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Travel by train from Ann Arbor, MI to Denver, CO?

Jeff7181

Jeff7181

Lifer
I have a work trip coming up in Denver, CO and I hate flying, but also would like to try something new. I've been on a train once from Ann Arbor to Chicago, but that was just a couple hours through the boring Michigan country-side.

I'm thinking of requesting a train ticket instead of a plane ticket to Denver and leaving a day early. Says it's a 26 hour train ride, so I'd apparently be sleeping on the train.

Anyone ever taken a train this far? Recommendations for or against it?
 
Jeff7181 said:
I have a work trip coming up in Denver, CO and I hate flying, but also would like to try something new. I've been on a train once from Ann Arbor to Chicago, but that was just a couple hours through the boring Michigan country-side.

I'm thinking of requesting a train ticket instead of a plane ticket to Denver and leaving a day early. Says it's a 26 hour train ride, so I'd apparently be sleeping on the train.

Anyone ever taken a train this far? Recommendations for or against it?
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Sure, why not. On the trip after that you can take covered wagon.
 
Havent done a trip like that, at one time was considering getting a railpass and taking a chicago to Seattle & Portland round trip, but we decided against spending 78 hours on trains. That said, the trains in the mountains would be awesome. But the 20 hours of boring/flat terrain would kinda suck IMO.
 
Would your company be upgrading you to a sleeper car? Or do you have a seat for 26 hours?
 
I've never taken a train quite that far, but in my experience, it is more expensive and takes longer than pretty much any other method of travel. It is an interesting experience, but once you've done it, you realize that unless you're a high tonnage of material, it isn't a good option.

Just suck it up and fly. If you're afraid of a crash, excluding 9/11, the last US Airline to crash a large commercial flight resulting in fatalities in the US was July 19th, 1989. And, even then, less than half the passengers died.
 
smackababy said:
Just suck it up and fly. If you're afraid of a crash, excluding 9/11, the last US Airline to crash a large commercial flight resulting in fatalities in the US was July 19th, 1989. And, even then, less than half the passengers died.
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Um, really?

There have been several US airliners that have crashed with fatalities since July 19th, 1989.
 
zbalat said:
Um, really?

There have been several US airliners that have crashed with fatalities since July 19th, 1989.
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And none of them are large, 474-esque planes. A large commercial plane hasn't crashed in a long time in the US. Now, smaller, planes? Fuck those. They are dangerous as shit!
 
smackababy said:
I've never taken a train quite that far, but in my experience, it is more expensive and takes longer than pretty much any other method of travel. It is an interesting experience, but once you've done it, you realize that unless you're a high tonnage of material, it isn't a good option.

Just suck it up and fly. If you're afraid of a crash, excluding 9/11, the last US Airline to crash a large commercial flight resulting in fatalities in the US was July 19th, 1989. And, even then, less than half the passengers died.
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I used to like flying, however, the hassle of modern airport "security" and crammed seats make it highly unpleasant.

The ability to show my ticket and walk onto a train without having anyone check under my nutsack (the people working those jobs are never the ones I'd like to have inspect my gear) for weapons or explosives is orders of magnitude more enjoyable, for me.
 
smackababy said:
And none of them are large, 474-esque planes. A large commercial plane hasn't crashed in a long time in the US. Now, smaller, planes? Fuck those. They are dangerous as shit!
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Yeah, that Airbus A300 that crashed into a Queens neighborhood on November 12, 2011 was just a puddle jumper. 265 dead.
 
I fly several times a year and I have no worries whatsoever. It is by far and away the safest and fastest way to go. I only commented because there have been several accidents since 1989 involving US carriers that have had fatalities.
 
Did LA to Chicago a loooooooong time ago. Was pretty awesome, but I was a kid.

Looked at it lately, something like Ann Arbor to Washington state, because my kid(s) might love it, wouldn't be bad, but sweet jeebus. Takes freaking forever and costs a friggin ton. May as well fly.

