ALL ABOARD CALIFORNIA RAIL TRAVELERS TREATED TO INCOMPARABLE COASTAL VISTAS.

Byline: Eric Noland Travel Editor

ABOARD THE COAST STARLIGHT - The sea was the color of pewter, with silvery bands of sunlight forcing their way through a thick cloud cover. The broad hump of Santa Cruz Island dominated the horizon. Surfers bobbed in the shoreline swells. Inland, verdant hillsides were richly clothed in tiny yellow wildflowers.

And there was ample opportunity to drink in this idyllic Central Coast scene, just north of Ventura on the Coast Starlight train. Because we were stopped dead on the tracks. Interminably. Without explanation.

The moment encapsulated the yin and the yang of rail travel along the California coast.

Through good fortune - and the fact that barley didn't grow well in that ``worthless'' dune land near the water - rails were long ago laid along the very edge of the shore. Today's leisure traveler is the beneficiary, treated to magnificent coastal sights that, in many cases, can't be reached by car or even foot. They can only be seen from the picture windows of this train.

The drawback is that Amtrak, which operates most passenger rail service in this country, can push your patience to the absolute limit with its delays (some of which are beyond its control), chronically late trains and shoulder-shrugging employees.

Thus a rail traveler must continually balance ecstasy against agony.

``It's not their fault,'' said Roberta Shapiro of Salt Spring Island, British Columbia, as we shared a Dining Car table on a recent northbound run. ``They have to stop for all the freight trains. You feel bad for them, because they're always having to apologize.''

(Indeed, I heard one announcement so often, I wondered if maybe the train staff should have shirts printed up, bearing the message: ``We apologize for the inconvenience and thank you for your patience.'')

Shapiro, whose emphysema prevents her from flying, had traversed the country with husband Stan on the Sunset Limited before boarding the Coast Starlight for the ride to Seattle. After they related the requisite horror stories - 13-hour bus rides, desperately delayed arrivals - Roberta smiled brightly and said, ``You really need a spirit of adventure.''

``And lots of time,'' chimed in Stan.

Here at the dawn of the 21st century, the train passenger tends to be a special animal, someone seeking a different travel experience. On my recent run up and down the coast, I encountered seniors inclining an ear for the nostalgic clickety-clack of the rails, baby boomers hoping to relive a cherished childhood memory, international tourists keen on seeing America up close, and families - notably single parents - loath to fight freeways (and the kids) on a long-haul drive.

All are drawn to a train ride that many rail enthusiasts consider the most scenic and elegant in the country.

``The Coast Starlight is Amtrak's premier train route,'' said Lee Groth, a former Davenport, Fla., travel agent who publishes a visitor guide for this trip. ``I think it is, to this date, the only one that has the first-class Parlour Car. The route itself is nonstop beauty all the way, whereas on other routes you have your flat, barren places.''

Travelers who are intrigued by this beauty, and the train's unique perspective on it, might want to hurry to be assured of seeing it, though.

Amtrak has been sloshing through red ink for years, losing an estimated $500 million annually. It has been propped up by federal subsidies - $1.2 billion for this year - but President George W. Bush's budget proposes to eliminate that assistance. Experts feel that would be Amtrak's death knell, and it's anyone's guess as to whether another operation could rise up and be viable in its place.

In the meantime, the Coast Starlight runs on, daily, between Los Angeles and Seattle, offering sleeper accommodations and coach seats on a trip of 35 hours. The only time the Pacific Coast is in view, however, is from Oxnard to Santa Maria on the Central Coast, making the ride between Los Angeles and the East Bay Area particularly attractive. (The base fare for a one-way ride from L.A. to Oakland is $51.)

Although the Coast Starlight runs no farther south than Los Angeles - to the dismay of many long-haul travelers - the Pacific Surfliner rolls down to San Diego, though without sleeper accommodations and a formal Dining Car. This train is also a coastal gem, hugging the shore for 25 miles from Dana Point to Oceanside. It delivers such sights as Doheny State Beach, the San Clemente Pier (a stop on some runs) and the wide-open spaces of the Camp Pendleton Marine Corps base.

On either train, the experience is much more civilized than anything you'll find in air travel.

No need to arrive 90 minutes before departure to slog through long lines for check-in and security. You can literally walk into the depot minutes before your train is to leave and step up into your coach; tickets are taken on board.

The seats are generous, the leg room spacious - more than you'll find in domestic first class on an airplane. Neither must you jam in and sit still for long periods. There is no seat-belt light. Or seat belts, for that matter (though, given speeds of 70 mph and the recent horrific crash in Glendale, maybe there should be).

