Ashland Train Enthusiast
Service Attendant
Hello All,
My wife and I are in the early stages of planning a family trip to Yosemite next summer, and we aim to have enough AGR points by then to make one of the legs (there or back) by train. I'm up in the air right now having planned out several routes, so was hoping someone with more experience with the western LDs (as the furthest we've gone is NOL/CHI) could offer some advice as to which would be the "best" (and I know that is a subjective) term to make use of a 3 zone LD award.
Our schedule is flexible enough right now that we could take the train either westbound or eastbound, and we know we want to connect through CHI (as we've already done the Crescent to NOL). Looking at the options, the top ones for us are:
If we wanted to get the CS/EB, that would entail taking it Westbound (right)? as amtrak.com does not gurantee a connection between the two heading eastbound in Portland. Alternatively there is the CZ either direction, most likely connecting to the CL (as we've done the Cardinal before and think the flexibility of the daily train would be preferred for us). Then there's getting ourselves to LAX (ether by driving there directly, or by some combination of train or bus) and taking the SWC.
All told, lots of options to choose from, and while I want to take them all, that's unfortunately not feasible. So, fellow travelers, if you were in my shoes, and this was the only LD trip out west you see yourself taking in the foreseeable future, which routing would you take, and why?
~ DCTE
My wife and I are in the early stages of planning a family trip to Yosemite next summer, and we aim to have enough AGR points by then to make one of the legs (there or back) by train. I'm up in the air right now having planned out several routes, so was hoping someone with more experience with the western LDs (as the furthest we've gone is NOL/CHI) could offer some advice as to which would be the "best" (and I know that is a subjective) term to make use of a 3 zone LD award.
Our schedule is flexible enough right now that we could take the train either westbound or eastbound, and we know we want to connect through CHI (as we've already done the Crescent to NOL). Looking at the options, the top ones for us are:
If we wanted to get the CS/EB, that would entail taking it Westbound (right)? as amtrak.com does not gurantee a connection between the two heading eastbound in Portland. Alternatively there is the CZ either direction, most likely connecting to the CL (as we've done the Cardinal before and think the flexibility of the daily train would be preferred for us). Then there's getting ourselves to LAX (ether by driving there directly, or by some combination of train or bus) and taking the SWC.
All told, lots of options to choose from, and while I want to take them all, that's unfortunately not feasible. So, fellow travelers, if you were in my shoes, and this was the only LD trip out west you see yourself taking in the foreseeable future, which routing would you take, and why?
~ DCTE