My return trip on Coast Starlight train 11 was to begin from San Jose around 10:00. My sister and her family had to leave for church around 8, so I said I could just wait at the train depot. She stopped by a Starbucks for me on the way, and I had my coffee and croissant while I waited. I read a bit, and watched a soldier and his fiance, I'm guessing, pose for photographs of them "reuniting" at the depot.
Amtrak's website kept saying the train was on time, though I couldn't find it on the "track a train" map. As the arrival time neared, an Amtrak representative made the rounds telling us the train was about an hour late. So I settled back in on a bench and waited, until being told it was time to line up for the train. We still had awhile to wait before the train finally arrived. At first, the woman who was monitoring the line said the train arrived on the wrong platform, and people started walking that way, even though I was pretty sure it wasn't the train, far too short, wrong paint job, no sleepers, etc, and sure enough, it was not the Coast Starlight. Our train arrived about five minutes later, well over an hour late. Our tickets were scanned on the platform, and we were assigned cars based on our destination, myself ending up in the final train car with the other people heading to Los Angeles or beyond.
The train was pretty full, much busier than my trip up. Apparently Saturday isn't that popular a travel day, while Sunday is a very popular travel day. I got a window seat again, and my seatmate was quiet and courteous, but didn't seem to speak much English, so we didn't really chat. The problem with all the LA-bound passengers being put in the back car, there was no chance I'd get the row to myself for at least part of the trip. Which isn't a big deal, the guy was nice and at least one of us was away from our seat for a lot of the trip. But it would have been nice to have more room, for at least part of the trip. But if I really didn't want a seatmate, I should have paid for a Roomette (I should have more to say on that option later).
I was again on the ocean side of the train, though it would be awhile before I saw the ocean, and not soon after it would be dark, as we were traveling on the first day of daylight savings time. But I still enjoyed the views of the farmland and hillsides, just as much as I did coming down. I did spend some time in the observation car, enjoying the views, and watching the sun set as we neared Point Conception. Again, I didn't enjoy the views quite as much as I did coming up, partly because I knew my vacation was coming to an end, and partly because of the early darkness. But it's still a very scenic route, and even with the fuller train, I still could sit in the observation car with limited fuss (never on the ocean side, but I was fine with that).
I had lunch in the dining car, and was again impressed with the quality. I had the special, chicken breast with gravy and mashed potatoes. Pretty good, and filling, the sort of meat-and-potatoes meal I would imagine goes over well with the typical Amtrak customer. I liked the gravy, a bit on the sweet side. Three of us at my table had the chicken, while a forth had the bratwurst, which looked pretty good, and though it didn't come with a salad, our waitress bought him one, so he wouldn't feel left out as the rest of us ate iceberg lettuce and one cherry tomato. My tablemates were nice, and like me a bit on the quiet side, but we did chat a bit, and it was obvious all three (two of which had sleepers) were much more experienced with train travel, and I believe all three were connecting to trains East in Los Angeles (I know two were, I forget the third's destination). The dining car was almost full, unlike my dinner experience going North, so I was a bit concerned I wouldn't get a reservation for dinner.
I didn't. For lunch, they started in the back car and went up taking reservations, but for dinner they made their way back (after taking reservations in the sleepers, of course), and never got to my car, before announcing the dining car was booked. They kept saying in the dinner announcement that it would be limited dinner service, I'm not sure if that meant they were out of stuff, or just meant that our arrival in Los Angeles would be before the traditional end of dinner service. In any case, it meant no dinner in the dining car for me. I looked at the cafe car menu, which seems worse on the long-distance trains than on the Surfliner. As it turns out, my only purchase from the cafe in either direction was a cup of coffee early that evening heading home. My sister prepared a snack bag for me with Gracie's rejected Halloween candy, some madeleines and other treats, and as I said my lunch was filling, so I just snacked on what I had, and hoped it would carry me over until dinner in Union Station.
Eating in Union Station seemed a good option, as the train was making up time. By Santa Barbara, we were very close to on time, if memory serves, and as we passed into territory I'm a little more familiar with, it was becoming obvious the train would be early to Los Angeles. I still wasn't able to find the train on Track a Train, nor was my mom. When I checked it before leaving my sister's house, it showed the train being near Seattle, which I thought was the next day's train getting ready to depart. I eventually figured out what was going on when I heard other passengers chatting in the observation car, and someone who was on the train since Seattle said that the train hit a tree or something that fell on the tracks, and damaged the locomotive, which was replaced. I believe that Track a Train tracks the locomotive, which was still in Washington, and apparently the system was never updated with info on our new locomotive. So that took some of the fun out of tracking the train for my mom back home, but ultimately just made my early arrival in Los Angeles, by about 45 minutes, a happy surprise.
