Lake Shore Ltd. of Capitol Ltd.?

[Hawkeye]

I am planning our second Amtrak trip for this May (Fargo to New York). We're going through DC on the way out and spending a few days there before heading up to the NY area. On the way back, we could go the same route in reverse or take the Lake Shore Limited. I keep reading bad reviews of the LSL, so I'm wondering which train to take. There will be three of us (me, my husband and our 6-year-old son). I'll be using AGR points and booking sleepers. Any advice? Thanks!

ETA: excuse the typo in the title. That should be OR not OF.

 

[MrEd]

I like both trains, try both I guess.

 

[Blackshirt Husker]

I am planning our second Amtrak trip for this May (Fargo to New York). We're going through DC on the way out and spending a few days there before heading up to the NY area. On the way back, we could go the same route in reverse or take the Lake Shore Limited. I keep reading bad reviews of the LSL, so I'm wondering which train to take. There will be three of us (me, my husband and our 6-year-old son). I'll be using AGR points and booking sleepers. Any advice? Thanks!

ETA: excuse the typo in the title. That should be OR not OF.

You can't go wrong with either one, but I would definitely, DEFINITELY take Lake Shore over Capitol Limited. Capitol will get you there faster, but Lake Shore has the Viewliner cars, which means double windows in the sleepers. This means that if you're in the top bunk, you'll actually get to see the world going by instead of a blank wall with a cargo net attached.

A lot of people prefer the Superliner cars (available on the Capitol Limited- these are the double decker trains) over the older single-level Viewliners, but for me, the double windows in the sleepers make the trip. I wish Amtrak used Viewliners on all of their long distance routes instead of most of the ones in the east, but maybe that's just me.

Could another poster/historian elaborate on some of the chief distances between Viewliners and Superliners for Hawkeye? I'd be curious as well.

Regardless of what you choose, your entire family will have a great time (passenger rail is probably the ONLY mode of long-distance travel that kids enjoy). Good luck!

 

[the_traveler]

You said you would be using AGR points. Are you planning on getting a Family Bedroom - with each having their own bed?

These are only available on Superliners (the EB and CL). The LSL only has roomettes and bedrooms, both of which only have 2 berths!

 

[LA Resident]

Maybe someone can explain to me the popularity of the Lake Shore Limited? From the schedule, it seems that whether going East or West, you pass along the Great Lakes at night. It would seem the Capitol Limited offers more chances at good sightseeing?

 

[FunNut]

For one thing, if you're going from CHI to NYP, the Lakeshore Ltd. doesn't require a change of trains.

 

[jis]

Maybe someone can explain to me the popularity of the Lake Shore Limited? From the schedule, it seems that whether going East or West, you pass along the Great Lakes at night. It would seem the Capitol Limited offers more chances at good sightseeing?

For one thing, if you're going from CHI to NYP, the Lakeshore Ltd. doesn't require a change of trains.

...and it is the only LD train that goes to Boston. It also passes through a more populous area, and doubles as an Empire Corridor upstate New York train too.

By the way Viewliners are newer than Superliners.

The best scenery from the LSL is in the Mohawk Valley and Hudson Valley, which are both in daylight hours eastbound and the Hudson Valley is daylight hours westbound too. There really is not a heck of lot of what I would consider spectacular scenery by the Great Lakes on that route.

CL of course has Sand Patch and Harpers Ferry, which are quite nice.

 

[Montanan]

Since you're doing a round trip, I'd try both trains. There are some very scenic sections on both routes -- pretty much everything east of Pittsburgh on the Capitol, and the trip down the Hudson River valley on the Lake Shore.

Personally, I much prefer the Superliner to the Viewliner equipment. The biggest difference is in the lounge equipment ... the Superliner sightseer lounges are great, but the single-level "lounge" cars just have dinette tables with snack service, and are much less of a fun place to hang out.

 

[abcnews]

You really should use 30,000 award for a bedroom (two zone). The Bedroom does allow for three people. A small double bed (bottom) and an OK upper single bed. Both fold away. The bedroom includes your own bathroom with a small shower. Our family uses the bedroom award most frequently - because it allows for 3 riders. Then two bedrooms can handle a family of six - and you can sometimes open the two adjoining rooms to be one large suite (nice).

Also - the difference between a Superliner Bedroom, vesrse a Viewliner Bedroom is not as dramatic as the difference between the Roomettes on the two different trains.

