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OTOL Pacific Coast RailFest 2016 trip report


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#1 KevinKorell

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Posted 29 October 2017 - 11:05 PM

Trip Report


OTOL Pacific Coast RailFest 2016

July 11-20, 2016


by Kevin Korell

 

Chapter 0: Introduction

 

Back in 2015, the Pacific Coast RailFest 2016 event was conceived. In planning Fests, one had to look at where there would be a good number of rail lines to ride that we hadn't ridden before. Originally, I would have preferred a return to Dallas, as a lot had opened there since our last visit in 2005. However, more was on the way, and as it became clear that the second phase of the Dallas Streetcar would not open until the end of the summer of 2016, I had to look elsewhere for a decent venue while putting Dallas off until 2017.

 

Putting our heads together on one of our OTOL Sunday chat sessions, we concluded that it was time for another transcontinental trip to the West Coast. Doing so would allow us to do new streetcar and light rail segments in both Seattle and Portland, do two new light rail lines in the Los Angeles area that had both opened and expanded since we were there last, and ride Amtrak segments that some in the group hadn't seen yet. What made the longer trip even more lucrative was that this journey allowed us the last opportunity to reserve trips under the legacy Amtrak Guest Rewards (AGR) rules before they changed in January of 2016.

 

Chapter 1: Preparation

 

This trip was announced earlier than normal around New Year's Day (rather than approximately March), to allow for reservations to be made for the summer before the new AGR rules would take effect January 24th. The main homepage contained links to all needed sources of information on this journey, most importantly its itinerary. The longer advance time meant more opportunities for the various transit providers to change schedules, so the timetables had to be watched for the next five months to ensure our itinerary remained accurate.

 

Then other decisions had to be made as well, such as what to do with the last Monday in the Los Angeles area, our partial last day in the area before beginning our respective eastward journeys home. The Sunday light rail activities in Los Angeles were refined a few times in order to best make use of the day. In addition, as we planned our dinner locations for one evening in each city, transit had to be built around our trips to the restaurants.



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#2 KevinKorell

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Posted 29 October 2017 - 11:07 PM

Chapter 2: Getting to the Fest

 

As always, this was interesting as we had a contingent from Florida, some from the Northeast, and others joining in the Midwest. My trip started as usual with NJ TRANSIT from Cherry Hill on Saturday afternoon July 9th, followed by a short Amtrak ride on Northeast Regional to Wilmington. I would stay there Saturday night in order to board the Cardinal on Sunday morning for Chicago.

 

Penny Jacobs, Dick McCauley, Jishnu Mukerji, and Chris Wyatt (who had flown to Orlando from New Orleans) all rode together on the Silver Meteor. But their initial destinations would be different although ultimately they were all headed to Chicago for the official start of this Fest. Jishnu would remain on board to New York City, and then take the Lake Shore Limited to Chicago. Penny, Chris, and Dick were to detrain in Washington, with the original plan that all would join me on the Cardinal.

 

There was drama, however, with that train. In late June (a few weeks before our trip), it was suspended for a while due to flooding in West Virginia resulting from heavy rain. Penny re-booked the Cardinal portion of the trip on the Capitol Limited instead. The others kept the reservation on the Cardinal, hopeful that service would resume before our intended July 10th departure. It did, but not without a further scare as the run before ours was annulled in Indianapolis due to late running and a vehicle hit nearby.

 

So what resulted was a three-way race to Chicago from the East Coast, with one on the Lake Shore Limited, one (later two) on the Capitol Limited, and three on the Cardinal. Penny was joined on the Capitol Limited by Mike Hammond, who boarded overnight in Cleveland. The end result was that all three trains got into Chicago less than an hour late, so we would all make our connection to Seattle.



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#3 KevinKorell

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Posted 29 October 2017 - 11:10 PM

Chapter 3: Monday, July 11, 2016

 

The Fest began on Monday as we met in Chicago, had lunch in town, and then boarded the westbound Empire Builder to head to Seattle.

 

Chapter 3.1: In Chicago

 

Besides the six who had travelled by rail, we were met by Bill Magee, who had flown from Philadelphia to Chicago, and Steve Weagant, who lives in the area. Then Steve, Mike, Penny, and I went to Beggars Pizza for lunch, while the rest got lunch elsewhere. We reconvened at the Metropolitan Lounge and awaited our departing train.

 

Chapter 3.2: Amtrak Empire Builder, Train #7(11), Chicago, IL to Seattle, WA

 

Eight of us (which is a perfect number for filling two booths at meal times) departed aboard the westbound Empire Builder heading for Seattle. Six of us were in one sleeper and two in another. We departed from Chicago right on time at 2:15 PM.

