“There isn’t a train I wouldn’t take, no matter where it’s going.” Edna St. Vincent Millay, 1921

In 1971, when Amtrak was created as a national passenger network, the Coast Daylight was one of the few Southern Pacific routes that was retained in the new era of American rail.

The Coast Starlight really earns its name, just as the Coast Daylight did, between the stops of Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo. The route runs on the coastal line between Los Angeles and San Jose giving passengers outstanding view of the Pacific Ocean. It’s only fitting that the cover of the ninth edition of USA by Rail by John Pitt features an aerial photograph of Coast Starlight, Number 14, snaking along the coast between Santa Barbara and SLO.

The Coast Starlight provides service between Los Angeles and Seattle, a distance of 1,377 miles. It takes the train 34 hours and 50 minutes to complete the journey. While the General Electric P42DC locomotives are capable of speeds of 100 miles an hour, the average speed of the Coast Starlight is 40 mph.

The coach passengers lined up and the conductor scanned our tickets. The car attendant assigned us a seat. I climbed aboard and found my seat on the second story on the Eastside of the train. In other words: the side without ocean views. I was not going to spend much time in my assigned seat because I headed over to the lounge car, got a beverage, and found a seat in the observation car. This car is lined with large picture windows and skylights that gives the rider outstanding views.

I started a sketch in my smaller Stillman & Birn Delta Series spiral sketch book. When you are on the top story of the train, things can get a little bit shaky so fine details and crosshatching were out. Instead I opted for a Micron Pigma sepia brush pen. Using this sketching tool helped me to keep things loose and expressive.

Part of the joy of train travel is the people you meet on your journey, albeit a very short journey, I met a travel writer and fellow birder in the observation car. We birded the beautiful coastal afternoon (harriers, red-tails, and turkey vultures) and talked about our travels and writing and sketching. You certainly would never have this experience driving the coastal route in a car.

The Starlight pulled into San Luis Obispo Station on time where the train stopped for about 15 minutes while passengers unloaded and loaded and the station agent divested the cars of trash and helped to load luggage.

A retort from the engine signaled that the Coast Starlight was leaving. The platform was now emptied of passengers stretching their legs or having a smoke and all the doors were closed. The train slowly pulled out of the station toward the toughest climb on the Coast Line, crossing Stenner Creek on the trestle, curving around to the right on the Horseshoe Curve toward the summit of Cuesta Grade and eventually, to Seattle, Washington.

There is no better way to experience the California Coast than by train. You don’t have to worry about keeping your eyes on the road, the engineer has that covered.

I planned a short train excursion from San Luis Obispo to Santa Barbara. I would head south on the Pacific Surfliner, an AMTRAK rail service from SLO to San Diego. I would then return on the Coast Starlight, one of the few routes that AMTRAK took on from the Coast Daylight. This train (Number 14) starts in Los Angeles and ends in Seattle, running on much of the route used by Southern Pacific’s most famous passenger line, between Los Angeles and San Jose anyway.

I would have a little over three hours to sketch Santa Barbara’s Mission Revival Station and have lunch before heading back to the station to catch the 12:40 Coast Starlight.

The Coast Surfliner pulling into San Luis Obispo Station for its 6:55 AM departure. SLO is the northern most stop on the Surfliner.

I boarded train number 774 and we left at 6:55 on the dot. Once the houses and streets where left behind us soon to be replaced with oak covered Californian rolling hills and plowed farmland.

Once we passed through Guadalupe, the line curved to the east and the Pacific Ocean appeared for the first time. We skirted the edge of Vandenburg Air Force Base and our next stop was the appropriately named Surf. Surf is a former Southern Pacific railroad town. Now there is nothing left but sand dunes and a railroad platform.

Shortly after Surf, our train ground to a halt. The conductor informed us that the engine had lost power, well that was pretty oblivious. We were delayed for almost an hour as the engineer tried to get the locomotive running. You couldn’t beat the view, a stunning panoramic of Big Blue.

While we waited to resume our journey, I watched an entertaining black phoebe hawking for insects in the coastal scrub. I saw many raptors on the route: red-tailed hawk, northern harrier, osprey, bald eagle, America kestrel, peregrine, and many turkey vultures. Four northern flickers fleeing from the oncoming train was a nice bonus.

The delay did give me some extra time to work on my sketch without the movement of the train causing my line-work to waver (featured sketch).

Working on the line work of the interior of the Coast Surfliner. Rail travel can be slow, especially when the train breaks down. All the better to bring along a sketchbook and pencil case. One can never be bored when sketching! (Although I knew I would have less time with my Santa Barbara Station sketch. )

The southbound Surfliner slowly started up again on our journey toward San Diego, albeit one hour off schedule.

Pelagic birding from the second story of the Coast Surfliner.

The shadow of the Surfliner on a trestle on a Pacific Coast beach. At times on the Coast Route, the train seems to be on the very edge of the Pacific Ocean. This line is stunning.

The Coast Surfliner being pushed to San Diego as it leaves Santa Barbara Station running one hour late. Overall a wonderful ride, except for the breaking down part. Now it’s time to sketch!

The longest railway bridge on the Daylight is the 930 foot long, Stenner Creek Trestle, built in 1894. Just north of San Luis Obispo, this bridge is at the southern end of the famous Horseshoe Curve that climbs up north to Cuesta Grade.

The 17 miles of railway line between Santa Margarita and San Luis Obispo is said to be the most expensive work undertaken on the Coast Line. Engineers had to get over the rugged Santa Lucia Mountains and the construction price was said to be $3 million or $300,000 a mile. Tunnels and trestles had to be built and in 1893, 1,200 men were working on the line.

I wanted to see and sketch this trestle and see parts of the Horseshoe Curve, without getting too close to the Men’s Colony near the Horseshoe Curve (this is not an art colony). Being a planner, I am a teacher after all, I did a quick map of the location in my notebook based on google maps. This really helped me visualize the location before I headed down to the Central Coast.

San Luis Obispo is an interesting location on the Coast Starlight because it is the point on the line when both trains pass each other. Train 11 arrives at SLO from Seattle at 3:20 PM and Train 14, from Los Angeles, comes in shortly afterwards at 3:35. So I was able to see two trains cross over the Stenner Creek Trestle within half an hour!

A southbound Coast Starlight, train number 11, with an eight car consist crosses the Stenner Creek Trestle, 80 feet over Stenner Creek. This AMTRAK passenger train started its journey in Seattle at 9:00 AM the previous day and was running about ten minutes late.

An archival photograph taken in 1939, from roughly the same spot, of a Coast Daylight with a helper coming down from Cuesta Grade and crossing Stenner Creek Trestle. The scene after 70 year remains the same, except for the difference in motive power. (Union Pacific Museum Collection: SP photos)

This is the sort of railroad touchstone that remains timeless and is still in use today. I could almost hear the Daylight crossing this trestle.

A Seattle-bound Coast Starlight enters the timeless trestle. I would be on the same Coast Starlight the following day. Read more about it in another post.

The number 14 Coast Daylight climbing up above the Horseshoe Grade toward Cuesta Summit. This train left Los Angles’ Union Station at 10:10 AM. The curve is so sharp that if you are in the middle of the train you can see the front and end of the train. You just have turn your head from left to right.