Rail travel cross country

In article ,
Mark Brader wrote:
One alternative would be to stop off at a suitable point in Colorado
or Utah, rent a car for a day or two, and drive to one or more national
parks or other scenic attractions.

Winter might complicate this, but stopping in Granby for Rocky
Mountain National Park is nice. Or Glenwood Springs for a more
relaxing hot springs resort experience. The Utah stops are not as
convenient.

And if you want to rent a car, make sure it's possible at the place
you choose: some stops in the West are at quite small places.

Not only the West. The stop I take to visit my parents is Waterloo
Indiana (WTI), and the "station" consists of one of those plastic
bus stop shelters, and a pay phone. Not even a portable bathroom.

Granby has a local rental car company, Avalanche. They were amazingly
professional for a nowhere town. You wouldn't even need a car to
have a nice time in Glenwood Springs.

I'm not sure what sort of sleeping cars they have between New York
and Chicago

The Lakeshore has "Viewliners" ... they have some really snazzy
(i.e. not so old) deluxe rooms, and the economy rooms are much
like on the Superliners (except the whole car is one story instead
of two). The biggest difference/curiosity is that the Viewliner
economy rooms have a toilet in every room, which converts into steps
for the upper bunk.

The regular train seats really aren't that bad for sleeping if you
want to save money. There's quite a bit of space.

In article ,
Mark Brader wrote:
One alternative would be to stop off at a suitable point in Colorado
or Utah, rent a car for a day or two, and drive to one or more national
parks or other scenic attractions.

Winter might complicate this, but stopping in Granby for Rocky
Mountain National Park is nice. Or Glenwood Springs for a more
relaxing hot springs resort experience. The Utah stops are not as
convenient.

And if you want to rent a car, make sure it's possible at the place
you choose: some stops in the West are at quite small places.

Not only the West. The stop I take to visit my parents is Waterloo
Indiana (WTI), and the "station" consists of one of those plastic
bus stop shelters, and a pay phone. Not even a portable bathroom.

Granby has a local rental car company, Avalanche. They were amazingly
professional for a nowhere town. You wouldn't even need a car to
have a nice time in Glenwood Springs.

I'm not sure what sort of sleeping cars they have between New York
and Chicago

The Lakeshore has "Viewliners" ... they have some really snazzy
(i.e. not so old) deluxe rooms, and the economy rooms are much
like on the Superliners (except the whole car is one story instead
of two). The biggest difference/curiosity is that the Viewliner
economy rooms have a toilet in every room, which converts into steps
for the upper bunk.

The regular train seats really aren't that bad for sleeping if you
want to save money. There's quite a bit of space.

On Sat, 16 Oct 2004 22:50:17 -0000, (Mark Brader)
wrote:


If the first train is on time, this will give you a few hours in
Chicago in any case. But I must say "if". Be aware that with the
exception of the Northeast Corridor (Boston - New York - Washington),
Amtrak trains operate over railways whose principal business is
freight, and this means that while they can keep time, they are
also subject to possible serious delays.

Not too long ago I took my morning constitutional through
Tucson's downtown, taking me by the newly renovated old train
station, now used my AMTRAK. I went in to check it out, and
noticed about eight people in the waiting room. Now the only
passenger train through here is the Sunset Limited, connecting
Los Angeles and Florida, and which departs each way every other
day. A sign board noted the day when there would be trains, and
there were no trains on Friday; nevertheless, it ws a Friday
morning and these people were waiting for a train. I asked the
AMTRAK agent what they were waiing ro, and was told they were
waiting for last night's train which was supposed to have arrived
Thursday evening at 21:29.

Anyone used to the promptitude of European rail travel had better
be prepared for a more than leisurely trip on AMTRAK.

************* DAVE HATUNEN ) *************
* Tucson Arizona, out where the cacti grow *
* My typos & mispellings are intentional copyright traps *

On Sat, 16 Oct 2004 22:50:17 -0000, (Mark Brader)
wrote:


If the first train is on time, this will give you a few hours in
Chicago in any case. But I must say "if". Be aware that with the
exception of the Northeast Corridor (Boston - New York - Washington),
Amtrak trains operate over railways whose principal business is
freight, and this means that while they can keep time, they are
also subject to possible serious delays.