 

Shortly after departure, we got our dinner reservation for 5:30 PM. We remained on time through Milwaukee, our first opportunity to step off the train to stretch our legs. Departure from there was on the advertised 3:52 PM. However we began to lose some time across Wisconsin with multiple spots at a few stations and some slow running. Our group was at dinner during our stops at Columbus and Portage. At some point we did make an unscheduled stop for the crew to quickly repair a loose hose.

 

Our train left Winona, WI at 8:14 PM, 27 minutes down, after another short dwell where we were allowed off the train. Approaching the Twin Cities, we had some concern as we were seeing severe weather alerts for the area, even the possibility of a tornado. When we arrived into St. Paul at 10:05 PM, it was breezy but not raining. Strangely, the platform's entire electrical system (believed to be unrelated to the weather) was experiencing a glitch in which the lights were going on and off. They continued to do so during our entire half hour stay there.

 

Departure from St. Paul came at 10:34 PM, just 14 minutes late. Timetable padding and shorter dwell had allowed some recovery of our schedule. Group participants began going to sleep after we left. My last memory of the evening was passing through the Northstar Coon Rapids/Riverdale station.

 

Chapter 3.3: End of Monday's activities

 

Monday was a busy day of travel together, and another one awaited us the next day.



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#4 KevinKorell

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Posted 29 October 2017 - 11:11 PM

Chapter 4: Tuesday, July 12, 2016

 

Day Two began and ended with our people heading west aboard the Empire Builder.

 

Chapter 4.0: Amtrak Empire Builder, Train #7(11), Chicago, IL to Seattle, WA (continued)

 

As we had awakened to prepare to be at the first call for breakfast at 6:30 AM (still in Central Time), our train left Devil's Lake, ND at 6:23 AM, just 19 minutes down. After finishing breakfast, we stopped at Rugby, ND a little over half an hour late. Then came Minot, ND, which we pulled into early. In fact, we had a 45 minute dwell there, which allowed some of our group the opportunity to take a walk well away from the station. Despite it being July, it was noticeably cooler here than it had been in Chicago or even St. Paul. Our train departed from Minot exactly on time at 9:06 AM.

 

Short delays to our timekeeping began again in western North Dakota when we stopped at Stanley and Williston. We then entered the state of Montana as well as the Mountain Time zone, and made a stop at Wolf Point at 12:15 PM, 34 minutes down. It got even worse at Glasgow and Malta. Around Havre, we made a refueling stop first, before our regular station stop. By the time our Empire Builder left Havre, it was 4:25 PM, and we were 1 hour 21 minutes late.

 

When we stopped in Shelby, MT, we were again seated at 2 adjacent tables in the dining car having dinner. Cut Bank and East Glacier Park were each approximately 1 hour late, as we now were going uphill traversing the northern Rocky Mountains. There was apparently no work at our train's flag stop at Essex, MT as we rolled through without stopping. West Glacier came at 9:10 PM, 47 minutes behind schedule but now predominantly downhill. And the last station stop before we turned in for the night was Whitefish, MT which we departed from at 9:53 PM, 37 minutes off the advertised.

 

Chapter 4.1: End of Tuesday's activities

 

As happened to us on Monday, Tuesday ended with us in our respective sleeper compartments following a full day of travel, as we looked forward to travel across Washington State and a Wednesday morning arrival into Seattle.



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#5 KevinKorell

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Posted 29 October 2017 - 11:17 PM

Chapter 5: Wednesday, July 13, 2016

 

On our third official Fest day we would arrive in Seattle, spend time in the city, and ride light rail and streetcar lines.

 

Chapter 5.0: Amtrak Empire Builder, Train #7(11), Chicago, IL to Seattle, WA (continued)

 

We awoke in the state of Washington, and Pacific Time. We had been told that first call for breakfast would come early due to the expected early morning arrival into Seattle. The first station stop in daylight was Wenatchee, WA, which we left at 5:47 AM, just 12 minutes late. We got a nice morning view crossing the Cascades mountain range, with a stop at Leavenworth, and then coming into coastal Everett. We left there at 8:54 AM. While that was 16 minutes late, the crew told us that we still were projected to arrive in Seattle ahead of schedule.

 

Now along scenic Puget Sound, we turned south and began the final jog down its coast. Everett, WA came at 9:19 AM, just 9 minutes down. And finally, we came upon Seattle, arriving there at 9:52 AM. After all the worry about delays en route, being as much as almost 1-1/2 hours late, we had arrived into our destination 33 minutes early!

