The Train! The Train!
If you’ve been around here for a while, you know how I hate to fly. I loathe flying, not because I’m afraid of heights (though claustrophobia probably has something to do with it). No, I hate flying because of the inconvenience. Getting to the airport two or three hours early, dealing with the security lines–which do NOT make me feel more safe, they only make me feel more worried about the state of our democracy–then hours waiting at the gate, while boarding, to take off, to land, to disembark, to get the luggage…it turns into a nightmare, and I feel taken advantage of at each stage, not least since airlines have started charging for the first piece of checked luggage.
So when the publisher asked me to go to San Diego for ComiCon, I said, “Sure. Can I take the train?”
The publisher’s travel agency was floored that anyone would want a trip that took longer than flying, though when one adds in al the aggravation and waiting, I felt the train ride was probably shorter.
I LOVED the train ride. We took Amtrak’s Coast Starlight, which is supposedly their hoity-toity new refurbished ride down the West Coast, from Seattle to LA. There was some confusion–Amtrak itineraries are so ill-conceived I had problems reading them. Not only that, but so did the Selkie and the Muffin, so I didn’t feel quite so much a moron–which ended up with me upgrading the UnSullen One and myself to something called a “Roomette” instead of coach.
Which I was endlessly glad of. For slightly less than plane tickets for both of us from PDX to SAN, we got two single beds (one of them a bunk) and a private enclosure, meals (well, train food, which is better than plane food only in you get slightly more choices and slightly bigger portions, as well as cheaper booze), and a door we could close to shut the world out.
The roomette worked out so well I called ahead in Sacramento on the way down to see if we could upgrade on the way back. We actually got, for slightly more than the price of a coach/economy plane ride back for both of us, something called a “deluxe”–a bigger bed on the bottom, a bunk on top, both of which folded up so the traveling compartment held a bench seat and a “chair”, plus our own sink, loo, and shower.
We got the last upgrade possible on the returning train, and boy HOWDY was I glad.
So, the trip itself! We left Vancouver at about 1PM on Wednesday and bumped southward. Both of us were excited and very happy not to be on a plane, notwithstanding a car attendant who seemed to be on meth and very unhappy at the same time. Still, with the exception of trying to get her to tell us how to put our beds up the next day, she wasn’t that bad.
The scenery was pretty much awesome. The Starlight winds through the Cascades and goes through Salinas and San Luis Obispo, both places I wanted to see. Going through the Cascades was awesome, because we could see valleys cars couldn’t traverse; we also passed Vandenberg (sp?) Air Force Base, a ship graveyard, and all sorts of neat historical places. (I got off in Salinas and touched the dirt, feeling very Steinbeck.)
Going through urban areas the scenery was less pretty but no less awesome. The UnSullen One was agog at all the graffiti, and spent many an enjoyable hour watching it. I enjoyed seeing cities from trainside–you get a much “seamier” view than driving through. On a train you can see into people’s backyards, you can see the shelters the homeless have put up, you can see junkyards and the back yards of industrial complexes. It was great Musecrack, especially for an urban fantasy author. Being able to stretch out one’s legs and relax was incredibly nice, too.
It was a long, long trip on the way down. Even though we had a shower in our sleeper car, I didn’t get to wash my hair and was feeling a bit greasy by the time we pulled into LA. (By the way–seeing LA at night from the rails is an EXPERIENCE, especially when some idiot kids leave a bicycle on the tracks.) In LA there was a bit of a wait while we transferred to the train to San Diego, which was a far more exhausting ride since at that point, the Teen and I both had to interact with people and were stressed out about possibly not making our connection. Plus, we were told to go to three different platforms, with the third finally being the correct one. GUH. < ---That was the sound of me wishing I had a transporter.
Getting into San Diego at 1-2AM was all right, especially since the hotel was two blocks away from the train/trolley station. Tired, but not as exhausted as we could have been, we both took showers and collapsed, and were ready to go do ComiCon madness after a bit of sleeping.
