Best Passenger Rail Experience Ever?

[zephyr17]

AT&SF Super Chief, 1970. Nothing since comes remotely close.

Even though it was 4 hours late into Chicago account of signal problems Barstow-Needles.

 

[Wildcat]

Five weeks touring Europe on the Venice-Simplon Orient Express. Makes Amtrak rather hard to stomach.

 

[TimePeace]

Almost all the train trips I have been on I would rate as good to excellent. But to pick a favorite: it was a trip BOS-SAC on the LSL and CZ, when my son (then 17) was able to go along too. I had been on CZ before, he had not. The Rockies lived up to my build up, his eyes were bugging out when we first climbed up the hills out of Denver, and into the big mountains.

He and I both had musical instruments with us, and we did some public playing in the Sightseer Lounge to the satisfaction of lots of folks. (If anyone didn't like it, they didn't say anything). We had fine meals and shared a roomette. We often reminisce about that trip and the possibility of doing it again sometime.

 

[tonys96]

Mine was really simple and calm....the TE from DAL to SAS way back in the late 1980's. In coach.

After finding no seats together in the coach car we were sent to and getting the bum's rush from an inconsiderate CA, we just chose to fly from DAL instead of riding. While walking away from the car, the conductor asked where we were going, we told him the problem, he muttered "That guy is an a-hole" we were put into a completely empty coach.........we took on more pax in FTW and along the way, of course, and ended about 20% full, we bought dinner, and I had the best chopped sirloin covered in mushroom gravy I can recall, and we just had a good time.......the return was simply OK...but had an odd occurrence.......a wait of about 20 minutes in MacGregor for restocking of the beer.....seems a rowdy college bunch had drank it all and the train was getting replenished.

 

[EMDF9A]

Best passenger train trip: Northern Pacific North Coast Limited, East Auburn to SPUD, July 1968. Lou Menk's presence was being felt throughout the railroad, but they still served a Great Big Baked Potato in the diner, "Sue" still was your stewardess (though no longer a nurse) and the view from the Vista Dome as you traversed Stampede, Homestake and Bozeman Passes, skirtted the Green, Yakima, Columbia, Yellowstone, Missouri and Mississippi rivers and saw the Mainstreet of the Northwest was nothing less than spectacular!

 

[greatcats]

In October I made a huge cross country trip from Portland, OR to Vancouver, Jasper, to Toronto, to Rochester, then rented a car to Florida. ( see Travelogues. ) Returned Tampa-Washington-Chicago- Portland. I will say that the Canadian and Empire Builder qualify for my answer to this post's question. The Canadian was a great trip, other than the power failures disrupting my sleep the first night and the adequate but rather invisible sleeping car attendants. Good service and food and accomodations superior to Amtrak. But I have high praise for the Empire Builder I took leaving Chicago on Nov. 18, a pretty much flawless trip to Portland. The dining car LSA, Misty, really made the trip for me and I can't recall much of anything to complain about. Overall, it was one of the best Amtrak trips in terms of service and pleasant travel that I have experienced over many years. A painless way to travel cross country.

 

[TimePeace]

Five weeks touring Europe on the Venice-Simplon Orient Express. Makes Amtrak rather hard to stomach.

Nice trip description!

 

[Wildcat]

Five weeks touring Europe on the Venice-Simplon Orient Express. Makes Amtrak rather hard to stomach.

Nice trip description!

Let's see... superb food. Even better food service. Properly dressing (formal) for dinner EVERY night by the guests. Luxurious cabin (though not particularly large -- about Amtrak bedroom size). A steward who anticipated every need. A bar/club car with pianist and stocked with every imaginable potable. Three separate dining cars (one kitchen) -- each entirely different in decor. A seamlessly quiet ride.

Expensive? Sure. I could have bought all of Uganda for less. But who cares? It's only money!

 

[TimePeace]

Five weeks touring Europe on the Venice-Simplon Orient Express. Makes Amtrak rather hard to stomach.

Nice trip description!

Let's see... superb food. Even better food service. Properly dressing (formal) for dinner EVERY night by the guests. Luxurious cabin (though not particularly large -- about Amtrak bedroom size). A steward who anticipated every need. A bar/club car with pianist and stocked with every imaginable potable. Three separate dining cars (one kitchen) -- each entirely different in decor. A seamlessly quiet ride.

Expensive? Sure. I could have bought all of Uganda for less. But who cares? It's only money!

I'm pretty sure the moderators would delete my response, so I'll withhold it. Welcome to the forum. Keep your silk bowtie on straight.

 

[Exiled in Express]

The trip yet to be taken.

My diligent point collection is funding a roomette for myself and a close friend Cincinnati-Chicago-Wolf Point, to be extended to Seattle after some 100 point rides this spring.

