The longest trip on Amtrak

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kendoggbyrd

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What is the longest trip you've taken on Amtrak? And this includes going to your destination and coming back.

Are there round trips you can take on Amtrak, staying on the train, seeing the mountains and other scenery?
 
Last month ...

Coast Starlight - LA to Seattle

Empire Builder - Seattle to East Glacier

4 nights at the Glacier Park Lodge

Empire Builder - East Glacier to Chicago

California Zephyr - Chicago to Emeryville

Coast Starlight - Emeryville to LA -

6,163 miles

Edit: Upon reviewing my travel records from two years ago:

Texas Eagle - LA to Chicago

Capitol Limited - Chicago to Washington DC

5 nights in DC

Capitol Limited - Washington DC to Chicago

Southwest Chief - Chicago to LA

6,553 miles
 
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Just got back from a trip from Austin, Tx to Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Texas Eagle from Austin to Chicago

Lake Shore Limited from Chicago to Buffalo

Maple Leaf from Buffalo, NY to Toronto, Ontario

Took the same trains on return trip. Sleeping car all the way!
 
While not entirely on Amtrak, this trip was entirely by rail throughout North America. Where there is a blank line, I layed over at least one night, where the lines are together, that was a continuous trip with no overnight layover.

Amtrak Cascades from Everett, WA to Vancouver, BC

Via Rail Canada Canadian from Vancouver, BC to Toronto, ON

Amtrak/Via Maple Leaf from Toronto, ON to New York, NY

NE Regional from New York, NY to Washington, DC

Capitol Limited from Washington, DC to Chicago, IL

Southwest Chief from Chicago, IL to Los Angeles, CA

Coast Starlight from Los Angeles, CA to Seattle, WA

I am planning a trip next spring all Amtrak:

Seattle, WA-Los Angeles, CA

(would have done this as a same day connection, but Amtrak recently dropped the guaranteed connection 11-2 at Los Angeles).

Los Angeles, CA-New Orleans, LA

New Orleans, LA-New York, NY

New York, NY-Boston, MA

Boston, MA - Chicago, IL

Chicago, IL - Everett, WA
 
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Not sure I understand your question about "round trips". You can book a round trip on Amtrak. You don't get to stay on the train at your outbound destination and return with it, you have to get off. There usually are not any mountains and scenery to see in the coach yard where the train is serviced for its return trip anyway.
 
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NOL - CHI - (SWC) CHI - LAX - (CS) LAX - OKJ - (San Joaquin) OKJ - BFD - (Bus) BFD - SBA - (Surfliner) SBA - LAX - (TE) LAX - CHI - (Cardinal) CHI - CVS - (Crescent) CVS - NOL
 
Back in 2010:

Pennsylvanian, Harrisburg to Pittsburgh. 249 Miles

Capitol Limited, Pittsburgh to Chicago. 481 Miles

Empire Builder, Chicago to Portland, OR. 2255 Miles.

Cascades, Portland to Seattle, overnight Seattle, Seattle to Vancouver. 187 Miles

Stop off in Vancouver for Winter Olympic Games. No Miles by rail :(

VIA Rail Canada's Canadian, Vancouver to Toronto. 2773 Miles

Maple Leaf, Toronto to Rheincliff, NY. 544 Miles.

Empire Service, Rheincliff to New York Penn. Included in previous.

Keystone Service, NYP to Harrisburg. 195 Miles.

6684 Miles. 7 nights on trains.

Cheers,

Nick
 
(BUS)STP - ORL - (SM) ORL - WAS- (CL) WAS- CHI - (EB) CHI - SEA - (CS) SEA - SAC - (CZ) SAC - CHI - (CL) CHI - WAS - (SM) WAS - ORL - (Bus) ORL - STP (This was my 1st Amtrak Trip (9-19-08) with only one overnight in Seattle) BTW, couldnt have done it without the help of AU!!! Also, Roomette all the way for $2200!!! Hate to check todays prices!
 
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In 2002 I took the Capital Limited from DC to Chicago, the Empire Builder from Chicago to Seattle, Eksecutif Train from Surabaya to Jakarta, the sleeper train from Singapore to Bangkok back when there was a single train doing it, (I think I changed cars at the border with Thailand) the train from Bangkok to the Cambodia border, then took the train from Saigon to Hanoi. A week later I took the train from Kunming to Beijing, then a couple weeks later went from Beijing to Moscow on the Trans-Siberian, Moscow to St. Pete and then to Prague, then on to London and finally on to Penzance.