Not too long ago I took my morning constitutional through
Tucson's downtown, taking me by the newly renovated old train
station, now used my AMTRAK. I went in to check it out, and
noticed about eight people in the waiting room. Now the only
passenger train through here is the Sunset Limited, connecting
Los Angeles and Florida, and which departs each way every other
day. A sign board noted the day when there would be trains, and
there were no trains on Friday; nevertheless, it ws a Friday
morning and these people were waiting for a train. I asked the
AMTRAK agent what they were waiing ro, and was told they were
waiting for last night's train which was supposed to have arrived
Thursday evening at 21:29.

Anyone used to the promptitude of European rail travel had better
be prepared for a more than leisurely trip on AMTRAK.

************* DAVE HATUNEN ) *************
* Tucson Arizona, out where the cacti grow *
* My typos & mispellings are intentional copyright traps *

In article ,
Hatunen wrote:

[...] Now the only
passenger train through here is the Sunset Limited, connecting
Los Angeles and Florida, and which departs each way every other
day. A sign board noted the day when there would be trains, and
there were no trains on Friday; nevertheless, it ws a Friday
morning and these people were waiting for a train. I asked the
AMTRAK agent what they were waiing ro, and was told they were
waiting for last night's train which was supposed to have arrived
Thursday evening at 21:29.

The Sunset Limited is probably Amtrak's worst-performing train as far as
sticking to schedule is concerned, thanks to the freight congestion on
that route. I've seen stories recently of Amtrak having to turn westbound
trains around at El Paso or in Arizona or someplace like that, and bus the
passengers to LA, so that the eastbound run could get back on schedule.

And then last month those hurricanes in Florida made things worse. They
had to suspend service between New Orleans and Orlando.

Anyone used to the promptitude of European rail travel had better
be prepared for a more than leisurely trip on AMTRAK.

Very true, at least away from the Northeast Corridor, although not usually
as bad as the Sunset Limited. It's always a good idea to call the train
station or check the Amtrak web site for the status of your train before
going to the station to catch it.

--
Jon Bell Presbyterian College
Dept. of Physics and Computer Science Clinton, South Carolina USA

Jon Bell filted:

The Sunset Limited is probably Amtrak's worst-performing train as far as
sticking to schedule is concerned, thanks to the freight congestion on
that route. I've seen stories recently of Amtrak having to turn westbound
trains around at El Paso or in Arizona or someplace like that, and bus the
passengers to LA, so that the eastbound run could get back on schedule.

They don't even pass through Phoenix any more...last time I used them they still
did, and the changeover crew for the westbound scheduled at 10pm didn't even
show up at the station until after midnight....

From there to LA and then the Coast Starlight to Seattle, then retracing the
same routes back about a week later...two hours late is considered "on time",
five hours late is "running a little behind"....r

Jon Bell filted:

The Sunset Limited is probably Amtrak's worst-performing train as far as
sticking to schedule is concerned, thanks to the freight congestion on
that route. I've seen stories recently of Amtrak having to turn westbound
trains around at El Paso or in Arizona or someplace like that, and bus the
passengers to LA, so that the eastbound run could get back on schedule.

They don't even pass through Phoenix any more...last time I used them they still
did, and the changeover crew for the westbound scheduled at 10pm didn't even
show up at the station until after midnight....

From there to LA and then the Coast Starlight to Seattle, then retracing the
same routes back about a week later...two hours late is considered "on time",
five hours late is "running a little behind"....r

In article ,
R H Draney wrote:
From there to LA and then the Coast Starlight to Seattle, then
retracing the same routes back about a week later...two hours late
is considered "on time", five hours late is "running a little
behind"....r

That fits my experience in recent years for any of the cross-country
routes. The Lakeshore is generally a little better.

A dozen years ago or so, the trains were more or less on time. Or
maybe I just got lucky.

In article ,
R H Draney wrote:
From there to LA and then the Coast Starlight to Seattle, then
retracing the same routes back about a week later...two hours late
is considered "on time", five hours late is "running a little
behind"....r

That fits my experience in recent years for any of the cross-country
routes. The Lakeshore is generally a little better.

A dozen years ago or so, the trains were more or less on time. Or
maybe I just got lucky.