To say that my four-year-old is obsessed with trains would be to understate it. My sister lives in Santa Cruz and she actually bought herself and him a season pass for Roaring Camp and they go all the time. He just wants to ride over and over and over again. He goes on Youtube and searches for train videos and watches them. He watches Roaring Camp videos over and over.

So, when we go to DL next November/December I am thinking about taking the train down. Well I am thinking of driving with the rest of the family and having my wife and him take the train. The issue is that the train is rather expensive (more than flying!) and it is slow.

I have heard that this really isn't a good train trip because the passenger service has the lowest priority on the tracks meaning they are shunted off all the time and the trains never run on time and can be many hours if not days late.

Does anyone have any experience with the train and can anyone offer an insight? I guess we would be going from Emeryville to Anaheim.

We were considering taking the Coast Starlight train down along the Emeryville - LAX - Anaheim route in August. However, we could not understand why a train that left Emeryville at 8:20 a.m. would not arrive in Los Angeles until 9:00 p.m. (11.5 hours) when a car can make the same trip in 5 or 6 hours depending how fast you drive. Plus, then you have a 1 hour layover until the train leaves Los Angeles at 10:10 and gets into Anaheim at 10:51 p.m. That is a lot of time spent traveling; if you had left Emeryville early in the morning then you could have been there by noon!

We have found our portable DVD player ($70 at Target) to be a great help for long car trips. We have some Thomas the Tank Engine dvds you can borrow. ;-)

Katprint

P.S. Have you been on the steam trains up at Tilden Park? http://www.redwoodvalleyrailway.com/rvry.htm Much more convenient than Roaring Camp!

We have done the train down through the valley, not the coast. The train takes about 2 hours longer, due to all the stops and starts. BUT, for me it was more relaxing as *I* didn't have to drive. Now that my kids are driving, I can get the same relaxation by riding in the back seat!!

For us, the cost was much less than flying (about 1/2) but more than driving.

Mil took the train to kansas from sac on a fam emergency because it was cheaper. I took her to the train station in sac, they put her on a bus to stockton where she boarded a train that stopped in bakersfield, where they had to board a bus over the grapevine to la where she boarded one last train to kansas. it makes numerous stops along the way so all in all it took something like 18 hours. coming home she was supposed to change trains in la onto one she was supposed to ride up the coast through SF to sac (no buses) but the platform was clear across the station and she could not get a porter to help her they ignored her (she is disabled). train left w/o her so they rerouted her back the way she came (bus, train, bus) and she got back to sac 7 hours earlier than she was supposed to. so I'm not sure what the coast route entails (but sounds like a lot of starts and stops).

Have you brought your son to sac to the RR Museum? My DS went the first time at almost 4, grandma took him they day DD1 started Kindergarten so he wouldn't miss her so much. He can get on the trains and run model ones and play in the Thomas the tank area its really cool!!!

I have not flown in a long time so maybe I am wrong about the cost. The train is $84 per person each way.

For me driving is preferable for a number of reasons. This would be for the four-year-old. Heck he might like the train ride better than DL.

I know about the terrible length of the scheduled trip. My concern is that I have heard that it rarely is on schedule and is usually hours sometimes days late.

I am wondering if anyone knows about that. It sounds like those who have tried it have had a good experience -- yes?

Have you guys thought about taking the train from Anaheim down to San Diego and back as a side trip? One train, no transfers ... if it's just to let the little one ride on the train. As far as passenger trains not getting priority, I'm not sure where you got that intel, my husband worked for Southern Pacific until it was sold to Union Pacific then he was a UP employee until his retirement a few years ago. All passenger trains have priority over every single train on the tracks, they use sidings and 'doubles' to put the frieght trains on to let the passenger trains have the right of way even if the two trains are going in the same direction. I have traveled by rail and traveled with Missy as a toddler...train travel can be as stressful as it is relaxing if there are many 'transfers' but it would be fun for your little guy to experience a 'real' train ride in an observation car.

Funny, I have always heard the exact opposite, that it is the passenger trains that have to use the siding and have to get out of the way for the freight. I am glad to hear that isn't true.

The train museum is on our list to go see. We even spent the night in Sacramento last week when my oldest son competed at the state geography bee but we didn't make to the museum.

See, this is the kind of thing I feared:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/08/08/MNGGTKD03A1.DTL&type=printable

I just read the article, my money says UP is ummmm bending the rules a bit, I've traveled that route and we were 15 minutes early on my trip but that was 25 years ago....increased costs, bottom line for investors and I will say that Union Pacific is less than on top of their maintance of way issues...that was my husbands department. The 'old' days there were section gangs that maintained (wait for the doh moment) sections of the track...each gang was responsible for so many miles and they all 'connected/overlaped' to ensure the track was safe and up to speed. Now if there is a 'slow order' on any given length of track even Amtrak has to slow down and go the reduced speed, which impacts the on time issues...as for being on a siding and seeing freight go by, I asked my husband and he said the only frieght that got priority over AmTrak or any passenger train was one carrying ordance....people have no clue how often highly dangerous loads roll thru their towns and communities but he said that those loads are not so common as to have one passenger train pulled over more than once in any given section of a trip to let one pass so if the passengers are hours/days late and reporting seeing multiple frieghts go by, the dispatches are playing games and risking fines to get the 'payloads' of frieght thru at the expense of the passenger trains which don't generate any revenue for the different railroads that 'own' the different sections of track.

That particular stretch of track had a very bad year in 2005/2006. It has been better the last 18 mos. It looks to be about 120 rt for adults and 60 for kids, but you can get a AAA discount of 10%.

