Trip Report: March 17 - April 13, 2001
by Ted & Sylvia Blishak
A San Francisco Cultural Adventure
Saturday March 17, 2001. Depart Klamath Falls.
A call to our local Amtrak station revealed that Amtrak 11, the southbound Coast Starlight was expected to arrive on time this evening. However, as we allow for these contingencies, we were dressed, packed, and ready to make our fifteen mile drive from the ranch to the Amtrak station. This was a sold out sleeper night and we considered ourselves lucky to have found a Family Bedroom, as I was not relishing getting up into the upper bunk of a Standard Room. Our car attendant in the 1130 car watched with little interest as we manhandled our luggage on board and into Room 15, but he was to be commended for having the beds made up for us and after-dinner mints placed on our pillows. Rumors have been flying that the Coast Starlight may have to discontinue bedtime sweets as a cost cutting measure, but apparently this has not been carried out yet. I, for one, would not mind paying an extra 5 cents to have a mint on my pillow, but possibly I am not seeing the big picture. We may bring our own mints along on our next trip, just in case.
We asked our car attendant, who was still taking his smoke break on the platform, if he had any bottled water in his car, and he replied that I would have to go to the Parlour Car to find some. Our Parlour Car attendant was busy serving his customers when we arrived, as he is a non smoker. He was happy to see us again, and graciously handed us two bottles of water. I left him a nice little gratuity.
Sylvia had been wanting to attend a performance of a classic ballet for many years. In our country there are not that many opportunities, in fact it is often the Russians who bring us their ballet troupes for performances here. However, on our recent trip to Seattle, reported on these pages, we learned that Tchaikovsky's Sleeping Beauty was having its final performance by the Pacific Northwest Ballet at the Seattle Opera House on the very evening that we arrived there. We would love to have seen it, but after a train ride from Portland, a performance of the Seattle Symphony at Benaroya Hall, rushing through dinner and hoping to purchase last minute seats at a sold out performance was a little beyond our capability. A little basic research on the Internet, however, found that the San Francisco Ballet was presenting the same program during the month of March. I secured three $20.00 Balcony Center tickets for the Sunday matinee and planned our Amtrak trip about three weeks in advance of travel. Our long time friend from Sharp Communications in San Francisco would be meeting us for brunch, ballet, and dinner. We had return tickets for a Deluxe Bedroom for the same evening. We wouldn't even need a hotel room, as both Saturday night and Sunday night would be spent on the Coast Starlight. What could go wrong?
We slept well and awoke when the train came to rest for quite a long while. I woke up to read 5:11 AM on my travel alarm. My first sleepy thought was that we had arrived in Sacramento early and that we would have a long wait for the 6:30 AM departure time. However, parting the curtains revealed orchards, not station platforms. Oh well, these little delays can happen, so we went back to sleep. Awakening again at 7 AM to the agitated voices of other passengers out in the hallway, we found that we had not made any progress. The doors were opened, permitting passengers to step off onto the ballast for a smoke. This was getting serious. Fortunately the lighting and ventilation were still working and the dining car was serving breakfast. We placed our names on the list and had a cup of herbal tea and a sweet roll in the Parlour Car while waiting for our call to the dining car. The scuttlebutt was that we were somewhere near Chico, that there was a broken rail ahead, and that No. 14, the northbound Coast Starlight, was on the other side of it. That would make No. 14 at least 5 hours behind schedule. We were by now about
2 hours down.
TRAVEL TIP: We always advise our clients not to prepay any important activities on their day of arrival, as there is no certainty as to when their train will arrive. (We always make these little exceptions for ourselves, rationalizing that there would be little chance that our train would lose four hours or more on a mere eleven hour trip.)
As we sat enjoying breakfast, it began to dawn on us that our chances of making a 2 PM performance today were dwindling. As we began to move, to the applause of all on board, I noticed a sign indicating we were passing through a little town that I never heard of, and cannot remember now. I telephoned Hertz Car Rental in Chico to ask him where we were, and after checking his California map (he had never heard of this town either), he advised that we were already south of Chico, so it was not going to be possible to get off there and rent a car there. I had nothing to do now but relax with my Sherlock Holmes reader and enjoy the ride to our next stop, Sacramento. Our leisurely pace hinted that we not only failing to make up any time, but rather were getting further behind all the time.
