HASSO HERING

Amtrak Train 11 rushes toward where I’m standing at the Burkhart Street crossing in Albany on Aug. 28, 2026.

Every once in a while it is good to remember that Albany is a stop on one of the premier passenger train routes in America.

We get that reminder twice a day, every day, when the  north and southbound trains of the Coast Starlight make their stops at Albany Station.

As happens sometimes on my bike rides through that part of town, I was at the Burkhart Street crossing on Friday afternoon when Train 11 made its rushed appearance there.

Amtrak Train 11 is the southbound Coast Starlight. The timetable calls for it to stop in Albany at 4:14 p.m. The video was shot at 4:11 p.m., so the engineer timed it exactly right.

That train would reach Los Angeles Union Station a little after 9 p.m. the following day, Saturday.

In the other direction, the northbound Starlight gets to Albany at 1:23 p.m. It reaches Seattle about 7:30 that night.

The trains travel 1,377 miles between Los Angeles and Seattle. Each run takes about 35 hours, and it requires four trainsets to keep up that schedule.

Amtrak says: “Widely regarded as one of the most spectacular of all train routes, the Coast Starlight links the greatest cities on the West Coast. The scenery along the Coast Starlight route is unsurpassed.”

As the “greatest cities,” Amtrak mentions Seattle, Portland, Sacramento and LA.

Somehow they forgot to mention that among the highlights along the route, there’s also the bike crossing at Albany’s Burkhart Street. (hh)