Amtrak to Portland (Eugene, Klamath Falls: house, movie theater, school)

[Squidlo]

Has anyone ridden the Empire Builder or the Coast Starlight into Portland? I am curious of anyone's impressions of the trip on either.

[Count David]

Coast Starlight is a blast the whole length between Seattle and Los Angeles.

[PNW-type-gal]

My experiences on the Coast Starlight have been mixed. I've done the full trip (Seattle to LA, LA to Portland) and partial trips (LA to Klamath Falls and Klamath Falls to Portland and Seattle)

On the up side, a couple of the full trips trips were a relaxing and quiet couple of days. On the down side, a couple of full trips trips were filled with mechanical problems, seriously late trains and maintenance and cleaning issues. The rooms or roomettes aren't exactly cheap, either, eventually I decided I'd rather fly distances over 500 miles, particularly if an overnight train ride would be involved.

The shorter trips have been mostly good, although I try to avoid school breaks and holidays - there is always a certain very rowdy element on the trains (drunk and belligerent adults, mostly), usually well under control but when you get a very crowded train it can get out of hand, depending on how good the conductor for that car is.

My trips on the Amtrak Cascades (the train that runs from Eugene up the Willamette Valley and eventually on up to Seattle) have all been good - relatively inexpensive, very comfortable. It is much more a "commuter" style train.

[Rob Allen]

My wife took the Empire Builder to Minneapolis a couple of years ago. She enjoyed it.

[hush.bereel]

It's not exactly what you're asking about, but my wife and I took the train from Portland to Seattle last winter and it was very pleasant, with nice scenery. I think it was the Cascades train. We spent most of our time in the dining cart sipping cocktails at the window-facing bar. It was a wonderful trip for us, and it sure beat driving in traffic.

[Squidlo]

So far so good. I have read that on the Coast Starlight, the parlour car is reserved for sleeper customers. I am guessing that is the first class treatment for trains. I was planning on an overnight trip so that a bonus I guess. Wi-Fi is offered but was reported as spotty by folks on the web (not a problem). The food was above average as reported by the folks on a trip review site.

The whole reason I started the thread is a planned vacation trip into and possibly out of Portland by train.

Chicago to Portland, Portland to LA, or some variation. Either way a planned stop in Portland to see friends and family. If I have the time I'd consider a leg from LA to Houston.

[PNW-type-gal]

Yes, there is usually a parlor car reserved for "room" passengers with wine and cheese tastings and a movie theater below. On a good day, it all works well, some of it depends on how many sleeper cars the train is carrying.

It always seemed to me that there was a certain sweet spot in number of cars and if you were on a really big train or a really small train, service and amenities really dropped off. At the other house we used to drive along the stretch of Hwy 97 along Klamath Lake and you often saw the train, somewhere between 9am and 2pm. It could be as few as 5 cars (plus engine) or as many as 40 cars.

I've also taken the train from Portland to Whitefish, Montana, which I think was the Empire Builder. What I remember chiefly is that the track between Goldendale WA and Spokane WA was extremely rough. On the other hand, that was at least 15 years ago, who knows.

[SyraBrian]

Originally Posted by Squidlo

So far so good. I have read that on the Coast Starlight, the parlour car is reserved for sleeper customers. I am guessing that is the first class treatment for trains. I was planning on an overnight trip so that a bonus I guess. Wi-Fi is offered but was reported as spotty by folks on the web (not a problem). The food was above average as reported by the folks on a trip review site.

The whole reason I started the thread is a planned vacation trip into and possibly out of Portland by train.

Chicago to Portland, Portland to LA, or some variation. Either way a planned stop in Portland to see friends and family. If I have the time I'd consider a leg from LA to Houston.

Don't take the Empire Builder from Portland to Chicago. The railroad company has given the right of way to all the North Dakota tanker trucks which makes getting through North Dakota a ridiculously frustrating experience.

Also, the Montana Amtrak stations have ridiculously bright lights which really cuts down on a person's ability to sleep through the night.

[Squidlo]

Originally Posted by SyraBrian

Don't take the Empire Builder from Portland to Chicago. The railroad company has given the right of way to all the North Dakota tanker trucks which makes getting through North Dakota a ridiculously frustrating experience.

Also, the Montana Amtrak stations have ridiculously bright lights which really cuts down on a person's ability to sleep through the night.

I had read that the Empire Builder was delayed a lot in North Dakota. I was looking at the routes some, I think the trip into Portland by train makes the most sense based on schedule and feed back. Flying out of Portland is easy with the max connection (and friends). Sunset Limited runs 3 days a week and the Coast Starlight looks to be daily. Shouldn't be too hard of a trip with a couple books and the lounge car...

[mentalward]

I have family who live in Whitefish, MT, and who frequently visit us in Portland via the Empire Builder (my Mom is on the train to MT now as I type this). The only real issue that any of us has encountered are delays, especially in the winter going over the passes. On the most recent trip from MT to Portland this past Tuesday, the train was delayed for 13 hours due to a weather-related freight train derailment. Other than that, the trip is not bad at all and generally arrives/departs Portland midday.

A few years ago my wife and I took the Empire Builder east from Montana to Wisconsin and back, in a roomette. It was pretty comfortable, but our room on the way out suffered a climate-control failure and stayed uncomfortably hot. If you're taking a long-distance train, I highly recommend a roomette over coach, but be sure to back a small electric fan if you're sensitive to heat when trying to sleep.