 

Chapter 5.1: In Seattle

 

Mark Blitzer met us at King Street Station, temporarily bringing our group up to nine. In planning our official rail transit activities in Seattle, there was in my mind a Plan B just in case a delayed Empire Builder arrived later in the day. As things turned out, we had plenty of time to do our intended light rail and streetcar riding, with added time for extra stuff.

 

Basically, with our scheduled activities together for late afternoon and early evening, we broke up after arrival to either store luggage at hotels, at King Street Station, or attempt early hotel check-in.

 

Mark, Chris, and I took a ride on the southern portion of the LINK light rail from International District/Chinatown down to Sea-Tac/Airport. Chris remained there to access his hotel, the Hilton-Seattle Airport. Mark and I returned to downtown Seattle, getting off LINK at Pioneer Square and going our own ways for lunch.

 

Dick decided to opt out of the rail activities within Seattle. The other eight of us met once more at King Street Station, and shortly after 3:15 PM we began to walk to the Occidental Mall end of the First Hill Streetcar.

 

Chapter 5.2: Seattle Streetcar: First Hill Line, Occidental Mall to Broadway & Denny

 

Our itinerary called for us to start at 3:30 PM. However with a streetcar available and everyone present in our group who were going to ride it, we left on a car that departed at 3:23. The newer of the two streetcar lines, the First Hill Streetcar was new trackage to all of us but Mark. We enjoyed the trip as it wound through downtown Seattle and up Broadway. We rode it in only one direction, to exploit its easy transfer with LINK light rail at the latter's Capitol Hill station. We arrived at the Broadway & Denny endpoint at 3:45 PM, so the entire ride took just 22 minutes.

 

The walk from where the First Hill Streetcar dropped us off to the entrance to the subterranean Capitol Hill LINK station was just a few feet down the sidewalk. We went right downstairs to catch our next conveyance.

 

Chapter 5.3: Sound Transit LINK, Capitol Hill to UW/Husky Stadium

 

We did not have long to wait for a light rail train to show up. We departed from Capitol Hill at 3:52 PM, and four minutes later we arrived at the current northern endpoint, University of Washington's Husky Stadium. We came up to the surface to see the neighborhood. Mark gave us a short tour of UW and the area's history and important sites. It was a great way to kill time as we would otherwise have been early for our dinner reservation.

 

Chapter 5.4: Sound Transit LINK, UW/Husky Stadium to Westlake

 

Back on LINK, this time we would ride two stops to Westlake. We departed UW/Husky Stadium at 4:21 PM, and got to Westlake at 4:27 PM. Once on the surface at Westlake, we walked one block to the southern endpoint of the South Lake Union Streetcar, and waited a few minutes for the next car to arrive from the north.

 

Chapter 5.5: Seattle Streetcar: South Lake Union Line, Westlake to Fairview & Campus Dr.

 

We had already ridden this line on our 2010 visit, but it was necessary to travel by rail to our dinner venue. The eight of us departed from Westlake at 4:42 PM, and six minutes later we were arriving at the last stop adjacent to the Fred Hutchinson Center, across from which was the namesake Lake Union a few restaurants including the one we were headed to.

 

Outside the restaurant we met up with Dick, who returned to us by taxi, and Charlie Hamilton who lives in the Seattle area, bringing our number up to ten for dinnertime.

 

Chapter 5.6: Dinner in Seattle

 

Having been there before, the group again chose Duke's Chowder House for our dinner location. Our group of 10 people was handled very well, but the general consensus was that the food was not as good as it had been in the past.

 

Those who did not opt for dessert left early. Mike and Steve had to catch a ferry to Bremerton, as they were staying at Fairfield Inn by Marriott- Bremerton. I left early too as I had to first go back to King Street Station to pick up my luggage, and then return to Westlake to take the Seattle Center Monorail to get closer to my hotel, the Hampton Inn-Downtown.

 

Chapter 5.7: Seattle Streetcar: South Lake Union Line, Fairview & Campus Dr. to Westlake

 

So in smaller groups we rode the South Lake Union Streetcar from the platform adjacent to the restaurant, back to Westlake. I rode back with Mike and Steve, and the rest of the gang was on a later run on the same line.

 

At Westlake, on my way back from King Street Station after getting my luggage, I ran into the rest of the group who had taken the later trip. Our local friends were headed home, while the rest were going to their hotels, including Doubletree Arctic Club, Courtyard by Marriott-Pioneer Square, and Grand Hyatt.

