Every Reason Under the Sun for Riding Starlight

Flanked by her daughter and great-grandson, Frances Shelburne, 75, of Redding waits patiently on the Glendale train station platform for Amtrak’s Coast Starlight to arrive.

“Trains are wonderful,” she said. “Everybody seems to have such a good time on them.”

Philip Meador, 50, of Glendale occupies his time reading a paperback while relaxing on an outdoor bench. “I’m going to see my wife in San Jose,” he said, explaining that she is visiting relatives. Why not fly? “I just wanted to relax. Besides, it’s $40 cheaper.”

“It’s fun and a wonderful way to travel,” said Joan Coston of Northridge, waiting with her son, Doug, 23, who was taking the train home to Santa Barbara.

The northbound Coast Starlight pulls into Glendale about 10 every morning as Amtrak ticket agent Lawrence Nebrensky wraps up ticket sales, finishes the public address announcements and gets ready to make sure that all the baggage of the three dozen daily patrons gets on board the Seattle-bound train.

By 6:33 that night, the southbound version of the Starlight will arrive at the refurbished Glendale station--a thick-walled California Mission-style building that was originally built in the 1920s by Southern Pacific.

“It’s a good alternative to the downtown station,” Nebrensky, 36, said.

On the platform, Kelly Hayman, 28, of Anderson is heading home with her 8-year-old son, Steven. “I thought it would be different from the bus,” she said. When asked what his favorite part of the train ride was, Steven replied, “the food.”

Robert Reynolds, a 92-year-old resident of Danville, is taking his first train trip in 50 years, having come down a few days before “just for the pleasure.

“I wanted to adventure one more time before I called it quits,” he said while standing in the small but well-kept station just off San Fernando Road. “I can stand on the platform and see where I lived here until 1952.” Looking at the train timetable on the wall, he shakes his head. “I remember when there were a lot more trains.”