Union Station was pretty hopping, that evening, both with homeless and travelers. A long line snaked through the waiting room, of passengers getting seat assignments for the east-bound trains. I probably should have had the steamed buns again, or gone to Subway, but I decided on pretzel hot dogs, which were okay, but nothing special. I should have ventured out and eat in the neighborhood, since I had time, but I didn't think of it at the moment. I sat and read for a bit; on the trip down, I'd gotten caught up on my backlog of magazines, and so it was only at this late hour that I actually started reading one of the books I brought with me (a biography of Athanasius Kircher, which I have been enjoying very much). The last time I was in Union Station in the evening, an art event, Station to Station, was happening; this time, the Opera was conducting a site-specific event, Invisible Cities. Patrons of the arts had wireless headphones, while I just had to listen with my ears, and singers walked around and interpretive dancers (groan) invoking the feeling of people trying to catch a train (a bit redundant, it seems). I wasn't super impressed, but I don't know how much the lack of headphones hindered my enjoyment. Charging ticket fees for a show in a public space seems a bit ballsy to me, but as travelers like myself were able to enjoy some of the performance, and tickets to some performances were free, I can't really complain.
Sooner than I expected, the initial boarding announcement was made for my train home. I rushed to board the train, happy thoughts of arriving on time in San Diego dancing through my mind, vindicating my decision to take the train. I found a seat in coach, stunned momentarily by the lack of space; the 24 hours or so total I spent on the Coast Starlight's roomy coach seats had spoiled me. It really did seem like I had less legroom than usual, but after adjusting my seat to my satisfaction, I decided I was wrong. I got settled in and read a bit, in the station, looking forward to being home, when the conductor announced that, although our train was early, the new crew that would take over for the rest of the journey was on a train heading north, running late. Which was a bit frustrating, to be on the train but unable to go anywhere. We ended up leaving Los Angeles a bit over 30 minutes late. Once we got moving, the trip was uneventful; I read a bit, but mostly napped. They tried to make up some time on the way, which seemed to work for awhile, but ultimately we were about 40 minutes late into San Diego. Not the end of the world, but when you're scheduled in at 1 AM, even small delays are frustrating.
A friend was waiting to pick me up, and kindly give me a ride home at this ungodly hour. Around 2 AM, I got home, and realized as I approached the front door, I didn't have my keys. I pounded on the door, awaking the dogs but not my mom, so I called on my cell phone and woke her up, and she got the door. So I got to see my mom and my dogs after a 9 day absence, though the dogs were too tired to be too excited. I dug my pajamas out of my luggage, and left the rest of the unpacking for the morning, after having a nice sleep in my own bed.
Looking back, I'd say my train travel to San Jose went very well. Yes, the train was late coming home, but if Amtrak gets you across California and is late less than an hour, they've done as well as an educated customer can expect (sad that our expectations are so low, but they are). And heading north Amtrak was remarkably punctual. I would definitely take the trip again, and am now only more eager to cover the whole route next time, and go up to Seattle. One thing that did surprise me, I ended this trip seriously wondering if it's worth the extra money for a roomette on a one-day trip. I don't need a place to sleep, but a roomette for this trip would have cost me $108 each way. That's a lot, but on a long train trip you have a lot of time in your seat to get value for what you paid. It also includes your meals, which I would say could be almost half the fare; dinner, in particular, isn't cheap. And by pre-paying for your meals, you are assured a spot in the dining car, or the Pacific Parlor Car, which would have avoided my fate of eating a lousy dinner in Union Station. You also get a wine tasting and other services of the Parlor Car, including Wi-Fi. Now, even with all that, it's still hard for me to swallow paying three figures for 12 hours or so in first class. But after you consider meals and Amtrak Guest Rewards points, you're really only paying about $50-60 for the private room and access to the Pacific Parlor Car, and the free coffee and juice and Wi-Fi that comes with it. And when you consider I'm unlikely to travel this route more than once every couple years or so, is it really worth quibbling over $50 or so? (If I had a companion with me, the calculus is changed significantly, as both of us would get meals for the same cost, making the room practically free, but the roomette is rather uncomfortable for two, with coach actually being quite a bit roomier, so it's a different set of offsets to consider). I'll probably have a more educated opinion after I've actually traveled in a roomette (I will definitely get a roomette if I'm traveling overnight), but I have a feeling I'll splurge for the roomette should I take the train to my sister's again.
And that's it for my Coast Starlight trip reports. You'll notice I haven't discussed what I did once I arrived at my destination. I'll try to get that up here soon, in one or a series of reports.
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