Tis the season: Favorite Winter Train Rides, Not limited to Amtrak.

[bgiaquin]

Winter is a great season for train riding. It is also a popular season for train riding. For many people, including myself, it is their favorite season to take a ride on Amtrak or a tourist railroad. So, lets talk about our favorite trains to ride in the winter, not just Amtrak. My favorite Amtrak Winter ride would be the Empire Builder. Non-Amtrak, my favorite would have to be the Durango & Silverton NG RR in Colorado.

 

[Bob Dylan]

I'll Pick VIAs "The Canadian"! I rode it this past Feb. for a Really Great Fare and I'd do it Again Anytime in Winter! :wub: As for Amtrak Routes, The North Bound Coast Starlight is Pretty Nice in Winter as is the California Zephyr!

 

[Notelvis]

My most memorable 'winter rides' were - in order.....

1) Spending the day in the Park Car dome in VIA's eastbound Canadian through an Albertan blizzard in April 2004..... we were on-time and moving at regular speeds all day. I remember telling my wife that if we were facing similar weather on most Amtrak routes that we would crawl along at 10mph for a couple of hours and then grind to a stop for several more hours on account of frozen switches!

2) Had a phenomenal daytrip eastbound on the Cardinal from Charleston, WV to Clifton Forge, VA the day after Thanksgiving in maybe 2000 or 2001. The train still had the superliner consist at the time and it had snowed the day before but was sunny the dat we rode. Spending the day in the surprisingly uncrowded lounge car seeing blue skies and snowbound West Virginina was very memorable.

3) Maybe around 2005 or 2006 I had a solo ride in March from Sacramento to Salt Lake City on the California Zephyr. The snow drifts around Donnor Pass were up to the crossbucks at the grade crossings. Tremendous ride.

 

[jis]

Alaska Rail Road's Winter Aurora Service hands down. I have at least not traveled on anything on rail that comes even close to it in winter rail travel experience. And it is actually a critical lifeline for those that live on the Talkeetna range. Spectacular views of Denali, and spectacularly cold snow and ice covered mountain scenery all around.

 

[Devil's Advocate]

Winter is a great season for train riding. It is also a popular season for train riding. For many people, including myself, it is their favorite season to take a ride on Amtrak or a tourist railroad. So, lets talk about our favorite trains to ride in the winter, not just Amtrak. My favorite Amtrak Winter ride would be the Empire Builder. Non-Amtrak, my favorite would have to be the Durango & Silverton NG RR in Colorado.

Amtrak in winter feels like it's custom tailored for cold blooded geriatrics who would freeze to death if the temperature dropped below the mid 80's. When the AC is too cold you can turn on your personal heating vent or bundle up. When the heater is too hot what do you do? I tried talking to the SCA who told me to "turn on" the non-existent "cooler" in my room. I asked if I could switch to another room that didn't have the sun coming in. No dice. Even after showing them that all the settings were as "cool" as they could possibly go he just shrugged and said nothing else could be done.

 

[MARC Rider]

If you can get some good snow cover and a cold snap long enough to freeze the Hudson, I recommend an Empire Service ride, NYP to Albany, or even a Metro North ride to Poughkeepsie will give you most of the scenery. If you can continue west, views of the frozen Mohawk River are pretty scenic, too. When I did the ride, I gota bonus of watching ice boats race on the frozen Hudson. Plus, and additional bonus of an engine breakdown north of Hudson, and being rescued by a Turboliner.

 

[gmushial]

Alaska Rail Road's Winter Aurora Service hands down. I have at least not traveled on anything on rail that comes even close to it in winter rail travel experience. And it is actually a critical lifeline for those that live on the Talkeetna range. Spectacular views of Denali, and spectacularly cold snow and ice covered mountain scenery all around.

YES!!!

 

[Ocala Mike]

Right around this time of year back in 1966, I came home on leave from Korea to arrange for my wife to come over at my expense for the remainder of my tour there. It was necessary for us to go to the Korean Consulate in San Francisco to obtain a visa for her. As she was living with her parents in Council Bluffs, IA at the time, we wound up on UP's "City of Everything" going from Omaha to Oakland via Ogden, UT in coach. I remember Ogden, UT very well because the train stopped there for dinner, maybe an hour-long stop, and it was bitter cold out. I remember traversing the Donner Pass with its many snow sheds, and there was plenty of snow around, for sure. I'm positive about the timing, because we still have her passport with the visa stamped December 14, 1966, my 25th birthday (I will be 72 this Fri.).

 

[Ocala Mike]

a Metro North ride to Poughkeepsie

Hate to be flip, but make sure the crew is well rested, please!

 

[SP&S]

The Zephyr through the Donner Pass is one fine ride in the middle of winter.

 

[jim]

I have a trip planned for early March. Chicago r/t on the EB, CS, CZ.

Really looking forward to assume scenic winter views! I'm hoping for at least one day of serious snowfall. If we're delayed, we're delayed. No big deal!

 

[tricia]

In early February, I'm very much looking forward to escorting three elderly relatives (ages 81 to 88) on the Canadian westbound, from Toronto to Vancouver. Hope to see northern lights as well as beautiful snowy landscapes. From Vancouver, we'll take Amtrak to Portland for a couple of days of seafood and ocean scenery (cozy oceanfront houses on the Oregon coast aren't insanely expensive during winter stormwatching season). Then two of my relatives will fly home to TX, and I'll travel eastbound with the third on the EB....

Trains are a GREAT way for older folks who aren't as spry as they used to be, to enjoy the beauty of winter weather without having to wade through the snow.

 

[NS VIA Fan]

VIA’s Canadian…….I did it last week (full trip report coming shortly). Four days on a warm and cozy train through record cold on the prairies. Here’s the time-keeping and it wasn’t the weather that delayed us…..just the constant meets with CN freights!

Toronto: on-time departure

Hornepayne: 40 minutes late

Winnipeg: on-time arrival and departure

Edmonton and Jasper: 3 hours late

Vancouver: arrived a half-hour early

 

[Bob Dylan]

Your Pictures Illustrate my Post Very Well! Go via VIA on The Canadian for your Winter Train Trip!