 

Chapter 5.8: End of Wednesday's activities

 

Our busy Wednesday was finally over as many of us settled into hotels, for most the first beds not moving at track speed since we had left home.



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#6 KevinKorell

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Posted 29 October 2017 - 11:29 PM

Chapter 6: Thursday, July 14, 2016

 

Thursday was mostly a travel day as we moved from Seattle to our next host city, Portland.

 

Chapter 6.1: Meeting in Seattle

 

Dick would be splitting from the group to visit family in the San Francisco Bay Area. He took the Coast Starlight this morning from Seattle, arriving in Emeryville, CA the following morning. Mark came to King Street Station to see us off from Seattle. The group taking the next Amtrak segment from here to Portland would start with five people: Mike, Steve, Penny, Jishnu, and me. Those travelling checked in and got their seating assignments, and then we awaited the boarding call for our train, which arrived in Seattle early from Vancouver, BC.

 

Chapter 6.2: Amtrak Cascades, Train #513(14), Seattle, WA to Portland, OR

 

Our Cascades train departed from Seattle on time at 11:15 AM. However our great timekeeping was short-lived, as we ran into a bottleneck before we even got to the first intermediate station. Somewhere before Tukwila we slowed and then came to a stop, sitting in one place for over half an hour as both a freight train and a northbound Cascades train eventually passed us. After we began moving again, we finally arrived in Tukwila, where we picked up Chris, who opted to join us there as it was closer to his airport-area hotel than King Street Station. We left there at 12:05 PM, 36 minutes late.

 

And it was obvious that we continued down the line at less than normal track speed, as we continued to lose more time at Tacoma, Olympia-Lacey, and Centralia. By Kelso-Longview, we were 52 minutes late. Then came Vancouver, WA, where we were one hour six minutes down. At this point we came to an agreement to push back our dinner reservation from 5 PM to 5:30 PM, to allow ourselves some time to check-in at hotels, freshen up, and get back to our dinner location. Schedule padding helped us a bit, as Train 513 pulled into Portland Union Station at 3:39 PM, just 34 minutes late. The six of us detrained and split up until dinnertime.

 

Chapter 6.3: In Portland

 

Alan Burden and his mother Grace had arrived in Portland that morning. Another obligation prevented their travelling west with us, so they were on the Empire Builder run one day behind us, although on its Portland section. I met them at the Doubletree Hotel in the Lloyd District, where they and I were staying. Mike and Steve were out west of the city in Beaverton at the Courtyard, and the rest of the group stayed downtown at the Embassy Suites.

 

Those at the Embassy Suites were within walking distance of the restaurant. The contingent from Beaverton came in by car service. Alan, Grace, and I took a Portland Streetcar B line car in, since it would leave us within a block of the restaurant.

 

Chapter 6.4: Dinner at Henry's Tavern

 

Our group of eight had chosen Henry's Tavern for our dinner in Portland. We were seated quickly once all had arrived. Our group was handled well, and the food was good. After completing our meal around 7:00, we walked to the nearest Portland Streetcar stop for our after-dinner official streetcar activity.
 
Chapter 6.5: TriMet Portland Streetcar, Route B, NW 11th & Couch to NW 11th & Couch
 
At the 11th & Couch stop, there was a message on a screen there that one of the required cars needed to operate the route was out of service. That explained why we had a rather long wait for a streetcar to show up. We finally boarded a B car at 7:29 PM and began our counter-clockwise run around Portland, with the highlight being our first trip over the Willamette River on Tilikum Crossing, Bridge of the People. The tracks and power structures are shared by the Streetcar and MAX light rail.
 
Then, while it would not be the first nor probably the last time it would happen to us, we got dumped. Because the streetcars on the B line had bunched up, ours was taken out of service. Everyone was told at 8:02 PM to get off at the corner of SE Grand Avenue and East Burnside. However we only had to wait two minutes before the next car arrived. Then, three minutes after continuing our trip on the second streetcar, we arrived at NE Grand and Holladay, where Alan, Grace, and I had previously boarded before dinner. Because of the delays and the fact we had already done the northern half of the loop, we decided to call it a night there since we were so close to the Doubletree. The other five continued onward back downtown over the Broadway Bridge. At NW 11th & Couch, where the group had boarded, Penny and Chris detrained and walked back to the Embassy Suites. Jishnu, Steve, and Mike continued one more stop to NW 11th & Alder, getting there at 8:30 PM thus completing the group's transit rides for the day.
 

Chapter 6.6: End of Thursday's activities
 
With our day ending a bit late, we were all happy to be back at our hotel rooms to rest and regenerate for another busy day coming up.