One of my most memorable Amtrak trips was with my father to Boston last summer, memorable for the experience, not necessarily the NEC.

 

[A.J.]

Five weeks touring Europe on the Venice-Simplon Orient Express. Makes Amtrak rather hard to stomach.

Nice trip description!

Let's see... superb food. Even better food service. Properly dressing (formal) for dinner EVERY night by the guests. Luxurious cabin (though not particularly large -- about Amtrak bedroom size). A steward who anticipated every need. A bar/club car with pianist and stocked with every imaginable potable. Three separate dining cars (one kitchen) -- each entirely different in decor. A seamlessly quiet ride.

Expensive? Sure. I could have bought all of Uganda for less. But who cares? It's only money!

I rode the VSOE from Venice to Paris in 2010. it was amazing, i agree. it is expensive but if it is worth it to you, then that's ok. it was a lifelong dream of mine to ride on something calling itself the Orient Express and I wasn't disappointed! I was so sad to have to disembark.

that said, my best was my very first long-distance trip, on the SWC. it was everything i thought it would be and more.

 

[Tumbleweed]

Best passenger train trip: Northern Pacific North Coast Limited, East Auburn to SPUD, July 1968. Lou Menk's presence was being felt throughout the railroad, but they still served a Great Big Baked Potato in the diner, "Sue" still was your stewardess (though no longer a nurse) and the view from the Vista Dome as you traversed Stampede, Homestake and Bozeman Passes, skirtted the Green, Yakima, Columbia, Yellowstone, Missouri and Mississippi rivers and saw the Mainstreet of the Northwest was nothing less than spectacular!

Now that was the good old days! I sold many tickets for the NCL and did my share of riding it....thanks for the memories.....

 

[EMDF9A]

Best passenger train trip: Northern Pacific North Coast Limited, East Auburn to SPUD, July 1968. Lou Menk's presence was being felt throughout the railroad, but they still served a Great Big Baked Potato in the diner, "Sue" still was your stewardess (though no longer a nurse) and the view from the Vista Dome as you traversed Stampede, Homestake and Bozeman Passes, skirtted the Green, Yakima, Columbia, Yellowstone, Missouri and Mississippi rivers and saw the Mainstreet of the Northwest was nothing less than spectacular!

Now that was the good old days! I sold many tickets for the NCL and did my share of riding it....thanks for the memories.....

MY PLEASURE! (Would you care for a slice of NP Dark Fruitcake? I still have a couple left from this year)

 

[Henry Kisor]

EMDF9A, do you mean you have a couple of fruitcakes left from 1968? Boy, those delicacies are, well, *durable,* shall we say?

 

[librarian]

My wife and I did a loop train trip in Jan-Feb 2010. The Capitol Ltd. from Pittsburgh to Chicago, Texas Eagle to Los Angeles, Coast Starlight to Seattle, Empire Builder to Chicago, and the Capitol Ltd. back to Pittsburgh. We stayed with friends for 5 days in L.A. and stayed in Seattle for 3 days. We had standard bedrooms on all trains, Bedroom E on every segment except the Capitol Ltd. The cost was 1/3 what the same trip would have cost during the summer. Every train was early in their arrival times! Every Amtrak staffer was excellent. I would love to repeat it, but an afraid that the 2nd trip would never meet the expectations of the 2010 trip.

 

[Tumbleweed]

Best passenger train trip: Northern Pacific North Coast Limited, East Auburn to SPUD, July 1968. Lou Menk's presence was being felt throughout the railroad, but they still served a Great Big Baked Potato in the diner, "Sue" still was your stewardess (though no longer a nurse) and the view from the Vista Dome as you traversed Stampede, Homestake and Bozeman Passes, skirtted the Green, Yakima, Columbia, Yellowstone, Missouri and Mississippi rivers and saw the Mainstreet of the Northwest was nothing less than spectacular!

Now that was the good old days! I sold many tickets for the NCL and did my share of riding it....thanks for the memories.....

MY PLEASURE! (Would you care for a slice of NP Dark Fruitcake? I still have a couple left from this year)

Oh ya! The NP fruitcake was famous in its day....I usually make some from the original recipe every year, but didn't get to it this season....maybe will still do it....

 

[PaulM]

I got a chuckle out of Princeton, Las Vegas of the Midwest. Princeton was the station near the town where my grandparents lived and I've spent many days there. My favorite rail trips were getting off the Illinois Zephyr there.........but I never saw and slots or craps tables. :lol:

Amtrak trivia question. What is the smallest town with 8 Amtrak train calling per day? Suburbs or part of a megalopolis don't count.

