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Cross country on amtrak

D

DaWhim

Lifer
How many here have done it?

I did it last week from SF to NY on coach.

my train departed at 9:10am on monday.
52 hours later, I arrived at chicago around 3pm on wednesday.
the train from chicago to DC was supposed to be 18 hours, but the ride turned into 21 hours with delays.
Finally, I got back to NY around 9pm on thursday.

It was about 84 horus total.
 
The point of traveling on train these days is to make stops in the cities and explore them. If you want to simply get from point A to point B - get a plane ticket.
 
I did it about ten years ago (wow time flies) from SF to NJ. It's a good thing to do once to see the geography of the US. You'll also probably meet some interesting mid-westerns along the way. It's kind of like stepping onto a time machine. The trains are all really old.

Tip: If you are still young and do not get a sleeper, bring a thermarest and a blanket and you can probably get away with sleeping on the observation deck.
 
In 2003, when I was younger and dumber and had little money, I went Chicago to DC in coach because the ticket was $30 round trip. Was staying with a friend at Georgetown, so this was going to be a super budget trip.

It was about 24 hours each way. When the trip was done, I realized I could have easily worked those two full days and made enough to buy a plane ticket and have money left over.
 
One of my goals is to cross Canada via train. In fact I'm hitting the east coast this weekend doing just that. Killing time at the airport right now. It's expensive if you get a cabin. Not a trip you want to make coach. It's a great way to get out and see the country though. Sort of like reliving a bygone era.
 
DaWhim said:
How many here have done it?

I did it last week from SF to NY on coach.

my train departed at 9:10am on monday.
52 hours later, I arrived at chicago around 3pm on wednesday.
the train from chicago to DC was supposed to be 18 hours, but the ride turned into 21 hours with delays.
Finally, I got back to NY around 9pm on thursday.

It was about 84 horus total.
Click to expand...

Now that I have seen a shuttle launch in person that is the next item on my agenda. I want to do the northern route across one way and the southern route on the return. After that will be a trip by car across country on US 50 starting in Ocean City, MD.
 
DaWhim said:
oh, the plane ticket would had been cheaper.
there are more things to see on the ground than 30000 feet.
Click to expand...

So how'd that 84 hours of "seeing things" work out for you?

If good, then you might consider Greyhound next time. More to see on the road than on a rail... and even more time to see it!
 
DaWhim said:
How many here have done it?

I did it last week from SF to NY on coach.

my train departed at 9:10am on monday.
52 hours later, I arrived at chicago around 3pm on wednesday.
the train from chicago to DC was supposed to be 18 hours, but the ride turned into 21 hours with delays.
Finally, I got back to NY around 9pm on thursday.

It was about 84 horus total.
Click to expand...

I have. Loved it. I do it regularly.

Last trip was Emeryville to Seattle and then the Empire Builder back to Boston.
 
Linflas said:
Now that I have seen a shuttle launch in person that is the next item on my agenda. I want to do the northern route across one way and the southern route on the return. After that will be a trip by car across country on US 50 starting in Ocean City, MD.
Click to expand...

Look me up when you pass through STL - I'll buy you a beer :thumbsup:
 
Rumpltzer said:
So how'd that 84 hours of "seeing things" work out for you?

If good, then you might consider Greyhound next time. More to see on the road than on a rail... and even more time to see it!
Click to expand...

Nothing on a bus you can't see driving on the interstate yourself. Some of the railroad right of way includes portions of the original transcontinental railroad. Even riding the VRE from DC to Manassas, Virginia you can portions of right of way that was used during the Civil War including the remains of the original rail bridge across Bull Run that was destroyed multiple times and rebuilt during the war.
 
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DaWhim said:
cross country on canadian train sound like an interesting idea, what is your itinerary like?
Click to expand...

Right now I'm in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Flew out there and I'm staying fornamfew days. I board the train in Sunday, return Monday. First leg goes from Halifax to Montreal, which takes a day and a half. I have a sleeper cabin booked. Next leg goes from Montral to Toronto, which is just coach. Takes 5hr. Yeah, you could drive it. It's tiring though. It also lacks a certain romanticism.
 
mmntech said:
One of my goals is to cross Canada via train. In fact I'm hitting the east coast this weekend doing just that. Killing time at the airport right now. It's expensive if you get a cabin. Not a trip you want to make coach. It's a great way to get out and see the country though. Sort of like reliving a bygone era.
Click to expand...

i plan to do this sometime in the future. the wife and i plan to take the train across canada and back. We may or may not take the kids. 😀
 
Rumpltzer said:
So how'd that 84 hours of "seeing things" work out for you?

If good, then you might consider Greyhound next time. More to see on the road than on a rail... and even more time to see it!
Click to expand...

the high sierra was amazing, then crossed the dessert in the midwest.

greyhound? not interested. 😛
 
I did the train from LA to Sacramento. It sucked. There's nothing to see on the way over there since Cali is all boring valley land in the middle.
 
paulney said:
The point of traveling on train these days is to make stops in the cities and explore them. If you want to simply get from point A to point B - get a plane ticket.
Click to expand...

Lolwut? A lot still use the train out of convenience, fear of flying, etc.

I used to take amtrak West Palm to Orlando each week. Going up was never an issue, but since that same train coming back started up in PA or so, the way back was always 2-8 hours delayed. twice in about 6 months they had to send a bus since the train was so far delayed.

A train is nice if you like to socialize. When I was traveling there were a lot of 20 somethings, you aren't locked into a seat and you can roam around. Quite a few people ended up hooking up on the train.
 
In 2002, I traveled on Amtrak's Sunset Limited from Orlando, FL to Maricopa (Phoenix), AZ, before hurricane Katrina messed up the train tracks east of New Orleans. Traversing Texas took over one day complete, going westwards. Freight trains often slow down or delay Amtrak trains, since they seem to have track priority. For scenic beauty, the California Zephyr through Colorado is great. In 1983, I took a series of Mexican passenger trains from Merida, Yucatan all the way to Juarez, across from El Paso, TX. However, most of those Mexican passenger train routes are no longer in operation.
 
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EMPshockwave82 said:
Railroads pay monetary penalties for any passenger train they delay. Everything has a schedule. There is some play built in but not much.
Click to expand...

Depends on the specific area of the country you're talking about. For the West-bound Sunset Limited, it's quite typical to be (at least) 5 hours late arriving in Maricopa, AZ. Wherever there's 2 parallel tracks, passenger trains can use one for west-bound, and freight can use the other East-bound. But where there's only a single track section available, one of the two trains must pause for a while, to let let the other train go past. Very long freight trains easily outnumber passenger trains for that part of the country.
 
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