USA by Rail

[142094]

Hi all,

I've just bought the excellent book USA by Rail (John Pitt), and was wondering if anyone has done any travelling across the States by rail? How did you find it? Where would you go? Any advice on routes or just the trains in general?

TIA

 

[Greenback]

I went on the Empire Builder from Chicago to Seattle, the COast Starlight from Seattle to San Luis Obispo, and The Southwest Chief from LA back to Chicago in 2003. I had a couple of days in Seattle and San Luis obispo, took the Amtrak bus from SLO to LAs Vegas (with a short rail jounrey to Bakersfield) and stopped off at Albuquerque as well. Between LV and LA I used a Greyhound bus which accepted the Amtrak pass!

I used a Western USA rail pass and when I arrived at Chicago with my itinerary I booked reservations on all of the trains. I used the seated coaches and had no trouble sleeping. There was a cafe/bar coach and a dining car on each overnight train.

It was a brilliant experience and I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys rail travel, although with the caveat that if you want to do these long routes, you WILL be spending a lot of time on a train!

Also, on my return the FGW HST's seemed very small and claustrophobic!

 

[shinkansen1966]

Got the John Pitt book too. Makes a great accompaniment to any Amtrak trip across the US.

Done two major trips across the States.

May 1997, Chicago - SW Chief to LA - Coast Starlight to San Francisco - California Zephyr back to Chicago. On the Zephyr route, had a stop over in Glenwood Springs. The trip after through the Rockies to Denver is breathtaking. Used seated coaches and a slept well. Bought pass from pass from Trailfinders, but made reservations direct with Amtrak quoting my pass.

In 2005, went New York City - Washington DC - New Orleans - Sunset Ltd - LA - SW Chief - Chicago - Lake Shore Ltd - NYC. On that trip, used sleeper accommodation which is can be good especially since meals are included. Book a roomette and the whole room is yours. Used a pass and booked through an agent here in the UK.

Really enjoyed travelling by Amtrak. Huge comfy trains, meals not quite as good as they used to be, some great scenery and very relaxing.

Also done the Coast Starlight from LA all the way to Seattle. Very enjoyable.

You can watch my 2005 amtrak travel experience on YouTube. Made a video, bit over the top and silly in places.

http://www.youtube.com/user/Shinkansen1966#p/u/12/_FUn2H6w69U (part one)
http://www.youtube.com/user/Shinkansen1966#p/u/11/oUkj7PMWvuk (part two)

 

[142094]

Was looking to do either the 30 or 45 day pass, probably mainly on the east coast, so going places such as Boston, New York, Baltimore, Washington DC, then onto Detroit and Chicago, then if practical, across to Seattle and down the west coast. I have to say it does look like one of those 'once in a lifetime' trips, but the prices don't seem too bad.

What kind of accomodation did you stay in at the different stops? I was lookig mainly for places such as Holiday Inn and Days Inn, which seem cheap enough (stayed in a few before), but not really in the centre of town. Still I suppose that is the compromise.

 

[jamesontheroad]

In 2005 (while living in Montreal) I bought the North America Rail Pass, which is sold by Amtrak and VIA Rail Canada for thirty days unlimited travel in both countries. I used it for a thirty day circular tour of the United States and Canada, spending about fifteen nights on the train and fifteen nights off. At the time I think I was eligible for the student discount, and I bought the low season pass for the very end of the low season, getting as close to the better weather without the high season price.

I travelled Montreal - Chicago - Denver - San Francisco - Santa Barbara - Seattle - Vancouver - Edmonton - Winnipeg - Churchill - Winnipeg - Toronto - Montreal (to feed the cats - Halifax - Montreal.

This was my itinerary (with cumulative mileage / kilometer) based on the schedule at the time: http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0Aste06-Zgp-bcFRqVXhEZlpzT0FlU2xhYjhtNUpZUEE&hl=en_GB

I also had that book, and it's a great companion. But you should also log on to Amtrak.com and order their 2010 System Timetable and Amtrak America brochures: http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/ContentServer/Page/1241267371771/1237405732517 They'll send you these for free, even to the UK. The system timetable is a great document to study when planning your trip, although beware that Yanks don't understand the 24 hour clock, so you need to learn the subtle nuance between light and bold type for AM and PM, and to read timetables up and down for trains in opposite directions.

I spent almost the entire trip in 'coach' (seated) accommodation. With a neck pillow or two, a blanket and an eye mask this was fine. For four nights in Canada, on the government subsidised 'Hudson Bay' between Winnipeg and Churchill and back I paid the supplement for sleeper berths. Normally these are quite pricey on VIA Rail (because Canadian trains are more tourist oriented) but on that particular train they were cheaper. On Amtrak you can choose to pay the difference to upgrade your pass to first class (sleeper accommodation) either at the station or on board (if available).

