Coast Starlight Route Guide
Seattle, Washington to Los Angeles, California
Amtrak Train Numbers 11 (southbound) and 14 (northbound)
Numbers 1-29 on the map represent the scheduled stops the train makes between Seattle and Los Angeles. Using the links below, you can choose to take the complete virtual trip, or you can hop on the train at any station along the route and proceed in either direction from there. Each "station stop" includes a photo of the station, a local street map, local transportation options, and links to many more items of local interest. Between the station pages there are detailed station to station maps and links to all of the counties that you pass through along the way. Just click on any of the links to discover more about the local areas you pass through on your journey through the Cascades, Northern California and down the scenic coastline in Southern California.
Clicking any link below will open a separate browser window (or another tab on your browser)
where you'll find the route guide. Climb aboard, and then.....
click the "next" 
(toward Los Angeles) or "previous" 
(toward Seattle) arrow on any page of the guide to take the
virtual rail journey at your leisure. Enjoy the ride!
If you want to start with the first slide of this route guide, click here -
- or click a link below to start at any station along the route.
Stations on Amtrak's Coast Starlight Route
Washington State
- 1 Seattle (SEA)
- 2 Tacoma (TAC)
- 3 Olympia (OLW)
- 4 Centralia (CTL)
- 5 Kelso-Longview (KEL)
- 6 Vancouver (VAN)
Oregon
California
- 13 Dunsmuir (DUN)
- 14 Redding (RDD)
- 15 Chico (CIC)
- 16 Sacramento (SAC)
- 17 Davis (DAV)
- 18 Martinez (MTZ)
- 19 Emeryville (EMY)
- 20 Oakland (OKJ)
- 21 San Jose (SJC)
- 22 Salinas (SNS)
- 23 Paso Robles (PRB)
- 24 San Luis Obispo (SLO)
- 25 Santa Barbara (SBA)
California (continued)
- 26 Oxnard (OXN)
- 27 Simi Valley (SIM)
- 28 Van Nuys (VNC)
- 29 Los Angeles (LAX)
Note that once you get on the train, clicking on 
takes you to a separate
"Route Overview Page" within the Guide. So, instead of returning to this page to select another station stop,
you may alternatively choose to select other station stops from there.
Amtrak Route Description
The following has been extracted from Amtrak's "Coast Starlight" Route Description. Ramblin' Ray's Route Rhetoric will come later!
"Widely regarded as one of the most spectacular of all train routes, the Coast Starlight links the greatest cities on the West Coast. En route daily between Seattle and Los Angeles, the Coast Starlight passes through Portland, Sacramento, the San Francisco Bay Area and Santa Barbara".
"The scenery along the Coast Starlight route is unsurpassed. The dramatic snow-covered peaks of the Cascade Range and Mount Shasta, lush forests, fertile valleys and long stretches of Pacific Ocean shoreline provide a stunning backdrop for your journey".
The May 2009 Amtrak published rail travel distance between Seattle and Los Angeles via the Coast Starlight is 1,377 miles and the published rail travel time is about 1-1/2 days at 35 hours and 15 minutes.
