PGH-CHI-PGH

[Bradley Bitzer]

I know from being a lurker on the boards that many here prefer to upgrade to sleeper, but I like many other fairly new folk have a question....

I'm looking to go to Chicago from Pittsburgh, and Amtrak is totally the way to go it seems from a time standpoint, as it is way easier to than to fly it.

My main question is about sleeper vs coach for a trip starting at midnight. Would I be better off saving the money and just sleeping in coach (I have a very clear conscience and can sleep anywhere) and just paying out of pocket for breakfast into Chicago (or getting it once I get to my hotel)?

Money isn't really a factor as I am booking out far enough that a roomette is only 89 each way. I would prob get it CHI-PGH, as the timing for the Capitol Limited would give me a full night in bed, and I would most likely crash after dinner, so I could be back to work the day I arrive back in Pittsburgh.

I've only ever taken the Capitol Limited PGH-WAS and back, so a sleeper was not at all in the cards.

 

[the_traveler]

I personally would not myself. Unless you have extra money, sleep in coach and buy breakfast for $7. (If you do have extra money laying around, send it to me!

) And going eastbound, True you get dinner included, but paying $89 and being woken up before 4:30 AM is not my idea of fun!

 

[jim hudson]

I wouldnt spend the money either, since the Cap is Superliner Equipment Coach will be fine for the short ride and either way you shouldnt have any problem sleeping and buying breakfast in the diner which is one of the best meals on Amtrak IMO!

 

[Bradley Bitzer]

Thank y'all That's what I figured, but I just like to have validation by people who have done it before.

 

[Pastor Dave]

I usually get a roomette for any overnight trip. But the PGH-CHI run is relatively short and since you get on in PGH late a reclining chair would probably be enough. That being said, the last time I did the CL from PGH to CHI I had a roomette. I was traveling on business and really didn't pay much attention to the costs.

I think the same thing applies to the return trip since you get back into PGH at an early hour. Is PGH your point of departure and final arrival? Or are you connecting to the Penny.

 

[Bradley Bitzer]

Final, I'm a Pittsburgh guy.

 

[Pastor Dave]

Since you're not connecting to the Penny, coach makes more sense. There would be nothing more challenging than coaching it from CHI to PGH, detraining around 5:00 a.m. and then waiting 2 or 3 hours for another coach ride east.

When I do the CL to PGH it is to connect with the Penny to PHL. I couldn't imagine that long a trip without a stint in a sleeper.

 

[Bradley Bitzer]

I've always wanted to ride the Pennsylvanian, but I'm a server so I cant take tons of extra days off to travel. My current game plan is using the MegaBus to get to NYC to take Adirondak this summer....

 

[ALC Rail Writer]

I find purchasing a sleeper to a stop with no good calling hours is usually a waste. At ALC I'm always off in the middle of the night no matter what happens, so I never wake up and detrain feeling rested. More than once I have actually stayed up the entire time (in sleeper and in coach) until my 1:30AM stop. When I travel with company it is a different story.

If you go for a roomette, the Westbound (30) would be the only practical application. You get the lounge in CHI, dinner, and a shower before bed if you'd like. And you get up at a semi-reasonable time of about 5AM, that's seven hours if you are in bed by ten.

Eastbound you'd board and go directly to bed. I usually can't get to bed right after boarding because I'm in an excitement mode-- with an early arrival into CHI you can't sleep in, and there is little time for breakfast, a shower, and preparing to get off. Your access to the lounge would only work for that day.

 

[the_traveler]

the Westbound (30) ... Eastbound you'd board and go directly to bed -- with an early arrival into CHI

I know ALC has strange calling hours, but you have eastbound and westbound backwards!

Eastbound departs CHI in the evening with a 4:30 AM wake up for a 5 AM arrival into PGH. Westbound departs PGH around midnight and arrives CHI around 8 AM!

 

[ALC Rail Writer]

Trust me, ALC twists my days around. It is even worse on days when 29 is running behind and 29 and 30 arrive back to back... which is weird with the track set up. The Eastbound will sit a half-mile up the line while the Westbound crosses the second main to access the siding where the platform is on.

