Joel
Train Attendant
Hello to all members of AU! I'm very glad to be here.
I don't want to get boring so I'll be clear and short. I'm planning a little getaway for myself to the US, flying to JFK and then catching a train to Chicago. Arrive next morning, spend the whole day/night in Chicago and then fly back home with an early flight (possibly via EWR/JFK, MIA or even DFW). This would be in late August. At first glance I thought "ok, let's take a Roomette in the Lake Shore Limited". I can't book with big anticipation anyway - I travel standby on my flights. Now, almost two months before, I find that a ticket in the LSL with a Roomette adds up to 564 dollars. That's a huge number - It's almost my monthly salary! (although I think that's a big number even for you). Thought about going coach, but I've read some comments regarding that - saying that te LSL is really packed in summer. Then, had to look for other options. I think that the best would be to catch a morning Regional to WAS and then take the CL, giving me some hours to explore Washington (and get a DC United jersey too
). It also arrives earlier at Chicago, giving me more time to explore there (thought about renting a bike and ride the whole Lakefront Trail, is that loable?
).
I'm a very light sleeper, it's very difficult for me to catch sleep when riding coach on any train (I only fall sleep when I've been up for 30 hours roughly). But again, I don't think that taking a Roomette in the CL would be a deal. The price goes up to 352 dollars, that's a lot too. And what keeps me from taking a Roomette now is another thing also: I'm planning to take my girlfriend as a birthday present to New York for 4 or 5 days in late October. And to make it even better, we'd go by Silver Meteor from Miami. In this case, I'd definitely choose the roomette, first because it would be more comfortable for both of us, second because i want to give her a really good present, and finally, because it would be more a "tourist" journey rather than a railfanning one (although I'd be railfanning anyway
).
So, what do you think? The itineraries would be something like:
Late August - Travelling alone
EZE-JFK (arriving 6:10am)
(LIRR or NYC Subway to Penn Station)
NYP-WAS (Regional - Coach Class - Morning around 9:30am)
WAS-CHI (Capitol Limited - Coach Class)
Night in CHI
Fly back home
Late October - With GF
EZE-MIA (arriving 4:20am)
MIA-NYP (Silver Meteor - Roomette - 2 passengers)
Spend some nights in NYC and then fly back from JFK
Which would be the best Regional (time-speaking) to take from NYP to WAS? Would it be better to take LIRR or Subway from Jamaica?
Is it easy to connect from MIA airport to MIA Amtrak? 4 hours would work? The second flight to MIA arrives at 6:55am. That would be a very tight connection, right?
Again, thank you so much for the advices!
Joel
I don't want to get boring so I'll be clear and short. I'm planning a little getaway for myself to the US, flying to JFK and then catching a train to Chicago. Arrive next morning, spend the whole day/night in Chicago and then fly back home with an early flight (possibly via EWR/JFK, MIA or even DFW). This would be in late August. At first glance I thought "ok, let's take a Roomette in the Lake Shore Limited". I can't book with big anticipation anyway - I travel standby on my flights. Now, almost two months before, I find that a ticket in the LSL with a Roomette adds up to 564 dollars. That's a huge number - It's almost my monthly salary! (although I think that's a big number even for you). Thought about going coach, but I've read some comments regarding that - saying that te LSL is really packed in summer. Then, had to look for other options. I think that the best would be to catch a morning Regional to WAS and then take the CL, giving me some hours to explore Washington (and get a DC United jersey too
I'm a very light sleeper, it's very difficult for me to catch sleep when riding coach on any train (I only fall sleep when I've been up for 30 hours roughly). But again, I don't think that taking a Roomette in the CL would be a deal. The price goes up to 352 dollars, that's a lot too. And what keeps me from taking a Roomette now is another thing also: I'm planning to take my girlfriend as a birthday present to New York for 4 or 5 days in late October. And to make it even better, we'd go by Silver Meteor from Miami. In this case, I'd definitely choose the roomette, first because it would be more comfortable for both of us, second because i want to give her a really good present, and finally, because it would be more a "tourist" journey rather than a railfanning one (although I'd be railfanning anyway
So, what do you think? The itineraries would be something like:
Late August - Travelling alone
EZE-JFK (arriving 6:10am)
(LIRR or NYC Subway to Penn Station)
NYP-WAS (Regional - Coach Class - Morning around 9:30am)
WAS-CHI (Capitol Limited - Coach Class)
Night in CHI
Fly back home
Late October - With GF
EZE-MIA (arriving 4:20am)
MIA-NYP (Silver Meteor - Roomette - 2 passengers)
Spend some nights in NYC and then fly back from JFK
Which would be the best Regional (time-speaking) to take from NYP to WAS? Would it be better to take LIRR or Subway from Jamaica?
Is it easy to connect from MIA airport to MIA Amtrak? 4 hours would work? The second flight to MIA arrives at 6:55am. That would be a very tight connection, right?
Again, thank you so much for the advices!
Joel
Last edited by a moderator: