After spending 12 days traveling from Maine - LAX - Canada and back to Maine, I have a new concept of train travel. First, try not to travel in the Northeast during an ice storm, be ready for anything, and expect the unexpected.
It took 10 hours to go from Syracuse NY to Boston MA. That was the least enjoyable part of my journey. The rest of my coast to coast, north, south, east & west, trip was all I expected it to be. The Lake Shore limited was ahead of schedule most of our journey headed west. Watching the country go by and listening to the rails was mesmerizing and I couldn't get enough of it. So far, so good.
From Chicago I continued west on the Empire Builder (also early much of the time) and that was my favorite train - service, rooms, and food were good. Next time I will travel west to east in order to see the rockies during daylight. The Mediterrain Inn in Seattle was only $108, in a very safe area of the city, with a full city view from my 6h floor room, and close to the monorail and food places. I enjoyed Seattle.
I boarded the Coast Starlight in Seattle to travel to LAX and didn't see sunlight due to fog and drizzle, until we got into northern CA. The parlor car was empty much of the time and that surprised me. In fact, most of the trains I was on did not seem to be full. I quess it was the time of year. In LAX I stayed where the train crews often stay - Metro Plaza Inn - only one block from the station - $100. Clean with a cont. breakfast. Back on the train the next day up to Oakland where I stayed overnight at the Inn at Jack London Sq. not to be confused with the Jack London Inn. Clean, quiet, and inexpensive, with a free shuttle to the station. I hopped on for a free Amtrak train ride to Emryville to catch the California Zephyr west to Chicago.
The Zephyr was my least favorite train. Only one dinning attendant the whole trip and he was stressed out. Food was not good, nor was the service. For two days and nights this was not a good place to be. I suspect other travelers felt the same way. The scenry was beautiful outside and commentary interesting, That helped make the trip memorable.
I arrived in Chicago around 4PM with an 6 hour layover. When the Lake Shore Lim. got to Chicago from the east (late), engines and toilets had to be thawed before we could board and head back east. We did get grapes and fruit for an evening snack around 11:30PM. We were to arrive in Boston the next evening at 9:45. All went well until we ran into the snow and ice storm in Syracuse NY. Signals out, toilets frozen, 2 engine breakdowns, food gone, 2 crew changes, and wait-wait-wait. We arrived in Boston at 7:45AM - 10 hours late!
If I hadn't had bedrooms the whole way, it would have been too much for this 73 year old lady from Maine. Would I do it again? Only if I won another free trip!
It took 10 hours to go from Syracuse NY to Boston MA. That was the least enjoyable part of my journey. The rest of my coast to coast, north, south, east & west, trip was all I expected it to be. The Lake Shore limited was ahead of schedule most of our journey headed west. Watching the country go by and listening to the rails was mesmerizing and I couldn't get enough of it. So far, so good.
From Chicago I continued west on the Empire Builder (also early much of the time) and that was my favorite train - service, rooms, and food were good. Next time I will travel west to east in order to see the rockies during daylight. The Mediterrain Inn in Seattle was only $108, in a very safe area of the city, with a full city view from my 6h floor room, and close to the monorail and food places. I enjoyed Seattle.
I boarded the Coast Starlight in Seattle to travel to LAX and didn't see sunlight due to fog and drizzle, until we got into northern CA. The parlor car was empty much of the time and that surprised me. In fact, most of the trains I was on did not seem to be full. I quess it was the time of year. In LAX I stayed where the train crews often stay - Metro Plaza Inn - only one block from the station - $100. Clean with a cont. breakfast. Back on the train the next day up to Oakland where I stayed overnight at the Inn at Jack London Sq. not to be confused with the Jack London Inn. Clean, quiet, and inexpensive, with a free shuttle to the station. I hopped on for a free Amtrak train ride to Emryville to catch the California Zephyr west to Chicago.
The Zephyr was my least favorite train. Only one dinning attendant the whole trip and he was stressed out. Food was not good, nor was the service. For two days and nights this was not a good place to be. I suspect other travelers felt the same way. The scenry was beautiful outside and commentary interesting, That helped make the trip memorable.
I arrived in Chicago around 4PM with an 6 hour layover. When the Lake Shore Lim. got to Chicago from the east (late), engines and toilets had to be thawed before we could board and head back east. We did get grapes and fruit for an evening snack around 11:30PM. We were to arrive in Boston the next evening at 9:45. All went well until we ran into the snow and ice storm in Syracuse NY. Signals out, toilets frozen, 2 engine breakdowns, food gone, 2 crew changes, and wait-wait-wait. We arrived in Boston at 7:45AM - 10 hours late!
If I hadn't had bedrooms the whole way, it would have been too much for this 73 year old lady from Maine. Would I do it again? Only if I won another free trip!