Finished up by taking a NE Regional from New York back to DC. It took about 8 months but I was taking it slow and seeing the sights.

Admittedly, not all were Amtrak and there were a couple flights to get past the wet parts of the trip...
 
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My longest trip so far was July 1-29 of this year: Tampa, FL-Raleigh, NC-Greensboro, NC-Atlanta, GA-Washington, DC-New York, NY (Penn Station)+New York, NY (Grand Central)-Yonkers, NY+New York, NY (Penn Station)-Pittsburgh, PA-Chicago, IL-Charleston, WV-Washington, DC+Wilmington, DE-Tampa, FL for a total of 5,148 miles. I also rode on MARTA, NYC Subway, LIRR, Metro-North, Staten Island Railway, Pittsburgh Light Rail, CTA, Metra, and the Washington Metro during this trip.

Between December 22nd and January 7th this winter, I will do a longer trip: Orlando, DC-New York, NY-Chicago, IL-Denver, CO-Glenwood Springs, CO-Richmond, CA+San Jose, CA-Seattle, WA-Whitefish, MT-Chicago, IL-Washington, DC-Tampa, FL for a total of 9492 miles. As to other railroads, I plan on riding the NYC Subway, CTA, RTD, BART, Muni Metro, SF Cable Cars, Caltrain, and Sound Transit.

Sent from my SM-J327P using Amtrak Forum mobile app
 
Last year:

Seattle-Sacramento Coast Starlight

Sacramento-Chicago California Zephyr

Chicago-Charlottesville Cardinal

Charlottesville-New Orleans Crescent

Two nights in New Orleans

New Orleans-Los Angeles Sunset Limited

Los Angeles-Seattle Coast Starlight

That works out to 8 full days and nights on the trains plus two full days on trains in which I reached my destinations in the evening hours and did not overnight on the trains. So: 10 days, 8 nights and 8396 miles.
 
In 2015.

NE Regional Baltimore to Washington.

Capitol Limited Washington to Chicago.

Southwest Chief Chicago to Lamy.

Picked up a car in Santa Fe, drove to Denver via Taos and Breckinridge, and returned to Baltimore via the Zephyr and the Cardinal.
 
In 2015:

Klamath Falls to Portland: 318 miles (Coast Starlight 14)

Portland to Los Angeles: 1190 miles (Coast Starlight 11)

Grand Total: 1508 miles, for just under $170 (coach all the way)

In 2016 to 2017:

Klamath Falls to Portland: 318 miles (Coast Starlight 14)

Portland to Chicago: 2255 miles (Empire Builder 28)

Chicago to Indianapolis: 196 miles (Hoosier State 850)

Indianapolis to Chicago: 196 miles (Hoosier State 851)

Chicago to Los Angeles: 2265 miles (Southwest Chief 3)

Los Angeles to Klamath Falls: 872 miles (Coast Starlight 14)

Grand Total: 6102 miles for just under $1600, including 1 night stay in LA on the way back. Roomettes all the way, save for Hoosier State (Business Class)

In 2017 to 2018 (planned for December to January):

Klamath Falls to Los Angeles: 872 miles (Coast Starlight 11)

Los Angeles to Chicago: 2728 miles (Texas Eagle 422)

Chicago to Sacramento: 2353 miles (California Zephyr 5)

Sacramento to Klamath Falls: 319 miles (Coast Starlight 14)

Grand Total: 6272 miles for about $400, coach all the way
 
Last year was probably the shortest "short way" trips I've taken. It was only FED-(ALB)-NYP-(ALB/BUF)-CHI-(MSP/SPK)-PDX-(EMY)-LAX-SAN-SBA-(Ambus to)EMY-(RNO)-DEN-CHI-(BUF)-SDY-FED!

I have gone from KIN to PHL - normally ~8 hours - via NYP/CHI/SAS/LAX/CHI/NYP and finally got to PHL about a week later! :)
 
Wolverine: Kalamazoo to Chicago - 138

Empire Builder: Chicago to Seattle - 2205

Coast Starlight: Seattle to Emeryville (Thruway bus to San Francisco) - 918

California Zephyr: Emeryville to Chicago - 2448

Blue Water: Chicago to Kalamazoo - 138

Total Miles: 5847

I spent two nights in Seattle and one night in San Francisco. It was a great way to break up the trip and do some sightseeing. I'd never been to Seattle before, so it was a nice introduction to the area.
 
