Best Routes in 2011?

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Misterhawk

Misterhawk

Joined
Jan 5, 2011
Messages
7
Location
New York, NY
This is my first time posting on the site ...

I wanted to get some feedback from members as to what the best run, managed and resourced routes right now. I'd like to plan a few trips and want to have the best experience possible.

I took my first Amtrak trips in 2009 after returning from Afghanistan. I did the Sunset Limited from Los Angeles to San Antonio in February and then in March took the Coast Starlight from LA to Seattle. I spent a few days in Seattle and then took the Empire Builder to Chicago and then the Lake Shore Limited to New York.

At the time, they had just added the Parlour Car to the Coast Starlight and I think I spent half the trip there. I was told they would be adding a similar car to other trains and wondered if anyone knew if they had added a similar car to any other routes.

Mostly I would like to know what people think is the best Amtrak experience at the moment. I live in New York and have reason to go to Los Angeles, San Antonio and San Francisco, but I'm sure I could invent reasons to go elsewhere ...

Thanks for any advice you can offer.
 
If you haven't done the California Zephyr yet I highly recommend it! It has some of the best scenery (IMO) of any cross country route.

I would go LSL from NY-CHI, then CZ from CHI-EMY, then CS from EMY-LAX
smile.gif
 
GiantsFan said:
If you haven't done the California Zephyr yet I highly recommend it! It has some of the best scenery (IMO) of any cross country route.

I would go LSL from NY-CHI, then CZ from CHI-EMY, then CS from EMY-LAX
smile.gif
Click to expand...
Thanks for the reply. The Zephyr is definitely on the list of routes to ride. Any idea how it stacks up against the Coast Starlite as a train?
 
:hi: Since youve been on the Lake Shore Id suggest riding down to WAS (regional or Acela) and catching the Cap Ltd. from WAS-CHI,its quite a bit cheaper than the LSL, is a Superliner train and you can wait in the Club Acela in WAS. The Zephyr has great scenery, equipment and crews arent up to the Starlights standards but its also a Superliner train and the Rockies and Sierra Mountains are absolutely Beautiful any time of the year! As the porevious poster said, then ride the Starlight down to LA from Oakland or Emeryville, this way you get San Francisco and LA. If not a member, join AGR and also consider using the AGR Master Card from Chase to build uyp free travel on Amtrak, it's a great deal. Google up the info. Plenty of members will be glad to refer you if not already a member of AGR. Good plan, please ask any questions you have, we have lots of helpful and knowledgable folks on this forum! ;)
 
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Thanks, Jim.

I may be headed to DC next week, in fact, and then on to Indianapolis, but when I tried to see if I could book from DC to Indy, I discovered you can't get there from here. I mean, you can get on a bus, but there's no joy in that, and Louisville is worse. Cincinnati is a shorter trip, but if you wanted a roomette for the privacy and comfort it would cost more than going all the way to Chicago.

Maybe next time for that ...

How is the Southwest Chief? I may go from Chicago to LA in two weeks ...
 
I LOVE the SWC ! Its the Long distance train that got me In to all of this :) .

IMHO compreable to the Cali zephyr in many ways ..

its a very relaxed train . easy going staff and a fun trip . as far as sights its good but it really is sweet in AZ and the like .

You see many small and neat houses . well worth it .

Peter ...
 
Peter KG6LSE said:
I LOVE the SWC ! Its the Long distance train that got me In to all of this :) .

IMHO compreable to the Cali zephyr in many ways ..

its a very relaxed train . easy going staff and a fun trip . as far as sights its good but it really is sweet in AZ and the like .

You see many small and neat houses . well worth it .

Peter ...
Click to expand...
Okay, I'm sold. I'll see if I can book that for later in the month ...
 
Misterhawk said:
I may be headed to DC next week, in fact, and then on to Indianapolis, but when I tried to see if I could book from DC to Indy, I discovered you can't get there from here.
Click to expand...
You can indeed get from DC to Indianapolis by train. The Cardinal runs 3 days a week from NYP-WAS-CIN-IND-CHI. It's possible that the date on which you want to travel is one of the days that the Cardinal doesn't run, but if you're flexible, Amtrak will indeed get you from WAS to IND.

The low-bucket for WAS-IND in coach appears to be $71. Roomette appears to be $119. Bedroom appears to be $191

The Cardinal leaves WAS at 11:10A and arrives early the next morning in Indy at 4:44A.

Alternatively, on days the Cardinal does not leave WAS for CHI, you could take the Capitol Limited to Chicago and transfer to the Hoosier State, which will also get you to Indianapolis, but that takes a bit longer.
 
If you take the "Chief" then you really should consider this book... "Super" by Jim Lehrer (of PBS fame). It's a novel that takes place on the "Super Chief" in 1956. The SW Chief (Amtrak) follows about the same route, and also leaves CHI at close to the same time as the Santa Fe Super Chief.

