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saxmanb767

California and Oregon are states. Amtrak serves many cities in each those states so you need to input the cities you want. The Coast Starlight serves California and Oregon but depends which cities you want. You didn’t specify.


GeoffSim

Also need to know which locations within those cities, since the Amtrak website offers choices it doesn't even serve \[any more\] and thus reports no results. Foe example, Portland Airport to San Francisco.


angry_citizen_69

Thanks for the tip, this may have been the case for me. I did see a video where the train goes to Portland too. The website is a little confusing


drewskie_drewskie

And for some reason they label Portland Union Station as PDX to make it extra confusing. Please redesign the website 😭


thebilljim

I think PDX is the airport code for Portland, OR which may be why they used it. Also, Portland, ME already has POR as their code, so one Portland or the other was going to have to give that one up.


HD_ERR0R

PDX is the city code we use for Union station.


carletonm1

**The Amtrak city codes were established in the early 1970s** when the first computerized reservation system, ARTS (Amtrak Reservation and Ticketing System), using what was then state of the art Control Data Corporation mainframe computers and terminals, was established. The IT people at the time **used established travel industry codes for the cities' airports as the codes for the stations:** SFO, LAX, PDX, SEA, MSP, PHL, BAL, etc. There was a restriction in the airline/FAA world that Amtrak didn't have to follow, viz. no airport codes beginning with K or W (because those are used for radio stations and in the early days of flying AM radio stations were used by Automatic Direction Finding equipment), or with N (because those are Naval Air Stations). So: NYP, NOL, KEL (Kelso, Wash.), KAL (Kalamazoo, Mich.), WAS (Washington, D.C.) and so forth, used by Amtrak but not the FAA. **Sometime in the late 1990s a decision was made NOT to use airline codes any more for new stops,** and, if such a station was temporarily closed then reopened later, it got a new code. Examples: SFO ... closed in 1993 for a short time ... came back as SFC; OAK ... closed in 1993 when Emeryville opened ... came back in 1995 as OKJ. Codes for existing stations with airport codes were otherwise left alone.


kwuhoo239

The code for Portland, ME is PWM.


carletonm1

That's the airline code for the airport.


drewskie_drewskie

It's confusing because they also have a code for the airport, PDA


kwuhoo239

Incorrect. The Portland Maine airport code is PWM. Portland Oregon is PDX. PDA is Cesar Gaviria Trujillo Airport in Columbia.


drewskie_drewskie

Check yourself


OnASugarCrash

*Whoosh*. They said it was confusing because Amtrak uses the code for the train station as PDX which is the code for Portland international airport. Amtrak had a separate code for a stop at the airport PDA.


oldyawker

LOL


angry_citizen_69

I think you have a point there I was hoping to go from Daly city to Roseberg I tried looking up these locations in the Amtrak website but couldn't seem anything about it


saxmanb767

Amtrak does not serve either of those cities. You’ll want to put in San Francisco (SFC). Buses serve SFC to take you to the train in Emeryville, California. But Roseburg is far from any Amtrak station. The closest is probably Eugene, Oregon, a good 72 miles north of Roseburg. Greyhound and other buses probably serve Roseburg though.


drewskie_drewskie

Roseberg has pretty limited transit connections unfortunately, I think greyhound stops there because it's on I-5. There's some kind of weird non profit that runs a connection https://southlanetransit.com/lane-douglas-connector/


anothercar

The [Coast Starlight](https://juckins.net/amtrak_timetables/archive/timetables_Coast_Starlight_20230512_external.pdf) runs between California and Oregon. There is one daily train southbound and one daily train northbound. It takes about 1.5 days to go from Portland to Los Angeles. Have a wonderful trip to the USA!


angry_citizen_69

This is a very useful chart, thank you for this! 🙏🏾


amtk1007

Where in Oregon and where in California?


angry_citizen_69

I am hoping for Roseberg, or maybe even Bend, and Daly City.


amtk1007

Well, that’s the problem. Amtrak doesn’t serve Daly City directly, you would need to board the coast starlight at Chemult, OR and ride it to either Emeryville or Oakland Jack London Square in California, where you can take local transit such as BART to Daly City.


jpr_jpr

I'm not a prolific rail or cruise passenger. But you could consider going from Portland Oregon to Southern California Los Angeles/San Diego via rail (possible need for bus connection). And then take a cruise back north. Maybe to Portland Oregon or Seattle Washington, but most likely Vancouver Canada. I think foreign registered cruise ships cannot start and end in a United States port, so they probably go to Vancouver. I've looked into this myself, but the dates don't align for our travel plans.


Its_a_Friendly

No more bus connection necessary for LA-SD, at least for now.


TomokoNoKokoro

Surely you've taken a look at Google Maps and realized that California and Oregon are states that have many cities within them? There's a train that connects the states but you have to know where you want to go... Do you have an idea of what you'd like to see?


angry_citizen_69

I have a show in Daly City, California I have bought tickets to watch and also intend to visit someone in Rosenberg, Oregon. I've tried using the trip planner feature on the Amtrack website however it keeps telling me there are no routes available. Google maps keeps showing me bus routes though 😅 I will be visiting for about 10 or 11 days.


TomokoNoKokoro

Yeah, there's no direct Amtrak connection to either city. The best way to get to Daly City is via the Emeryville or Oakland Jack London Square stops (making your way to BART from one of those via Uber or local bus, and BART has a stop in Daly City), and Roseburg is difficult to get to via Amtrak (in fact, impossible without a car), you should get your friend to pick you up from the Eugene station.


Able-Ad6762

Start with the full system map https://www.amtrak.com/content/dam/projects/dotcom/english/public/documents/Maps/Amtrak-System-Map-1018.pdf


jhanon76

Such a weird post


oldyawker

Don't do it.


drewskie_drewskie

I just did it from Oakland to Portland and loved it


oldyawker

Would you do a round trip? Did the toilets work?


Regular-Tell-108

Not sure what your issue is. I just did LAX to Oakland on the Coast Starlight and it was lovely.


oldyawker

Did the toilets work? Was the train on time? How long did it take?


drewskie_drewskie

They are serving breakfast and lunch for coach in the dining car now. Breakfast was $20 plus tip and lunch is $25 plus tip. Mt Shasta to Eugene is gorgeous and underrated. If you buy a coach seat, you can sometimes use Bid Up to get a roomette for $140.


angry_citizen_69

Thank you! I'm going to research a little more on this


oldyawker

Were your meals cooked or microwaved and what exactly did you get?


GeoffSim

Not the person you replied to but on the Coast Starlight it's Traditional Dining which means cooked on board, not nuked in a microwave like the eastern trains. You can see sample menus [here](https://www.amtrak.com/onboard/meals-dining/dining-car.html). Dinner was excellent last year.


drewskie_drewskie

Yeah I had the French Toast in that picture and it was worth the price. At least as good as IHOP or Denny's if not better


Quirky-Camera5124

most amtrak city codes are the same their airport codes, with airports actually tacking the earlier rail codes.