As I recently got a new job and now know where Ill be living in the late-September timeframe (Im staying in Ann Arbor), Ive begun making plans to attend the Gathering. As such, Ive been looking into train options both to and from New York.
Coming home looks to be relatively simple - Ill just take the Lake Shore Limited to Toledo and the Thruway bus to ARB. However, on the way there, the Lake Shore Limited boards at the ugly hour of 3:20am at TOL, and taking the Thruway bus means waiting 5 hours for that connection (I dont drive, and even if I did 3:20am is miserable enough without the 5 hour Toledo layover). Of course, I could take the Wolverine backwards to CHI and connect there, but I dont want to burn another vacation day to do that.
Given that I was looking at taking the Capitol Limited to Pennsylvanian connection. The Capitol Limited boards at a more reasonable hour, and transferring to the Pennsylvanian would get me the earliest possible arrival time at NYP (4:55pm, compared to 6:23pm for LSL or 7:39pm for Cap+Regional). Also, Ive never taken the Pennsylvanian before (unlike the Cap and LSL), and Ive heard Horseshoe Curve is interesting to see. The main drawback would be the 5-7:30am layover in PGH, though the other benefits seem worth it. (Note that I will be doing all segments in coach, so sleepers dont factor in - Id love to do a sleeper, but the Eastern trains are hardly worth the cost, particularly as a single person in a roomette and with the diner downgrades).
My main concern, however, is missed connections. In looking at recent arrival times, it seems the connection from 30 to 42 has been missed at least once in the past week, and 42 seems to never wait for a late 30. When this connection is missed, is it common practice to allow riders to stay on 30 to WAS and catch a Regional to NYP, or are you forced to take the Thruway bus+Keystone connection that leaves a couple hours later? I wouldnt mind the former, but dont want to end up stuck on a Greyhound bus for 7 hours (as thats what the Thruway is). Risking that may push me in the direction of just booking Cap+Regional, even though Id get in later and miss Horseshoe Curve.
Coming home looks to be relatively simple - Ill just take the Lake Shore Limited to Toledo and the Thruway bus to ARB. However, on the way there, the Lake Shore Limited boards at the ugly hour of 3:20am at TOL, and taking the Thruway bus means waiting 5 hours for that connection (I dont drive, and even if I did 3:20am is miserable enough without the 5 hour Toledo layover). Of course, I could take the Wolverine backwards to CHI and connect there, but I dont want to burn another vacation day to do that.
Given that I was looking at taking the Capitol Limited to Pennsylvanian connection. The Capitol Limited boards at a more reasonable hour, and transferring to the Pennsylvanian would get me the earliest possible arrival time at NYP (4:55pm, compared to 6:23pm for LSL or 7:39pm for Cap+Regional). Also, Ive never taken the Pennsylvanian before (unlike the Cap and LSL), and Ive heard Horseshoe Curve is interesting to see. The main drawback would be the 5-7:30am layover in PGH, though the other benefits seem worth it. (Note that I will be doing all segments in coach, so sleepers dont factor in - Id love to do a sleeper, but the Eastern trains are hardly worth the cost, particularly as a single person in a roomette and with the diner downgrades).
My main concern, however, is missed connections. In looking at recent arrival times, it seems the connection from 30 to 42 has been missed at least once in the past week, and 42 seems to never wait for a late 30. When this connection is missed, is it common practice to allow riders to stay on 30 to WAS and catch a Regional to NYP, or are you forced to take the Thruway bus+Keystone connection that leaves a couple hours later? I wouldnt mind the former, but dont want to end up stuck on a Greyhound bus for 7 hours (as thats what the Thruway is). Risking that may push me in the direction of just booking Cap+Regional, even though Id get in later and miss Horseshoe Curve.