Coast Starlight questions

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MyJourneys

MyJourneys

Train Attendant
Joined
Jan 23, 2015
Messages
54
Hi everyone,

I'm thinking about a trip on the Coast Starlight (LAX to SEA). I know they no longer have the Pacific Parlour Car, but was wondering if they still do anything special/different than on other long-distance routes. I remember reading wine tastings and movies?

Does anyone know what the changes are? (The route guide at the Amtrak website still says they have the Parlour Car, so the website hasn't been updated.)

Thanks for your help!

Journey
 
Thanks! Can you tell me about the views? Are they comparable to the California Zephyr's? A "wow" kind of trip? Or the Southwest Chief's? (Which I liked, too - maybe not as much as the CZ, but it had it's own charm.)

Thanks, again!

Journey
 
The CS has super view along the Pacific Ocean leaving LA, but if the train is late during the winter it will be dark. Oregon and Washington have some terrific views, especially lower Oregon.
 
CS has wonderful views, primarily along the coast. Wouldn't say they are quite on par with the CZ, but probably very comparable to the SWC.
 
The CD leaves Los Angeles at 10 am so if you are on the left side you will get the ocean view. Some of the best scenery is north of Sacramento. Redding, Dunsmuir,but unfortunately that is at night. You will wake up to a great view of Mt Shasta and nice scenery on into Klamath Falls. It's all good and you end up in a great city. Take the trip,you'll enjoy it.
 
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I have taken the CZ, the EB, the SWC, and the CS. Each of these routes have some spectacular views. The CZ probably has best, the CS has the Pacific Ocean, interior of California, Mt. Shasta in Oregon, and the Puget Sound with all the mountains in Washington.
 
One of my favorite stretches of Amtrak scenery is the coast between Ventura and San Luis Obispo on the CS. It's all personal preference. For me, the only comparable stretches are Glacier Park on the EB and Glenwood Canyon on the CZ.
 
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I forgot to thank you for your comments about the CS views. I think I'm going to do it in September. Hopefully the summer crowds will be gone, but the weather will still be good!

Want to do the Empire Builder eventually, too, but think I'll do the CS first.

Journey
 
On balance the CS has the best scenery of any Amtrak train. From start to finish. Going Westbound on the EB,CZ and SW Chief you have to wait a day to get the great Mountain views. The Sunset also has great scenery,the swamps etc heading out of New Orleans
 
benale said:
On balance the CS has the best scenery of any Amtrak train. From start to finish. Going Westbound on the EB,CZ and SW Chief you have to wait a day to get the great Mountain views. The Sunset also has great scenery,the swamps etc heading out of New Orleans
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There are a lot of people who will egg your house for claiming that. I would say that the Zephyr is almost certainly the prettiest train in the system. The scenery is spectacular pretty much the whole way between Denver and Emeryville. The EB is probably second best, and maybe the CS is about tied with to the SWC.

But seriously, you must be in quite the small minority of people to claim that the CS is king.
 
The scenery from Chicago to Denver is not spectacular. That's why I said on balance. On the Starlight from South of Santa Barbara only two hours in to the Northbound trip until the Puget Sound in Seattle the great views are non stop. It takes 18 hours from leaving Chicago to get those spectacular views on the Zephyr. If it started in Denver,then I would definitely say the CZ
 
benale said:
The scenery from Chicago to Denver is not spectacular. That's why I said on balance. On the Starlight from South of Santa Barbara only two hours in to the Northbound trip until the Puget Sound in Seattle the great views are non stop. It takes 18 hours from leaving Chicago to get those spectacular views on the Zephyr. If it started in Denver,then I would definitely say the CZ
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It’s 32 hours on the Starlight from Santa Barbara to Seattle. It’s 34 hours between DEN and EMY on the Zephyr. So if you’re talking about the train with the most beautiful scenery, the Zephyr wins.
 
Its the old beauty is in the eye of the beholder....While the Zephyr does travel thru spectacular scenery west of Denver, it would be somewhat unfair to characterize the eastern portion as totally bereft of scenery...

You have the far horizons and farms and ranches crossing the Great Plains and prairies, the quaint small towns, the numerous river crossings including the Mississippi, the night skyline of Omaha, the brief street running while descending the hill in Burlington, the interesting ride in on the BNSF racetrack through the Chicago suburbs and on into Union Station....

It certainly is not just endless running through tall trees...
 
railiner said:
Its the old beauty is in the eye of the beholder....While the Zephyr does travel thru spectacular scenery west of Denver, it would be somewhat unfair to characterize the eastern portion as totally bereft of scenery...

You have the far horizons and farms and ranches crossing the Great Plains and prairies, the quaint small towns, the numerous river crossings including the Mississippi, the night skyline of Omaha, the brief street running while descending the hill in Burlington, the interesting ride in on the BNSF racetrack through the Chicago suburbs and on into Union Station....

It certainly is not just endless running through tall trees...
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I guess the Denver-East scenery just pales in comparison to the Sierras and Rockies. I have taken the CZ once (eastbound) and I remember vividly all of the scenery west of Denver, and pretty much nothing east.

I imagine had that scenery been at the end of the ride on a much less pretty LD train like the Meteor, it would have been the highlight of the trip.
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I don’t think the scenery between Salt Lake City and Reno is exactly spectacular on the CZ. Basically the good parts are the Colorado Rockies, the Wasatch front and the Sierra Nevada crossing. On CS it is Santa Barbara to Gilroy and then north of Sacramento to Seattle. Then again, beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. I do think that the CZ is over rated though. I generally advise people to take the scenic parts and skip the remaining 24 hours if scenery is what they want.
 

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