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Posted 29 October 2017 - 11:37 PM

Chapter 7: Friday, July 15, 2016

 

Official Fest activities took place before lunchtime in Portland, and then in the later part of the day, we would board the Coast Starlight for our trip to Southern California.

 

Chapter 7.1: Meeting in Portland

 

The Portland Eight met at Union Station, and then we walked one long block together down to the nearest southbound light rail stop to board the MAX Orange Line.

 

Chapter 7.2: TriMet MAX Orange Line, NW 5th/Glisan/Union Station to SE Park Avenue, Milwaukie

 

In Portland, we had previously ridden in 2010 what was the entire TriMet MAX system at that time, namely the Yellow, Green, Red, and Blue Lines. The recently-opened MAX Orange Line was essentially a southward extension of the Yellow Line.

 

We left the NW 5th/Glisan/Union Station stop at 9:00 AM, and snaked our way through the southern portion of the city. We then rode over the Tilikum Crossing once more, and then into the southeastern part of the city east of the river. The line eventually ends at SE Park Avenue in the city of Milwaukie; we arrived there at 9:36 AM. Once there, we went to a waiting light rail vehicle across the island platform to await our northward trip.

 

Chapter 7.3: TriMet MAX Orange Line, SE Park Avenue, Milwaukie to OMSI/SE Water

 

Our next MAX Orange Line vehicle left SE Park Avenue exactly in line with our itinerary at 9:44 AM. A 17-minute ride brought us to the OMSI/SE Water station, just on the eastern side of the Tilikum Crossing. There, the streetcar stop is separate from the light rail station across a short walkway. We went over to that part of the station complex to await our next and final streetcar ride.

 

Chapter 7.4: TriMet Portland Streetcar, Route A, OMSI/SE Water to OMSI/SE Water

 

The next two conveyances, including the hour-long A Streetcar Loop ride and the return downtown on the MAX Orange Line, got very interesting to keep track of, since almost everyone had their own plans for lunch and other activities (including retrieving luggage from hotels) before we would meet again at Union Station for the Amtrak trip. I was up to the challenge and tracked the various departures as they happened.

 

We were picked up by the next Portland Streetcar Route A at 10:15 AM, so our wait there at OMSI/SE Water was 14 minutes. The A streetcar runs in the clockwise direction, but I wanted us to do it in addition to the B route since it operates on different one way streets thus giving other views of the city. Immediately we rode over Tilikum Crossing once more, and then made our way northbound through downtown Portland.

 

At 10:40 AM, Penny got off the streetcar at NE 10th & Couch to return to her hotel. Then at 10:58 PM, after we had returned to the east bank of the river, Alan and Grace alighted at NE 7th & Holladay to go back to theirs. The other five of us continued around the loop, arriving back at OMSI/SE Water at 11:12 AM. We then walked back over the same walkway we had traversed about an hour before, and waited for the next MAX Orange Line vehicle to downtown.

 

  Chapter 7.5: TriMet MAX Orange Line, OMSI/SE Water to various points

 

The next MAX Orange Line train departed OMSI/SE Water at 11:18 AM. After the fourth and last trip over Tilikum Crossing, we entered the downtown area. Chris then detrained at Pioneer Courthouse at 11:32 AM, followed by Jishnu departing at 11:34 AM at NW 6th & Pine. That left three from our group on board this vehicle. Mike and Steve then got off at 11:37 AM at NW 6th/Hoyt/Union Station. By this time this vehicle was now a Yellow Line trip. I remained on board over the Steel Bridge to Interstate/Rose Quarter (getting there 11:42 AM), then walked over to the outbound mainline platform where I took a MAX Green Line vehicle to the Lloyd Center/NE 11th Avenue to return to Doubletree for my luggage.

 

Chapter 7.6: In Portland

 

Our group of eight had lunch on our own at various downtown locations. We then returned to Union Station where we convened in the Metropolitan Lounge to await the Coast Starlight, which we found out was running just a little late.

 

Chapter 7.7: Amtrak Coast Starlight, Train #11(15), Portland, OR to Los Angeles, CA

 

Still at eight people, our group boarded Amtrak's Coast Starlight and took our respective sleeper rooms. We were split among three cars: Steve, Grace, Alan, Jishnu, and Penny were in the 1130 car, Chris in the 1131 car, and Mike and I were in the 1132 car. The big feature of the Coast Starlight is that besides the meals in the diner, we also had access to the Pacific Parlor car, which we would all find plenty of opportunity to spend time in.

