How long was your longest rail trip?

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AAARGH!

AAARGH!

Conductor
Joined
Jul 12, 2008
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1,065
Location
Cleveland, OH
I am wondering about how my recent 12 day / 11 train, 8,859 mile trip stacks up as for longevity. I assume it's up there, but not near the longest.

Specifically I am looking for two things:

1. How many consecutive days you have been on the train? This can include overnights off the train, but each day you count has to have included train time.

2. Longest trip period. Unlike #1, this can include multiple-day sightseeing excursions (AKA layovers) in cities along the route.

For me, this past trip is the longest for #1 and #2. 12 days (8 overnights on the train), 8,859 rail miles.
 
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AAARGH! said:
I am wondering about how my recent 12 day / 11 train, 8,859 mile trip stacks up as for longevity. I assume it's up there, but not near the longest.
Specifically I am looking for two things:

1. How many consecutive days you have been on the train? This can include overnights off the train, but each day you count has to have included train time.

2. Longest trip period. Unlike #1, this can include multiple-day sightseeing excursions (AKA layovers) in cities along the route.

For me, this past trip is the longest for #1 and #2. 12 days (8 overnights on the train), 8,859 rail miles.
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I won't land in the top 5 on this one, but it was a long trip that resulted from a prior year's washout of tracks south of Portland and long term cancellation of Coast Starlight trains. I was booked Spokane to Las Vegas round trip via Portland, Sacramento, Stockton and Baksersfield.

Rather than fly, I accepted Amtrak's offer to route me Spokane to Chicago on the Empire Builder, Chicago to Kingman on the Southwest Chief and then via shuttle to Las Vegas. 70 plus hours each way for a total of 140 (with 4 days in Vegas between the 70 hour outbound and 70 hour return).

Last winter I cancelled a Spokane to Chicago to DC to Ft. Lauderdale trip due to weather. That would have been a long one.
 
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I'm not sure of the actual mileage per trip (without adding it up), but in 2009 my mileage was 21,180 - which mainly included 2 major trips! So I'd say close to 10K per each major trip. (The others were "short" trips to BOS or OSB - under 70 miles each.)
 
Of the many rail trips I've made - two stand out as being monumental -

Here's the first one - which I made in June 1988

Day 1 - DP Spartanburg, SC (Crescent)

Day 2 - AR Washington, DC

DP Washington, DC (Capitol)

Day 3 - AR Chicago, IL

DP Chicago, IL (California Zephyr)

Day 4 - AR Denver, CO

Night off train with friend in Denver

Day 5 - DP Denver, CO (California Zephyr)

AR Salt Lake City, UT

DP Salt Lake City, UT (Pioneer - remember this train?)

Day 6 - AR Seattle, WA

Night off train in hotel

Day 7 - DP Seattle, WA (Empire Builder)

Day 9 - AR Chicago, IL

DP Chicago, IL (Broadway Limited)

Day 10- AR Philadelphia, PA

DP Philadelphia, PA (Crescent)

Day 11-AR Spartanburg, SC

I'll calculate mileage from a period timetable and add that to my post later...... also post my other monumental trip from 2002 but it doesn't count as highly because I had some flying segments on that one....

MILEAGE UPDATE - Calculations came in just short of 8,000 miles.
 
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Back in 2004 I had the opportunity to do a North American Rail Pass trip. I used the 30 days to the very best of my abilities, with only a few very short stops in a few places to visit friends and relatives, wash laundry, resupply on food, etc. When I called up to make the reservation the lady was like: Are you SURE you don't want to stop and take a break sometime?? A great trip that I will remember forever. Looking back at it now I think I was a little crazy, especially as I really lived up to my name, going coach the ENTIRE trip! Not something that I would wish to attempt nowadays. A nice week or so trip with sleepers is more my style now. But if you are young, agile, and without demands on your time such as children or a job- I would highly recommend it!

Total: 14,570 miles; 18 Trains, 2 Countries

Elyria-Cleveland-Buffalo-Toronto-Vancouver-Seattle-Los Angeles-Houston-New Orleans-Atlanta-Philadelphia-Fostoria-Chicago-Osceola-Denver-Emeryville-Seattle-Chicago-Fostoria!
 
Guess my overnights disqualify my trip in 2005 but thanks to the North American Rail Pass (Joint Amtrak/VIA)I made the following trip in the summer of 2005: (didn't add up mileage but it was a ways! ;) )

AUS-CHI TE#22 (overnight/roomette)

CHI-NYP LSL#48 (overnight/coach)

NYC- 3 nights(subways/LIRR/Jersey trains etc.)

