Travelogue and photos of the rail travel of Steve and his family on the Amtrak Coast Starlight from Los Angeles,California to Seattle, Washington.
Everything got off to a fine start! We made it down to the Fullerton Depot by about 7:30 AM PT. The San Diegan that connects to the Coast Starlight arrived pretty much on time a few minutes after 8 AM PT. Normally this train would be a set of California Cars. I don't know why, but this was just a regular set of Amfleet/Horizon Cars. Now I was definitely glad that I had purchased the Pacific Class upgrade for the short trip to Los Angeles! The 3 kids sat in 2 sets of facing seats and my wife and I sat across from them.
When we got off our train in Los Angeles, the Coast Starlight was waiting for us right across the platform as it usually is. As we walked to our Sleeping Car, I was glad to see that we had one of the newly refurbished Pacific Parlour Cars on our train. The door to our Sleeping Car was already open and Janet welcomed us aboard. We headed right for our room.
Recalling the last trip that I took on the Coast Starlight, I remember that the Pacific Parlour Car had run out of the chocolate chip muffins, the only ones that my kids like, by the time we got up there. Even though we went up there the moment the train got under way, everything already looked picked over and many of the morning pastries had been taken. Thus, I told my kids to head up to the Pacific Parlour Car now if they wanted some of the types of muffins that they liked.
However, they got stopped by Janet who said they don't open the Pacific Parlour Car until the train gets under way. I didn't want to challenge her, but I had inquired after my last experience with the new Pacific Parlour Car. The answer that I got back is that they now try to open up the newly refurbished Pacific Parlour Car as soon as people start to board. I've always thought that was the proper policy. It is already 9 AM when people start to board and many like to start their day with some coffee, juice, and a pastry or some fruit. To wait until the train is under way, or worse, till your tickets collected, will get you down to the Pacific Parlour Car about 10 AM which is pushing up against lunch time for many.
After Janet sent my kids back to their room, I snuck over to the Pacific Parlour Car myself to see what was the status. Sure enough, they were already serving and the pastries had just started to be taken. I headed back to our room and this time got my kids successfully up to the Pacific Parlour Car. They were happy to find plenty of the types of muffins that they like still available!
I asked the Pacific Parlour Car Attendant later what the official policy was about when the car opens. He said that he tries to get it open as early as possible and likes to have everything ready by the time the train gets under way at the very latest. Unless I find out otherwise, it still seems that the newly refurbished Pacific Parlour Cars are already serving by the time you board while the ones that have not been refurbished yet don't serve until the train is well under way. I don't know the reason for this, but it is what I have observed.
Brian Rosenwald, the Product Line Manager for the Amtrak Coast Starlight, was also on this train. He made a point to talk to every passenger on the train, get their feedback, and make sure they were enjoying the train trip.
I mentioned that I saw him at the meeting reviewing the cafe car design for the new San Diegan equipment. Brian vanished before the meeting was over and I didn't get a chance to say hello. However, I was curious about why he was at that meeting since I wasn't aware of his connection with the San Diegan route.
Mr. Rosenwald confirmed just what I had heard rumors about until now. There had been a major realignment of management responsibilities at Amtrak. Brian was now also in charge of the Amtrak San Diegans, which explained his presence at that meeting. If you are as happy with the Coast Starlight as I am, don't fear, Brian Rosenwald continues to maintain responsibility over that train. Actually, he may even have more control over it now than he did previously. If I understood what I heard correctly, Brian now has responsibility for what gets stocked in the commissary. That means he can make sure items that are wanted on that train, and maybe on the San Diegans also, will be available on the train.
An odd thing happened the first time I went to lunch in the Coast Starlight this trip. This has never happened in over 100,000 miles of Amtrak travel on the many dozens of Amtrak trips I have taken. The Dining Car Steward, William Knott, asked me to remove my hat while sitting at the table. I complied, but it gave me very mixed feelings. There does not appear to be a dress code in the Dining Cars of any Amtrak train, even the Coast Starlight. If they wanted to have a dress code, that would be a different story and I'm not sure whether I would object to that or not. But a dress code means no T-shirts or tank tops. I don't know if we could or would want to ever go back to requiring jackets and ties for the men and gowns for women in the Dining Car. So, starting with the assumption that there is not a dress code, then I think it is inappropriate to ask patrons to remove their hats in the Dining Car.
I'm not particularly vain about my baldness, but I've gotten quite used to wearing my TrainWeb baseball cap everywhere. I felt about as comfortable eating in the Dining Car without my cap as I would have without my pants! I have noticed in the past that the wearing of baseball caps is very common in the Dining Car. Look around in any restaurant where there is not a jacket and tie requirement and you will find many people wearing caps.
Bottom line: where one of the duties of the on board service staff is to help people to enjoy the trip and feel at ease, this experience certainly did nothing to help me to feel at ease and certainly did not add to my enjoyment of the trip. Opinions? Keep in mind that I don't necessary object to an evenly applied dress code where not only hats are banned, but also T-shirts, tank tops, shorts, etc.
My wife and I were with the kids sitting at a table in the Pacific Parlor Car enjoying the Champagne Party on the second day of the trip. Brian Rosenwald was making his rounds again making sure that everyone was enjoying the journey. Somehow the topic came up that Saturday, June 27th, was our 22nd wedding anniversary. Brian stepped away, returned and presented us with a bottle of Piper Sonoma Brut Champagne. We thanked him for the gift, but seeing that we had just finished the Champagne party in the Pacific Parlour Car, we were certain that we would not be able to drink another drop that day. Brian said that we should just let the Car Attendant know anytime we'd like to open it and they could put it on ice for us. We appreciated the offer, but we hung onto the bottle until we reached Vancouver Island and finally enjoyed the cold Champagne in our room there.