Thread: Getting to Seattle on Amtrak's Coast Starlight

There is an Amtrak train called the Coast Starlight that travels from LA to Seattle daily.
There are coaches, sleepers, a dining car and 2 lounge cars. One of the lounge cars is the Pacific Parlour Car reserved for the sleeper passengers. This car is a '50's era car that has been completely refurbished. It originally traveled on the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe's El Capitan service from LA to Chicago.

Santa Fe

El Capitan (train) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Coast Starlight travels through some of the most beautiful areas on the west coast of the US. From the coast of southern California to the Bay area, the Cascade mountains, Willamette Valley in Oregon, the Columbia River and Puget Sound.

I have traveled this route numerous times and it is one of my favorite Amtrak trains. Leaving LA at about 9 AM, it arrives in Seattle about 9PM the next day. One way coach service runs under $100 and a sleeper for 2 people would start at about $150. The total for 2 passengers would be about $350 including your sleeper and all meals in the dining car.
Definitely a more civilized mode of travel at about the same cost as a flight.

Contact me for more information:

reggierail@cs.com

Reggie

A peaceful way to start a cruise vacation from Seattle. Sounds wonderful!

We have been on the Coast Starlighter roundtrip from LA about 4 times. It is beautiful and a great way to travel. Too bad it doesn't come right into Phoenix.

Reggie ... how much is the sleeper car that has it own bathroom & shower? Just out of curosity. Thanks for starting the new thread, I think there will be quite a bit of interest and with the cruise leaving on Tuesday will make it doable for quite a few more people as they can take the train on the weekend.

Right now are you planning to leave on Sunday arriving in Seattle Monday night?

We took the CS roundtrip Oxnard to Seattle in 2004. The 36 hour trip took 40 hours (both ways) but many times the delays worked in our favor for seeing some magnificient scenery. We saw Mt. Shasta from our breakfast table (a tablemate was a resident from that area who answered our questions about that area).

We were in a family bedroom sleeper car, which doesn't have a private bathroom. It can sleep four and as it's the width of the car, has two windows.

Originally Posted by MilliesMom

We have been on the Coast Starlighter roundtrip from LA about 4 times. It is beautiful and a great way to travel. Too bad it doesn't come right into Phoenix.

Reggie ... how much is the sleeper car that has it own bathroom & shower? Just out of curosity. Thanks for starting the new thread, I think there will be quite a bit of interest and with the cruise leaving on Tuesday will make it doable for quite a few more people as they can take the train on the weekend.

Right now are you planning to leave on Sunday arriving in Seattle Monday night?

The deluxe bedroom starts at about $350 making the total charge about $550 for 2 people. It has a large lower bed and a small pullman so it can actually hold 3 people.

I will probaly leave on Saturday but will see what Jackie and John decide as I would like to travel with them.

Reggie

Originally Posted by cruisin' chick

We took the CS roundtrip Oxnard to Seattle in 2004. The 36 hour trip took 40 hours (both ways) but many times the delays worked in our favor for seeing some magnificient scenery. We saw Mt. Shasta from our breakfast table (a tablemate was a resident from that area who answered our questions about that area).

We were in a family bedroom sleeper car, which doesn't have a private bathroom. It can sleep four and as it's the width of the car, has two windows.

The family bedroom can actually sleep 5 people, 2 of them small children. The cost runs usually just slightly less than the deluxe bedroom. There are several bathrooms and a shower located nearby on the lower level of the car.


Reggie

Originally Posted by cruisin' chick

We took the CS roundtrip Oxnard to Seattle in 2004. The 36 hour trip took 40 hours (both ways) but many times the delays worked in our favor for seeing some magnificient scenery. We saw Mt. Shasta from our breakfast table (a tablemate was a resident from that area who answered our questions about that area).

We were in a family bedroom sleeper car, which doesn't have a private bathroom. It can sleep four and as it's the width of the car, has two windows.

The CS is not known for being on time. One trip we were suppose to be in Seattle at 8 am and arrived at 3 am the next day. Luckily our friend picking us up didn't mind the delay and she notified the hotel for us too. The scenery is amazing. We've been on the trip in December, in January and twice in the Spring. Nothing like traveling thru the Cascades with all of the snow. We were on the Train one Christmas Eve and the wait staff serenaded us at dinner.

Originally Posted by reggierail

The deluxe bedroom starts at about $350 making the total charge about $550 for 2 people. It has a large lower bed and a small pullman so it can actually hold 3 people.

I will probaly leave on Saturday but will see what Jackie and John decide as I would like to travel with them.

Reggie

Reggie, we have done the deluxe bedroom twice ... that Large bed is not that large. I really wouldn't put more than 2 people in that room unless a true necessity. An adult can sleep in the pullman ... not just for a child.

If you leave on Saturday that would allow you a full day in Seattle before the cruise which would be nice.

Thanks for the information.

Amtrak - Traveling With Amtrak - Onboard - Sleeping Accommodations - Superliner Sleeping Car Virtual Tour

This is a virtual tour of the sleeping cars and the individual rooms. Use your cursor once loaded to see what the rooms look like.

Reggie ... are the cars fairly new? The design of the sleeping cabins is different than what we had. We had a sofa that pull out to make a double bed. These look like 2 chairs (that form the sofa) and pull out ... sink is positioned differently.

We "might" consider taking the train up to Seattle. Not sure about taking it back from Vancouver tho. Will have to calculate out the costs ... far cheaper to fly into Long Beach/LAX but would have to come in the day before ... then cost of train.

Originally Posted by MilliesMom

Reggie ... are the cars fairly new? The design of the sleeping cabins is different than what we had. We had a sofa that pull out to make a double bed. These look like 2 chairs (that form the sofa) and pull out ... sink is positioned differently.

We "might" consider taking the train up to Seattle. Not sure about taking it back from Vancouver tho. Will have to calculate out the costs ... far cheaper to fly into Long Beach/LAX but would have to come in the day before ... then cost of train.

The cars have all been refurbished recently including the Pacific Parlour Car. The trains have also been running on time for quite some time. It may be due to the fact that because of the economy there is less freight traffic.

I also should mention that you can only reserve space on Amtrak 11 months ahead, therefore all of the prices I mentioned earlier were just educated guesses. As we get closer I can give better figures as to the fares.

Reggie