But it is also really wonderful to get two Roomettes across from each other (nice), so it depends on how many people you have going. But I would suggest the Bedroom for two adults and a child. Fewer points (verses two Roomettes), and the bedrooms are nice...

I would go one direction on the Capital Limited - most likely west and perhaps travel East on the LSL. Nice Hudson River scenery - as well as views of upstate NY. Gives you a later connection time in Chicago - and that can make the difference.

On a recent trip - we missed our connection from the Empire Builder to the Cap Limited (6:45 departure/we arrived at 8:20 PM), and the LSL was sold out in sleeper class. Even though we could of easily made the connection to the LSL with about 40 mins spare. But we were going to VA - Not NY.

 

[Mackensen]

You really should use 30,000 award for a bedroom (two zone). The Bedroom does allow for three people. A small double bed (bottom) and an OK upper single bed. Both fold away. The bedroom includes your own bathroom with a small shower. Our family uses the bedroom award most frequently - because it allows for 3 riders. Then two bedrooms can handle a family of six - and you can sometimes open the two adjoining rooms to be one large suite (nice).

Also - the difference between a Superliner Bedroom, vesrse a Viewliner Bedroom is not as dramatic as the difference between the Roomettes on the two different trains.

But it is also really wonderful to get two Roomettes across from each other (nice), so it depends on how many people you have going. But I would suggest the Bedroom for two adults and a child. Fewer points (verses two Roomettes), and the bedrooms are nice...

I would go one direction on the Capital Limited - most likely west and perhaps travel East on the LSL. Nice Hudson River scenery - as well as views of upstate NY. Gives you a later connection time in Chicago - and that can make the difference.

On a recent trip - we missed our connection from the Empire Builder to the Cap Limited (6:45 departure/we arrived at 8:20 PM), and the LSL was sold out in sleeper class. Even though we could of easily made the connection to the LSL with about 40 mins spare. But we were going to VA - Not NY.

I would go east on the Capitol Limited; the best views are along the Potomac between Connellsville and Cumberland, but you pass it in darkness going west. Depending on when you leave NYP on the Lake Shore you should still see most of the Hudson.

 

[John Bredin]

A major difference between roomettes on a Superliner and a Viewliner is that a Viewliner roomette has a toilet and sink in the room -- and I do mean in the room -- while a Superliner roomette does not. The toilet is right next to the foot-end of the lower bunk, although it is well-covered: the "lid" is very solid, to the degree that the upper-bunk passenger is expected to stand on it to get to the upper bunk!

Whether a toilet in the room is a bug or a feature (or either depending on whether one is traveling solo or accompanied) is a matter of preference that I leave to each individual traveler. :lol:

 

[Pastor Dave]

I am planning our second Amtrak trip for this May (Fargo to New York). We're going through DC on the way out and spending a few days there before heading up to the NY area. On the way back, we could go the same route in reverse or take the Lake Shore Limited. I keep reading bad reviews of the LSL, so I'm wondering which train to take. There will be three of us (me, my husband and our 6-year-old son). I'll be using AGR points and booking sleepers. Any advice? Thanks!

ETA: excuse the typo in the title. That should be OR not OF.

You can't go wrong with either one, but I would definitely, DEFINITELY take Lake Shore over Capitol Limited. Capitol will get you there faster, but Lake Shore has the Viewliner cars, which means double windows in the sleepers. This means that if you're in the top bunk, you'll actually get to see the world going by instead of a blank wall with a cargo net attached.

A lot of people prefer the Superliner cars (available on the Capitol Limited- these are the double decker trains) over the older single-level Viewliners, but for me, the double windows in the sleepers make the trip. I wish Amtrak used Viewliners on all of their long distance routes instead of most of the ones in the east, but maybe that's just me.

Could another poster/historian elaborate on some of the chief distances between Viewliners and Superliners for Hawkeye? I'd be curious as well.

Regardless of what you choose, your entire family will have a great time (passenger rail is probably the ONLY mode of long-distance travel that kids enjoy). Good luck!

The LSL has seemed to have a bit of bad luck of late - a couple of fires and a grade crossing collision. But that upper window in the Viewliner sure is nice for those of us who usually get sentenced to the upper berth.

 

[Rail Freak]

A major difference between roomettes on a Superliner and a Viewliner is that a Viewliner roomette has a toilet and sink in the room -- and I do mean in the room -- while a Superliner roomette does not. The toilet is right next to the foot-end of the lower bunk, although it is well-covered: the "lid" is very solid, to the degree that the upper-bunk passenger is expected to stand on it to get to the upper bunk!