The UnSullen One was full of good ideas all weekend long, and one of the best was when he suggested we hop down Saturday afternoon and get our upgraded tickets instead of waiting for 5AM Sunday morning. It was pretty hot and a half-hour wait, mostly because of one Entitled Customer who just would. Not. Shut. Up. when dealing with the only open ticket window, but as soon as she was out of the way the line started moving at a good clip and we got our upgraded tickets, which meant no stress the next morning.
Coming back up from San Diego it was the Surfliner to LA (again) and a transfer once we hit LA. Then the best part of the trip (the train trip, that is) happened. Since we were in a sleeper car, we got to hang out in the Starlight's new lounge in Los Angeles Union Station, which is a very, very pretty building in its front half. Tiled floors and long windows, old wooden pews and a certain grace and harmony from when trains were the only way to go. We had a wonderful, wonderful crew on the way back up to Vancouver. Our car attendant, Julio, was different as night and day from out meth-snorting twitcher on the way down. I don't think I had to lift a finger I didn't want to. It was cool seeing the scenery at different times of day, and we could relax with the con and all the transfers behind us.
So, without further ado, here are the famous BULLETED LISTS of Good Things and Not So Good Things about the train ride.
GOOD THINGS:
* Sitting in the parlor car, drinking coffee and Bailey’s, watching the Cascades fold away in timbered valleys below.
* The California coast, hugged for a while between LA and the inward turn.
* Julio the car attendant, and the lovely lady in the parlor car on the way back, who made sure I was well taken care of and talked graffiti with the Teen.
* The food may not have been high quality, but at least there was enough of it. You wouldn’t starve in a sleeper car, and the meals are included in the ticket price.
* Hannah, Olivia, and Emma, the lovely young ladies we met coming back from LA. They played endless hands of Uno with the UnSullen One, and were quite the resourceful travel partners. Ladies, you are quite the credit to your family.
* Being able to lock the door and sleep, only vaguely concerned about What Might Happen If I Close My Eyes.
* One’s own loo on the way back. The “shower” in our compartment hardly deserved the name, but there was a separate one on the bottom floor of every sleeper car, so keeping clean was an option. The private loo MORE than made up for any shower issues.
* The sound of the rails, which I quite enjoyed.
* Getting up and walking on the train is a good way to keep from getting any circulatory problems. Stretching is also possible, with a little care and thought. Which knocks out a lot of the physical misery of traveling, though the different pollen in different places can make one’s allergies flare unexpectedly. I think the UnSullen One is still sneezing from San Juan Capistrano’s burst of pollen.
* NOT BEING IN COACH. Having a little private space really made the difference between a pleasant trip and a voyage through Hell.
* Seeing the kids on the train platform, running toward me, and being rested enough to run for them.
NOT-SO-GOOD THINGS
* Trains are social, and there is a special class of aggressive drunks that resides upon them. It was difficult for me to ignore, because they will do just about anything to get your attention. (Thankfully, the private sleeper space was a refuge–and the UnSullen One has a variety of mischievious tricks perfect for rescuing me from aggressive drunks.) Meals in the dining car were also community-dining, so one’s dinner partners are unlikely to engage in silence at the table. Which can drain one’s emotional energy liek woah.
* The social aspect of trains also means that some people feel they can make judgments/comments about you if they don’t like your clothing or your comportment. Still, if this bothered me I would have never survived high school. I do think I deserve kudos for not shooting a few people the bird and a verbal smackdown.
* Seeing the smog bank over LA and thinking about what that does to people’s lungs. Ugh.
* Not thinking about taking my knitting with me. I could’ve finished a few things–but lugging them around might have been a difficulty.
