Coast Starlight

The Coast Starlight leaves Seattle's King Street Station (opened 1906, with its twelve-storey clock tower) every morning as train 11 and reaches Los Angeles Union Station (1939) the following evening, 1,377 miles (2,216 km) and about 35 hours later; train 14 makes the mirror-image trip northbound. Through Washington it runs on BNSF's Seattle Subdivision and, since November 18, 2021, the Point Defiance Bypass between Tacoma Dome and DuPont, then crosses the Columbia River into Portland Union Station (1896). Beyond Eugene the train turns onto Union Pacific's Cascade Subdivision, the former Southern Pacific Natron Cutoff completed on August 7, 1926, and climbs through Salt Creek canyon and 22 tunnels and snowsheds to Cascade Summit at 4,852 ft (1,479 m), the highest point of the journey, before dropping past Odell Lake to Chemult and Klamath Falls.

South of Klamath Falls the line skirts Upper Klamath Lake, crosses into California and circles 14,179 ft (4,322 m) Mount Shasta, then follows the upper Sacramento River canyon down through the Cantara Loop to Dunsmuir. Night hours cover Redding, Chico and Sacramento; by breakfast southbound passengers are in the Bay Area, calling at Martinez, Emeryville, Oakland Jack London Square and San Jose Diridon. The Salinas Valley leads to Paso Robles and the Cuesta Grade, where the railway drops 1,056 ft (322 m) in under 10 miles (16 km) through six tunnels (the longest 3,610 ft / 1,100 m) and the famous Horseshoe Curve, crossing the 930 ft (283 m) long, 80 ft (24 m) high Stenner Creek trestle of 1894 into San Luis Obispo.

The finale is the reason most people book: from Surf and Vandenberg Space Force Base to Santa Barbara the track runs for 104 miles (167 km) along the Pacific, much of it on a coast with no public road, over the 811 ft (247 m) Gaviota trestle of 1900. Ventura, Oxnard, the Simi Valley and the San Fernando Valley bring the train into Los Angeles at 9:11 pm. The consist is bi-level Superliner throughout: Coach, Roomette, Bedroom and Family Bedroom sleeping cars, a traditional dining car, a Cafe and the Sightseer Lounge with its wraparound windows, hauled since 2022 by 4,200 hp Siemens ALC-42 Charger diesels.

No other North American train strings together three such different landscapes in one ticket: the volcanic Cascade Range at nearly 5,000 ft, Mount Shasta's 14,179 ft cone rising over the Sacramento River canyon, and then an unbroken 104-mile stretch of Pacific coastline south of San Luis Obispo that cannot be seen from any highway because Vandenberg Space Force Base keeps the shore closed to the public. The Gaviota trestle, 811 ft long and 80 ft above the creek mouth, is one of the most photographed spots on the entire Amtrak network.

The name itself carries Southern Pacific's streamliner heritage. Amtrak combined the Coast Daylight, the red-and-orange Los Angeles-San Francisco train inaugurated on March 21, 1937, with the Starlight to name the through service in 1971, and the Coast Daylight branding was finally dropped on May 19, 1974. Between 2008 and 2018 the train also carried the Pacific Parlour Cars, rebuilt 1956 Santa Fe Hi-Level lounges reserved for sleeping-car passengers; their retirement on February 4, 2018 prompted a public petition, a measure of how strongly riders identify with this train.

It is also a train that ordinary travellers actually use: 359,432 passengers rode it in fiscal 2024, up 6.3 percent, making it one of Amtrak's busiest long-distance routes, and its daily schedule means the coast is seen in daylight in both directions for most of the year.

Every car is a bi-level Superliner. Coach seats are wide, recline deeply and have leg rests; a Coach ticket also gives full access to the Sightseer Lounge, whose upper level is glassed from waist height to the roof and is the best place on the train for photography. Sleeping cars offer Roomettes (two facing seats that convert to bunks), Bedrooms with a private toilet and shower, Family Bedrooms spanning the width of the car, and Accessible Bedrooms; a car attendant makes up the beds and brings meals to the room on request.

Sleeping-car fares include all meals in the traditional dining car, served on real plates with a fixed menu that changes by meal; Coach passengers can buy from the Cafe on the lower level of the lounge or reserve a limited number of dining-car seats at a set price. Southbound, lunch is served leaving Washington, dinner in the Cascades, breakfast in the Bay Area and lunch along the Salinas Valley; the coast is reached after San Luis Obispo at about 3:37 pm and Santa Barbara at 6:12 pm, so in winter the second half of the shoreline passes after dark. Northbound train 14 sees the same coast between about 12:21 pm and 3:05 pm, which is why many photographers prefer that direction.

The train is popular and the lounge fills for the coastal run, so arrive there before San Luis Obispo (southbound) or Santa Barbara (northbound). Checked baggage is available at the larger stations, bicycles can be carried, and there is Wi-Fi of variable quality; expect the Cascade section to have no mobile signal for long stretches.

