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A reader submitted the following account of a family train trip on the Coast Starlight, and I think it includes some useful information and advice for other readers.

Our Family Train Trip Down the Coast By John O. Andersen
www.unconventionalideas.com
3/11/01

Our Coast Starlight journey began in Portland on December 23, 1998. The trip consisted of three legs. The first was an 18 hour journey from Portland to Emeryville, California (directly across the bay from San Francisco). The second came a week later when we took a bus to Oakland where we rejoined the Starlight, and journeyed south to Simi Valley (12 hours). The third and final leg was a nonstop journey from Simi Valley to Portland (29 hours).

Traveling in coach was great. We enjoyed plenty of room to stretch. The seats are roughly the size of first class seats in airplanes. Our children brought their own pillows and blankets. All of us slept, albeit not as well as in our own beds, but well enough to feel rested. My longest uninterrupted snooze was around six hours.

There are several restrooms downstairs in each coach car. The attendants kept them clean. We had the same car attendant on the trip from Oakland to Simi Valley, as a week later on the trip back to Portland. A quiet, intelligent man in his mid-sixties, he was born and raised in Hong Kong. We enjoyed several chats about the history of Hong Kong, Taiwan, mainland China, and Mao's Cultural Revolution. The train is great for such conversations.

We checked some of our bags in Portland, and carried on the rest. The baggage check service worked perfectly. On the return journey, the departing station didn't offer the service, so we just carried everything with us. If the train isn't full (as it wasn't on that day), this won't be a problem. There are storage racks downstairs near the exit where we stowed the heavy bags. We carried the lighter stuff upstairs, and put it in the racks above our seats.

Throughout the trip, our children spent a lot time in the "Kiddie Car," a special downstairs room equipped with a video screen, toys, a plastic bench, crayons, and coloring books. On the first leg of the journey, Santa himself visited the Kiddie Car. Everyday after lunch, the train's entertainer/juggler/magician performed his show there.

Although we brought along snacks, we did eat one meal a day (usually supper) in the diner. The diner is a not-to-be-missed part of the experience. Four people sit at each table. There are all of the touches of a first-rate restaurant: white linen table cloths and napkins, silverware, china dishes, and fresh cut flowers in a vase.

The Starlight offers a full menu including a vegetarian choice. Children have a special menu with items like macaroni and cheese, hot dogs, hamburgers, and pizza. We found the food very tasty. Passengers who make the round-trip journey will discover the northbound menu is different from the southbound menu. A dinner for two adults and two children costs about what you'd pay in a good restaurant.

For a less expensive option, there's the snackbar on the bottom floor of the Sightseer Lounge Car. And Amtrak allows passengers to bring their own food, as long as they consume it at their assigned seats.

When we arrived in the Bay Area, we detrained, and boarded an Amtrak bus to cross the Oakland Bay Bridge (a fifteen minute ride). This bus stops at the Ferry Building, Fisherman's Wharf and Union Square. Since our hotel was a few blocks from Union Square, and we were the last people on the bus, the driver took us right up to the door of the hotel.

We chose that hotel specifically because of great reviews in several guidebooks, and it offered in-room self-catering facilities including dishes, silverware, a microwave, refrigerator, and sink. Train travelers who don't rent a car while in San Francisco, will probably want to stay in a hotel near central locations like Union Square or Fisherman's Wharf.

While in San Francisco, we used the public transportation system (cable cars and buses) to get around. My wife and I each purchased a 7-day pass for unlimited rides. The child fare was very inexpensive, so we just bought tickets for them each time we rode. On the whole, we found the public transportation efficient, safe, and tolerably clean.

Along with walking around Union Square and Fisherman's Wharf, window shopping, and trying out a variety of restaurants, we visited several interesting places. On Christmas Day we spent a few hours in the California Academy of Sciences at Golden Gate Park. This institution houses an aquarium, natural history museum, and planetarium. After spending a few hours there, we walked to the Haight/Ashbury district to see what during the 1960s was the "world headquarters" of flower power and the hippie movement.

On another day we toured the Exploratorium. Other fun visits included the Strybing Arboretum, the De Young Art Museum, and the zoo. For a bird's eye view of San Francisco, we took the glass elevator in the St. Francis Hotel to the 31^st floor.

The highlight of the week was walking across the Golden Gate Bridge and back. Although the total distance is over 2½ miles, the children didn't once complain. Our daughter who is a geography nut, even said it was the "best day of her life."

We left San Francisco on New Year's Eve. The trip to Simi Valley went smoothly. We loved the stretch between San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara where in some places, the train tracks run within a few hundred yards of the crashing surf.

For the next week, we stayed with my parents. It was a welcomed change of pace after San Francisco. We leisurely visited the cities where I grew up, enjoyed long conversations, spent a day at Disneyland, and watched a few videos.

Heading back home on January 7^th, we enjoyed the coastal views again, this time in the middle of the day. The other highlight started at daybreak the next morning when we woke to breathtaking views of Mt. Shasta, Klamath Lake, and the beautiful Cascade mountains of Southern Oregon. As the last "official act" of the journey, we had lunch in the dining car while passing through Eugene. Our train pulled into the Portland station within minutes of its scheduled arrival time of 3:40 p.m.

Riding the train is great. It gives us time to think, time to play games, time to reminisce, time to talk, time to read, time to discover, and time to be a family. It's a perfect choice for busy people who are tempted by the thought of pressing the "pause" button in their life, and then disappearing for a few weeks into a more relaxed world.