NYC-BOS Accela (biz Class)

BOS-NYP Regional #67 (night in NYP!!!!! )

NYP-MON Adirondack #69

VIA Trains:

MON-TWO Constellation (overnight/ roomette)

MON-OTT VIA Day Train

OTT- 3 nights(ride busses/pass)

OTT-NFLS VIA (day train)

NFLS 2 nights(ride bus/pass)

NFS-TWO VIA Day Train

TWO 3 nights (Go Trains/busses/pass)

TWO-Windsor VIA Day Train

Windsor/Detroit 2 night(busses/tram)

Amtrak:

DET-CHI Wolverine (biz class)

CHI-NOL CONO#59 (roomette)

NOL 2 nights (Trolleys/busses/ferry/pass

NOL-SAS SSL#2(overnite/coach)

SAS-AUS TE#22 (coach)

Wish they still had this pass, I didnt get to do the Canadian or Ocean darn it!! :(
 
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jimhudson said:
Guess my overnights disqualify my trip in 2005 but thanks to the North American Rail Pass (Joint Amtrak/VIA)I made the following trip in the summer of 2005: (didn't add up mileage but it was a ways! ;) )
AUS-CHI TE#22 (overnight/roomette)

CHI-NYP LSL#48 (overnight/coach)

NYC- 3 nights(subways/LIRR/Jersey trains etc.)

NYC-BOS Accela (biz Class)

BOS-NYP Regional #67 (night in NYP!!!!! )

NYP-MON Adirondack #69

VIA Trains:

MON-TWO Constellation (overnight/ roomette)

MON-OTT VIA Day Train

OTT- 3 nights(ride busses/pass)

OTT-NFLS VIA (day train)

NFLS 2 nights(ride bus/pass)

NFS-TWO VIA Day Train

TWO 3 nights (Go Trains/busses/pass)

TWO-Windsor VIA Day Train

Windsor/Detroit 2 night(busses/tram)

Amtrak:

DET-CHI Wolverine (biz class)

CHI-NOL CONO#59 (roomette)

NOL 2 nights (Trolleys/busses/ferry/pass

NOL-SAS SSL#2(overnite/coach)

SAS-AUS TE#22 (coach)

Wish they still had this pass, I didnt get to do the Canadian or Ocean darn it!! :(
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Not as long as others posted, but a great trip:

Honolulu to LAX

Coast Starlight - LAX-SEA

Ferry to Vancouver Island - Empress Hotel two nights

Empire Builder - SEA - CHI

Three nights in CHI

City of New Orleans - CHI-NOL

Two nights at Monteleone Hotel

Sunset Limited - NOL - PHX

Rental Car to Grand Canyon

Overnight at Lodge

1 day River Trip to Lake Powell

Car back to Lodge

Car across dessert to LAX

Car to Monterey

Two nights in Monterey

Car back to LAX

LAX - HNL

6,504 miles on Amtrak & daughters first real view of US Mainland
 
Using the definition of consecutive days in which at least part of each day was spent rolling was a big Canadian trip in 1986:

Halifax to Montreal on the Atlantic Limited (the one that cut across Maine).

change trains in Montreal to the Canadian (it was still running the Montreal section then).

Montreal to Winnepeg on the Canadian.

overnight in Winnepeg, following day took the Hudson' Bay to Churchill. Spent day in Churchill, took Hudson's Bay back to Winnepeg that evening.

Winnepeg to Edmonton on the Super Continental

Overnight in Edmonton

Edmonton to Prince Rupert on the Skeena

Overnight in Prince Rupert

Prince Rupert to Prince George on the Skeena

Overnight in Prince George

Prince George to Vancouver on BC Rail Cariboo Dayliner.

11 days.
 
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My first ever cross county amtrak ride was my longest, I think. Over Christmas - New Years 1987-88

RVR- DC- Colonial

DC- CHI- Capitol Limited (original Amtrak route)

CHI-SEA Empire Builder

SEA-LAX Coast Starlight

LAX-San Juan Capistrano-LAX- San Diegan

LAX-CHI- Southwest Chief

CHI-NYGC- Lake Shore Limited

NYP-RVR- Silver Meteor

I was small and don't remember much except having to switch from sleeper to Coach in Albuquerque and they made us get off the train and walk the length of the platform to re-board because of some assigned seating issues or something. Also remember the bus from Grand Central to Penn Station.

The next year we did

RVR-PHL

PHL-CHI- Broadway Limited

CHI-OAK (SP Station)- California Zephyr

Oak- LAX- Coast Starlight

LAX-SD-LAX- San Diegan

LAX-NOL- Sunset Limited

NOL-CVS- Crescent

awesome trips... both of them
 
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My second monumental trip was in June 2002 'just-in-case' with the national network under threat of a shutdown..... and it was specifically planned to fill in the western routes I had not ridden yet at that time.....

Here's how it played out

Day 1 - flew Southwest Airlines Nashville, TN to Spokane, WA, caught a cab to the train station.

Day 2 - Boarded #27 (coach) in the wee hours for a trip to Portland - Connected to #11 (coach)

Day 3 - Arrived los Angeles...... spent night in hotel

Day 4 - Boarded #4 (roomette) for overnight trip to Albuquerque.

