Passenger Trains > Clueless questions about Coast Starlight

I am an old curmudgeon steam fan and have not ridden Amtrak for years.  A recent stroke has left me partially blind and unable to drive.  I promised my granddaughter that I will attend her graduation from UCSB in June, and I am sort of planning to take the Coast Starlight from some stop in Oregon to some stop in SoCal.   Can one find history of on time or not statistics?  I don't do Facebook or Twitter.  Does Julie stilll exist?  Can you bring snacks or even water aboard?  As I said, I am clueless.  Any info will help.

nycman Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I am an old curmudgeon steam fan and have not
> ridden Amtrak for years.  A recent stroke has
> left me partially blind and unable to drive.  I
> promised my granddaughter that I will attend her
> graduation from UCSB in June, and I am sort of
> planning to take the Coast Starlight from some
> stop in Oregon to some stop in SoCal.   Can one
> find history of on time or not statistics?  I
> don't do Facebook or Twitter.  Does Julie stilll
> exist?  Can you bring snacks or even water
> aboard?  As I said, I am clueless.  Any info
> will help.

nyc,

Stops in Oregon are Portland, Salem, Albany, Eugene and K Falls. Nearest stop to UC Santa Barbaara is Santa Barbara. USSB is actually in Goleta so somebody will need to fetch you.

As for the train. Service has been ok of late. Yes you can call Amtrak to check times. There should be a full diner and a snack bar on the train and you can bring stuff or your own.

J.
 

nycman Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I am an old curmudgeon steam fan and have not
> ridden Amtrak for years.  A recent stroke has
> left me partially blind and unable to drive.  I
> promised my granddaughter that I will attend her
> graduation from UCSB in June, and I am sort of
> planning to take the Coast Starlight from some
> stop in Oregon to some stop in SoCal.   Can one
> find history of on time or not statistics?  I
> don't do Facebook or Twitter.  Does Julie stilll
> exist?  Can you bring snacks or even water
> aboard?  As I said, I am clueless.  Any info
> will help.

So, where are you planning to leave from in Oregon? The Starlight stops in Santa Barbara, can your granddaughter pick you up there? It's a bit away from the actual UCSB campus, but not to far. Also an overnight trip from Oregon, are you thinking about booking sleeper accomidations? Traveling alone or with someone else?

The Starlight's timekeeping is very good these days, except when it runs into a person or machine at a grade crossing en route.

You may indeed bring food and water with you on board, with the proviso that Amtrak doesn't want you to bring your own edibles to consume in the lounge/café cars.

You can consume your "private stock" of alcohol in a sleeping compartment, but not in the coaches or lounge. (You can carry it in your luggage anywhere.) Meals in the dining car are included in the price of a sleeping car ticket. Another advantage of a sleeper is the availability of the charming Pacific Parlour Car, available only to sleeping car passengers. However, I believe that Amtrak has only four copies of the car, rotated among the three trainsets needed to serve the Starlight schedule. Being elderly (they are reconfigured Santa Fe cars, built originally for El Capitan service), they are often cut for maintenance, however. Which is unpredictable.

Oh, and by the way Julie is alive and well and very good at her job, but her resources are limited. If you want to cut the palaver and move directly to a human interlocutor, press "zero" on the keypad.

The history of what the train did a year ago is not important but recent data can be a good indicator of what to expect.  Fortunately, there is a tool that can do that for you.  Go to the Amtrak Status Maps Archive Database.  You can enter the station and train and it defaults to give you the performance in the past 30 days.  You can refine it to other time periods if you desire.  Click on the link to "Search by train number and/or station" and enter the train number, the three letter code for the station and the "Find Data" and you should have the results for the last 30 days at your station.  As always, "Past performance is no guarantee of future results."

It's been about 3 years since I last rode the Coast Starlight but you could bring food and drink on the train at that time.  I rode on the East Coast this past summer and there was no problem bringing food or drink.

Hope this is some help.

John

One other suggestion. If you have a cell phone, download the free Amtrak app. By selecting Train Status you can the get immediate real-time information as to the Starlight's arrival and departure times for any given station. Pick the station name or pick from a dropdown menu, type in the train number and select Arriving from the last dropdown menu. Next, click on Check Status and the day and date(s) you need from the scrolling menu.

Cheers,
Jack
 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/27/16 18:14 by africansteam.

africansteam Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> One other suggestion. If you have a cell phone,
> download the free Amtrak app. By selecting Train
> Status you can the get immediate real-time
> information as to the Starlight's arrival and
> departure times for any given station. Pick the
> station name or pick from a dropdown menu, type in
> the train number and select Arriving from the last
> dropdown menu. Next, click on Check Status and the
> day and date(s) you need from the scrolling menu.
>
> Cheers,
> Jack
>

i have had  this app for years and use it when we are driving over to Monterey to check when #11 will be coming thru Castroville, into Salinas  etc.  Very reliable app!
C

Carol Voss
Bakersfield, CA

If you look at history, bear in mind that there is quite a bit of slack built into the Starlight's schedule.  It often sits in Klamath Falls and Sacramento for quite a while, yet appears late at other stations.  So if you looked at history for, say, Eugene and it showed the train as averaging 30 minutes late, it would probably make all that time up by Klamath Falls. 