After recently reading this book, I really want t take the SW Chief, we will most likely take it to Albuquerque - spend a night in Santa Fe, and then return to Virginia via the Chief and the Capital Limited - or maybe the Cardinal out of CHI.

Enjoy your trip!
 
We are Southwest Chief SWC fans. In November went from Boston to Chicago on the LSL and then to LA on the SWC. Took the Capitol Limited from Chicago to Washington D.C. on the way back and then the Acela to Boston. Really good trip.
 
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Misterhawk said:
in 2009 after returning from Afghanistan.
Click to expand...
I'm quite surprised nobody has yet said it. Thank you for your service!
smile.gif
I personally do not agree with the politics, but I do support the troops!

At the time, they had just added the Parlour Car to the Coast Starlight and I think I spent half the trip there. I was told they would be adding a similar car to other trains and wondered if anyone knew if they had added a similar car to any other routes.
Click to expand...
The Pacific Parlour Car (PPC) is only on the Coast Starlight (CS). No other routes have them, and most likely will not.
sad.gif
The PPC is a former Sante Fe Hi-Liner, and there are only 5 left in existence. The CS needs 4 to run from LAX to SEA and back, and one is kept for backup and repair.
 
the_traveler said:
The PPC is a former Sante Fe Hi-Liner, and there are only 5 left in existence. The CS needs 4 to run from LAX to SEA and back, and one is kept for backup and repair.
Click to expand...
There are only 5 left in Amtrak's fleet. There is one more PPC that is privately owned, purchased from Amtrak several years ago. I don't know if it has been kept in running condition or not.
 
Misterhawk said:
GiantsFan said:
If you haven't done the California Zephyr yet I highly recommend it! It has some of the best scenery (IMO) of any cross country route.

I would go LSL from NY-CHI, then CZ from CHI-EMY, then CS from EMY-LAX
smile.gif
Click to expand...
Thanks for the reply. The Zephyr is definitely on the list of routes to ride. Any idea how it stacks up against the Coast Starlite as a train?
Click to expand...
The Zephyr is a nice ride, however, as a long distance train, nothing compares with the Starlight, especially when the PPC is running on it. The Empire builder is a close swecong, and it figures so...the product line manager for the Starlight went over to the Buiolder and has made that train very nice also.
 
Aloha

For selfish reasons the best route in 2011 would be the return of the Desert Wind, no more 9 hour drive to LA.

Otherwise to me the best are:

  1. Coast Starlight
  2. Empire Builder
  3. Southwest Chief tied with California Zephyr
  4. Texas Eagle
  5. Silver's
 
AlanB said:
the_traveler said:
The PPC is a former Sante Fe Hi-Liner, and there are only 5 left in existence. The CS needs 4 to run from LAX to SEA and back, and one is kept for backup and repair.
Click to expand...
There are only 5 left in Amtrak's fleet. There is one more PPC that is privately owned, purchased from Amtrak several years ago. I don't know if it has been kept in running condition or not.
Click to expand...
There were only 5 Hi-Level "Top of the 'Cap/Kachina Coffee Shop" lounge cars ever built, the cars which were ultimately converted into the PPCs. Santa Fe needed 5 for for each of the 5 El Capitan sets that were required for Chicago-Los Angeles service on that train, so "left" is kind of a misnomer. They are the only Hi-Levels of any type left on the Amtrak roster, though, but the lounge version of the Hi-Level were/are the only ones with the wrap-around windows that are one of the hallmarks of the PPCs.

There has been some talk of using the infamous Diner/Lounges (CCCs) for sleeper class lounge cars on other trains, though. Having been stuck with them on the Starlight twice in last year, I don't think they work nearly as well as the PPCs for that service. That is mainly due to the fact that the counter faces the only the few "lounge" tables on one end of the car, thus most people do not use the main "diner" portion. Also, if they do meal service, they have to close the counter since the attendent can't do meal service in the "diner" section while also manning the counter. So lounge service is pretty badly constrained by not being available at all from the beginning of the prep for meal service, through to completion and clean-up. The attendent on my last trip said bar receipts when a CCC runs in place of a PPC are a fraction of what they are when a PPC is in service. Even if they don't do the meal service, which is apparently a common practice when running a CCC, they are still down. People don't hang around in the car like they do with a PPC. Had they been configured similarly to the PPC, with a service counter on one end, and an uninterrupted diner/lounge space, they probably would have worked okay.
 
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:D

the_traveler said:
Misterhawk said:
in 2009 after returning from Afghanistan.
Click to expand...
I'm quite surprised nobody has yet said it. Thank you for your service!
smile.gif
I personally do not agree with the politics, but I do support the troops!

