11.15.16 This is the Parlor Car of the Coast Starlight. It’s an attempt, I think, to revive or at least make reference to the glory days of train travel, when there was a sense of luxury baked into the railroad. There’s something poignant about an institution—on the brink of financial collapse and cultural irrelevance—that nevertheless makes gestures like the ones you see aboard the Coast Starlight, where you’ll find wine tastings and movie screenings. I abstain from the amenities, choosing instead to watch the rolling hills of California along the corridor where I was born and later lived as a teenager. #8980bookoftravelers