 

[dlagrua]

We did the exact same trip on the CL last June in a bedroom. We parked across the street in the new parking authority lot and boarded the train at Pittsburg at midnight. We went right to our room and hit the sack at about 12:30 AM. We got up around 7 AM showered had breakfast and then came back to the room to get some addditioal rest before the 10 AM arrival. It was a comfortable trip going.

The return trip left Chicago around 6:00 PM and we were immediately escorted to the dining room to have dinner. We finished dinner around 7 and them went back to our room and tried to get to sleep around 9PM but it was too early for us. We got very little sleep that night. We arrived in Pittsburg at 5:15 AM and headed over to Delucas Restaurant in the strip district for breakfast. That place opens early and the breakfasts are very good. Then we left Pittsburg stopped at Fallingwater but on the way pulled over and went to sleep in our car in a parking lot for 1 hour. That recharged the batteries for just enough to get us to Breezewood, the ultimate travel/truck stop near the turnpike. We got a room at the Comfort Inn and crashed for two hours before going out to dinner. Breezewood seemed to have a wide choice of eating establishments and there is a nice diner there. Got to bed early and was back on the road nxt moring to Uncle Larrys place in Lebanon PA.

Getting back on subject; was the room worth the extra cost? I would say going to CHI definitely yes. Coming back to PGH I'd say coach would have probably done us just as well but we also like privacy and the bedroom or sleeper offers it.

 

[the_traveler]

boarded the train at Pittsburg at midnight ... then came back to the room to get some additio(n)al rest before the 10 AM arrival.

The CL must have been late that day, because the scheduled arrival is about 8:30 - and they usually stop serving breakfast around 7 or 7:30!

 

[chandj]

I do the trip from Pittsburgh to Chicago and back a couple of times a year and I always get a sleeper because I just love sleepers. I also like the fact that the attendant wakes me up and helps me get going for that 5 a.m. Pits arrival! Sleeper or coach, have a great trip.

 

[dlagrua]

boarded the train at Pittsburg at midnight ... then came back to the room to get some additio(n)al rest before the 10 AM arrival.

The CL must have been late that day, because the scheduled arrival is about 8:30 - and they usually stop serving breakfast around 7 or 7:30!

The Capitol limited always arrives in Pittsburg at 11:45 PM going Westbound to CHI. The Pennsylvanian arrives in Pittsbirgh around 8 or 8:30PM

 

[ALC Rail Writer]

Now I am confused...

 

[the_traveler]

The CL is SCHEDULED to depart PGH @ 11:59 PM and SCHEDULED to arrive in CHI @ 8:45 AM. They usually stop serving breakfast around South Bend (about 7:50 AM), so if you got up around 7 AM and showered - and it was on time - I highly doubt that you would have time to eat AND THEN rest some more before arrival at 8:45!

(I doubt you would even get breakfast, as the waiting list may be closed!)

 

[ALC Rail Writer]

Mind you that 8:45AM time is Central. You loose an hour when you pass into Indiana.

 

[the_traveler]

Very true, but IIRC SOB is still eastern time, so I don't think getting up at 7 and showering would give you time to eat - especially if there is a long waiting list!

 

[dlagrua]

The CL is SCHEDULED to depart PGH @ 11:59 PM and SCHEDULED to arrive in CHI @ 8:45 AM. They usually stop serving breakfast around South Bend (about 7:50 AM), so if you got up around 7 AM and showered - and it was on time - I highly doubt that you would have time to eat AND THEN rest some more before arrival at 8:45!

(I doubt you would even get breakfast, as the waiting list may be closed!)

On our trip on the CL from PGH to CHI this past June we had time to shower eat breakfast and relax for another hour before arriving in Chicago. You gain an hour on this trip. 8:45 AM Chicago time (CST) is 9:45 EST. Looking back we probably got up at 7 AM EST showered and had breakfast. Then we spent some time in the sightseer lounge and got a final hour of sleep before pulling into Union Station. When we arrived in Chicago our watches read 9:45 AM at which time we reset them to 8:45 CT and gained an hour. The trip going Westward was relaxing but coming back to Pittsburg and arriving at 5 AM was not restful. The 4 AM wake up call is a killer and there is no time for breakfast, a shower or anything else!!!!

