Table of Contents
// So what exactly is this trip about?
On Tuesday, August 4, 2026, I went to San Luis Obispo via Amtrak's Pacific Surfliner!
This trip deserves a proper introduction. The Pacific Surfliner is a passenger train service going between San Diego and San Luis Obispo. As the name suggests, a large portion of the train track runs along the California coast close enough to see the ocean from the train. The full route takes about 9 hours; I was on it for about 6. I chose business class for both the departing and returning trip because 1) I needed the extra legroom, and 2) it's the only* way you can get into a Superliner car on the Surfliner.
Not only is the longest train trip I've done to date, it is also my most anticipated trip of the summer! It was the furthest I've traveled from home on a trip without being accompanied by family, but I did have a friend with me :) I wanna say this trip has been planned for about a month. Maybe a little less. It has great scenery and is probably the longest train trip you can do in SoCal without having to spend the night somewhere. I also got to try out my new gadget: a 2004 digital camera, the Vivitar Vivicam 3765! I love the grainy, vintage feel, which is why unlike my usual blog posts, the photos in this one won't be dithered.
All this is to say, this trip has a lot of personal significance to me. Thanks to my friend for proposing this trip to me and me being insane enough to accept his invitation :P (If you're reading this tell nesoberi Cirno I said hi.) Originally I wasn't even sure I was gonna write a blog post on this. I try to keep my travel logs rather impersonal, in the sense that I report only on the things I saw while omitting the interpersonal. Remember, for some the trips, including this one, I'm not alone! It's just that not every single one of my thoughts need to be on the internet haha. Some things are better off left in the private journal. That said, the SLO trip definitely deserves to have a thoughtful blog post written about it, and I'm always excited to share the beauty of train travel <3 Writing this gives me a chance to reflect on the day and hopefully helps me remember it better!
// Amtrak business class: Is it worth it?
In my opinion, When it comes to the Pacific Surfliner, unless you're gonna be on the train for more than 5 hours, business class isn't worth it lol. You get free snacks and water/soda, but more importantly extra legroom. The seats were pretty comfortable, just that the AC's a little cold lol. Should've worn longer socks that day my ankles were freezing.
In the morning it was real foggy along the coast, which seems to be a common occurrence. Last time I went to San Diego it was like that as well. I'm not the biggest fan of cloudy days as they make me feel drowsy and a little sad. I much prefer sunny days and blue skies. Still, it was quite a vibe on the train to see the ocean on a cloudy day. I think no matter what I will always be impressed seeing the ocean up close. There were lots of turkey vultures along the coast! Not sure if that's what those are in the video — fascinated by the birds flying in a straight line. Going on a Tuesday proved to be the right decision. There wasn't a lot of people on the train, and the peace and quiet really adds to the experience.
And look! The coast!
Coincidentally, there was a Starlink launch from Vandenberg Space Force Base today. I passed by the site about 15 minutes before liftoff so unfortunately I missed it. It's not like I could've seen anything from the train, but perhaps I would've heard the launch?
I really like how low quality the videos taken by the camera are. The beauty of a 2004 digicam. Sometimes more pixels aren't necessarily better.
The SLO Railroad Museum is right at the train station. Being a Tuesday, the museum was closed, of course. Most train museums tend to have awful hours because they're typically ran by volunteers and have a small number of staffs. Still, they had all the goodies outside and I got to see some cool train cars.
We had about 5 hours at SLO before our return train. We ended up staying in the downtown area the entire time. Didn't feel like we had enough time to go to Cal Poly, but maybe next time?! Anyways the walk from the train station to downtown wasn't that bad at all. It was about 10 minutes of walking through a residential neighborhood; IDK what I was expecting, but I guess suburbs in SoCal don't really look that different. Along the way, I got to see this gem: the meowl. This was painted on a utility box or something like that. The funny thing is, all the other animals on the box looked just fine. And then you have this creature. I think it has bunny genes mixed into it.
Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa was closed as well, but at least I got to see how it looks from the outside. There was this nice pond next to it and a little creek and trail. Quite scenic. I really like the way the sunlight looks in the second photo.
Lunch time~ I had waffles and buttermilk fried chicken it was really good. The restaurant was a southern food place I think.
There was a food plaza with three cow statues for some reason. One of them is blue with bubbles on it and another is painted like the Hulk. This one is a space cow! It has a space shuttle on it; I bet it's based on a real photograph I wonder which shuttle it is. Also, I didn't even realize there's a Saturn V on its forehead until now.
I walked by a toy store with Transformers in the window, including D-16 my beloved, so I had to go in and see what's up. Turns out they have a section dedicated to third-party TF figures like Blokees and Threezero. Third parties are really carrying the franchise right now, aren't they? Especially with the whole blind box craze and Studio Series prices skyrocketing to shit (WHY IS A DELUXE $28 NOW). Also went into a CD/DVD/vinyl store that happened to have a comics section. Here are some of my interesting finds:
- Didn't know A Quiet Place has a comic adaptation. A fourth movie is coming out next year apparently.
- TWISTED WONDERLAND???? THE DISNEY GACHA GAME??????
- Transformers Skybound lowkey became ass after Kirkman took over but it's been cool seeing new issues on store shelves.
// Hello 797
Can't be a train trip without some railfanning. Here's my return train 794! So it turns out holding a camera still is basically impossible when my hands tend to be shaky. I edited the two clips together and added stabilization, and somehow it ended up being nearly 50 MB LMAO. So instead you'll just have to enjoy the original clips. I think the shakiness adds to the, ah, old shitty camcorder vibe. Hmmm maybe I should get an old camcorder...
The second train car, which is the one I stayed in, is AMTK 34981. If this Reddit comment was to be trusted, then this would be a Superliner II because its number is above 34102.
The four seaters are reallyyy nice because you get a bigger window and a table to yourself. To bad that we couldn't stay in it the entire trip because the train got busy after Santa Barbara.
// Some photos & videos
// Finally, sunlight!
In the morning it was foggy and there was no sunshine the entire time. In the afternoon though, the weather finally decided to play nice! Trust me when I say that seeing the coast in sunlight makes the trip 100% worth it. Surprisingly, I didn't take any videos of the ocean when there was still sunlight and the train was super close to the beach. I think I spent the entire time just staring out the window haha. It was so mesmerizing. I remember there was one moment where I thought: wow, the surfliner is really living up to its name.
At night is when the airplane vibes kicked in, lol. It's like an airline experience but way better.
I really enjoyed the trip! I know I say this in like, every travel blog post I write, but it's true! I feel like this post didn't — and couldn't — quite convey just how much Feelings I felt during this trip. I'll definitely look back on this day fondly. I still remember when I thought a 1 hour+ bus ride was adventurous... Look how far I've come :]