While I care little about the longest trip any have actually taken, here's the longest possible trip without using the same piece of track twice - whether anybody's taken it or not - without using VIA Rail:

MarathonTripe.jpg
 
While I care little about the longest trip any have actually taken, here's the longest possible trip without using the same piece of track twice - whether anybody's taken it or not - without using VIA Rail:

attachicon.gif
MarathonTripe.jpg
That is interesting; I have been wondering about that. Does anybody know the shortest possible routing that covers every mile of Amtrak route (repeats would obviously be necessary in some areas).
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We just returned home on the: SFC to EMY to CHI to WAS to WTH. I don't know the mileage

but it took 5 days and 4 night on the trains.
 
I think that your "every mile of Amtrak route" would be a great way to spend a summer! Maybe do the southern parts in April to beat the heat. 2 days on the train, then 2 or 3 days at a city like New Orleans or Miami, Harpers Ferry or Portland, Whitefish or Cumberland. Throw in National Parks at West Glacier and Grand Canyon National Park... Not sure how that last one would work, though. I think the smaller cities would probably be even better than the large ones. That would be a phenomenal trip!

While I care little about the longest trip any have actually taken, here's the longest possible trip without using the same piece of track twice - whether anybody's taken it or not - without using VIA Rail:

attachicon.gif
MarathonTripe.jpg
That is interesting; I have been wondering about that. Does anybody know the shortest possible routing that covers every mile of Amtrak route (repeats would obviously be necessary in some areas).

Sent from my SM-J327P using Amtrak Forum mobile app
 
My longest round trip was in 2014. Wilm, DE to NYC to Chicago to L.A. to Emeryville. Stayed a few days there then Emeryville to Chicago to D.C. to WIlm, DE

NER --------LSL-----SWC--------CS CZ------------CL----------NER
 
Back when the railpass was unlimited "segments", I recall doing around 12,500 miles in coach over the 15 days! I would have to look back and try to find the exact route, but not sure how to access my historic A.U. trip reports and old posts, seem to only be available for a few years back?

Ed.
 
Back when the railpass was unlimited "segments", I recall doing around 12,500 miles in coach over the 15 days! I would have to look back and try to find the exact route, but not sure how to access my historic A.U. trip reports and old posts, seem to only be available for a few years back?

Ed.
Using the current 15 day Rail pass, I found a way to travel 13,820 miles over 8 different routes: 1. Cardinal New York, NY to Chicago, IL

2. Texas Eagle Chicago, IL to Los Angeles, CA

3. Southwest Chief Los Angeles, CA to Princeton, IL

4. California Zephyr Princeton, IL to Emeryville, CA

5. Coast Starlight Emeryville, CA to Portland, OR

6. Empire Builder Portland, OR to Chicago, IL

7. Lake Shore Limited Chicago, IL to New York, NY

8. Silver Star New York, NY to Miami, FL

The only overnight not on a train would be in New York. The repeated segments would be New York, NY-Alexandria, VA, Galesburg, IL-Princeton, IL, Sacramento, CA-Emeryville, CA. Theoretically, all of these could be avoided (switch the places of the Cardinal and Lake Shore Limited with a transfer at Alexandria instead of New York, transfer in Galesburg instead of Princeton, and transfer in Sacramento instead of Emeryville), but this would bring the total mileage down to 12,976. If the Silver Star repeat trackage was also removed and replaced with the Silver Meteor, total mileage would drop to 12,843.

Sent from my SM-J327P using Amtrak Forum mobile app
 
03/01/90 Coast Starlight Chico, CA Portland, OR 558

03/01/90 Empire Builder Portland, OR Chicago, IL 2262

03/03/90 Lake Shore Limited Chicago, IL New York, NY 959

03/06/90 Crescent New York, NY Philadelphia, PA 91

03/08/90 Crescent Philadelphia, PA Washington, DC 134

03/10/90 Capitol Limited Washington, DC Chicago, IL 764

03/11/90 California Zephyr Chicago, IL Sacramento, CA 2353

7121 miles
 
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