Your suggestions sought please (LAX-SAC)

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mcropod

Lead Service Attendant
Joined
Jan 29, 2018
Messages
423
Location
Oz
I'd appreciate the input of knowledgeable people please.....

I'm going to be taking the #14 Coastal Starlight from LAX northwards later this month with the aim of getting into Sacramento.

I've booked a business class seat on Monday 30 April (LAX-SAC), and I'm perfectly prepared to make it as a single 14 hour journey (I live in Oz and it's not unusual to travel for that time here).

But the SAC arrival time is scheduled as midnight, although monitoring the trains on https://asm.transitdocs.comshows delays beyond midnight are not uncommon.

Getting in at midnight doesn't much worry me either, I'm a big boy now.

But I'm wondering if there's a better way to make the journey, still using #14 for the first part from LAX, but breaking in a nice place, then catching another to SAC the next morning from whatever that place is. I'd really only be bunking down in that intermediate place rather than having a good look around there, because I'd want to be in Sacramento by early afternoon at the latest (1 May). It wouldn't be a San Francisco, for example, as I'd not do it justice.

The benefit would be to do more travelling by daylight (I calculate I'd lose the light somewhere past Oakland or so on the #14), stay in another place perhaps at lower cost than Sacramento (as well as check-in at a decent time), but still give me a decent day and night in Sacramento the next day before nicking off from there on the next leg, on 2 May.

I'm keen to keep to the #14 at least for its first bit as I'd like to have a squiz at your side of the Pacific, given I've seen quite a bit of my side of the Pacific.

I'm keen to have a gander at the Sacramento Railway Museum, for example.

If anyone would care to offer an idea or two, I'm all ears.
 
Hello,

I would consider Salinas. There is a John Steinbeck museum that is interesting and some good Mexican food. Fairly reasonable lodging and there is 5 or 6 trains leaving for Sacramento starting at 3am so you should be able to maintain your schedule. Just a thought,I'm sure you'll get plenty. Have a great trip.
 
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San Jose arrival on 14 is 8:11 PM then you can catch a 9:16 AM arriving Sacramento at 12:32 PM. Oakland arrival is 9;24 PM which gives you several departs to Sacramento that will arive late morning or early afternoon. Hotels in Oakland are less expensive than San Jose near the station.
 
Hello,

I would consider Salinas. There is a John Steinbeck museum that is interesting and some good Mexican food. Fairly reasonable lodging and there is 5 or 6 trains leaving for Sacramento starting at 3am so you should be able to maintain your schedule. Just a thought,I'm sure you'll get plenty. Have a great trip.
The Coast Starlight is the only train through Salinas. Any other service involves a bus connection.
 
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I would tend to stick with the original plan and go through to Sacramento. There is the Vagabond Inn very close to the station which is not overly expensive, so it would be convenient for a late night arrival. Also a Holiday Inn a little further away. Have a sleep in the following morning and enjoy Sacramento Rail Museum.

There is a good HI Hostel in Sacramento if you like budget stays, but you would need to check if they can manage such a late night arrival time.

Ed.
 
The problem is that the Starlight is the only train between San Luis Obispo and San Jose. Thruway bus service, though, isn't bad at all. You miss some pretty nice scenery between SLO and Paso Robles, and going through Elkhorn Slough between Salinas and San Jose. But the bus pretty much follows the same route as the train between Paso Robles and Salinas, and between Salinas and San Jose except for Elkhorn Slough.

So the options are: go all the way through to Sacramento, take a 24 hour break and pick up the Starlight the next day, do a Thruway bus connection to San Jose, or stay in San Jose or Oakland or Emeryville.

If I was going to break the trip somewhere, I'd do it in SLO or Paso Robles. SLO is a nice, walkable college town (and would be my personal pick), Paso Robles is an up and coming wine region, although I don't know about winery bus tours -- if they have them, that would be a very nice break. There's a case to be made for San Jose, although it's going to be expensive (Silicon Valley prices). Jack London Square, where the train stops in Oakland, is nice too -- worth a couple of hours in the evening, or breakfast in the morning. Not much in Emeryville. Oakland and Emeryville are expensive too, although not usually as dear as San Jose. You can sometimes find deals anywhere, though.

I live near Salinas -- wouldn't recommend it as a stopover, not compared to Paso Robles or SLO.

Another option is Davis -- another college town, that's often cheaper than Sacto and a pleasant place to be (although SLO beats it by a mile, IMHO). It would be a 15 minute ride into Sacto in the morning.
 
I have ridden LAX to SAC on the 14. It was about 15 or so minutes late. What you should do is call the hotel to let them know about your late night arrival, I did it last week, and they were fine with that.
 
The Vagabond Hotel in Sacramento has three things in its favor for you: it's fairly nice; it's not high priced (about US$115 or less); it's essentially half way between the station and the museum (less than 200 yards from each). Your longest walk will be the 275 yards between the platform to the train station. The Vagabond now has a shuttle to & from the train station. https://res.windsurfercrs.com/ibe/index.aspx?propertyID=14430&checkin=04/30/2018&checkout=05/01/2018

Wife & I spent a night there a few years ago after getting off the California Zephyr and visiting the railroad museum, then heading South on the Coast Starlight then next morning. We'd do the same thing if we ever went that route again.
 
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The Thruway buses aren't bad for a short run (2 hours or less), but they are not a good option for longer trips. I'm not tall, but I find the legroom isn't great, you can't get up and walk around easily like you can on a train, and there's no food or beverage service. That bus ride from San Luis Obispo (probably the best place for a stopover) to San Jose is 4 1/2 hours! That is a looong time to be cooped up on a bus.

