I return to the station after a quick dinner to discover that tonight the train is just ten minutes behind schedule, so I ready myself on the platform. This is the first time that I have seen a Superliner (the double deck long distance trains) approach in the dark. It looks pretty special. First you hear it, the rumble, the tooting and the sound of nearby level crossings closing. Then you see the lights and its monsterous scale. Finally, you get to see just how shiny it is – every light in the station reflects off the silvery sides and bounces back at you.

A chap called Art will be my conductor tonight. He shows me upstairs where I’m in roomette number three. My bed is already made up, but it’s too early for bed, so I remove the bed roll, store it in the top bunk and pull the seats back up. With a glass of wine in one hand, I complete my usual procedure of downloading and editing the photographs that I have taken during the day. Then I start to charge up all my devices ready for tomorrow morning. I’m getting good this, and have even now worked out how to send my pictures wirelessly from my camera to my iPad, then after editing, to airdrop them onto my Macbook. There is no IT department at Matthew Woodward Adventure!

A glance of my watch and I remember that we are already on Pacific time, so I remake my bed. Sleep comes easily, and I wake the next morning to hear Art encouraging passengers to visit the dining car for breakfast at 06.00. I’m skipping this culinary treat and will grab something in L.A.

The landscape has changed overnight. Passing through the outskirts of the city Los Angeles the houses are low and Spanish styled. Palm trees grow in their gardens. As we get into the downtown area the empty concrete canals remind me straightaway of two Hollywood films. The classic alien ant film “Them”, and more recently, “Terminator II” – the scene where Arnie escapes from the T1000 killer cyborg made of liquid poly metal on his Harley with John Connor.

Union Station is much calmer than I had anticipated, and although there are plenty of vagrants wandering about, it looks fairly safe to me. There are no obvious gangs waiting in the concourse looking to recruit passengers or indeed any angry people shooting at each other. A couple of friendly cops observe what people are up to, ready to deal with any problems. “To protect and to serve”.

This has been my final Amtrak overnight journey. I have very much enjoyed travelling on the Superliners. Not only are the Roomettes great for one person, there is a real sense of space with several places to enjoy the journey – the cabin, the dining car, the observation car, and even the café. The food has also been quite reasonable, and the company great. Americans love to socialise on train journeys. Amtrak may not always be on time, but they are comfortable and fun.

I’m off to Long Beach now for a quick stay on the Queen Mary. This is a reminder that I have finally reached the Pacific Ocean. Just sixteen days ago I was looking out at the Atlantic from a boat in New York harbour. I have therefore successfully completed my U.S coast to coast rail challenge. But my train adventure isn’t over yet though. Tomorrow I’m getting on to a day train to San Francisco. It’s called “The Coast Starlight”, not as I keep telling people at the bar, “The Starlight Express”!

On some days they run a steam train, but today we are hauled by a nicely restored class EMD F40 locomotive with matching silver vintage carriages. My seat is comfy enough in a slightly too tightly packed coach class carriage. Other options include panorama carriages, and a spacious cafe car, where I end up spending much of the journey. Onboard it is nearly all tour groups – I’m told that people who live in the national park have to work in the national park, so there are no real rail commuters as such.

As the train gradually climbs up to the rim, our car attendant introduces herself. Her name is Kathy, but she tells us everyone calls her “Kathy with a K”. Much of the two and a half hour journey is spent answering her questions and participating in increasingly bizarre tests of our knowledge of the United States. Occasionally the train comes to a halt to let unhurried cattle cross the line. Outside as the trees thin out, moose and deer also seem unphased by the bright shiny train passing through.

We arrive on time at the South Rim station and back in – there is a loop in the line, so trains can be turned around easily for the return. A short climb up some steps and there was the canyon itself, far more beautiful in reality than in any photograph. I spent several hours walking around the rim and fending off excitable squirrels (the park rangers claim that they carry the plague). The average North American visitor seems unphased by the drop of nearly a mile, with no rails or safety barriers to save anyone if they get caught in a gust of wind. I stayed well back from the edge having a lifelong phobia or fear of falling.

Things get a little surreal on the train on the way back to Williams. Men appear on horseback waving guns and board the train with the intention of robbing the passengers, followed closely by a Marshall in hot pursuit. Nothing to worry about though, just a bit of well staged theatre to pass the time as we trundle back down the line. The journey time is around two and a half hours, and this is perfect, as it gives time to take in the experience and the scenery without getting bored.

The plan this evening is a cunning one. Rather than catch the next train from the Amtrak platform here in Williams, I’m headed back to Flagstaff in the bus to pick the train up further up the line – this till leaves an hour or so for dinner before boarding the “Southwest Chief” bound for Los Angeles. I’m told it often arrives from Chicago several hours late, so I have provisions for a midnight feast at the station if it all goes pear shaped.