Amtrak around the country

[ADalton]

I'm thinking of taking a trip with my grandfather and my aunt. We would be roughly recreating a trip my grandfather took by rail when he was a kid. He started in Los Angeles and visited the Adirondack mountains, Iowa, and possibly Tennessee (will ask when I see him again). It seems to me like the best way to do it would be the Sunset Limited, the Crescent, and the Ethan Allen, then the Lake Shore Limited, the California Zephyr, and the Coast Starlight.

Would this route be feasible (in terms of expense, time to make transfers)? What kind of condition are the rooms in? How comfortable are the upper berths? How's the scenery? Do the stations where we would have to stay the night to make a transfer have clean and comfortable hotels nearby?

I have also heard that the track conditions in West Texas aren't great.

I know a lot of these questions are relatively subjective, so feel free to ask for more info if you need clarification on anything.

Also, our only experience on Amtrak is taking the Surfliner for a few hours.

I'd love to take Amtrak long distance sometime, even if I don't end up doing this particular trip.

 

[beautifulplanet]

Hello ADalton.

Welcome to Amtrak Unlimited.

There are other forum members who have been here much longer than myself. Still my impression as a newbie is you might very likely find that this is a friendly and nice forum.

Many think rail is a great way to travel, and many might also think that a cross-country trip like you are describing certainly sounds like a lot of fun.

The United States of America is such a beautiful country, and just to me personally, crossing the country west to east and south to north like the plan you described above sounds like one of the most exciting trips one can make. For example regarding scenery, one could see nearly all kinds during such a trip: mountains, deserts, prairie, coastal areas, passing by great rivers, the lush green of the northeast etc. etc. Me personally, I would probably also want to stop at some cities inbetween the endpoints of each trains, because I think they are attractive destinations as well, still possibly you already know many of those places, and of course the train ride in itself is already a great destination.

A trip like described above is certainly doable, at the same time, it will include several multi-day train rides. The Sunset Limited is a 48h ride, the Crescent is nearly 30h, the Lake Shore Limited from Schenectady to Chicago about 15h, and the California Zephyr 52h, and the Coast Starlight from Emeryville to Los Angeles about 12h. Regarding time to make transfers, it would be feasible, and yes, it would be necessary to have a hotel in some places, f.e. the Sunset Limited arrives in New Orleans in the evening, and the Crescent leaves in the morning, or in Emeryville the California Zephyr arrives in the afternoon, and the Coast Starlight leaves in the morning etc.

And those stations also have several clean and comfortable hotels nearby, f.e. in New Orleans there are so many really close to Union Station, friends of mine recently stayed in the Holiday Inn Downtown that is half a mile down Loyola Ave from the Amtrak station and really liked it, still there are other nice hotels even closer to the station.

Regarding the rooms, possibly you already saw it, on the official Amtrak webpage there is a nice overview of all the Sleeping Accommodations:

http://www.amtrak.com/onboard-the-train-sleeping-accommodations

When it comes to feasible "in terms of expense", that depends on the respective person's financial situation. There might be many working class Americans not able to afford long-distance sleeper travel. The respective price consists of the Amtrak fare for every person, and then the cost of the room (which is not per person, but per room). F.e. from Los Angeles to New Orleans, the cheapest fare is $130 per person. That would only be a seat in coach though, the room is extra, and can range between about $365 for a roomette and a bedroom at $801, which can also be as much as $1456. And this would only be for this part of your trip, Los Angeles to New Orleans, and for the total expense for the whole trip would be multiple times the amount for this Sunset Limited segment.

There are other members who can add much more info here, still I hope this was already helpful to some extent.

 

[andersone]

in the words of the great Jerry Rubin "Do it."

Although I am an anal retentive planner, I also use the help of my awesome AAA lady in town to work out details,,,,

besides the towing, this is some of the best membership money I spend every year. You should see her work a car rental,,

The upper berth isn't terrible, and I use it so She Who Must Be Obeyed can have the lower. It is not the place to spend an entire day, but it sure beats sleeping in a coach.

I may be old fashioned, but Amtrak is my preferred way to travel, It is far from perfect but as long as you are not in a rush and want to see things not just get there, it can't be beat.

great people, great food, great time

 

[Alice]

I'm going to agree with Andersone here, "Do it." The time together with your grandfather, aunt, and you is something you'll all remember and treasure the rest of your lives. Start by finding out the budget then you can figure out how to make it work.

 

[TVRM610]

I want to stress one thing... ride the California Zephyr!!!!! The scenery on the zephyr is simply the best!

Now that I've said that, everyones view will be different but I've personally taken the train cross country a few times and this is the routing I would recommend -

LAX - Chicago via Southwest Chief

Chicago - Washington DC via Capitol

Washington - NYC via Acela or Regional

NYC - Rutland VT (or wherever your destination is) Ethan Allen Express

Rutland VT - Albany NY via Ethan Allen

Albany NY - Chicago via Lake Shore Limited

Chicago - Emeryville via California Zephyr

Emeryville - LAX via Coast Starlight.

with this routing you would only stay overnight in Washington DC, Rutland VT, and Emeryville CA.

here are example prices from random dates.. prices are for one person in a roomette.

LAX - Washington DC in a Roomette - $724

Washington DC - Rutland VT - Coach - $88

Rutland VT - Chicago - Emeryville - Sleeper on Lake Shore & Zephyr - $1075

Emeryville - LAX - Coach - $50

So the trains themselves for one person in a roomette.... $1937.

A second person rides in a roomette for rail fare only, but if there are 3 of you then one of you will need a solo roomette. So this would be the cost of the solo traveler.

If the budget allows, I would recommend 1 bedroom and 1 roomette, the bedroom is larger, and will seat 3 of you during the day comfortably, that way you can all enjoy the trip together during the daytime.

Hope this helps give you an idea!

 

[R30A]

One thing I would suggest is that instead of the Ethan Allen, take the Adirondack. Montreal is a much more interesting place to stay than Rutland, and the scenery is substantially better.

 

[jis]

One thing I would suggest is that instead of the Ethan Allen, take the Adirondack. Montreal is a much more interesting place to stay than Rutland, and the scenery is substantially better.

If you do go to Montreal do remember to bring your Passport, Passport Card or Enhanced Driver's License along to cross the border both ways.

 

[ADalton]

Thanks!

The reason I chose the Ethan Allen was because my grandfather went to visit relatives near Glens Falls, and I know the Ethan Allen goes there.

 

[R30A]

The Adirondack goes through there as well, but the spectacular scenery is to the North. And yes, you'll have to turn in Plattsburgh (Rouses Point does not really have much in the line of accommodations.) if you can't cross the border into Canada.