The Coast Starlight runs on rails laid by the Southern Pacific in two great construction efforts. The Coast Line south of the Bay reached Santa Margarita in April 1889 and then took five more years of hand drilling and dynamite to descend Cuesta Grade, blasting 1.1 million cubic yards of rock for six tunnels; the first train reached San Luis Obispo at 3:25 pm on May 5, 1894, and the Gaviota trestle of 1900 closed the coastal gap. The Cascade crossing came a generation later: the Natron Cutoff between Oakridge and Kirk was driven through 19 tunnels between Oakridge and Cascade Summit and finished on August 7, 1926, when general manager J. Dyer drove a golden spike east of Oakridge. Freight began on September 1, 1926, and passenger trains followed in spring 1927, once the roadbed had settled.

Southern Pacific's celebrated streamliners then owned these tracks: the Coast Daylight from March 21, 1937, the Shasta Daylight from 1949 to 1966, which covered the 713 miles between San Francisco and Portland in 15 hours 30 minutes, and the overnight Cascade. When Amtrak took over intercity service on May 1, 1971, it ran an initially unnamed Seattle-Los Angeles train over the same corridor, called it the Coast Daylight/Coast Starlight from November 14, 1971, and simplified the name to Coast Starlight on May 19, 1974.

A 2008 relaunch brought refurbished Pacific Parlour Cars and a 15 percent jump in ridership, from 353,657 to 406,398 passengers in a year. The Parlour Cars were withdrawn on February 4, 2018, the Point Defiance Bypass opened to the train on November 18, 2021 after the 2017 derailment inquiry, and Siemens ALC-42 Charger locomotives replaced the GE P42 diesels from 2022, the third Amtrak long-distance route to receive them.

Cascade Subdivision (Oregon): the 1926 Natron Cutoff climbs from the Willamette Valley up Salt Creek canyon on steep grades to Cascade Summit at 4,852 ft (1,479 m). Between Oakridge and the summit alone there are 19 tunnels, and the crossing as a whole counts 22 tunnels plus concrete and timber snowsheds that protect the line from avalanches. The route was chosen because it is 25 miles shorter than Southern Pacific's older Siskiyou Line and much easier to work.

Cantara Loop (California): north of Dunsmuir the railway loses height into the upper Sacramento River canyon on a tight horseshoe that crosses the river; the loop entered the environmental record on July 14, 1991, when a derailed tank car spilled metam sodium into the river.

Cuesta Grade (California): from the Santa Margarita summit the Coast Line drops 1,056 ft (322 m) in less than 10 miles (16 km) using two horseshoe curves and six tunnels, the longest 3,610 ft (1,100 m) at Tunnel 6 under Cuesta Pass. The descent ends on the Stenner Creek trestle, 930 ft (283 m) long and 80 ft (24 m) high, fabricated in Pittsburgh in 1894 and shipped west on more than 50 freight cars; it remains the longest bridge on the Coast Line.

Gaviota trestle (California): an 811 ft (247 m) steel viaduct 80 ft (24 m) above Gaviota Creek, erected by Southern Pacific in 1900 where the creek meets the Pacific, carries the train onto the cliff-top run to Santa Barbara.

The coastal section south of San Luis Obispo is the deciding factor. Northbound train 14 crosses it between roughly 12:21 pm (Santa Barbara) and 3:05 pm (San Luis Obispo) all year, in flat midday light. Southbound train 11 leaves San Luis Obispo at 3:37 pm and reaches Santa Barbara at 6:12 pm, glorious in summer with the sun over the ocean, but from November to February the second half of the shoreline is run after sunset.

The Cascade crossing is scheduled for the evening southbound (Eugene 5:15 pm, Chemult 8:13 pm) and the morning northbound (Chemult 8:59 am, Eugene 12:29 pm), so summer gives the longest daylight over Willamette Pass in both directions. Snow on Mount Shasta and the Cascades lasts well into June. Late spring and early autumn combine long days, mild weather and lighter loads than July and August, when Roomettes sell out months ahead. Winter brings the risk of weather delays in Oregon but the emptiest lounge cars.

Book sleeping cars as early as possible, up to 11 months ahead, because Amtrak's fares rise with demand and Roomettes on summer dates are the first to go. For the ocean, sit on the left side travelling north (train 14) and the right side travelling south (train 11); for Mount Shasta and Upper Klamath Lake the mountain is on the east side. The Sightseer Lounge has seats facing both ways and is open to every passenger, so move there early for the coast and for the Cascade climb.

Bring layers and a power bank: Coach seats have outlets, but the lounge has fewer, and mobile coverage vanishes across the Cascades and along the Vandenberg coast. Sleeping-car passengers can take a shower on the lower level and should tell the attendant early if they want dinner in the room. The train reverses direction nowhere, so a seat facing forward stays forward.

Two checked bags and two carry-ons are allowed; checked baggage is handled at Seattle, Portland, Sacramento, Emeryville, Oakland, San Jose, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara and Los Angeles among others. Photographers should keep the camera ready between Surf and Santa Barbara, at the Gaviota trestle, on the Horseshoe Curve above San Luis Obispo and on the Cantara Loop, and use the lounge's upper-level windows rather than the tinted Coach glass.