Of late, the Starlight has been doing pretty well time-wise in both directions.

Thanks to everyone for the prompt replies and good information.  I sorta planned on leaving Oregon from Albany and getting off at Simi Valley, very close to where my daughter lives, and it's her daughter who is graduating.  Let me digest all of this.  I also thought I would just book coach and try to get a few winks in the seat.
Jim

nycman Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Thanks to everyone for the prompt replies and good
> information.  I sorta planned on leaving Oregon
> from Albany and getting off at Simi Valley, very
> close to where my daughter lives, and it's her
> daughter who is graduating.  Let me digest all of
> this.  I also thought I would just book coach and
> try to get a few winks in the seat.
> Jim

I would not do coach, you be very sorry you went coach, I would go sleeping car both ways.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/27/16 21:43 by railcity.

railcity Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> nycman Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Thanks to everyone for the prompt replies and
> good
> > information.  I sorta planned on leaving
> Oregon
> > from Albany and getting off at Simi Valley,
> very
> > close to where my daughter lives, and it's her
> > daughter who is graduating.  Let me digest all
> of
> > this.  I also thought I would just book coach
> and
> > try to get a few winks in the seat.
> > Jim
>
> I would not do coach, you very sorry you went
> coach, I would go sleeping car both ways.

Coach is economical, and it's way most people travel on Amtrak.  It's the elite crowd that pays for the expensive sleepers.

>Stops in Oregon are Portland, Salem, Albany, Eugene and K Falls.

No more Chemult?

> Coach is economical, and it's way most people
> travel on Amtrak. 

True on both counts.

> It's the elite crowd that pays
> for the expensive sleepers.

I had no idea I was elite!  Makes my day to know that.  =)  And here I thought I was simply saving up for a better grade of accommodation while checking the Amtrak site for days on end looking for relatively cheap sleeper fares.  I think the Amtrak experience is proof that it's possible for a service to be expensive while not luxurious.

 

reindeerflame Wrote:
> Coach is economical, and it's way most people
> travel on Amtrak.  It's the elite crowd that pays
> for the expensive sleepers.

I'm one who can sleep anywhere, yet the last time I traveled coach, I was in my mid 20's & my seat was so uncomfortable, I actually slept better on an empty luggage shelf in the luggage area one night (albeit a little louder & colder than upstairs) the next night I fared better in the warmer, quieter environment of the floor of the Sightseer lounge, under the windows. If anything else, when traveling via bedroom or roomette,  it's nice to have access to a shower, which coach travelers don't.

Desmond Praetzel. "4451 Puff"

EtoinShrdlu Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

>
> No more Chemult?

Yes, it stops in Chemult. I have a ticket to get off there next month and take the bus into Bend.

Jim

nycman Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I am an old curmudgeon steam fan and have not
> ridden Amtrak for years.  A recent stroke has
> left me partially blind and unable to drive.  I
> promised my granddaughter that I will attend her
> graduation from UCSB in June, and I am sort of
> planning to take the Coast Starlight from some
> stop in Oregon to some stop in SoCal.   Can one
> find history of on time or not statistics?  

Amtrak displays the most recent (Past month and past year) OTP statistics on their website, along with the most common reasons for delay.  Coast Starlight is currently at 86.3% endpoint OTP for the past year, unfortunately they only count the endpoints, not the intermediate points (Which are used more as "guidelines" than an actual "schedule", so don't be surprised if you're waiting an extra half hour or so).  In any case, you should be fine if you schedule yourself to arrive in Santa Barbara the day before the graduation, it's very rare to count delays in days.

> I don't do Facebook or Twitter.  Does Julie
> still exist?  

She does indeed, however for your purposes I'd recommend asking her for a live person when you get her.

> Can you bring snacks or even water aboard?  

Yes, you can bring food and drink onboard and they may be consumed either at your seat or in your sleeper, but not in the diner or lounge.  Note that if you have medication which requires refridgeration Amtrak can't refridgerate it, but they can provide ice, so I'd bring a small cooler.

> As I said, I am clueless.  Any info will help.

I'd suggest calling Amtrak (800-USA-RAIL aka 800-872-7245) and speaking to a live person, they can give you a lot of information without all the arguing that people on here will engage in.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/27/16 23:08 by OTG.

OTG Wrote:
> Yes, you can bring food and drink onboard and they
> may be consumed either at your seat or in your
> sleeper, but not in the diner or lounge. 


Just a small tidbit concerning food/drinks in the lounge: "Personal food and beverages are allowed in the upper level of Superliner Sightseer Lounges."

https://www.amtrak.com/personal-food-beverages-medication

So the rule is not in a food service car at the same level as the service area.

I've done both coach and sleeper car between the Bay Area and PDX.  Highly recommend the sleeper over coach for this run.  You'll have room for that cooler if you need it in the roomette. You'll hopefully have a Parlour car on your route.  And since you're traveling in June, you can always retreat to your roomette to get away from the screaming adults on their cell phones.   

I'd be looking to book ASAP tho as this is often an overbooked train during the summer. 

Save yourself a lot of trouble. Talk to Sylvia at Train Travel Consulting in Klamath Falls OR. http://www.traintravelconsulting.com/



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/28/16 11:59 by grahamline.