AmTravel – Part 2

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These photos cover the remainder of the trip on the Southwest Chief across New Mexico.

(click any photo in the grid for full gallery.)

Those not exiting at stops in Arizona slept through that state.

We spent 6 hours sitting still on the border between Arizona and California. There was a problem with the locomotive and we had to wait for a replacement. Fortunately, this all happened overnight, so we slept through it and didn’t have to bake in the desert sun. Also fortunately, we then got to see sunrise over the California desert.

We were scheduled to arrive in Los Angeles before 8 am on July 14. We actually got in just after 1 pm. Expecting delays, I hadn’t reserved a ticket for my connection to Ventura, CA,. That train runs 6 or more times a day and I knew there would be some flexibility.

On the advice of a friend who used to live in LA, I sought out a place near Union Station called Philippe the Original, makers of a magnificent French dip roast beef (or pork or lamb) sandwich.

Philipe the Original French dip sandwich with real lemonade.
Philipe the Original French dip sandwich with real lemonade.

I ate this whole thing in less than 5 minutes! Philippe the Original is a miraculous time capsule of some earlier age.

Original fixtures at Philipe the Original: wooden telephone booths and sawdust on the floor.
Original fixtures at Philippe the Original: wooden telephone booths and sawdust on the floor.

Union Station is right in the middle of what used to be Victorian Los Angeles. It’s laced with six-lane streets and 90 second crossing lights, but this part of LA is actually walkable.

(click any photo in the grid for full gallery.)

Route of the Pacific Survliner Amtrak train from Los Angeles to Ventura, CA.
Route of the Pacific Surfliner from Los Angeles to Ventura, CA.

I took the Pacific Surfliner from Los Angeles to Ventura, CA at around 4 pm. We got stuck on a siding waiting for a broken-down freight train to get fixed and move on, and it was beginning to get dark by the time I arrived in Ventura.

(click any photo in the grid for full gallery.)

After an all too brief visit in Ventura, it was time to continue my Amtrak adventure. I wanted to take a different route back home, so headed up the coast on the Coast Starlight to Emeryville on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay. Emeryville is where the California Zephyr originates. The Zephyr’s route crosses the Rocky Mountains on its way back to Chicago.

Route of the Coast Starlight Amtrak train.

The Coast Starlight runs from Los Angeles all the way to Seattle, WA. My objective was only to go as far as Emeryville, but I’d be very interested to take the whole trip, someday.

Because it did not involve an overnight passage, I booked a coach seat on the Coast Starlight.

View of legroom in a coach seat on Amtrak Coast Starlight.
There’s quite a lot of legroom in Amtrak coach seats!
View of Amtrak coach seating from the side.
Coach seats are wide and quite comfortable.

The Coast Starlight follows the coast to Santa Barbara, where it turns inland and heads up the Salinas river valley.

Amtrak Coast Starlight following Route 1 along the coast.
Amtrak Coast Starlight following Route 1 along the coast.
Amtrak Coast Starlight following Route 1 along the coast.
There’s a reason they call it the Pacific Ocean.
Cloud front looms in the distance over the ocean.
When there’s a weather front out here, it’s really easy to see.
Cloud front envelops offshore oil platform, as seen from the Coast Starlight Amtrak train.
The clouds did not envelop us, but it must be raining out on that oil platform.

Two-thirds of the way, approximately, we stopped in Salinas, CA.

We arrived in Emeryville well after 9 pm. I checked into a local hotel for the night, as my next connection, the California Zephyr, doesn’t depart until 8:25 in the morning.

The Hyatt House, Emeryville, as seen from the Amtrak station platform.
The Hyatt House, Emeryville, as seen from the Amtrak station platform.

Part 3 –>