On the Coast Starlight, the Sightseer Lounge has domed windows for optimal viewing of all that superb scenery. The sleeper-class passengers have a similar car just for their use, with wine-tasting sessions convened each afternoon and a movie theater on the lower level. Both classes of passenger may dine in a car where the tables are covered in white linen, fresh-cut carnations perch in vases and the menu offers steaks, seafood, pasta and splits of Central Coast wines.

As the train rolls along, the gentle rocking of the cars seems to have a universal effect on passengers - supreme relaxation. It's amusing to see how many adults nod off on naps in the early afternoon, like toddlers taken out for a Sunday drive in the family car.

I always bring along plenty to read on a train trip, but on this one I find I can concentrate on the pages only in brief snatches. The passing diorama is endlessly fascinating, even when the train isn't skirting the coast. South of San Jose, for example, disparate scenes fly by in a blur: nursery greenhouses, pickup baseball game, neglected fruit orchard, spray-paint graffiti mural, farmers market, RV ghetto, Christmas tree farm, little boy waving, horse poking head through corral fence to get to grass that is always greener.

Also glimpsed through the train's picture windows are the Western movie backdrops of the Santa Susana Pass near Simi Valley, the horrific mudslide at La Conchita, the double security fence and guard towers of the California Men's Colony in San Luis Obispo, a lamentable web of earthquake cracks in the facade of Mission San Miguel Arcangel near Paso Robles, and the hypnotically geometric rows of crops in the Salinas Valley.

When the train is humming along the rails, the experience is exhilarating.

When it pokes along at 25 mph, or rolls to a stop in the middle of nowhere, it's excruciating.

Travelers need to know this in advance. This is not the best mode of transportation if you're operating on a tight schedule, or if the people meeting your train are short on patience. ``Amtrak is noted for running late,'' said Groth, producer of the route guide. ``That's one of the problems.''

The Coast Starlight runs on track owned by Union Pacific, and UP's freight trains often take priority. If there is a single line of track, Amtrak trains are often shunted onto a side track to let the freights pass (especially if the passenger train is running late and has forfeited its track priority). Heavy winter storms have also slowed things down, forcing the trains to creep through areas where sinkholes have occurred.

``Over 50 percent of the delays are related to the host railroad,'' said Amtrak spokeswoman Sarah Swain, referring to Union Pacific's management of track traffic.

Bad luck comes into play, too. The night before our departure from Los Angeles, police clashed with a suspect on the train tracks in Van Nuys, and a sheriff's deputy was accidentally wounded. Traffic was shut down and the southbound Coast Starlight, which had been running on time, didn't reach Union Station until after 5 a.m. - nearly eight hours late.

Our 10:15 a.m. departure the next day was pushed back, and back, and back. We finally pulled out a little after noon, then made 14 unscheduled, middle-of-nowhere stops and didn't reach Oakland until 1:20 a.m. - four hours behind schedule.

Amtrak often has the appearance of a company that ... well, is counting on $1.2 billion in bailout money. There was an attendant assigned to every car, for example, but I couldn't figure out what they did - help people on and off, then sit in the back of the car and read a novel. This on trains that were running at no more than one-quarter passenger capacity. The attendants didn't need to check tickets, because other employees - two, in fact - had that duty.

If the subsidy does disappear, and Amtrak expires with it, rail travelers can only hope that a company with the can-do efficiency of Southwest or JetBlue airlines steps into the void and keeps alive this gentle, throwback mode of getting from here to there.

In the meantime, passengers can sit back and enjoy the landscape of Vandenberg Air Force Base, off-limits to everyone but train travelers, where a vast reserve of Central Coast beauty is punctuated only by the occasional missile launching pad. It's a scene of rolling green bluffs covered with sage and wildflowers, rugged headlands, ocean-battered points - Tarantula, Arguello, Pedernales - and pocket beaches, utterly deserted. You might encounter, as we did, the ocean whipped into white caps, and a shroud of mist settling on the land.

Soak it in. Savor it. There's plenty of time. We just stopped again.

Eric Noland, [phone]

eric.noland(at)dailynews.com

IF YOU GOFARES: The base one-way fare for a reserved coach seat from Los Angeles to Oakland is $51. The base fare for the entire route, Los Angeles to Seattle or the reverse, is $104 one way. The northbound train leaves Los Angeles' Union Station daily at 10:15 a.m. The southbound train leaves Seattle daily at 10 a.m., and, if on schedule, reaches Oakland the next day at 8:35 a.m. and Los Angeles at 9 p.m.

