SW Chief and lay overs

Shop deals on ebay
Advertise with us
shop deals on amazon
Amtrak Unlimited Discussion Forum

Help Support Amtrak Unlimited Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Status
Not open for further replies.
RCBev

RCBev

Train Attendant
Joined
Feb 10, 2014
Messages
35
Location
South East
Hi ALL,

Trying to plan big summer trip to Flagstaff and the GRAND CANYON this summer with the FAM. Getting on-board in PBF to STL and taking Missouri Runner to KCY and catching the Chief in evening. My question is, would it be better to catch the morning Missouri runner or the afternoon Missour runner to KCY? My son wants to see the Arch and other things in downtown STL. We will have a lay-over in STL on the way back (on a Saturday) but it is a shorter time. Basically we have a choice .. short lay-over in STL/longer layover in KCY to connect with SW Chief or longer layover in STL/shorter layover in KCY. Anything close to the station in KCY to visit? Oh yea, we riding coach the whole way. We rode the City of NOLA/EB last summer in coach. My son LOVED it. If we could handle that trip without being too sleep deprived, we can do it again, and I am no spring chicken! LOL. Thanks!
 
I will let others answer the St. Louis vs Kansas City question, but please ask me about Flagstaff and Grand Canyon, having lived at both places.
 
OK how about a grand canyon question,,, is the Grand Canyon rail junket worth it? Seem pretty pricey not to mention Amtrak connection times make for a night on either end,,,,I have had this on my bucket list for a long time,, just wondering your opinion.
 
My answer: In my opinion, no. It is pricy and not all that scenic. It could be something of a novelty for kids, but you will already have given them the benefit of a long Amtrak trip. I wish that GC branch operated like the Santa Fe used to run it, with through cars uncoupled at Williams and run up to the Canyon for the day, but that ended in the 60d
 
andersone said:
OK how about a grand canyon question,,, is the Grand Canyon rail junket worth it? Seem pretty pricey not to mention Amtrak connection times make for a night on either end,,,,I have had this on my bucket list for a long time,, just wondering your opinion.
Click to expand...
I believe it is worth .. when you got a soon to be 13 year old young man bugging you all the time about going! HA!! We are using Flagstaff as a central location to see things. Staying about 5 days. Hope to get good rate on hotel and rental car. Believe we can do this trip as a FAM before daugther goes active duty Army in July for under $1800 .. Here's hoping anyways. :) We did 2 nights via City of NOLA and EB .. not bad.
 
If the young man really wants to ride the GC train , then do it. About five years ago they stopped using steam locomotives in the summer after the management changed from private owners to the park concessionaire, Xanterra.
 
My opinion is if you want to go to the Arch in STL, take the afternoon train. It is a guaranteed connection in KCY, the SWC will not depart if this train is reasonably late. (But not if it's 10 hours late.) And again my opinion is although the GCRR is good, it was much better when they used steam locomotives. (They now use just diesels.)
 
Thanks for the replies!! Here is another question .. Any of you went on the CZ to Salt Lake City and rented a car to Yellowstone?? That is another trip we are thinking of doing..
 
I didn't go to Yellowstone but I did take the CZ to SLC and rent a car. The easiest thing to do is go from the train station to the airport to rent a car. It's only a few miles away, and you have many choices!
 
The Chief is scheduled to arrive in KC at 10:45 PM. You can take either train out of St Louis. Just depends how much time you want to spend in Kansas City. The station in KC has lots of things to do.
 
Haven't rented a car in SLC but have driven from SoCal to Yellowstone. WELL worth it. We have been twice, spending 6-7 days and felt like we could have spent more time. We drove over 700 miles the last time we were there, much of that getting up early or going out at dusk to see wildlife. We saw brown bears, grizzly bears, a wolf, bison galore, elk, pronghorns, a fox, coyotes, deer and more. Kids loved it. But as I said, we did get up early a few days and went out at dusk to do it. But even without that driving, the park is huge and there's so much to see.

Re GC--never lived there but have been there many times. I have never taken the train because it seemed pricey and I know what the scenery is like. Grand Canyon is gorgeous. The area between Williams and Grand Canyon is not spectacular. If you were going to camp, it's worth driving to the N Rim. It's completely different--isolated, tons of big trees, some different views near the Painted Desert.
 
Couple of years ago (in January!) my wife and took the SWC from LA to Williams and the Grand Canyon Railway (Parlor car with open platform) to the rim. Spent two nights in a Bright Angel cabin which was a very enjoyable trip. 100% rail round trip as I like it!
 
Last edited by a moderator:
andersone said:
OK how about a grand canyon question,,, is the Grand Canyon rail junket worth it? Seem pretty pricey not to mention Amtrak connection times make for a night on either end,,,,I have had this on my bucket list for a long time,, just wondering your opinion.
Click to expand...
If you're going to rent a car anyway ($$$), it's debatable whether you want to take the Grand Canyon train.

But if you're considering not renting a car, the rail trip is a decent deal, and certainly more pleasant than the various bus and taxi options. I haven't done the rail trip... but I have done various bus and taxi options, long ago. :-( Ick.

I agree that if you have a car and are willing to walk quite a bit the North Rim is *absolutely* worth visiting. Less "spoilt" and "commercial" than the South Rim, if you know what I mean. More "state of nature".
 
Thanks all for the comments -- I looked into taking the GCRR from Williams to South Rim -- and yes it is pricey. Thus we decided to rent a car out of Flagstaff. That way we can take day trips to see other things. ;)
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Status
Not open for further replies.

Latest posts

Back
Top