Coast Starlight: Best views

I realize this topic has been broached countless times, but it's been awhile and I'm prepping for a northbound trip from LAX to PDX in late May. I am set for roomette 5 in car 1432. It seems it's a roll of the dice, but what are the chances that I get an ocean side view? Looking at car diagrams it appears my odds are rather low, as it seems more often than not the odd rooms are on the right side of the car, heading in direction of travel. Is it worth trying to make a switch to the opposite side of the car? If memory serves, on the second morning of the trip the views are better on the right side of the train. However, I have never ridden northbound out of LAX so I'd like that experience. Appreciate the guidance.

I think it is hard to say and depends on which way the car is oriented. I don't know what the situation is on 14 but on my trips on 11 in 2015 and 2016, even numbered roomettes in my car were on the fireman's side.

If the bedrooms are at the front of your sleeper going north on 14, even numbered roomettes will have the ocean view. If the bedrooms are at the rear going north, you will be in luck in room 5.

The chances are truly 50/50 that your room will be on the west side. Only the combined dorm-sleeper is oriented in the same way on almost all northbound trains.

50/50. Car orientation is random. You have looked at responses enough to know this, and I don't know why you were expecting a different answer.

I always look at it this way: if I am on the right side, I have to go to the lounge to get the ocean views. But I don't even have to get out of bed in the morning to get the Mt. Shasta views! Can't lose either way, in my opinion.

oregon pioneer said:

I always look at it this way: if I am on the right side, I have to go to the lounge to get the ocean views. But I don't even have to get out of bed in the morning to get the Mt. Shasta views! Can't lose either way, in my opinion.

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When my roomette has been on the "wrong" side on the Coast Starlight I have always been lucky enough to find an empty roomette to sit in on the other side to enjoy the scenery for a while.

When I took the Starlight a few months ago, an employee in the LAUS Metropolitan lounge announced which rooms were ocean view prior to departure, and even offered to rearrange accommodations for those on the wrong side. Maybe it was a particularly light load that day.

I was in that exact roomette on a trip last year, also from LA to Portland. I don't recall ocean views out of the roomette window on the way up, but we were traveling alongside the ocean while at lunch and no shortage of great views out of the dining car window then. In reality, the CS is only along the ocean for a few hours, but you'll have plenty of fantastic mountain and forest views for almost the entire trip. It's a great train ride, and Portland is a beautiful city. Have fun!