Looking for info on Coast Starlight and Empire Builder

[snarkaz]

We are taking a trip May,2009,LA to Seatle then to Chicago and to Pittsburgh. I under stand the sleepers of Coast Starlite and Empire Builder have been updated. How are they? And what type of diner cars are on these trains? Thanks  Snarkaz

[MILW205]

Yes, the sleepers on the EB have been updated so you should be in good shape.  Of course, there is always the possibility of an equipment substitution.  If you are riding the train eastbound, the train will have a sit-down (reservation) diner car from Seattle to Spokane, at which point the Portland section with a lounge car is joined on.  The lounge car offers quicker/takeaway meals and snacks.  My trip report from a few months ago is here:

http://cs.trains.com/forums/1450515/ShowPost.aspx

Hope this helps.

[wjstix]

I believe the Builder is the last Amtrak train to have meals prepared onboard in the diner. I only had a chance to eat on the train once a couple of years ago and it was very good.

[Southwest Chief]

The Empire Builder has fully refurbished Superliner I sleeping cars.  They (for the most part) look like this:

Refurbished Superliner I Sleeping car (photos at bottom of link)

I've ridden in a few of the refurbished sleepers on the Southwest Chief and they are fantastic.  I like the new sinks in the restrooms.  The colors are also nice, although I'm not the biggest fan of the faux wood paneling.  Brighter lighting is another feature of the upgraded cars.

The Coast Starlight is a bit different.  I'm not 100% sure because it has recently been "relaunched", but the Coast Starlight usually has Superliner II sleeping cars, and not the refurbished Superliner I's.  Although the refurbished Superliner I sleepers due show up on the Starlight, it is not a given like the Empire Builder.  Traditionally the Starlight, like the Auto Train, has been considered an all Superliner II trainset.  This means all the cars are Superliner II's apart from some unique cars to those trains such as the Auto Train Lounge, and the Pacific Parlor Car.

Superliner II sleeping cars are still in relatively nice condition (they date to 1994) verses a non-refurbished Superliner I that originally date to around 1979.  However Superliner sleepers periodically go through rehabilitation projects and I'm fairly certain all currently running have new blue upholstery and curtains.

A great side-by-side comparison between a refurbished Superliner I sleeping car and a Superliner II sleeping car can be found here:

Superliner Sleeper Car Comparison Photos

One aspect of the Coast Starlight that no other train has is the Pacific Parlor car.  These cars are vintage Santa Fe Hi-Level lounge cars that date to the mid to late 1950s.  These are first class cars and are ideally only accessible to sleeping car passengers.  These cars require considerable maintenance and all were taken off the train for an extended period.  The relaunch I mentioned above coincides with these cars coming back to the train.  However I cannot confirm they are all out yet so your train may not have one.  Photos and information about the Pacific Parlor cars before the relaunch can be seen here:

Pacific Parlor Car

And a story about one of the newly refurbished Parlor cars can be found here:

Pacific Parlor Car Relaunch

 

 

The dining cars will more then likely be Superliner II dining cars.  Not too many of the Superliner I dining cars still exist as dining cars.  Last time I checked, only 13 of the 39 cars are still in service as diners.  20 have been converted for other uses.  The Superliner II's have 29 out of 30 still in active use as dining cars.  A Superliner II dining car interior looks like this:

Superliner II Dining car

Most meals are now cooked on board.  Last time I took the Southwest Chief (Aug 2008) they had steak and eggs cooked to order.  This practice is system wide for all Superliner trains with full service dining cars (Empire Builder and Coast Starlight are included in this list).  The Empire Builder is unique in that it offers some specialty meals not offered on other trains.

 

I hope this information is helpful, and I hope you enjoy your Amtrak trip.

[snarkaz]

Thanks for the Info on Superliners. We are really looking foward to our trip. We have E and D sleepers on both trains.Wish I had a nickle for everytime I went through Bayfield,CO. X Coor transportation driver. Thanks again

[Warren J]

I agree with your observation of the EB's food quality. I rode the EB from Shelby MT to Chicago several years ago, too, and was very much enchanted by the food. I even purchased a copy of the menu.