 

[the_traveler]

but coming back to Pittsburg and arriving at 5 AM was not restful. The 4 AM wake up call is a killer and there is no time for breakfast, a shower or anything else!!!!

OK that makes more sense. Coming east, you would not have time for breakfast, especially since the Dining Car does not even open until about an hour after arrival in PGH!

 

[ALC Rail Writer]

but coming back to Pittsburg and arriving at 5 AM was not restful. The 4 AM wake up call is a killer and there is no time for breakfast, a shower or anything else!!!!

OK that makes more sense. Coming east, you would not have time for breakfast, especially since the Dining Car does not even open until about an hour after arrival in PGH!

Even when late they won't open it until after PGH unless they're over two hours down.

 

[Oldsmoboi]

I'm making this exact trip in February. I was going to get a Roomette for the two of us, but now we've added one more so I just think it's going to be 3 of us in coach with some sleeping pills.

Edit: I forgot to ask, are the lower coach seats better for sleeping than upper ones?

 

[Big Iron]

We did the exact same trip on the CL last June in a bedroom. We parked across the street in the new parking authority lot and boarded the train at Pittsburg at midnight. We went right to our room and hit the sack at about 12:30 AM. We got up around 7 AM showered had breakfast and then came back to the room to get some addditioal rest before the 10 AM arrival. It was a comfortable trip going.

The return trip left Chicago around 6:00 PM and we were immediately escorted to the dining room to have dinner. We finished dinner around 7 and them went back to our room and tried to get to sleep around 9PM but it was too early for us. We got very little sleep that night. We arrived in Pittsburg at 5:15 AM and headed over to Delucas Restaurant in the strip district for breakfast. That place opens early and the breakfasts are very good. Then we left Pittsburg stopped at Fallingwater but on the way pulled over and went to sleep in our car in a parking lot for 1 hour. That recharged the batteries for just enough to get us to Breezewood, the ultimate travel/truck stop near the turnpike. We got a room at the Comfort Inn and crashed for two hours before going out to dinner. Breezewood seemed to have a wide choice of eating establishments and there is a nice diner there. Got to bed early and was back on the road nxt moring to Uncle Larrys place in Lebanon PA.

Getting back on subject; was the room worth the extra cost? I would say going to CHI definitely yes. Coming back to PGH I'd say coach would have probably done us just as well but we also like privacy and the bedroom or sleeper offers it.

If you make this run again try stopping at the Summit Diner just off the Somerset exit of the PA Turnpike. It amazes me to this day, having gone through Breezewood for 40 years, that it has not been bypassed with a direct interchange to I-70 from the Turnpike.

 

[dlagrua]

If you make this run again try stopping at the Summit Diner just off the Somerset exit of the PA Turnpike. It amazes me to this day, having gone through Breezewood for 40 years, that it has not been bypassed with a direct interchange to I-70 from the Turnpike.

Thanks for the recommendation. We will have to try that diner. We may pick up the CL at PGH again one day. Pittsburgh is a couple of hours away from where my wifes uncle lives and we kind of make this our highway break with a couple hour visit. We picked PGH as the location to pick up the CL as we didn't want to travel all the way to WAS to get it or take the Pennsylvanian out of Philadelphia and have to wait 3+ hours for the CL. Also PGH has a nice parking garage directly across the street that offers more affordable long term parking and has 24 hr security. You can also find some pretty god food in Pittsburg even at 5 AM in the morning when the CL gets in.

As for Breezewood its only 1 mile North of the PA Turnpike and it still remains a virtual city travel stop. Hundreds of trucks still stops there and even if a bypass was built, I would venture to say that truckers would still stop there for fuel, food and a nights rest. That place is like a bright lighted oasis at night and old Rt 22 still goes right through it.