Late May 2025, Los Angeles to Portland. Though I’ve taken lots of trains in Europe, this was my first long-distance train trip in the U.S., working out to roughly 29 hours. My companions were game as they come, charming 2-year-old Domino and her papa Mitch. The Pacific Ocean fills the window frame most of the trip north in California until the train veers inland somewhere along the Central Coast.
Weirdly, I took no photos of the ocean views, only landscapes. And they were not verdant green landscapes but filled with all the tawny colors emblematic of the Golden State. Horizontal bands of gold, rust and ochre were punctuated by dark green cloud-like forms of Coast Live Oak and jagged geologic scars. Scenes of wild landscapes, scenes of industry. Thrilling, shifting juxtapositions of land, water, clouds and sky. If you like looking and wondering and thinking of nothing but what rushes by the window, a train ride is the way to go. And there’s a dining car and a sleeping car (the sleeping berth is extra).
Wonderful photos but then I’ve come to expect that from your Mitch. I’ve also only traveled by train in Europe but I’ve long wanted to try the train up the Pacific coast. I tried to convince my husband to take it with me up to Seattle for the PNW Fling (and so he could visit his brother on Vashon) but he wasn’t sold.