 

[Bob Dylan]

I got a chuckle out of Princeton, Las Vegas of the Midwest. Princeton was the station near the town where my grandparents lived and I've spent many days there. My favorite rail trips were getting off the Illinois Zephyr there.........but I never saw and slots or craps tables. :lol:

Amtrak trivia question. What is the smallest town with 8 Amtrak train calling per day? Suburbs or part of a megalopolis don't count.

Would Galesburg,IL be correct???

 

[johnny.menhennet]

I got a chuckle out of Princeton, Las Vegas of the Midwest. Princeton was the station near the town where my grandparents lived and I've spent many days there. My favorite rail trips were getting off the Illinois Zephyr there.........but I never saw and slots or craps tables. :lol:

Amtrak trivia question. What is the smallest town with 8 Amtrak train calling per day? Suburbs or part of a megalopolis don't count.

Would Galesburg,IL be correct???

Jim, I'd say that Princeton, IL one stop away is much smaller

 

[EMDF9A]

EMDF9A, do you mean you have a couple of fruitcakes left from 1968? Boy, those delicacies are, well, *durable,* shall we say?

LOL! No, I use the official recipe and bake a fresh batch every year. (They actually stopped selling the fruitcakes in 1967... a Lou Menk cut)

 

[Anderson]

I got a chuckle out of Princeton, Las Vegas of the Midwest. Princeton was the station near the town where my grandparents lived and I've spent many days there. My favorite rail trips were getting off the Illinois Zephyr there.........but I never saw and slots or craps tables. :lol:

Amtrak trivia question. What is the smallest town with 8 Amtrak train calling per day? Suburbs or part of a megalopolis don't count.

Would Galesburg,IL be correct???

Jim, I'd say that Princeton, IL one stop away is much smaller

Please define "part of a megalopolis". Technically speaking, I think Quantico might count (nominal population of 561), but I'm inclined to void it as a response due to geography issues (the technical town is very small and got swamped by a Marine base). Ashland, VA comes in at 6,619...which beats out Princeton's 7,501...and Ashland is not part of the DC-Boston Megalopolis. I'm also going to argue against it acting as a "suburban" station for Richmond (RVR does that quite well). However, both Ashland and Quantico get a bunch of Regional trains every day (though the numbers do vary, you get 4-5 per day at each stop as near as I can tell).

 

[PaulM]

Would Galesburg,IL be correct???

Jim, I'd say that Princeton, IL one stop away is much smaller

Please define "part of a megalopolis". Technically speaking, I think Quantico might count (nominal population of 561), but I'm inclined to void it as a response due to geography issues (the technical town is very small and got swamped by a Marine base). Ashland, VA comes in at 6,619...which beats out Princeton's 7,501...and Ashland is not part of the DC-Boston Megalopolis. I'm also going to argue against it acting as a "suburban" station for Richmond (RVR does that quite well). However, both Ashland and Quantico get a bunch of Regional trains every day (though the numbers do vary, you get 4-5 per day at each stop as near as I can tell).

PCT is definitely smaller than GBB, and also one of the nicest small town heritage stations.

"part of a megalopolis" is a bit vague; but I'm referring to full service towns, as opposed to bedroom communities. With that qualification, I was hoping to rule out some PSL stops. No longer being familiar with the DC-Richmond megalopolis, I'll defer to Anderson's judgment. But does 4-5 beat 8?

 

[Anderson]

Would Galesburg,IL be correct???

Jim, I'd say that Princeton, IL one stop away is much smaller

Please define "part of a megalopolis". Technically speaking, I think Quantico might count (nominal population of 561), but I'm inclined to void it as a response due to geography issues (the technical town is very small and got swamped by a Marine base). Ashland, VA comes in at 6,619...which beats out Princeton's 7,501...and Ashland is not part of the DC-Boston Megalopolis. I'm also going to argue against it acting as a "suburban" station for Richmond (RVR does that quite well). However, both Ashland and Quantico get a bunch of Regional trains every day (though the numbers do vary, you get 4-5 per day at each stop as near as I can tell).

PCT is definitely smaller than GBB, and also one of the nicest small town heritage stations.

"part of a megalopolis" is a bit vague; but I'm referring to full service towns, as opposed to bedroom communities. With that qualification, I was hoping to rule out some PSL stops. No longer being familiar with the DC-Richmond megalopolis, I'll defer to Anderson's judgment. But does 4-5 beat 8?

Ahhh...a momentary misspeak. It's 4-5 each way. Sorry...I tend to think in terms of "how many trains can I take going in direction X", not "how many trains are there total". Thus, I think of NPN as having 2 per day and 2/3 on Fridays, not 4 per day and 5 on Fridays. Likewise, I think of Orlando as having 2 per day, not 4.

And DC-Richmond isn't a megalopolis. Neither is Richmond-Hampton Roads. Richmond is isolated from both neighboring metro areas by about a 40 to 50 mile gap depending on precisely where lines get drawn.