aktrainfan
Train Attendant
- Joined
- Feb 4, 2012
- Messages
- 26
Greetings and Salutations from Palmer, Alaska! I hail from the beautiful Matanuska Valley, about an hour from Anchorage. I fell in love with Amtrak and train travel when we first took the train from Anaheim-San Diego years ago, and then we did it again for the first time since then in 2009, (we are big Disney fans, so we normally go there on vacation) and then this summer we did it again, we flew into Santa Ana/John Wayne and took the train directly down to San Diego, stayed for about 4 nights then returned to do Disney, and then up to LAX with the Surfliner, then changed trains to the Coast Starlight in a roommette to San Luis Obispo, our main goal was to be close to Hearst Castle. We loved the Pacific Parlour car and the wine/cheese tasting and the delicious lunch that was provided! The views were incredible!! It was foggy, but it would lift in the afternoon.
Now that I have the train bug, and I'm heading to California again in a little over a couple of weeks for a travel agent seminar (I just started my own business from home, so excited!) and after that, I'm heading to Vegas for about 5 nights, my sister gave me free nights with her comps, and then I'm considering taking the train from Vegas to Denver to see my sister and niece and her family. I know that I could fly and pay a lot less and get there a LOT faster, but what's the fun in that? I'm really interested in the Southwest Chief route between Kingman, AZ and Raton, NM. It might not be the most scenic route (I'm just suspecting there would be a lot of desert involved) but I would get a roommette since it would be a little over 14 hours, and I'd get breakfast and lunch included.
So this is what I found out, and if you have any experience with this route at all, or parts of it, feel free to jump in! I talked to an Amtrak agent yesterday, and he was very informative and kind, which I was pleasantly surprised about, because I've had bad experiences with certain agents in the past being curt and uninformed. Anyway, apparently it doesn't take off from Vegas until 930p, which is interesting...and I would have to take an airport shuttle to the zero level/baggage area and then get on a contracted van service, which I would be on for 3.5 hours to Kingman. It doesn't get to Kingman until 2a (AZ time) because of the time difference. I would have to wait in the little station in Kingman, or maybe in the van until the train gets there and is ready to go. It's supposed to take off at 233a, so then I would be on the train until we got to Raton at 4:50p, where I would switch to a bus (assuming greyhound type) leaving at 5:05p, getting to Denver at 9:10p.
Please give me your thoughts, suggestions?? I welcome them up, good and bad. I just want to know if this is feasible for a single woman traveler.
Thank you so much!!
Kelly
Now that I have the train bug, and I'm heading to California again in a little over a couple of weeks for a travel agent seminar (I just started my own business from home, so excited!) and after that, I'm heading to Vegas for about 5 nights, my sister gave me free nights with her comps, and then I'm considering taking the train from Vegas to Denver to see my sister and niece and her family. I know that I could fly and pay a lot less and get there a LOT faster, but what's the fun in that? I'm really interested in the Southwest Chief route between Kingman, AZ and Raton, NM. It might not be the most scenic route (I'm just suspecting there would be a lot of desert involved) but I would get a roommette since it would be a little over 14 hours, and I'd get breakfast and lunch included.
So this is what I found out, and if you have any experience with this route at all, or parts of it, feel free to jump in! I talked to an Amtrak agent yesterday, and he was very informative and kind, which I was pleasantly surprised about, because I've had bad experiences with certain agents in the past being curt and uninformed. Anyway, apparently it doesn't take off from Vegas until 930p, which is interesting...and I would have to take an airport shuttle to the zero level/baggage area and then get on a contracted van service, which I would be on for 3.5 hours to Kingman. It doesn't get to Kingman until 2a (AZ time) because of the time difference. I would have to wait in the little station in Kingman, or maybe in the van until the train gets there and is ready to go. It's supposed to take off at 233a, so then I would be on the train until we got to Raton at 4:50p, where I would switch to a bus (assuming greyhound type) leaving at 5:05p, getting to Denver at 9:10p.
Please give me your thoughts, suggestions?? I welcome them up, good and bad. I just want to know if this is feasible for a single woman traveler.
Thank you so much!!
Kelly