I did the train ride 15 years ago and loved it! I have been to DLR every way possible, so it was fun. Yes it is 12 hours, but you see things you wont in any other way. Now with a young one, you will be wore out due to the boredom. I did Oakland to LAX, transfered to the local and got off in Fullerton and took a cab. Second choice, Virgin America from SFO to LAX is only $119 total RT. Check other train rides like the Sierra pumpkin train or the Santa train. Niles has a good one also, or a good weekend trip is the Capitol corridor to Sacramento and see the train musuem.

My husband did the Bakersfield route once in college and swore NEVER again! He said it was just miserable. If you want to do this then time must not be a factor, so go with the scenic route along the coast. I just don't see it being remotely enjoyable otherwise, even for a 4 year old train crazy boy. The bus time of the Bakersfield route with a 4 year is just too much for me to imagine.

I think the roundtrip to San Diego and back sounds like a great idea. My BIL takes this one when he meets us a Disneyland 1-2 times per year and loves it. Much easier for him than driving and worrying about parking.

About a year and a half ago, we sat on the tracks just outside the Davis, CA station making a trip to Sacramento. We'd gone to take our son on the train for the short Sac to Davis and return trip for fun. It took 15 min to get to Davis. The return trip was 2 hours 20 min. We had to wait for UP to get out of the way because they were switching tracks- or at least that's the announcement made by the engineer. Then after an hour and a half, we had to wait for the police to come because someone had gotten frustrated and opened the door and got out. Since it was not an authorized stop, they had to be arrested. It was a nightmare.

Since then, my family has ridden the Sac to Turlock route without problems.

We have taken the trip down to SD and back, and had a great time. My kids loved it, and you get to see some neat areas along the coast, and through the marine base. Old Town San Diego is RIGHT next to the train station, and free. You could take the train down, have lunch in Old Town and walk around a bit, and get back on the train. I would think you could even be back to DLR for dinner, Fantasmic, fireworks, etc.

Thanks for all the comments, but there are some conflicting ones so I'm not sure what to make of it. On the whole it sounds like the delay problems are it least for now not happening so much.

As I said before, were we to do this, we would load up the car with the three kids and drive to Emeryville where I would drop my wife and son. The other two kids and I would drive down while the four-year-old and mom took the train. It leaves so early that the rest of us would be at the hotel in the early afternoon and would then go pick the little one and mom up when they arrived late that evening. We would all drive home together.

We still need to think about it. Heck we aren't even sure if we are making the trip down there. This will be my oldest son's first year of high school so it might not be a good idea for him to take a week off for the trip.

My husband used to take the Capitol Corridor commute with Amtrak and the conductors told him that frieght trains have priority over passengers trains. My husband experienced difficulties getting to/from work because of this.

I once took the train from Emeryville to Reno and back. We were stuck for over five hours on the way up because our engine broke down. We were told they had to send to Utah for a second replacement engine :eek:

Others have used Amtrak without major problems and loved it.

I think if a train trip is being considered for your son and you have already planned a trip to DLR that you should take a few shorter test trips to see if this will be worth it.

Also, Train Town (http://www.traintown.com/) can be fun. We've also enjoyed the trains at Tilden Park and Roaring Camp.

I cannot pass up the opportunity to comment on this thread. I love taking the train and have included this form of travel on many of my vacation trips. My experience leads me to say this:

YOU CANNOT DEPEND ON AMTRAK AS AN EFFICIENT MEANS OF TRANSPORTATION!!!!!

The train can pull out of Emeryville very late, there can be delays along the way, and what was planned as a 10-11 hour trip can go well longer. The "station" at Anaheim is really just a platform, so there isn't really a comfortable place to wait for arriving passengers.

All that being said, I think the train is a fun way to travel and kids should get to experience it. But, you have to consider a train trip as a "journey" unto itself. The Coast Starlight is wonderful, the scenery marvelous. I've traveled with my son on it from Los Angeles to Seattle. The coach seats are roomy and there is ease in moving about the train. There is a lounge car that plays movies at night, snack bar, dining car and lots of activities designed for kids.

We opted for the small sleeper compartment, which was a lot of fun. My son loved the fold down upper berth. This was not cheap, but well worth it. The sleeper passengers also have their own private parlour car, a restored coach from the 50's, with its own attendant. He can make dining reservations for you (included in the price) in the dining car.

So, plan a family trip on the train sometime. You will have a great experience. But in the case of coming down to DLR, it can make for a very looooong day, which might affect your other plans.

I have taken the Coast Starlight from Eugene to LAX then to Anaheim a few times.

It is a long trip...

A sleeper car makes it so much better, and it does include your food. I agree, the prices are lousy.

A few times we have added on a train ride down to San Diego from Anaheim. That is the perfect length, and has some neat stuff along the way. So if you are kicking around going to Sea World or the like, that is a great option. Some wholesalers even offer this as part of the package (i.e. cab to Amtrak from your Anaheim hotel, train to San Diego, shuttle to your SD hotel, shuttle back to the airport etc.)

I have been waiting for a high speed train since 75! When will I see it...Well never seems to fit the tracks! 1st, they said technology was the problem, but France seems to have the fast trains and they suck! I know I will die before I see the promised high speed train they said I would get when I was a kid. BTW I was born in 60, way back when we could not figure anything out.

After the Northridge Earthquake my hubby and I took the train to a conference in San Jose from Fullerton and it was an all day trip, fun but it took alooooonnnnng time. We've also taken the train from Fullerton to San Diego with the Scouts when my DS was little and that seemed a little quicker, around 3 hours instead of a 2 hour drive in a car.

The thing with the train is it needs to be part of the trip (which it sounds like it would be for your son) for it to be enjoyable not just a means of getting to your trip.