SLEEPERS: Long-haul passengers in coach must make do with a reclining seat and pop-up foot rest. If you desire something more comfortable, two types of accommodations are available. An economy sleeper, called a roomette, has a two-person sitting area separated by a table; it is converted into bunk beds at night. Bathrooms and a shower are down the aisle, shared by all economy sleeper passengers. This accommodation is priced from $172 for the entire run, on top of the cost of each passenger's coach-fare seat. The deluxe sleeper, or bedroom, has a small couch that faces an upholstered chair. The couch folds into a bed at night; it's about 1 1/2 twin beds wide, and can accommodate two if you squeeze in. Another bunk pulls down from above. The deluxe sleeper also has a private bath in the compartment, which doubles as a shower stall. This compartment is priced from $406 for the entire run, plus coach seat fare for each passenger. There is also a family bedroom on each Coast Starlight train, allegedly capable of sleeping five. Meals are included for sleeper-class passengers, as well as exclusive use of the Parlour Car.

DINING: Breakfast items are cooked to order on the train, but most other meals are prepared in a kitchen elsewhere and heated up on the train. Still, the Dining Car fare was found to be pretty good - certainly much better than anything you'll find in airline coach (on airlines that still serve food, that is). Sandwiches and salads at lunch are priced in the $8 range, while dinner entrees, which include salad, are priced from $10 to $20. Wine and beer are available, and there is a children's menu at all three meals.

BYO: In order to keep your travel costs down, and to avoid the dismal selection in the Sightseer Lounge's cafe, you might want to consider stopping at a market or deli for some picnic items and drinks. The carry-on restrictions are much more liberal on the rails than in the air, and you have generous space at your seat. Also, if you're making the entire run in coach class, you might want to bring along your own pillow, as well as a blanket (or heavy coat) - the cars are air conditioned and can get chilly.

SELF-GUIDED TOURS: ``The Milepost,'' a route guide for the Coast Starlight (and other trains), is published by Lee Groth, a former Florida travel agent who specialized in booking rail travel. It is in need of updating and has a few glitches in the text, but it still offers some enlightening information about what's outside the windows. Priced at $10 plus postage, it can be ordered at leegroth(at)juno.com. Also handy on this trip are AAA road maps for the counties you'll be passing through. They show the position of the track, stations, towns and natural features, so you can follow the train's progress. And if you're really into this stuff, visit www.coaststarlight.com, where travelogues chronicle exact miles, position of tunnels, elevations and other particulars.

WINTER BLUES: On a southbound trip in winter, the train offers much more starlight than coast - the sun often sets before the train reaches its marquee stretch along the coast near Santa Barbara. And if the train is running late, passengers who got on in Seattle with the express hope of gazing out over the ocean might see it only in darkness. Now that daylight- saving time is here, with days getting longer as summer approaches, this is a prime time for the southbound route.

SMOKEOUT: The entire train is nonsmoking, but a few of the station stops are of several minutes' duration, at which time smokers are allowed to exit onto the platform for a quick cigarette.

PREMIER CLASS?: On the Pacific Surfliner's run between Los Angeles and San Diego, business class is available for an additional charge of $12 each way. You might be hard-pressed, however, to discern the difference between this and economy class. The seats are identical to those of the other cars, and the service was found to be minimal. In the morning, coffee and rolls were available, but no attendant ever came through the car to announce this. Moments after boarding in the afternoon, we were served a drink (soda, water or wine) by an attendant who then disappeared for the remainder of the trip.

INFORMATION: [phone]; www.amtrak.com.

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9 photos, box

Photo:

(1 -- 3 -- color) A passenger train skirts Gaviota Beach as it makes its way as it makes its way north along a mist-shrouded Central Coast, top. The train is popular with families, above, and anyone seeking a relaxed, unhurried travel experience, below left.

(4 -- 8) A ride aboard the Pacific Surfliner may yield sights such as the San Clemente Pier stop, above left, with its signs offering helpful information, below left; Los Angeles' Union Station, top right; and the arches of the Santa Barbara train station, above. Below, passengers in the dining car enjoy an elegance missing from other modes of travel.

(9) The Pacific Surfliner Amtrak, seen here stopped at the San Clemente Pier, travels from Santa Barbara to Los Angeles to San Diego and back four times daily.

Michael Owen Baker/Staff Photographer

Eric Noland/Travel Editor

Daily News

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