Then again, I finally got to fly again from here up to the UP a couple years ago. DTW to O'Hare to Houghton. Jets all the way. Made sure I had window seats and managed to keep from yelling "wheeeee" out loud during the take offs. 😛 😀
 
Jeff7181 said:
I wouldn't tolerate a seat for 26 hours - it would have to be upgraded to a sleeper.
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Be careful about getting a sleeper. Most of the time it's just a canvas bag they put around your chair. If you want a true sleeper cabin chances are your company won't pay for it. They are very expensive and honestly not that nice.
 
Took Amtrak from West Palm Beach FL to NYC in early 2004 -- totals about 1200 miles and about 24 hours as I remember. I did go with the sleeper as I had no desire to sit in a chair, no matter how comfortable, for 24 hours.

There wasn't much to see since it went through the night in early January and the east coast has so much tree cover. I think it would be a much more enjoyable trip out west where there is a lot less tree cover and sight lines are much longer, but you'd probably want to do it in late spring/early summer to get the max daylight.


Brian
 
I looked into taking a train from Austin to Seattle. $400 for a 24 hour train ride vs $200 for a 4 hour plane ride.

I suppose it would be cool to see the country by train, but man, 24 hours is a long time to be in a crappy seat.
 
bbhaag said:
Be careful about getting a sleeper. Most of the time it's just a canvas bag they put around your chair. If you want a true sleeper cabin chances are your company won't pay for it. They are very expensive and honestly not that nice.
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Yeah, I checked the prices... just under $1000 for a 2-bunk sleeper. On the other hand, there are a bunch of round trip flights for less than $300.

Looks like I'll be flying through the air in a sardine can.
 
Jeff7181 said:
I have a work trip coming up in Denver, CO and I hate flying, but also would like to try something new. I've been on a train once from Ann Arbor to Chicago, but that was just a couple hours through the boring Michigan country-side.

I'm thinking of requesting a train ticket instead of a plane ticket to Denver and leaving a day early. Says it's a 26 hour train ride, so I'd apparently be sleeping on the train.

Anyone ever taken a train this far? Recommendations for or against it?
Click to expand...
Flying is the only way to go. In one hour you could be at your destination. Anyway, my dad is taking the train from West Virginia to Florida in a few months. The only reason he's taking the train is because he's taking his car down. Its a long trip. He's done it before and he said he enjoyed it.
 
I did Halifax to Toronto a few years back. The train is definitely the more civilized way to travel. No hassle at check in, more laid back, high quality meals on board, and your own private sleeping cabin. That said it is expensive and the trip takes a long time. About a day. It's not cheap either.

Flying isn't so bad if you go business class but that's expensive too. Coach is just a joke now. It's like they took everything awful about riding the Greyhound bus and amped it up. Unnecessary security, riffraff passengers, cramped quarters, charged extra for absolutely everything. The only advantage they have right now is speed, and even that's debatable for trips under 400mi.

If only North America would adopt bullet trains like Japan and Europe did, and somehow make them price competitive to flying. Don't see that happening anytime soon though.
 
mmntech said:
I did Halifax to Toronto a few years back. The train is definitely the more civilized way to travel. No hassle at check in, more laid back, high quality meals on board, and your own private sleeping cabin. That said it is expensive and the trip takes a long time. About a day. It's not cheap either.

Flying isn't so bad if you go business class but that's expensive too. Coach is just a joke now. It's like they took everything awful about riding the Greyhound bus and amped it up. Unnecessary security, riffraff passengers, cramped quarters, charged extra for absolutely everything. The only advantage they have right now is speed, and even that's debatable for trips under 400mi.

If only North America would adopt bullet trains like Japan and Europe did, and somehow make them price competitive to flying. Don't see that happening anytime soon though.
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Seriously? Have you no concept of distance? We have national parks(your country does to)bigger than countries in Europe.
 
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