Whether a toilet in the room is a bug or a feature (or either depending on whether one is traveling solo or accompanied) is a matter of preference that I leave to each individual traveler.

GOOD THINKING!!!

 

[TVRM610]

Take both! I've ridden both and actually much prefer the Lake Shore and the trip along the Hudson is so pretty (leaving NYC).

 

[NETrainfan]

We were on the LSL and the CL in November and had good experiences on both. The roomette sleeper certainly was better on the LSL. We like the CL route, as we like to spend time in D.C.- but have enjoyed the LSL many times over the years. The only concern we have now is the late arrival of the LSL into Boston-so we take the CL from Chicago to the East Coast.

 

[Hawkeye]

Thanks for all of the great replies/information! We will be taking the CL on the way out (east) b/c we're spending a few days in the DC area before jumping on the NE Regional to Newark Penn Station. We took the CL 2 summers ago and except for a 10-hour delay en route due to weather and a track crossing fatality, it was a great trip.

I'm tempted to do the LSL back home because it's different, but I've read many less than stellar reviews of the equipment, service and ride (I've seen several reviews that say the ride is really bumpy between Erie and Cleveland). The hubby wants to take the CL back since he knows what to expect I would love to see different scenery. I'm still not sure what to do...

Abcnews - we did the bedroom with the 3 of us on the last trip and it worked great! I'm worried they won't let us book it this time b/c I was told the child had to be 40 lbs or less - anyone know if that's true or if it was just the agent I got? My son and I would still fit fine in the bottom bunk, though.

 

[RailFanLNK]

Take the LSL back....take the LSL back! Need I say this one more time! My wife and I and two step-daughters did a similar trip in '08 and we purposely took the LSL to NYC and then took the Carolinian down to WUS and then spent 4 days in DC and took the Cap back to Chicago and the Zephyr back to our hometown of Lincoln NE. Both trains were good, no problems service wise on either and we all got to see different areas of the country that we hadn't been in before. Enjoy the trip!

 

[Hawkeye]

Okay, I think I've convinced the hubby to do the LSL on the way back It looks like there's more headroom in that upper bunk on the LSL than in a superliner bedroom. Is that the case?

 

[jis]

Okay, I think I've convinced the hubby to do the LSL on the way back It looks like there's more headroom in that upper bunk on the LSL than in a superliner bedroom. Is that the case?

Oh yes, way more. The upper bunk in Superliner sleepers is downright claustrophobic. Not so in the Viewliners.

 

[Hawkeye]

Awesome! That's a nice perk of the viewliners.

 

[abcnews]

Thanks for all of the great replies/information! We will be taking the CL on the way out (east) b/c we're spending a few days in the DC area before jumping on the NE Regional to Newark Penn Station. We took the CL 2 summers ago and except for a 10-hour delay en route due to weather and a track crossing fatality, it was a great trip.

I'm tempted to do the LSL back home because it's different, but I've read many less than stellar reviews of the equipment, service and ride (I've seen several reviews that say the ride is really bumpy between Erie and Cleveland). The hubby wants to take the CL back since he knows what to expect I would love to see different scenery. I'm still not sure what to do...

Abcnews - we did the bedroom with the 3 of us on the last trip and it worked great! I'm worried they won't let us book it this time b/c I was told the child had to be 40 lbs or less - anyone know if that's true or if it was just the agent I got? My son and I would still fit fine in the bottom bunk, though.

No - I think that someone may have misspoken at Amtrak, because they recently changed their rules on the amount of passengers allowed to book a bedroom. They now allow up to 3 adults in a bedroom - so you don't need to worry about the 3rd passenger's size, age or weight. In fact, the old rule was not at all weight - it was age (must be 15 or younger). In the past - Amtrak would allow two adults, and a child. Now they allow 3 adults. However - they certainly do not recommend 3 adults in a bedroom, but if you insist - they will book 3 in a room. So you can have 1 or 2 in a Roomette, and in a bedroom you can have up to 3 adult passengers.

 

[Hawkeye]

Okay, the trip is booked! I booked bedrooms the whole way. Funny, the very nice agent who helped me wanted to put me in the family bedroom (#15) and she claimed it was on the upper floor of the car. I don't think she believed me when I told her that wasn't the case, but she booked us in a regular bedroom so I "would feel confident I was on the upper floor." :blink:

We've got C on the EB and E on the CL on the way out and B on the LSL and C again on the EB on the way home