Please feel free to ask me any more questions... I have to run to a meeting right now, but maybe try out my old trip blog. The whole thing, 20,000km, in one blog (that annoyingly reads backwards!)

http://jamesbrownontherails.blogspot.com/

Also consider joining and participating in the US equivalent of this forum:

http://discuss.amtraktrains.com/

 

[Greenback]

Was looking to do either the 30 or 45 day pass, probably mainly on the east coast, so going places such as Boston, New York, Baltimore, Washington DC, then onto Detroit and Chicago, then if practical, across to Seattle and down the west coast. I have to say it does look like one of those 'once in a lifetime' trips, but the prices don't seem too bad.

What kind of accomodation did you stay in at the different stops? I was lookig mainly for places such as Holiday Inn and Days Inn, which seem cheap enough (stayed in a few before), but not really in the centre of town. Still I suppose that is the compromise.

I stayed ina Travelodge in both Seattle and San Luis Obispo and both were very acceptable and pretty economical. The Seattle one was a fair way from the station but the taxi fare wasn;t too bad! I splashe dout in Alberquerque and stayed in an old hotel a couple of blocks from the tracks. It was a lovely old building and very convenient for the bus station as well as Amtrak, which helped the sightseeing as well!

I stayed at an airport hotel in Chicago, there was a free shuttle bus to and from the airport wherer you can get the blue emtro line into the centre.

I would have loved to do the whole cross country trip, but unfortunately I couldn;t get a lot of tiem off work and desperately wanted a few days in Vegas (I visited the Hoover Dam and The Grand Canyon, but unfortunately my trip to area 51 was called off due to low numbers!)

 

[142094]

Thanks for the advice. Hopefully I should get down to planning it in the summer and do it next year. Unfortunately it will have to be in the summer months, but I may be able to do it as late as September or October, so hopefully this may mean cheaper hotels and less tourists. Most of the trips on the east coast can be done in a day, with some in as little as 2-3 hours, which is good.

A vague route what I have in my mind is:

Boston
New York
Philadelphia
Baltimore
Washington
Pittsburgh (maybe)
Cleveland
Detroit (will have to take bus connection)
Chicago
Seattle (might break someone in between. Any idea what Minneapolis is like?)
San Fransisco
LA
Las Vegas (but not too sure, may miss this out)
Houston
New Orleans
Atlanta

and somewhere after that!

This is around 16 places, so that should be just about covered by 18 segments, but could but tickets to make up for any over-runs. Probably planning to spend 2-3 nights in some of the major places, with a day or two for others.

I'm not planning on upgrading for the sleeper compartment to keep costs down, and don't particularly like the idea of sharing with someone else. Long train journeys don't both me a bit, although the Chicago - Seattle one looks very long, so may break in the middle.

I have some money saved up from work, so was guessing at a rough estimate of around £3,500 including the ticket and flights. Does this sound reasonable? I haven't checked it all through yet but this sounds like a realistic figure.

Still, early stages yet, just playing around with ideas.

 

[Greenback]

Minneapolis looked OK from the train! But the locals were waxing lyrical about the delights of Wisconsin Dells and it did look more rural and prettier! By the way, I went in September to avoid the peak season and it was great - I didn't see any rain, but then I didn't visit the East Coast, where the weather is supposed to be more European.

Las Vegas can easily be missed out - it's a strange place, people either seem to love it or hate it! And even those who love it get bored after a few days! My advice would be to give it a miss unless you really want to see a show, or have a look at the big hotels. If you're not fussed about gambling, or taking a helicopter flight down 'The Strip', I don't think you'll miss much!

Good luck with the planning, I really enjoyed working various itineraries out using the Amtrak website!

 

[142094]

Cheers Greenback, need to finish the book first, never know, there may be somewhere else I end up visiting.

Hopefully the £ will be strong against the $, would have been great to go when it was nearly $2 to the pound.

 

[Greenback]

No problem, it was one of the best holidays I've had - even my missus likes the sound of it!

I think the pound was pretty much the same as it is now when I went. The US can be pretty cheap but you have to factor in the cost of all the tips everyone expects! Certainly, the hotels are much better value than in the UK!

 

[175001]

Empire Builder and California Zehpyr by far the two most mind blowing journeys i've ever made. I Highly recommend you do a circut, such as I did,

Last year I did Chicago-Seattle-San Francisco-Denver-Chicago-Philly

In 2007 I did Chicago-San Fran-LA-Chicago-New York

 

[jamesontheroad]

Minneapolis and its 'Twin City' St. Paul are delightful places in the summer time. My girlfriend is from Minnesota so I have a great deal of attachment to the place. You'll get a great introduction to the Midwestern people: after New York and the cities of the east coast, Chicago and Minneapolis get progressively less hectic and more friendly as you go west!

Summer is the right time though: 30° or more, compared to the -30° we felt there on New Year's Eve

 

[Mystic Force]

I live in Iowa and I am waiting to reinstate the root to chicago, as soon as they do I am on that train. We didn't get anything in the High speed they annouced but as the scheme is designed for operations only upto 79 mph (because we have no signals on the line) it didn't really fit, although a scheme in ohio with that proposed speed was aproved. There is still hope that the money will come through from a different source.

Oh how I envy those complaining about being stuck on a train, I don't even have the option.