Another Amtrak thruway trip/Southwest Chief

[Casinocim]

Last week I had posted, unsure of whether to take the Greyhound bus or Amtrak.

I decided to go Amtrak.

I was curious and believe had posted before about what happens if your thruway is late.

It happened

We were supposed to leave Denver Amtrak station at 5:35am. The station attendant came out, of course the thruway bus was going to be late. So he put me and another rider in a cab to Denver's Greyhound Station. I was irritated, I didn't want to go spend time there, it's not the most pleasant place.

At the Greyhound station we were told the bus would be in probably around 7:00am but they were not sure. If we did not make it to Raton we would probably have to be driven to Albuquerque

At this point I was thinking I should have taken my original bus.

The bus driver arrived I believe around 7:00am. We were told we would not make Raton and would be driven to Albuquerque.

So the thruway made it's usual stops from Denver to Raton. In Raton, we stopped for food and then straight to Albuquerque. The driver kept saying it was going to be close. I was sweating. I didn't want to be stuck in Albuquerque.

But we made it, with a few minutes to spare.

For as irritated as I was with missing Raton, I rather enjoyed the whole experience. It was a nice bus ride with only three of us on the bus. Even the bus driver was a pretty decent guy.

The train ride was great, the shuttle from Kingman to Las Vegas was nice. I will say, the shuttle did not stop between Kingman and Las Vegas. So be sure and go potty before you get off the train.

 

[the_traveler]

That was some experience. Thanks for sharing.

The train ride was great, the shuttle from Kingman to Las Vegas was nice. I will say, the shuttle did not stop between Kingman and Las Vegas. So be sure and go potty before you get off the train.

If there is no one going to Laughlin, NV, I think the shuttle saves some milage and time and doesn't go out of the way. (It would add 1/2 to 1 hour.)

I had a similar experience in 2002. At the time, the shuttle ran to/from Needles, CA. There was no one getting on in Laughlin, so the shuttle ran nonstop from Las Vegas to Needles. I lived in the Laughlin/Bullhead City area from 1994-2000, but that was only the 2nd time I have been on that stretch of US 95! :lol:

 

[dart330]

We drove down to Kingman from Vegas on HWY 93 a couple weekends ago to get familiar with the area and where we would be at 2AM in Kingman when we take the train next month.

The drive direct is great, but we went back through Laughlin to get back to Vegas. A much longer ride and HWY 95 North to Vegas is only 2 lane for about 20 miles and all of the semi-trucks are required to take this route since no trucks are allowed over the hoover dam (also HWY 93).

Good to know they don't make a rest stop if no one is getting off at Laughlin.

 

[the_traveler]

We drove down to Kingman from Vegas on HWY 95 a couple weekends ago to get familiar with the area and where we would be at 2AM in Kingman when we take the train next month.
The drive direct is great, but we went back through Laughlin to get back to Vegas. A much longer ride and HWY 93 North to Vegas is only 2 lane for about 20 miles and all of the semi-trucks are required to take this route since no trucks are allowed over the hoover dam (also HWY 95).

Close, but no cigar!

The route from Kingman to Las Vegas (and over Hoover Dam) is US 93. The major road from Laughlin to Vegas is US 95. The route between them (and thru Laughlin) is route 163 IIRC. (BTW - there is also a AZ 95 that ends in Bullhead City, where you turn for the bridge to Laughlin. Of the 2 routes, AZ runs on the east side of the Colorado River - of course in AZ - and US 95 runs on the west side of the Colorado River. )

I lived there for 6 years, and drove to Vegas twice a month for work! (My main office was in Vegas.)

 

[dart330]

Oh sorry, I got the two highways backwards, my mistake. US 93 is the good one (still 2 lane in parts, but without the semis) and US 95 is the one under construction South of Searchlight.