railpass rules

[pablo]

My friend and i,are 2 retired UK firefighters.We have always spoke of going coast to coast in the usa so have decided to purchase a national usa railpass to achieve this.We have a few questions regarding this trip and hope that someone on the forum can answer them. 1.If we book a sleeper on the chicago to san fransisco route[2nights i beleive]can we get off the train midway,stay afew nights ,reboard and still have our sleeper entitilment.2.Would we have difficulties getting on a train if we just turned up at a station without having booked first.3If we started our coast to coast trip in NY would 3to4wks be enough to do this trip plus give us a few stayovers in different citys and return to NY for our flight home.

 

[gswager]

1) It counts as two seperate trip. You'll need a ticket from Point A to Point B. Then you'll need another ticket from Point B to Point C. Sleeper during summertime is in high demand, so you'll have to book several months in advanced. Summer season traditionally is the heaviest demand.

2) If the trains is reserved seats, then you'll have to buy tickets in advanced, preferrably few days in advanced if the stations are unstaffed. If the stations are staffed, then you can come up and buy tickets on the day of departure, at least one hour in advanced.

3) 3-4 weeks is plenty of time for your trip in US. Remember that the trains is usually late, around 3 to 4 hours late, so be prepared. US trains are not very time efficient than in Europe because the tracks are being used by passengers and numerous freights.

 

[pablo]

gswager

-----------

Thanks for clarifing those questions for me.I hope to do this trip in apr/may06.I will post all the details of my trip once we get back home.I only recently found this forum and have found it really helpful so keep up the good work.

 

[gswager]

If you have any further questions, let us know and we'll be happy to answer! Good luck with your trip!