Here's where it got really good -

Day 5 - Caught city bus to airport and flew Southwest Airlines back to LAX. Caught Super Shuttle to Union Station and walked into the waiting room exactly 24 hours after departing on #4. Boarded the 422 sleeper (roomette) and departed on the Sunset Limited at 10:30pm

Here's where it got wierd -

Day 6 - Arrived El Paso.....learned that a UP derailment had closed the former SP mainline and that we would be bustituted overnight to San Antonio.

Crowded bus vs. comfortable roomette? No, not an option.

Sooo.... I called Southwest Airlines and hastily booked a flight to Dallas.... shared a cab to the airport and flew to Dallas. Got a fleabag hotel, caught the city bus downtown the next morning, rode the Trinity Railway Express to Ft. Worth and resumed my scheduled trip aboard the Heartland Flyer that afternoon.

Spent night in Oklahoma City.

Day 7 - Returned to Ft. Worth on Heartland Flyer, caught #22 (roomette) to St. Louis.

Day 8 - Arrived St. Louis, caught light rail to the airport, flew to Nashville, drove home.
 
Mine was last year: The Great Slidell Loophole :lol:

With a preliminary trip of Champaign-New Orleans included, I went Champaign-New Orleans-Washington DC-Chicago-Portland-Los Angeles.

Day 1: Boarded at Champaign at 11PM. (City of New Orleans)

Day 2: Into New Orleans

Overnight in New Orleans

Day 3: Boarded at New Orleans and overnight into Washington DC. Spent a few hours in DC and then overnight into Chicago. (Crescent and Capitol Limited)

Day 4: Boarded the EB after a few hours in Chicago.

Day 5: aboard the EB

Day 6: Arrived in Portland. Boarded the CS to Los Angeles; overnight on the CS

Day 7: Into Los Angeles where the adventure ended.

So I guess if you count the one hour or so on the CONO after boarding in Champaign, that's seven days, five nights aboard five different trains plus one night in the Big Easy. Total mileage:6,363 miles.

If only had more available vacation time! :lol:
 
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Honestly can anyone top my trip from last year??

Over 21,000 miles, 42 days long?

And this years trip isn't quite at long but it should come out to over 15,000 miles and nearly a month away from home.
 
saxman said:
Honestly can anyone top my trip from last year??Over 21,000 miles, 42 days long?

And this years trip isn't quite at long but it should come out to over 15,000 miles and nearly a month away from home.
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Have to agree Chris, hands down you win! Hope you are enjoying the tour of this beautiful land, of course we're all envious! ;)
 
saxman said:
Honestly can anyone top my trip from last year??Over 21,000 miles, 42 days long?

And this years trip isn't quite at long but it should come out to over 15,000 miles and nearly a month away from home.
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How many days were on the train? I remember that many were, but I don't recall how many.
 
WOW SAX what a trip...if business car trips count I spent 17 days on MP Car 10 from Addis, LA to Houston to St. Louis to Omaha to San Francisco to LAX and Sunset route to NOL. This was just prior to UP takeover of the Mighty Mopac. And my wife was mad at all the dirty clothes I brought home :cool:
 
I did a marathon USA Railpass trip back inthe '70's for the full thirty days that covered virtually the entire Amtrak system at the time. Easily over twenty thousand miles. I would have to dig deep into my collectibles to find the exact itinerary it followed, but I recall such gems as the National Limited, the North Coast Hiawatha, The Floridian, the Inter-American, the Shenandoah, the Hilltopper, and other long-gone routes.

I was a lot younger and rail-crazy in those days. ;)
 
The one I did in March 2010...

(Fly) MKE-BOS

(Acela First Class) BOS-WAS

(Acela First Class) WAS-NYP

(Crescent) NYP-NOL

(Sunset) NOL-LAX

(Coast Starlight) LAX-SEA

(Fly) SEA-MKE
 
railiner said:
I did a marathon USA Railpass trip back inthe '70's for the full thirty days that covered virtually the entire Amtrak system at the time. Easily over twenty thousand miles. I would have to dig deep into my collectibles to find the exact itinerary it followed, but I recall such gems as the National Limited, the North Coast Hiawatha, The Floridian, the Inter-American, the Shenandoah, the Hilltopper, and other long-gone routes.I was a lot younger and rail-crazy in those days. ;)
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One thing else I remember about that pass.....you did not have to book the entire itinerary. You were sold a 'pass' with a start date entered upon obtaining your first ticket. you then had the end date based upon how long a pass you purchased. You had to board your last train on your expiration date, so if it was a transcontinental, you actually could squeeze thirty two days out of it. It was almost like having an employee pass and perhaps even better, as you could make advanced reservations for reserved trains. Although you did not get discounted rates on sleepers as employees do. It was very flexible. You could add or change your mind at the last minute, on a whim. Say you saw an interesting consist on some train during your layover in Chicago, you could just run over to the ticket office and get a ticket to ride, provided it wasn't sold out reserved space.

Of course, if you travelled during peak season, it behooved you to book reseved trains in advance. If not, and you could not get space, you were out of luck.

I did a similar marathon trip on Mohawk Airlines a few years prior to that, only it was only for a weekend, and you had to book your entire itinerary.
 
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