Train Journey, SFO to SEA
 

We are planning a trip from San Francisco to Seattle & were thinking of going by train.
Any thoughts on this would be great, time takes, cost etc would be much appreciated
YTP travelers

We = 2 adults? SFO is the airport south of the city of San Francisco. There is an Amtrak Thruway bus that picks up in several locations in San Francisco (not the airport) after 8PM every night. It is about 50 minutes to the transfer point in Emeryville. If the Coast Starlight is on time, you will be in Seattle about 23 hours after you board the bus in San Francisco. If you can buy your coach tickets at least 2 weeks in advance, you can get value tickets (coach) for as little as $110 each.
A Roomette (sleeper) will cost a little over $400 for the 2 of you.
It may be cheaper to fly from SFO to Seattle instead of riding the Coast Starlight

You will pass through the best scenery in the middle of the night.

The best scenery IMO is the sunrise on Mt. Shasta. Depending the season of the year and how late the train is you get to see Mt. Shasta.
A couple times I saw Bald Eagles north of Klamath Falls from the train.
We'll be riding the CS southbound next week to go see family for Thanksgiving. I'll be leaving my 4WD in Chemult so I know I can get back home.

Just look up times, costs, etc. on Amtrak. That's who you would be using on that route.

Depends what you are looking for. If it's about the train ride experience I think it could be fun. If it's the cheapest or fastest mode of transportation, than that's probably not the train.

>>The best scenery IMO is the sunrise on Mt. Shasta. Depending the season of the year <B><u>and how late the train is you get to see Mt. Shasta</B></u>.<<

LOL :) even <i>tom</i> admits it is often late. And if it is not significantly late, you won't see a bit of Mt Shasta (UNLESS you aren't taking the trip until next summer -- leaving Dunsmuir will be about sunrise then)

https://www.amtrak.com/content/dam/p...ule-011116.pdf

From what I remember, the scenery was sort of there going SEA-SFO. And even then, it was not memorable. Save time and fly. If you want scenery out of SFO, look up Zephyr train.

When would the trip take place?

My earliest memory of trains is riding the Starlight (Portland to LA) when I was about 8 and when the train was operated by Southern Pacific.

We broke down in the middle of nowhere, there was no air conditioning (it was August and sweltering) and no water for several hours. We arrived in LA something like 12 hours late.

Just my view, but there are a number of more pleasant and convenient train journeys available in the west, and by comparison the drive from Seattle to San Francisco (especially along the coast) is infinitely more pleasant - regardless of season. You're swapping one of the best road trip routes in the US for one of the worst long distance train trips - in my opinion only.

I have been on this route several times and I don't share the bad feelings of some of the other posters. Admittedly, the train is sometimes late (not always, on my last trip we arrived 30 minutes early). Even when late, I've already factored that into my expectations and just enjoy the ride.

If you had a choice, I would board at LAX or Santa Barbara rather than SFO because of the scenery north of Santa Barbara but I enjoy the entire trip.

One of the benefits of the Starlight over other AMTRAK long distance routes, if you are in a sleeper car, is most trips include a parlor car for sleeper car passengers. It is much more comfortable than the observation car available to all passengers and has an upgraded menu over the dining car. On my last trip, the braised leg of lamb was excellent and was not even available in the dining car.