 

Our Coast Starlight did not dwell long in Portland, so when we left at 2:36 PM, we were only 11 minutes late. Over the course of our journey the next day and a half, our timekeeping would get much worse, and then eventually much better. We progressively lost more time as we went down the line. There was a brief dwell stop at Eugene, OR at which some time was made up, but we still left there at 5:41 PM, 31 minutes down.

 

Regarding meals, we had choices to make. For the two dinners, and Saturday's lunch, each of us had to decide whether to take them in the dining car or the Pacific Parlor. So at no time did we have a full group of 8 in the diner.

 

After Eugene the route gets much more scenic as the rail line crosses the Cascades range. It therefore winds through passes and alongside lakes. Shortly after leaving Chemult, OR at 8:44 PM (36 minutes late), we came to an unscheduled stop as we were told there was a freight train ahead of us with a problem. We lost about 25 more minutes there, as day quickly turned to night. Then we rolled again, finally coming into Klamath Falls around 10:15 PM. What is supposed to be a 10-minute stop turned out to be 1-1/2 hours in duration. We finally departed Klamath Falls at 11:45 PM, now one hour 45 minutes off the advertised.

 

Chapter 7.8: End of Friday's activities

 

Most of our group had gone to sleep by Klamath Falls, and once we finally left there, I did the same. Ahead of us we had another full day on this train.



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Posted 29 October 2017 - 11:44 PM

Chapter 8: Saturday, July 16, 2016

 

Travel continued all day Saturday as our Coast Starlight made its way south to Los Angeles.

 

Chapter 8.0: Amtrak Coast Starlight, Train #11(15), Portland, OR to Los Angeles, CA (continued)

 

Overnight, our performance did not improve. We lost a few more minutes. My first memory of Saturday was awakening at our stop in Chico, CA. We departed from there at 5:48 AM, one hour 58 minutes down. Those who desired first call for breakfast were in the dining car as we approached the northern suburbs of Sacramento. By the time we got to Sacramento, we were finished and could take a walk outside during the layover. That dwell was shorted than scheduled due to our tardiness. We departed from Sacramento at 7:53 AM, still one hour 18 minutes late.

 

Although we were now running on the good tracks of the Capital Corridor, our timekeeping started to deteriorate again as we made our stops in Davis, Martinez, Emeryville, and Oakland. When we left San Jose at 11:39 AM, we were still a little over 1-1/2 hours down.

 

Once we had left the Bay Area, however, our timekeeping started to improve. Salinas came at 1:00 PM (one hour 12 minutes late) and then Paso Robles at 2:43 PM (one hour 5 minutes down). Next came the Cuesta Grade, another scenic mountainous portion of the route as we again went slowly around many curves and through tunnels. San Luis Obispo came next, and we were joined across the platform by our northbound Coast Starlight counterpart, Train #14(16). A meet between the two trains could not have come at a better place! When we departed this station, it was 3:57 PM, and we were just 37 minutes late.

 

In Pismo Beach we started the breathtaking run along the Pacific Ocean. The tracks wind along the coast for over 100 miles. During this part of the run we had our final dinner in the Pacific Parlor car. At the Santa Barbara station, there were many people waiting to board. There had been some issue with one of the Pacific Surfliner consists, and our train's coach section was taking on some of its passengers. Despite the heavy boarding, we had made up some more of our time deficit. We left there 27 minutes late at 6:29 PM.

 

Oxnard came next, the first of our train's discharge-only station stops the rest of the way to Los Angeles. We were just 9 minutes late when we left at 7:14 PM. Then came Simi Valley half an hour later, and we were now four minutes early! We had since lost the Pacific Ocean views as we now crossed the San Fernando Valley. Next was Van Nuys, followed by our last intermediate stop, Burbank-Bob Hope Airport. We left there at 8:19 PM, now 12 minutes early. Then as the sun set for the day, we made our final jog into Los Angeles, arriving there at 8:39 PM, 21 minutes ahead of schedule. After being almost two hours behind in Oregon and northern California, we more than made up all of the time thanks to shortened dwells and schedule padding. Our participants detrained after a day and a half on board.

 

Chapter 8.1: End of Saturday's activities

 

I was staying in Arcadia, so I separated quickly from the group and made my way to the Gold Line to head there. Jishnu headed for a hotel near the Airport, as he would be leaving us the next morning. The other six who had arrived on Amtrak from Portland went to the Doubletree Hotel-Los Angeles Downtown.



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Posted 29 October 2017 - 11:50 PM

Chapter 9: Sunday, July 17, 2016

 

Our first and only full day of activities in the Los Angeles area included rides on two light rail lines, and a small portion of Metro subway.

