CoastStarlight

This is some video from our snowy train ride up to Seattle on the Coast Starlight. We had a small sleeper cabin (roomette) which was quite comfortable. It had two first-class-sized facing seats with a table between. There was a small closet for hanging jackets and towels and small amenities were provided. The chairs folded down into a bed and a bunk bed lowered down from above. All meals were included in the fare. Behind the sleeper cars, there was a Parlour car with a lounge area, bar and snack stand. On the lower level was a 20-seat movie theater. Mary and I watched "It's a Wonderful Life" and had the whole place to ourselves! Behind the Parlour car was the Dining car which served three meals a day. It's community seating, so we always ate with another couple....which allowed us to meet some very nice people and have interesting conversations.

Our trip northward was hampered by blizzard-like conditions which kept freezing the track switches. We lost many hours on these unscheduled stops while they un-stuck the switches. Then in Portland we had mechanical issues with one of our cars which required them to rearrange the order of the cars. This meant that we ended up spending a second night in the Portland station while they straightened all this mess out. In the end...we were 18 hours late arriving into Seattle! Then we had a 3 hour bus ride up to Vancouver!!

It was a grueling trip, but having beds to sleep in made it bearable. Based on the news reports we saw of people spending Christmas eve stranded in the airports...we think we made the right decision! Our return trip was free of weather related mishaps and was only 3 hours overdue. :) If you're taking the train....leave your schedule WIDE open!

Note: There is no sound on this movie.