Coast Starlight SB questions

I'm planning a trip that is mainly to take the Coast Starlight from SEA-LAX in mid May 2018.

Is the weather reasonably good for this trip in mid May?

I'm going to be in SEA for a few days (first time) ant hotel recommendations (moderate price)

Does the train run "on time" this time of year?

Any other sources I can check out to help answer any other questions that I may have before the trip?


Thank you all for your help.

May is the ending of the rainy season, but this can vary season to season. Any time of the year, the host railroad's dispatchers may hold Amtrak for a hot freight, so delays generally do not come from the weather. SD's do come from land slides after heavy rains. I have found the train close to on time, hour or less, with occasional delays of more due to host railroad dispatching.

Ought to be a great trip. We just took the CS south beginning of July. It was sunny most of the way. Had dinner while going along the coastline, even had dessert to sit at the table longer. We got into LAX about 30 minutes late.

Lonestar648 said:

May is the ending of the rainy season, but this can vary season to season. Any time of the year, the host railroad's dispatchers may hold Amtrak for a hot freight, so delays generally do not come from the weather. SD's do come from land slides after heavy rains. I have found the train close to on time, hour or less, with occasional delays of more due to host railroad dispatching.

Ought to be a great trip. We just took the CS south beginning of July. It was sunny most of the way. Had dinner while going along the coastline, even had dessert to sit at the table longer. We got into LAX about 30 minutes late.

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Thank you. I've only been to SF a couple of times and that was in late June, and I'm a regular LA traveler. The weather in the north is what my biggest concern is, I don't want to spend the day staring out a rain covered window if I can avoid it.

I only use Trip Advisor to choose a hotel: https://www.tripadvisor.com/ Its map function shows the location of each hotel and clicking on an icon (bed) will show hundreds (or thousands) of reviews, photos of the property, the hotels ranking in the city and a link to the hotels website for a rate check.

Use the satellite imagery of Google Earth and scrollable topographic maps such as these... http://www.mytopo.com/maps/index.cfm? ...to preview the sights and names of places along the way.

Q: What's an "SB"?

Southbound

I've been on #11 2 hours late into LA (#11(25) - less than 2 weeks ago) and early on other occasions, regardless of weather or time of year.

You might visit here to look at the history of the train.

https://juckins.net/amtrak_status/archive/html/history.php

In the final analysis just like the weather, your particular train's performance will be what it is at the time if happens.

Enjoy the ride.

The rainiest part of the year in Seattle is over for the most part in May. Keep in mind that Seattle receives less rainfall per year than just about any place east of the Mississippi River. By May any rainfall is normally light, showery, and more drizzle than anything. As for hotels, I stay at the Moore Hotel, about a mile from King Street Station and about two blocks from Pike Place Market and three blocks from light rail access. For a single traveler like me, a room runs from $95-$135/night. The lower priced rooms have no bathrooms of their own; there is a communal bathroom on their portion of the floor. The Moore is an old hotel and admittedly lacks some modern amenities, one of which is air conditioning. But in mid-May, that might not be a problem. The Moore is the only place I've stayed in Seattle so can't make a personal recommendation elsewhere. Best advice I can give: enjoy! I have taken several Coast Starlight trips over the years and consider the Starlight one of my favorite routes.

JayPea said:

The rainiest part of the year in Seattle is over for the most part in May. Keep in mind that Seattle receives less rainfall per year than just about any place east of the Mississippi River. By May any rainfall is normally light, showery, and more drizzle than anything. As for hotels, I stay at the Moore Hotel, about a mile from King Street Station and about two blocks from Pike Place Market and three blocks from light rail access. For a single traveler like me, a room runs from $95-$135/night. The lower priced rooms have no bathrooms of their own; there is a communal bathroom on their portion of the floor. The Moore is an old hotel and admittedly lacks some modern amenities, one of which is air conditioning. But in mid-May, that might not be a problem. The Moore is the only place I've stayed in Seattle so can't make a personal recommendation elsewhere. Best advice I can give: enjoy! I have taken several Coast Starlight trips over the years and consider the Starlight one of my favorite routes.

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Sure. I've heard that although NYC had higher average annual precipitation than Seattle, Seattle averages more days per year where there's precipitation. I've been to the Seattle area enough times - there hasn't been a single trip when it hasn't rained, and that's been trips in January, February, April, and August. On one trip there wasn't any rain at all until we were ready to go to the airport. A lot of times it was light and over with as quickly as it started.

smee said:

Thank you. I've only been to SF a couple of times and that was in late June, and I'm a regular LA traveler. The weather in the north is what my biggest concern is, I don't want to spend the day staring out a rain covered window if I can avoid it.

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You're going to Seattle. It's fairly well known for rain, and there's not much you can do other than be prepared. You never know though. Apparently they just went over month without any measurable rain. Even if it does rain, sometimes it's over as fast as it starts.

Chance of no rain and moderate priced hotel in Seattle, good luck. That being said, I'd take my chances, book the trip.

I would book the trip. Seattle area is beautiful. I love to take the ferries to the different islands. Hotels pricing in the summer season is rediculous, but May just get in before the doubling. I used my hotel points with Hilton to stay at a Garden Inn that gave me free sit down cooked to order breakfast and was walking distance to the tourist part of the city. I did use Uber at the end of the day to go up the steep climb from the ferry back to the hotel. Rain, Seattle's total rainfall is similar to San Antonio or Austin in Texas, difference is the number of days with moisture, they do get some light snow in Winter. The reward for all those days of light rain and drizzle is May - September has little rain and many sunny days with the area super green and beautiful. I had to do a do diligentence for a company considering relocating to Seattle, so I had to research everything including climate. Interesting fact is that Seattle people are very friendly to visitors, but those who move there may not meet their neighbors for years, but the area has the most educated population in the country.

We take Amtrak to King Street. We walk a short distance to light rail. We head south and stay at a chain motel near Sea Tac. Easy access to Seattle

texline said:

We take Amtrak to King Street. We walk a short distance to light rail. We head south and stay at a chain motel near Sea Tac. Easy access to Seattle

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We did the same thing. We stayed at a hotel near SEA-TAC within walking distance of the terminal and took light rail in the morning to get the southbound CS. It was also easy to rent a car since it is nearby be careful though, as hotels near the airport may charge for parking).

The rest of your questions have been mostly answered.

May is the end of the rainy season, so weather should be ok.

CS generally runs on close to on time most of the year unless there is trackwork or some unusual weather mudslides) somewhere on line. Of course, individual trains may vary. There is a huge amount of padding in the LAX arrival, so you can be 1-2 hours late for most of the trip but still get into LAX early.

BCL said:

smee said:

Thank you. I've only been to SF a couple of times and that was in late June, and I'm a regular LA traveler. The weather in the north is what my biggest concern is, I don't want to spend the day staring out a rain covered window if I can avoid it.

Click to expand...

You're going to Seattle. It's fairly well known for rain, and there's not much you can do other than be prepared. You never know though. Apparently they just went over month without any measurable rain. Even if it does rain, sometimes it's over as fast as it starts.

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Well this year wouldn't be a problem. Seattle is coming up on 60 days without rain. Highly unusual. But that's how the climate has been just about everywhere "lately."