At the time, they had just added the Parlour Car to the Coast Starlight and I think I spent half the trip there. I was told they would be adding a similar car to other trains and wondered if anyone knew if they had added a similar car to any other routes.
Click to expand...
The Pacific Parlour Car (PPC) is only on the Coast Starlight (CS). No other routes have them, and most likely will not.
sad.gif
The PPC is a former Sante Fe Hi-Liner, and there are only 5 left in existence. The CS needs 4 to run from LAX to SEA and back, and one is kept for backup and repair.
Click to expand...
Dave, I'm just looking into my broken crystal ball but if Amtrak had any business sesnse they would rework the CCC's that are so abundant right now to take the place of the 1950's Sante Fe cars. There are only a handful of Amtrak routes that will sustain a CCC by itself; the City, Screaming Eagle and possibly a second lounge for coach pax on the Builder.If they started work now on re-re-converting the once proud diners to PPC's then they wouldn't have to holler "Help" when the PPC's all drop their journals !!! Anybody know exactly how many diners were converted to CCC's ??? :D
 
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I am suprised Amtrak dose not put more effort into the CZ as they do the CS and EB.

To me the ride through the Rockies and Seirras is second to none!! I have riden both

ways and just loved the scenery , we were 6 hours late eastbound (6) which worked out

well because we got to see Salt Lake City In the early morning sun with the mountains

in the backgroud !Awesome!!! I dont know what I am suggesting but all I know is the

crew on the EB made it fun with the wine tasting real china and tablecloths and I thought

better food, and a "Happier" crew !!

Trainfan
 
Misterhawk said:
This is my first time posting on the site ...

I wanted to get some feedback from members as to what the best run, managed and resourced routes right now. I'd like to plan a few trips and want to have the best experience possible.

I took my first Amtrak trips in 2009 after returning from Afghanistan. I did the Sunset Limited from Los Angeles to San Antonio in February and then in March took the Coast Starlight from LA to Seattle. I spent a few days in Seattle and then took the Empire Builder to Chicago and then the Lake Shore Limited to New York.

At the time, they had just added the Parlour Car to the Coast Starlight and I think I spent half the trip there. I was told they would be adding a similar car to other trains and wondered if anyone knew if they had added a similar car to any other routes.

Mostly I would like to know what people think is the best Amtrak experience at the moment. I live in New York and have reason to go to Los Angeles, San Antonio and San Francisco, but I'm sure I could invent reasons to go elsewhere ...

Thanks for any advice you can offer.
Click to expand...
First of all, thank you for your service!!!

My favorite train has to be the Coast Starlight, because of the Parlor Car. We have ridden the California Zephyr several times, the last two times was much better. The scenery was really nice, but we only have gone from Salt Lake City, Ut to Glenwood Springs, Co & Salt Lake City, Ut to Sacramento, Ca & back.

I would like to try the Empire Builder sometime, & the Southwest Chief.

Thank you again for your service!
 
Misterhawk said:
GiantsFan said:
If you haven't done the California Zephyr yet I highly recommend it! It has some of the best scenery (IMO) of any cross country route.

I would go LSL from NY-CHI, then CZ from CHI-EMY, then CS from EMY-LAX
smile.gif
Click to expand...
Thanks for the reply. The Zephyr is definitely on the list of routes to ride. Any idea how it stacks up against the Coast Starlite as a train?
Click to expand...

Hmm ... thats a hard one. I guess the CS wins, but the Zephyr is very close to it.
cool.gif
The Denver - EMY leg has some of the best scenery in the USA.
 
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Did you know about the Military Discount? I think it's something like 15%... With that said, thanks for your service.
 
zephyr17 said:
AlanB said:
the_traveler said:
The PPC is a former Sante Fe Hi-Liner, and there are only 5 left in existence. The CS needs 4 to run from LAX to SEA and back, and one is kept for backup and repair.
Click to expand...
There are only 5 left in Amtrak's fleet. There is one more PPC that is privately owned, purchased from Amtrak several years ago. I don't know if it has been kept in running condition or not.
Click to expand...
There were only 5 Hi-Level "Top of the 'Cap/Kachina Coffee Shop" lounge cars ever built, the cars which were ultimately converted into the PPCs. Santa Fe needed 5 for for each of the 5 El Capitan sets that were required for Chicago-Los Angeles service on that train, so "left" is kind of a misnomer. They are the only Hi-Levels of any type left on the Amtrak roster, though, but the lounge version of the Hi-Level were/are the only ones with the wrap-around windows that are one of the hallmarks of the PPCs.
Click to expand...
I cannot speak to the origin of the PPC's and the hows & whys of what was built, much less converted into PPC's.

But I can tell you with 100% certainty that Amtrak at one point in time owned and operated 6 PPC's. They were numbered 39970-39975. A quick check of the OTOL roster shows that 39971 is no longer on the roster. It was sold in 2001, as confirmed by this website.
 
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