* The constant motion didn’t bother me, but it does make some people ill. And there’s also the factor of being bumped around at high speed while one is in the narrow, narrow halls in the sleeper cars. I do have bruises, and we saw a couple of elderly men obviously on Coumadin or other blood thinners who were very, very bruised on their upper arms.
* Our crew on the way down to LA was full of very obviously unhappy people. Still, we shut our door and didn’t have to deal with them. With the exception of Larry the Parlor Car guy, who was uniformly pleasant and helpful, a bright spot in an otherwise sour-faced crew.
* Plenty of confusion on the way between LA and San Diego, compounded by sleeplessness and excitement. The first time one tries anything new is always stressful.
* The view of poverty. I am always acutely aware of this in cities anyway, but seeing so much of it from the rails is…it’s heartwrenching. We also saw plenty of migrant workers in the Salad Bowl fields, and that affected me profoundly. I am still very thoughtful about it.
* Being less than five minutes away from the Vancouver station, knowing someone was waiting to pick us up, and being stuck behind a bridge because river traffic has priority. ARGH. But it was, as I’ve said, less aggravation than flying. By an order of magnitude at LEAST.
* Creeping through smoke from several wildfires at ten miles an hour in the middle of the night. The smoke got into the train’s ventilation system and made sleeping problematic, which is probably why I was so tired in LA.
* We were in an older sleeping car coming back, so it wasn’t as nice as some of the newer ones. However, it was still (you guessed it) better than flying, and that’s a small quibble.
* Microwaved food all the ding-dang time. On the up side, though, the booze wasn’t bad, and roughly comparable to getting drinks at a lounge.
There are other things I could say, but this is a monster post already. Suffice to say I really, really enjoyed my trip, and I was glad not to fly. I’d take the train again in a heartbeat going down the West Coast, or within a reasonable number of miles from home. Anything further than that I’d probably have to fly, but I would exert myself mightily not to do so.
Thanks to everyone who gave me great train advice–especially the people who told me to upgrade, and whoever suggested WetNaps. Gods bless the Interwebs Advice Pool.
And yes…it’s good to be home.
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July 31st, 2008 at 4:28 pm
Lili,
That sounds awesome. I dunno when I’ll be able to take a vacation again, but I’ve been thinking pretty seriously about trying to take trains and even boats – they’re supposedly so much better for the environment. I’m just not sure at what distance train travel becomes ludicrious for shorter vacations. Like to go from Rhode Island to Seattle or San Francisco is probably several days each way, which would make it impractical for anything less than a 2 week vacation, and even then it’s a stretch.
August 1st, 2008 at 2:15 am
When I read “shower” in your compartment, I had to check it out twice!! O_o Italian trains don’t even know what a shower is… *sigh* And food paid with the ticket!! That’s a dream…
However, I’m too in the if-I-can-do-it-any-other-way-than-plane-I’m-happier party. I’m even trying to find a way to get across the ocean by merchantile ship: I can stand plane for a couple hours flight, but I’d probably kill someone (or myself) if I had to endure longer flights. 
August 1st, 2008 at 7:58 am
I love travelling by train — I wish it was more convenient to more places in the US. Doing it in Europe is much easier, and amazing. The creepy thing there is in some countries (no names) the staff can be surly, and some of them have submachine guns. Kind of a negative.
August 2nd, 2008 at 10:41 am
I love the train, but I haven’t ever taken an overnight trip. I plan for it every once in a while, and then run out of time and put it off for another time. I do think trains are infinitely better than flying.
August 4th, 2008 at 6:54 am
I always take the train if I can, the Man and I have gone from NY to California twice, the first time was NY to LA and on to San Diego, which was the same connection you took. The last time we took the boys – we had 2 sleepers across from each other – that was the best, sometimes you need to close the door on bickering teenagers! We also took the train from Portland to Vancouver, BC which was a beautiful ride.
I hate flying for the very same reasons you mentioned – plus the claustrophobia facter as well. The next train trip we are planing is through the Canadian Rockies – that should be glorious.