Recent content by Diane

I lived in Japan for 3 years and took the train and subways to get around. There was not one time that I can remember the train ever being late. They are very reliable, regarless of where you were going. I think we could learn a lot from them. By the way, we had 3 large earthquakes in Tokyo...

I just read your trip report and it was really nice. Sounds like y'all had a really good time. The Empire Builder is one train that I would someday like to take too. Also, I looked at all your trip pictures and they are fantastic! You got some really great shots. There is one picture that I...

I am assuming that it's round trip if so that's a great price! I would snatch it up. I spent $566 for a standard sleeper, on the same route, during the summer. It was RT. Diane

Pike Market is a must! It is a very neat expirence. I would also recommend a restaurant on the water front. It's called the Crab Pot and they have the best fish and chips and alderwood smoked fish! The Crab Pot is open in the front and you order at the counter and there are long wood picnic type...

Yes, those are the 2 choices but kids can order anything on the menu too. If you get a good waiter they will get the portion size reduced if your child wants to order off of the regular menu. At least they did that for us on the CS. Oh, from my expirence you have to ask them what they have for...

On Saturday the 3rd, when we were on the CS, we met a woman who was on the CZ and told us in great detail about it. First off she said that being on Donners Pass when it happened was very eerie. She also said that they were told the reason for the derailment was track plowing wasn't done...

Nice trip report. It sounds like y'all had a fantastic time.

I checked out your website and thought it was very interesting and informative. I have dial-up and as a matter of fact I connect at 26.4 most of the time(very primitive) and I had no problems opening your site, it was very quick. One thing you might want to add to the Coast starlight details...

I am glad that the live trip reoprt has been well received. We had so much fun doing it. One thing that I learned while doing this was to listen and watch. You can really learn so much about a the people around you, the scenery you are passing, the train and how the train operates. Not only...

Portland at 9:24 pm This will be the last posting for this trip. it is late, we are tired and I think a nap would be in order before we get to Seattle. This trip has been wonderful - even in the worst conditions (huge delays, lack of dessert, etc). Through it all, the staff shines and we still...

arrive Albany @ 6:45 pm Dinner at 7:00 pm Again, they ran out of food. No steaks, no chicken tenders, no evening sepcial (the holiday meal, same as last night's special) , no desserts. But on the upside, we did get fed! The stuffed Chicken Breast was really good. We had dinner tonight with...

departed Eugene @ about 5:20. An announcement from the Conductor - people scheduled to make the connection with the Empire Builder will miss their train tonight and will be staying the night in Portland.

11:40 – announcement – waiting for our sister train (the one that is terminating in Oakland) 11:45 – sister train arrives 11:49 – we depart Klamath Falls Here’s the rest of the consist: 38056 – Dining car 33042 – Sightseer car 34035 – Coach 34510 – Coach 34111 – Coach 34078 – Coach...

11:00 am – another announcement: the UP crew has received their orders and are now checking out the switches. So anyways, we had some time to walk around and this is what we’ve seen: This is the same engine that was in the lead on our trip down. I got some better pictures of the damage...

Day two….. Woke up around 7:30 outside of Dunsmuir, CA. Lots of snow, and quite wonderfully, lots of animal prints in the snow. Looks like a lot of rabbit, some deer, maybe a small fox or coyote, and something much smaller like a mouse or other small rodent. Bad news – the train scheduled...