 6 hour drive - Isn't it a direct shot!

If you look at a map of California there are three major north-south highway routes - SR 99 (the former U.S. 99), Interstate 5 (which for federal purposes replaced U.S. 99), and U.S. 101.

SR 99 is not entirely a freeway and serves all of the major Central California cities. It's relatively straight and flat but you deal with congestion and in some cities, local traffic (read: intersections and traffic lights).

U.S. 101 is not entirely a freeway and serves all of the coastal cities. As it follows the coastline for the most part it's hardly a "straight-shot" by any definition. Plus the local traffic issue on SR 99.

I-5 is entirely a freeway - but as it is routed well west of SR 99 doesn't serve very many cities at all directly...it's basically a four-lane express route until you hit the Grapevine at the I-5/SR 99 split. Minimal traffic congestion except at the northern and southern extremes.

Add to that - the UP (former SP) Coast Line is a secondary main, has a lot of permanent and temporary slow orders, not fully CTC signalled and there are lots of hand-thrown switches and few sidings. The ATSF route used by the San Joaquins, IIRC, was good for 90 MPH until about a decade ago with the removal of ATS.

wigwagfan wrote:SR 99 is not entirely a freeway and serves all of the major Central California cities. It's relatively straight and flat but you deal with congestion and in some cities, local traffic (read: intersections and traffic lights).

I'm guessing the last traffic light on 99 (Livingston?) was bypassed 20+ years ago.

wigwagfan wrote:The ATSF route used by the San Joaquins, IIRC, was good for 90 MPH until about a decade ago

Freight speed is 70 (?) so it's Class 5, so it's "good" for 90 passenger-- but I think timetable speed has been 79 (or less?) ever since Amtrak started service in 1974.

D.Carleton wrote:Taking it from the top:

- Why does it take 12 hours to get from Oakland to Los Angeles on the coast starlight? It's only a 6 hour drive - Isn't it a direct shot!

The train follows the coast and encounters numerous curves and grades.

Horsehockey.

The Coast Daylight, as late as 1970 operated on a 9 hour, 45 minute card from LAUPT to 3d and Townsend and vice versa. In fact, 9:45 was the timecard for the April 30, 1971 last run of the Daylight.

Now, the Lark (SP 75-76) did run on an 11 hour, 30 minute card... but think about it? If you're doing an overnight run, why not have your travellers roll at a reasonable hour (8PM), have a drink in the lounge or a steak in the diner, sleep in a roomette, bedroom, Compartment, or Drawing Room enroute, and debark at your destination at 730AM, ready to hit the opposite end place of business?

Want the proof? Here's a 1952 SP PTT

Who's holding 11-14 back? Amtrak doesn't have incentive money to pay UP. Mind you, in 1990 SP was ready to sell the Coast Line to Amtrak. 11-14 were the only trains running through on the line. There was some local stuff above Salinas. There was local stuff in the San Fernando Valley.

Disclaimer: IRA position in UNP.

I agree with the recommendation to get off in Emeryville and take the bus to BART to get to San Francisco, but that's 'cause I like taking BART.

If you're going to take the Coast Starlight route south to LA, there's also the option of taking Caltrain to San Jose and getting the Coast Starlight there rather than screwing around with taking the bus to get on at Oakland or Emeryville. It should be the same amount of time, 13 hours, or possibly faster (depending on where in SF you start from). You have to get a separate Caltrain ticket though (& check the Caltrain schedule) and the connection isn't guaranteed.

The inland route is only somewhat faster -- about 10 hours from San Francisco to LA (bus SF-Emeryville and bus Bakersfield-Los Angeles).

John_Perkowski wrote:Horsehockey.

Since the thread originator is new to all this I was attempting to keep it oversimplified. The entire rail network of this country, freight as well as passenger, is too slow and in need of substantial investment... but that's a topic for another thread.

To lighten up your evening, MONDAY NIGHT , JUNE 8 , 9:30 PM EDT, you might want to check out the CBS Sitcom, "Big Bang Theory", for the re-airing of an episode which features a trip aboard the Coast Starlight from Los Angeles to San Francisco.

For those have haven't seen this show, it's about four nerdy physicists who work at some lab/university in the LA area, and have little knowledge of the ordinary world or typical social graces. This fish out of water scenerio produces some funny stuff.

Although much of the "scientific" talk about the Coast Starlight, on the show, is very accurate, the on board scenes take place in a coach car which has no resemblance to anything that the CS uses.

Check it out. Make a game out of picking out the correct and incorrect points, , , plus have a few laughs in the process.

You also get to look at the girl from the Sarah Connor Chronicles, so that's a plus, too!

Dave Becker

I will watch it to see the CS and look foreword to the discussion hear about what is correct and incorrect, lets see how well the producer did his research.

I could tell right away that that was not Super Liner equipment, and I have never been on a Super Liner. Also that lounge car did not sound right, how do you stick what sounds like a older single level lounge car on to a double Decker train?

Did you read in the first post where it was absolutely not a real Amtrak car?

Dave Becker