- Los Angeles Union Station Entrance
Union Station in Los Angeles is one of the grand old train stations in America. It went into decline after World War II like all forms of rail transportion. Yet now it is experiencing a rebirth of sorts. LA, of all cities, now has an extensive and growing metro rail station and a network of regional and suburban trains. I do not know if the station was renovated or just well maintained but it looks great considering it’s age.
The Coast Starlight is a classic mixed mode train with staterooms, roomettes, and coach seats on the both upper and lower levels of bi-level cars. First class has dedicated parlor and dining cars. Everyone shares access to another dining car and an observation car with an (almost) always open bar.
My choice is a lower level coach accommodation for several reasons. The entire cost for train travel around the USA on my route is only $863. A small roomette suitable for two in moderately cramped quarters would be about that amount for the just the Los Angeles to Seattle segment. The idea is not just to go cheap but to experience the trip from a window in an open car with other travelers. Yet I do not want to be bundled in with the (mostly exuberant Asian) tourists in the packed upper level seats. My social sense has its limits. Plus the lower level has a more “you are there” feel. Oh and it sways less.
I decided to ignore the guidance to wait till the 9:45 AM boarding annoucement. Avoiding the herd is a driving principle for me and I want to find a seat next to the one 120 volt outlet in the lower level. Since a key element of this trip is live blogging from the train, I need power. For the Macbook. For the mobile phone that will be my modem. For the other phone that will be my phone. And for the 5G iPod for my tunes, the Archos 704 portable media player with a 7 inch screen & a ton of movies in AVI format, the Kindle for daily subcriptions & the 17 or so books I have already download, and chargers for everything including my cameras. I feel that I am forgetting something …
Well let’s see how it goes when I get to the train.