 

Chapter 9.1: Meeting in Los Angeles

 

Seven people returned from our previous travels, namely Chris, Penny, Grace, Alan, Mike, Steve, and me. Joining us anew for today's activities would be Kirk Schneider, Stephen Montero, and three members of my family -- my brother Jeff, sister in law Sharon, and niece Anna. That brought our group to 12 people for today's activities. We assembled in the waiting room of Los Angeles Union Station, and once everyone was accounted for, we moved towards the entrance to the Metro Red Line to begin our day on the rails.

 

Chapter 9.2: LACMTA Metro Red Line, Union Station to 7th Street/Metro Center

 

We started out a little earlier than our itinerary called for, but we decided to proceed since we had a long day and it would give us more leeway later on in the day. Our first official ride together on the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transit Authority (Metro) Red Line departed at 10:21 AM. It took us five minutes to get to 7th Street/Metro Center, our transfer point to the Metro Expo Line.

 

Chapter 9.3: LACMTA Metro Expo Line, 7th Street/Metro Center to Downtown Santa Monica

 

It turned out that two of our participants, Kirk and Stephen, were in a different car, and not seeing that we had gotten off the Red Line, they also didn't make the transfer to the Expo Line. So although we didn't immediately know it until we heard from them, we had ten folks on this segment. We departed from 7th Street/Metro Center at 10:27 AM, having made the transfer in a minute. We had a beautiful ride out to Santa Monica over Phases 1 and 2 of the line, and got to Santa Monica at 11:15 AM. We were still 22 minutes ahead of the time called for by our itinerary. This gave us extra time for lunch. Meanwhile, Kirk and Stephen realized they had overridden the transfer station, and were able to backtrack and take the next Expo Line trip to Santa Monica. In effect, they arrived exactly on time per the itinerary, so they were not really late!

 

Chapter 9.4: In Santa Monica

 

We had over two hours here, for walking around and having lunch. The group basically split up and went separate ways, although some remained together for walking around town or having their meal together. As agreed we assembled back at the Downtown Santa Monica Expo Line station at 1:30 PM and awaited our next conveyance.

 

Chapter 9.5: LACMTA Metro Expo Line, Downtown Santa Monica to 7th Street/Metro Center

 

With all 12 of us once again together, we boarded the light rail vehicle and departed from Santa Monica at 1:42 PM, exactly on our schedule. We rode inbound to 7th Street/Metro Center once more, arriving there at 2:29 PM. We went to the inbound Red Line platform to await our next connection.

 

Chapter 9.6: LACMTA Metro Red Line, 7th Street/Metro Center to Union Station

 

The transfer time, including the walk and wait for the next train, was eight minutes. We departed from 7th Street/Metro Center at 2:37 PM, and after five minutes of travel we were back at Union Station. At Union Station we had a short bathroom break for those who needed it, and then we proceeded up to the Gold Line platform in order to tackle that entire line.

 

Chapter 9.7: LACMTA Metro Gold Line, Union Station to Atlantic

 

First, we would be taking the East L.A. segment of the line, which aside from the Azusa extension was also new to most of our group. So we left Union Station in the southbound direction first. This would be the only part of our day in which we had some delays. The first trip bound for Atlantic came at 3:03 PM, which was six minutes down. We arrived at Atlantic at 3:26 PM, also just about as late.

 

Chapter 9.8: LACMTA Metro Gold Line, Atlantic to APU/Citrus College

 

The turnaround of the same car took place in just four minutes, and we were soon on what for most would be an end-to-end trip on this line from here to APU/Citrus College. The 12 of us departed from the Atlantic station at 3:30 PM. After Union Station was the more familiar portion of the Gold Line up to Pasadena. On this trip our group began to get smaller as people needed to get off along the way. A 4:03 PM, Jeff got off at Southwest Museum as he had parked his car there. Sharon and Anna stayed aboard with the group and he would pick them up later. Meanwhile, after the Sierra Madre Villa station in East Pasadena, we again moved onto what was "new" trackage for most of us.

 

On the way outbound, Sharon and Anna detrained at Azusa Downtown. That left nine of us still together as we went one more station to the new but temporary end of the line at APU/Citrus College. We arrived there at 4:42 PM.

 

Chapter 9.9: LACMTA Metro Gold Line, APU/Citrus College to Little Tokyo/Arts District

 

At this end of the line, there was a mere six minute dwell. We departed westbound from this station at 4:48 PM, with 9 on board. At 4:50 PM, Steve and Mike decided to get off next at Azusa Downtown, leaving a group of seven. Then I would depart the group at Arcadia at 5:03 PM, to attend to changing hotels and preparing for dinner. The remaining six continued back into downtown Los Angeles, where they arrived at the Little Tokyo/Arts District station nearest the Doubletree Hotel at 5:37 PM. And so ended our official Metro riding for the day.