I later discovered that the EB's food service did not exist on other long-distance Amtrak train. I agree that the food on the EB was not of the quality of a fine restaurant but I enjoyed the food and its presentation by the staff.

As a side, I remember traveling on my way to college with my mother on then-Southern Railroad's all-first class train, "The Crescent". She reminded me to "dress" for dinner and breakfast: no, T-shirts, jeans, etc.! Both meals were incredible: white linens, hotel-weight silverware, fine china, etc. Now that was fine dining on the rails!

[TomDiehl]

I'm glad to hear you've got plans in Pittsburgh, for as large as the city is, the train station is nothing to brag about. I was through there a couple years ago and when I saw it, it's a one person operation, a couple vending machines for snacks, and that's it! There's only two trains a day through there, the Pennsylvanian terminates there (from NYC), and the Capitol Limited passes through, so there's not much to do for that person between trains.

[Puyallup Lee]

 I took the Coast Starlight from LA to Tacoma two weeks ago, Sep. 26 - 27.  The train had three Superliner II and one Superliner I sleeping cars.  The train was about 5 hours late into Tacoma, Washington.  We were only about an hour or so late into Salem, Oregon but we had to sit there for several hours while they repaired a broken down freight train stuck on the main line.

 The pacific Parlor car was really a nice feature.  If you are traveling north, the best seats are on the left side of the train.  That is where the ocean views are the best.  We had a roomette and of course it was on the right side of the train.

 My wife and I thought the food was really good, and we enjoyed meeting the other couples at meal time.

 I had my hand held ham radio along and programmed in the frequencies that the railroad used for the different sections of track.  I heard dispatchers talking with the train crew and also heard detectors located along the track, as we passed them. The detectors told the speed of the train, and in Oregon the temperature outside, among other things. 

 This was our first rail trip and now we are hooked!  Next year we plan taking the Coast Starlight from Tacoma, WA to LA.  The Southwest Chief from LA to Chicago, with a layover in Topeka, Kansas to visit my sister.  The Empire Builder from Chicago back to Tacoma.  We plan upgrading from roometts to bedrooms on the whole trip. The roometts are nice and cozy, but at night I had a hard time trying to sleep on the upper bunk. 

 

[Anonymous]

I rode the Empire Builder between St. Paul & Minot two years ago, with the explicit purpose of experiencing a trip in the sleeping cars.  I went to Minot in a roommette, and had a bedroom on the way back.  The roommette, literally, afforded me about 6 inches of space on either side of my butt.  Being closer to the tracks (lower level), the clickety-clack was louder until we reached the concrete ties and welded rails west of Grand Forks I believe it was.  Gettin' dressed was a contortionist act, and the thought crossed my mind:  In the unlikely event of a derailment in late-December weather, what's the appropriate sleeping attire?  How long could you survive in your PJ's? 

The bedroom was more comfortable and I slept pretty well (but the shower/lavatory in the room was a joke - I used the shower downstairs).  The baked cookies they provided for a bedtime snack were excellent and the dining car food was quite good.

[snarkaz]

If your going to upgrade to bedroom try to get rooms E or D. there in the middle of the car and ride very smooth and are very quiet.

[Southwest Chief]

Looks like I'll be taking the Starlight this December.

A friend sent me these images showing one of the new drumheads Amtrak purchased for the Starlight.  Hard to confirm if these are being used or not at the moment, but it was used on the "relaunch" train. 

Pretty classy.  Been a very very long time since Amtrak used a drumhead:

 

[Maglev]

I have been on the Starlight six times between 1977 and 2006.  In 1977, it still had "heritage" equipment, including a dome lounge car.  The Pacifc Parlour is indeed a treat -- try to get one of the big swivel chairs for the southbound wine tasting as you head down Cuesta Grade and descend 1,000 feet in 11 miles.

The economy rooms are pretty tight for two. On my last trip, my wife and I had room F.  It is downstairs and has no toilet, but it extends the entire width of the car so you have windows on both sides. There also seemed to be more floor space at night than the deluxe rooms A-E.  I personally don't like using a toilet in my room, and the three common downstairs restrooms are used less than the one upstairs.  You're also closer to the shower, and have convenient access to the Dutch door exit...