Ideas for 3 days of train travel in December?

shop deals on amazon
Advertise with us
Shop deals on ebay
Amtrak Unlimited Discussion Forum

Help Support Amtrak Unlimited Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Status
Not open for further replies.
S

stonesfan

Service Attendant
Joined
Dec 30, 2007
Messages
121
Location
England
Chaps

Have 3 days to kill between 7th to 10th of December. What better way than to spend it on a long distance, with a few beers, and experiencing rail travel in its fullest.

Am gonna be based in Boston to start with. Has anyone on here done any 'circular' or 'triangular' routes that they can recommend? Easy just to spend the whole trip on one train, but more interesting to mix it up a bit and get some mileage behind different locomotives.

Plus! And this is what I want to ensure, would be good to do most of the mileage during daylight hours, and bunking off the train for a night at a motel to ensure a good nights sleep. I could handle 1 overnight 'move' in coach, but no more than that!!!

Any help greatly appreciated

Cheers
 
If you're going to be starting in Boston, here's an idea. Take the early morning AE from BOS to NYP, then a Regional to WAS. (You could take this AE all the way to WAS, but BOS-NYP low bucket is $95, while NYP-WAS low bucket is like $140!) This is a morning ride. From WAS, tale the CL overnight to CHI. Then you have a whole day's layover in CHI. Then that evening, take the LSL back to BOS!
wink.gif


With this, you could ride all 5 types of cars that Amtrak has:

  1. BOS-NYP = Acela
  2. NYP-WAS = AFI
  3. WAS-CHI = Superliner
  4. CHI-BOS = AFII, Viewliner

This could also be done in reverse order, but if the CL is late, you may not catch the last Regional/AE connection to BOS. Plus the CT (north of NHV)/RI scenery is better in the daytime!
tongue.gif
And you can tell when you're going 150 MPH!
biggrin.gif
 
Thats not a bad little schedule!

I wonder if I can combine the national railroad museum in WI into a schedule?
 
If it were me - I would take the Lake Shore Limited to Chicago - which I would think offers some very nice daylight train riding through New England and NY, and connect with either the Texas Eagle, SW Chief, California Zephyr or the Empire Builder. Then fly back home to Boston. The cheapest airline ticket - and quickest time on a plane, may be the Dallas, TX to Boston option. Perhaps $99 - not sure... Also San Francisco or Seattle to Boston is pretty competitive with good low fares - considering the distance. Then you are on a train parts of 4 days and 3 nights, and you then take a low cost, one-way "red eye" back to BOS,

If you did Dallas or Fort Worth it's only two nights on a train and 3 good days of train riding. Then about a 3 hour flight back to BOS - it fits your request of about 3 days/2 nights/good daylight scenery and a Sightseer Lounge on the Texas Eagle. Also - the Texas Eagle is the first train out of the gate in Chicago at 1:45 PM, that is important to consider in December - because it starts getting dark in Chicago around 4:30 or 5 PM.

Not sure I get too excited about the Capital Limited option - mentioned earlier, because it departs at 4:05 PM from Washington, and in the month of December it gets dark at 4:45 PM. So even though it is a very scenic train traveling along the Potomac through the mountains - with a nice Sightseer Lounge, and affordable Roomette for overnight travel - you mentioned "daylight scenery" was important to you. After 4:45 you would find it hard to view the scenery. So maybe you get 30 - 40 minutes before dark. The Capital Limited is actually better going Eastbound in December.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
If you were to depart Tuesday, December 14th - A Boston to Dallas rail ticket would run about $400 - and that includes a Roomette on the entire Texas Eagle leg (includes meals too). You would be stuck in coach for the Lake Shore Limited, but not so bad, since you arrive rather early into Chicago. The Coach seats are = to First Class on a plane. And you might be able to upgrade onboard the LSL at a reasonable cost? Not sure if that would be possible...
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Yes, in fact, we are riding it on December 10th Chicago to Sacramento.

But you could get off at Grand Junction, and fly back - or get off near Aspen, CO and fly back - or just ride all the way and fly back from San Francisco.

But the Rockies in daylight - in December, are hard to beat. I think I saw that they average more snow in December than any other month... Also Donner Pass in California and the high Sierras are really nice too.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
The Zephyr departs Denver in the mid morning, so unless it is VERY late, you can be certain the most scenic sections will be in daylight! Many (including me) consider this portion the most scenic on Amtrak!
cool.gif
 
I do have a friend in Salt Lake City that I could bail out and stay with. Is the most scenic part of the route done by then if you are coming from Chicago?
 
Am all set for a small taste of long distance train travel.

Scooping in the Lakeshore on Tuesday from Boston to Chicago. Staying the night in Chicago (sleep catchup!) And then meeting a friend at Chicago for a Roomette on the Zephyr down to SLC. Friend works for an airline so have heavily discounted tickets back to Boston.

Have already done a couple of trips on the NEC to get some toaster mileage.

Are the 'coach' class seats on the Lake shore better then those on the Amfleet NEC stock?
 
I think they are Amfleet ll - which have more room, recline back farther (not sure on that), and have slightly larger windows (nice).

We may see you on the westbound CZ - we board in CHI on Thursday the 9th..
 
The Amfleet II's used on the LSL have seats that are much nicer than the seats found on the corridor in the Amfleet I cars.

They recline further, have a bit more padding, come with both foot rests and calf rests, and are a bit more roomy. Especially when it comes to leg room. There are also fewer seats in the car because of the extra leg room.
 
IF you want to see a lot of America take the last Downeaster to Portland the night you land.(There is a nice hotel within walking distance of the station.) Come back down to Boston the following morning (when you hug the Maine coast in daylight) and get on the Lake Shore Limited Boston sleeper to Chicago which also has a first class lounge.Be sure and check out the Club Acela in Boston~ it's one of the nicest and your sleeper ticket entitles you to visit.Get on that afternoon's California Zephyr(in Chicago) and go to Salt Lake City; you will enjoy the Rocky Mountains (and I'm almost positive you'll see a lot of snow somewhere on this routing)...from Salt Lake take a red eye back to Boston. Just my two cents...good luck and happy traveling :rolleyes:
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Latest posts

Back
Top