 

Chapter 9.10: Dinner in Los Angeles

 

Those staying at the Doubletree had dinner at Justice Urban Tavern within the hotel. Meanwhile, in Arcadia I met Jeff, Sharon, and Anna again for dinner at Olive Garden.

 

Chapter 9.11: End of Sunday's activities

 

Sunday was our peak day of participation as 12 people reflected on a very busy day on the rails in Los Angeles.



Kevin Korell


OTOL Board Leader


Lakewood, NJ


#10 KevinKorell

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Posted 29 October 2017 - 11:53 PM

Chapter 10: Monday, July 18, 2016

 

Monday featured a round trip on the Pacific Surfliner to Solana Beach, after which the remaining people with the group would board the eastbound Southwest Chief to head east to Chicago.

 

Chapter 10.1: Meeting in Los Angeles

 

A total of eight people would be involved on Monday. Returning from yesterday were Mike, Steve, Grace, Alan, Penny, Chris, and me. And rejoining us was Dick, who had come down from the Bay Area on Sunday's Coast Starlight. We met in the Metropolitan Lounge, and those who would be returning there later were able to leave our luggage behind. A Redcap took us out to our Pacific Surfliner train well in advance of general boarding, and took our seats in the Business Class car.

 

Chapter 10.2: Amtrak Pacific Surfliner, Train #566(18), Los Angeles, CA to Solana Beach, CA

 

Our Pacific Surfliner, which originated there in Los Angeles, departed on time at 8:41 AM. We had a nice trip down through Orange County. We had a delay around San Clemente Pier as we had a meet with our counterpart, Train #567. We arrived in Solana Beach at 11:03 AM, seven minutes late.

 

The majority of us would be getting off in Solana Beach, but three would effectively be leaving the group by remaining on board to San Diego. Mike and Steve would ride some MTS San Diego Trolley and then return to Los Angeles on a later Pacific Surfliner. Chris would be flying home from San Diego.

 

Chapter 10.3: In Solana Beach

 

The group would remain at five people from Solana Beach until the end of the Fest in Chicago on Wednesday. After we got off Train #566, we walked across the street to have lunch at Pizza Port. After lunch, most of us burnt off lunch by walking down to the beachfront. All of us then met once more at the station to await our return trip.

 

Chapter 10.4: Amtrak Pacific Surfliner, Train #777(18), Solana Beach, CA to Los Angeles, CA

 

Train #777, which had the same equipment set as #566, was about three minutes late coming into Solana Beach. The crew assigned us seats away from one another, so we did not get to sit together on this crowded train. We left there at 12:35 PM. Another smooth trip prevailed back to Los Angeles, where we arrived 2:43 PM, still three minutes down.

 

Chapter 10.5: In Los Angeles

 

Once back in Union Station, we had about 3-1/2 hours before beginning our eastward trek towards home. We partook of snacks and drinks in the Metropolitan Lounge, and some took a walk outside. In time, we got the boarding call for Amtrak's Southwest Chief, and made our way to the appropriate platform. The train wasn't there yet when we got there, but soon it backed in and we made our way to our sleeper accommodations.

 

Chapter 10.6: Amtrak Southwest Chief, Train #4(18), Los Angeles, CA to Chicago, IL

 

Despite what had appeared to be a late arrival of our consist, we got out of Los Angeles Union Station at 6:12 PM, just two minutes down. We made a dinner reservation for 7:15 PM, so we had about an hour to wait, made easier to endure by the snacks we had earlier in the lounge. At our first intermediate stop at Fullerton, a lot of passengers were boarding. Kirk, who had ridden on the Metro trips with us the day before and lives in Fullerton, was on the platform to see our train. We left Fullerton 6:55 PM, now ten minutes off the advertised.

 

We went to our first on board meal for this train. We had ordered by Riverside, and were finishing eating by San Bernardino, still approximately ten minutes down as we left at 8:07 PM. We then began our crossing of Cajon Pass, although darkness quickly came before we were through it. Between 9 and 10 PM, we made stops at Victorville and Barstow. We left the latter at 9:58 PM, just seven minutes late.

 

Chapter 10.7: End of Monday's activities

 

First night of sleep aboard the Southwest Chief came easily as we had just experienced another long and productive day on and off the rails.



Kevin Korell


OTOL Board Leader


Lakewood, NJ





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