Amtrack from Wa to LAX

[RangerPooh]

We are considering taking Amtrack from Seattle/Portland to LAX (connecting to SNA) for an upcoming trip. Has anyone made this trek? We're also considering a sleeper car/private room option of some sort to allow our girls to roam about. So while driving is cheaper we thought that this would make for an interesting adventure, esp as DD 2 loves trains.

 

[Ashlotte]

I don't have any answers, but I am in Portland, so I am excited to hear the replies.

 

[bumbershoot]

I didn't go all the way to Los Angeles, but I went from Seattle to San Jose a few years ago when 7 months pregnant and suddenly afraid to fly.

It's a long trip, I won't lie to you about that. And Amtrak is NOT known for being on time...the longer you are on the train, the more behind you're going to get. They share the rails with freightcars, and if a train ahead of you has something wrong with it, you can't go until they do!

I had a roomette, and if I hadn't been out to *there* and having to go to the bathroom a million times a night, I would have LOVED it. When you get even the cheapest roomette, you're considered First Class, and meals are included, along with a special lounge car. It's veddy veddy nice.

Looks like you'd be on the Coast Starlight (which I rode on my long trip), and then switch to the Pacific Surfliner to get to Anaheim? Sounds wonderful to me. But then I love trains! We took the train up to Vancouver to get on our honeymoon cruise, and found it to be the most marvelous, stress-free, way to travel (left the day before our cruise, went home the day after, to reduce stress of delays).

Oh, and on my way to San Jose, I was in the first class lounge with a slightly older couple on their honeymoon. They are both flight attendants, but the chose the train to travel for their honeymoon. They were going all the way to San Diego, but just to highlight the fact that the train is pretty much ALWAYS late, they said that they had made the trek many, many times, and they had NEVER been able to catch the last train to San Diego (which would be the Surfliner, by the way), because of the lateness. However, Amtrak would always have a coach (bus) waiting, to finish the trip south, which might mean that that is how you would finish your trip to Anaheim as well.

Or just snag a room in LA for the night and catch the first Surfliner of the morning. (sounds like more fun to me!)

Hope you go and have a great time!!! I can't wait until DS is a bit over 3 so I would think he'd have a good time...

 

[RangerPooh]

Thanks for the response! I had forgotten about delays, but anything beats sitting behind the wheel in rush hour bay area/so cal traffic (orginally from the bay area). We're looking forward to riding the rails on our upcoming trip.

 

[blackjackdelta]

I didn't go all the way to Los Angeles, but I went from Seattle to San Jose a few years ago when 7 months pregnant and suddenly afraid to fly.

It's a long trip, I won't lie to you about that. And Amtrak is NOT known for being on time...the longer you are on the train, the more behind you're going to get. They share the rails with freightcars, and if a train ahead of you has something wrong with it, you can't go until they do!

I had a roomette, and if I hadn't been out to *there* and having to go to the bathroom a million times a night, I would have LOVED it. When you get even the cheapest roomette, you're considered First Class, and meals are included, along with a special lounge car. It's veddy veddy nice.

Looks like you'd be on the Coast Starlight (which I rode on my long trip), and then switch to the Pacific Surfliner to get to Anaheim? Sounds wonderful to me. But then I love trains! We took the train up to Vancouver to get on our honeymoon cruise, and found it to be the most marvelous, stress-free, way to travel (left the day before our cruise, went home the day after, to reduce stress of delays).

Oh, and on my way to San Jose, I was in the first class lounge with a slightly older couple on their honeymoon. They are both flight attendants, but the chose the train to travel for their honeymoon. They were going all the way to San Diego, but just to highlight the fact that the train is pretty much ALWAYS late, they said that they had made the trek many, many times, and they had NEVER been able to catch the last train to San Diego (which would be the Surfliner, by the way), because of the lateness. However, Amtrak would always have a coach (bus) waiting, to finish the trip south, which might mean that that is how you would finish your trip to Anaheim as well.

Or just snag a room in LA for the night and catch the first Surfliner of the morning. (sounds like more fun to me!)

Hope you go and have a great time!!! I can't wait until DS is a bit over 3 so I would think he'd have a good time...

e
The big problem with the train is that it is always late, most of the time you can drive somewhere quicker and bit bit more $$$, but I love trains.

Jack

 

[MrsMork]

20 years ago I did the Coast Starlight the opposite direction....LA to Portland. I had DS9 and DD15 with me. We were not able to get a sleeper, but we went anyway. I did it so the kids could experience train travel. It was a fun trip, although sleeping in the reclining seats was not the most comfortable way to travel. Beautiful ride though.

 

[Rena75]

We took the train from LA to Portland once and when we got to the station in LA we were told that there would be no train (it was late and they wouldn't have time to clean it in time for our trip!).

So, they sent us by bus to Bakersfield where we boarded a commuter train to Martinez (outside San Francisco). Amtrak then had the south-bound train stop on its way down and had all the passengers disembark and had all of us get on to continue our trip to Portland. The passengers on the south-bound train then had to do the whole commuter train/bus trip back home!

It was horrible - especially with two young kids (3 and 6) and my mother who was on an oxygen tank. Amtrak was no help with any of it and we were responsible for getting our luggage and extra oxygen tanks on the commuter train.

I'm posting this to let you know that things can go horribly wrong on the train - so be prepared! Above all - TAKE FOOD WITH YOU!! We only had a few snacks and had to eat dinner from a vending machine at the train station in Bakersfield!

On another trip we took (when Amtrak was still going to Las Vegas), we got stuck in a small town for several hours but at least Amtrak sent someone out and got us all a dinner from KFC. Not exactly gourmet but at least we had something to eat!

With Amtrak, you just never know what is going to happen!!

 

[garate55]

We took the train from Tacoma to Anaheim in Dec. 2006. First off we left the day after the big December storms of 2006, so we left with no showers because no hot water. Then we left for Tacoma with a 10:00am depature coming near. Well we didn't leave till around 1:00pm on a bus bound for Portland(tracks between Seattle and Portland were closed). We finally left Portland around 5:00pm and had a 14 hour delay total from waiting for the freight trains to broken rails. So our trip began bad but ended up ok, we did miss part of our first day. We were supposed to arrive @11pm on the 16th but ended up arriving @1pm on the 17th. Our situation was rare I don't believe 14hrs late is the norm, but do expect to be at least 2hrs late if you go that far. As for the train terminals in LA, they are not like airports where everything is spelled out for you, you will have to ask where and when to catch the next train.

 

[pigletliz]

Took Amtrak from LA to Monterey three times over the last few years. It was always late, both northbound and southbound, by at least several hours because they needed to make way for the freight trains. Not fun. On a happier note, the food in the dining car was good.