Eventually, we reached California's capitol city at about 10:15 AM, four hours behind schedule. The train servicing was interminable. At 10:45 AM we were still sitting there when an Amtrak Capitol train pulled into the station. Some unintelligible announcement was made on the platform PA system, and a fairly large group of people queued up to board whenever the doors would open. It occurred to me that this Capitol might depart ahead of us, and that we might reach our destination sooner if we abandoned the Coast Starlight. Our car attendant did not know what time the Capitol was scheduled to leave, so I disembarked seeking our conductor who was still on the platform. He did not know either what time that train was due out, so I called the 800 number on my cell phone and learned it was scheduled to depart for Emeryville at 10:45 AM. It was already behind schedule still sitting at the Sacramento Depot. I asked the conductor to move us over to the Capitol as time was of the essence, we could miss the entire first act by arriving at the Opera House after curtain time. He assured us that we would be leaving any minute now, called an "All aboard!", and slammed the vestibule door shut. From our vantage point in our sleeper, we watched as the Capitol boarded its passengers and pulled away from the station at 11:00 AM, leaving us behind to cool our heels. If we had been more assertive, we would have been on that train heading for San Francisco. There was nothing to do now but wait.
Eventually, at 11:10 AM, we began to inch away from the platform. I spoke with the conductor in the Parlour Car, and he assured me that we would be getting into Emeryville at 12:55 PM, only ten minutes behind the Capitol. When I queried him about our delay, he blamed the rail that the Southern Pacific Company had purchased some years before from the lowest bidder from China. The Union Pacific has been replacing it, but there are still many sections still in place, and until they are completely replaced with adequate rail, trains will be subject to delay on this line. Even if the UP can't get its money back from China, they might at the very least expect an apology.
We began to develop our contingency plan. We could have lunch in the dining car, which was scheduled open at noon. We then could ready ourselves to be first off our sleeper and quickstep to the taxi line in front of the Emeryville Station. This taxi should be able to get us to the Amtrak Station at the Ferry Building in San Francisco ahead of the Amtrak Thruway bus. Our friend would be waiting for us there to drive us to the Opera House. If all went well, we could still make it. We were first in the dining car when the lunch announcement was made. When we told or waiter that we were getting off in Emeryville, he took our order first, and had two excellent walnut and Gorgonzola salads delivered to our table in less than two minutes. We had ample time to enjoy our delicious lunch and return to our sleeper to prepare for disembarkation at Emeryville, where we arrived at 1 PM.
There were no taxis in the taxi line at Emeryville, so we had no choice but to board the Thruway bus and wait for all of the connecting passengers and luggage to be loaded. As we began our journey across the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, we enjoyed fabulously clear and sunny weather, the view of the bay, the sail boats, the Golden Gate Bridge, all those wonderful sights that make San Francisco one of the favorite vacation destinations in the USA. Two local men on the bus, strangers to each other, began telling the passengers at large, in a joking manner, all the reasons why we should not stay long, and leave town as soon as possible, in order to keep down the congestion and traffic jams. I had heard all the jokes about Californians moving to Oregon and not being well accepted, but this was the first time we listened to this in reverse, where visitors were not welcome in California.
As we approached the San Francisco end of the bridge, the driver announced that the Ferry Building would be our third stop, after 4th and Market Streets, and the Hyatt Regency Hotel. Fortunately we had arranged with our friend to keep our cell phones on, so I called Linda to advise her to meet us at 4th and Market Streets. She told us she would find a staging area to park at nearby and would await our call when we were off the bus and positioned at the street corner. We enjoyed the sound of bongo drums and PCC trolley cars while waiting. Linda arrived at 1:45 PM and we drove the short mile or so to the Civic Center, where now the problem was where to park the car, and still be able to get to our seats in fifteen minutes. Linda, a thirty year resident of the City, found a space in front of a café which permitted parking between 2 PM and 5 PM only, on a corner across the street from the Opera House. Scampering across the street, we entered the beautifully restored theater at 1:58 PM, and took the elevator to the 4th Level. At 2:00 PM, as we were seating ourselves, the orchestra began the overture and we were transported to a mythical kingdom of Russia in days gone by.