The scenery along the water between Emeryville and Suisun is nice, though, and you're right, if you do the whole trip on the Coast Starlight you will miss it. Since you don't live in the U.S. you may not be by this way again, so one option would be to break your trip in Salinas. I agree with TiBike that Salinas is not otherwise a good choice for a stopover, but the bus ride from Salinas to San Jose is well under 2 hours. You can get on a Capitol Corridor Amtrak train in San Jose and ride to Sacramento in the daylight and be able to view the scenery.

However, you will arrive in SAC at 6:24 pm. So if you absolutely have to be in SAC by early afternoon, you should just stay on the Coast Starlight. Sorry!
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I have stayed at the hostel in Sacramento and it is a good option, but I don't know if they allow late check-ins.
 
Hello,

I would consider Salinas. There is a John Steinbeck museum that is interesting and some good Mexican food. Fairly reasonable lodging and there is 5 or 6 trains leaving for Sacramento starting at 3am so you should be able to maintain your schedule. Just a thought,I'm sure you'll get plenty. Have a great trip.
The Coast Starlight is the only train through Salinas. Any other service involves a bus connection.
Sorry my bad about the train. Only bus connection, but hey, rent a car and drive to Monterrey its only 20 miles. Lot of history in that area.
 
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Monterey-Salinas Transit bus #20 will take you from downtown Salinas, near the train station, to downtown Monterey for $3.50. there are also a couple of MST buses thatll get you to San Jose earlier than the Thruways.

That said, Id still opt for Paso or SLO -- afternoons are very pleasant on the central coast

Sent from my ZTE A2017U using Amtrak Forum mobile app
 
That said, Id still opt for Paso or SLO -- afternoons are very pleasant on the central coast
Again, neither option will satisfy the OP's requirement of getting into Sacramento before early afternoon. The earliest one can get from a central coast point to Sacramento is 4 pm, which is too late (unless we're including the midnight bus departure, but I don't see how a midnight departure on an overnight bus is better than just staying on the Starlight and getting to SAC at midnight).

Honestly, the only realistic options are San Jose or Oakland. Beyond that, you might as well just press on to Sacramento.
 
Arriving by train in Sacramento before early afternoon is easy if that's the only requirement:

• Coast Starlight North to Chico arriving at 0147

• Coast Starlight South to Sacramento departing Chico at 0350 arriving Sacramento at 0635
 
Arriving by train in Sacramento before early afternoon is easy if that's the only requirement:

• Coast Starlight North to Chico arriving at 0147

• Coast Starlight South to Sacramento departing Chico at 0350 arriving Sacramento at 0635
Somehow I don't think that works for the OP

The benefit would be to do more travelling by daylight (I calculate I'd lose the light somewhere past Oakland or so on the #14), stay in another place perhaps at lower cost than Sacramento (as well as check-in at a decent time), but still give me a decent day and night in Sacramento the next day before nicking off from there on the next leg, on 2 May.
 
Your options are probably San Jose, Oakland, Emeryville, Martinez, or Davis since those are all stops along the CS also served by Capitol Corridor. San Jose has the issue that there is limited Capitol Corridor service.

I think Richmond would have been a good choice when the CS used to serve it. There was BART which could be taken to San Francisco or other parts of the Bay Area. The area around the station is pretty bad, but the transfer from the Amtrak platform to BART doesn't require leaving the station. Also you could take the CS to Oakland and then an Amtrak bus to San Francisco. Standard lodging isn't cheaper in San Francisco, but there are a lot of hostels around downtown San Francisco if you're OK with dormitory style accommodations. From San Francisco you could take an Amtrak bus to Emeryville (where the northbound trains connect) and then Capitol Corridor to Sacramento.
 
Many thanks for your various inputs.

I think your advice has helped crystallise in my mind that the better choice is to stay on the train until SAC and hope it's not overly late.

Before seeking your advice, I'd had a look at options of getting off earlier in the journey, but saw the only viable options were getting off somewhere from San Jose and points north, as you had advised, in order to get on board a state service the next morning. I'd not found any hotels in those places which made things a better financial proposition.

Thanks too for the advice on places to stay in Sacramento. I'd already sorted that and sussed out the hotel's willingness to check me on after midnight. As a couple of you have identified, some places lock their doors a bit earlier.

As I mentioned, Oz is also a big place, so 14 hours on a train or bus or driving, is not such a big ask. In fact, I have two flight sectors each of about 14 hours to get from my departure point in Oz to my USA arrival point, and I have rellos here that travel-time distance away (and more) by car. Keep your eyes open for 'roos and stray livestock you'll be right :)

My issue was mainly about scenery missed because of travel that night, but by the time of boarding #14 at LAX, I'd already have about 6000kms of your railway scenery logged, with another 13,000 to go. Some of that will be overnight, so I reckon three or so hours of the ride north of Oakland won't be a bother.

Thankyou again for your advice.
 
FWIW, I think the section from Oakland past Martinez is prettier at night -- the lights along San Pablo Bay and the Carquinez Strait are nice. If it's a moonlit night, it can be spectacular the whole way. Enjoy the trip!
 
FWIW, I think the section from Oakland past Martinez is prettier at night -- the lights along San Pablo Bay and the Carquinez Strait are nice. If it's a moonlit night, it can be spectacular the whole way. Enjoy the trip!
Full moon that night - OK the previous night - so I’m well mollified. Thanks for the heads-up!
 
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