Although I had taken the kids to see the Nutcracker on more than one occasion, this is the only other ballet that I have ever attended. While I am not a musical critic, I was impressed by what I felt was an impeccable performance, with lush orchestra, beautiful sets and costumes, and graceful dancers. They made it all look so easy, but when Princess Aurora, was bidding adieu to her seven royal suitors, while standing on one toe, it was all I could do to continue breathing when she would let go her suitors' hands and stand herself for impossible moment after moment.
Now the nerve wracking southbound ordeal was forgotten, we had seen Sleeping Beauty and were now looking forward to a dinner in San Francisco. After a drive around town to view the new Pac Bell Baseball Park, the rebuilt Embarcadero with the new trolley service from the CalTrain commuter station to Fisherman's Wharf, and the tall ships in port, we were taken to Bix, a quiet restaurant in the old Assayer's Building in the Financial District. After a Knob Creek bourbon and an excellent pasta, we were fortified for whatever adventure was in store for us on our northbound trip.
Linda dropped us off at the Ferry Building, where we were informed that the northbound Starlight was running 1 hour 45 minutes behind schedule. However, the bus connection to the Emeryville station leaves on schedule, so our waiting would be done there. Mere words cannot express how improved the stations are in Oakland and Emeryville compared to the old Southern Pacific 16th Street Oakland Station that was finally taken out of service after the earthquake of 1992. However, waiting at even the new Emeryville Station for two hours can be an ordeal when the snack shop is closed and the restrooms have not been cleaned for a day or so. We always carry our own bottled water and snacks, and tonight my Sherlock Holmes reader maintained my interest.
Travel Tip: Whether traveling by train or plane, always be prepared for delay. Carry a good book, some light snacks, and water, and the time will pass by much faster.
The video monitor listed No 14 at being only 45 minutes behind, not 1 hour and 45 minutes as we had been told in San Francisco. However, we were patient, and finally the monitor was updated to the correct delay. But arrival time came and left without a train. Eventually, about two hours down, an unintelligible announcement was made as the Coast Starlight rumbled into town, past the station, and finally came to a halt with the last coach just beyond the station building. As the sleepers are at the front of this train, we had a fairly lengthy walk down a platform that is just wide enough to accommodate a baggage truck. So when the truck arrives, passengers have to step aboard the train to keep out of the way. On the other side of the barbed wire fence limiting the platform width is a parking lot for the post office.
Our deluxe bedroom was made up, and there were two mints on the pillow. The Coast Starlight is an island of civilization moving through the wilderness. I don't remember much about that night, I just slept, waking up in time for the first call to breakfast. We were seated as our train was circling around the base of Mount Shasta, its 14,000 foot peak hidden by a storm cloud. After an excellent breakfast served by the cheerful dining car crew, we arrived in Klamath Falls just a little over an hour behind, so we actually had made up some time last night.
Synopsis. As a cruise train, the Coast Starlight cannot be faulted, it is undeniably the best of the Amtrak long distance trains. However to use it as transportation, one has to be a little careful about scheduling. Always allow more slack time than you think when making travel plans, and be prepared for delays.
Post Script:
Thursday, April 12, 2001
A short trip to Eugene from Klamath Falls. No 14 left Klamath Falls two hours late and arrived in Eugene two hours late. Connecting passengers to the Empire Builder were put on buses in Eugene, as the bus trip up Interstate 5 to Portland is quite a bit faster than No. 14.
Friday, April 13, 2001
Eugene, Oregon. No. 14 left town at 4:10 PM, three and one half hours behind. No. 11, with us on board, left town at 6 PM just a little over thirty minutes behind.
