train to Yellowstone National Park? (car rental in Shelby MT)

On Sat, 18 Oct 2003 17:33:45 -0400, (RJ) wrote:

Railroadman wrote:

On Fri, 17 Oct 2003 20:45:37 -0400, (RJ) wrote:

Railroadman wrote:

we will probably
fly from Jacksonville, FL to Denver and ride Amtrak to Salt Lake City,

Serious question: why not just fly to SLC?
And miss all of that nice railroad mileage through the Rockies -- no
way Jose'.

Fair enough.

Besides flying to me is something I endure, not something
I like or do by choice,

The incremental time between a FL-Denver and FL-SLC flight can't be
much, assuming the same number of connections.

Probably not, but I just like to ride the train. If I could get good
connections by rail, I would do it all the way, which is why my
personal lobbying is for a direct Florida to Chicago route.

Railroadman

(Railroadman) wrote:

Amtrak has two vastly different price structures. If
you are willing to go coach (which I am not), it is rather cheap if
you can stand to fast for a few days. Sleeper is about double coach,
even triple if just one person, but includes many amenities.

Railroadman

The standard room is a better value, supposedly. One of the passengers on
the trip I took back in July said two standard rooms was cheaper than one
deluxe room... It's even better if you can really plan ahead....



Kennedy

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On 20 Oct 2003 23:37:17 GMT, Kennedy (no longer not on The Haggis!)
wrote:

(Railroadman) wrote:

Amtrak has two vastly different price structures. If
you are willing to go coach (which I am not), it is rather cheap if
you can stand to fast for a few days. Sleeper is about double coach,
even triple if just one person, but includes many amenities.

Railroadman

The standard room is a better value, supposedly. One of the passengers on
the trip I took back in July said two standard rooms was cheaper than one
deluxe room... It's even better if you can really plan ahead....



Kennedy

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Usenet Newsgroup Service New Rate! $9.95/Month 50GB

Planning ahead is the real key. The usual price of economy room for
two from Jacksonville to Houston RT is around $975. Last year, I did
the trip alone and it was $750, the only difference being my wife's
base fare.
This year, by purchasing the ticket in Feb., and leaving by August 28,
the RT was $475 for the two of us, total, so yes, planning ahead may
save a bunch. I qualify for Senior Citizen rate, 15% off, but that is
only on the coach portion, and the wife (and I) have NARP membership,
so through that (she is way short of senior yet) she gets 10%, but the
special beat all of that by a mile.
As a retired railroad employee, some folks think I get a discount, or
even a pass, but Southern did not opt into Amtrak in 1971, so I don't
qualify, even though most of my career was with CSX. Even if I did
qualifty it is only for a 50% discount on the coach portion - and then
it is stand-by only, so for all practical purposes you cannot get
sleeper, even if you can pay for it on a employee discount.

Railroadman

"Railroadman" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 18 Oct 2003 17:33:45 -0400, (RJ) wrote:

snip

Probably not, but I just like to ride the train. If I could get good
connections by rail, I would do it all the way, which is why my
personal lobbying is for a direct Florida to Chicago route.

Please tell me that your route would go through Nashville TN......

Z
(*LOVE* to be able to get a rail trip to Nashville instead of the 17 hour
drive)

On Tue, 21 Oct 2003 00:02:32 -0400, "Zed"
wrote:


"Railroadman" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 18 Oct 2003 17:33:45 -0400, (RJ) wrote:

snip

Probably not, but I just like to ride the train. If I could get good
connections by rail, I would do it all the way, which is why my
personal lobbying is for a direct Florida to Chicago route.

Please tell me that your route would go through Nashville TN......

Z
(*LOVE* to be able to get a rail trip to Nashville instead of the 17 hour
drive)


----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Being originally from Nashville, (Vandy, 1960), I should hope so. It
doesn't take me 17 hours though from Jacksonville to Nashville, I
usually figure about a 11.5-12 hour drive. I stopped going through
Atlanta, it is quicker to go through Montgomery and take 231, I
believe it is from there to I-10 at Marianna, FL. My preferred route
would be anything that would avoid using NS. I would push for
Jax-Waycross-Manchester-Atlanta-Chatt-Nashville-Evansville-Chic.
myself. But as long as Bush the train killer is in the WH, it's not
going to happen anyway.

Railroadman

A couple things to be aware of:

All but the NORTH enterance (Gardiner, Montana) close Nov.3, so a drive from
Salt Lake would mean you'll have to drive "around" the park to get in.
Rental cars in many of the smaller locations, and most in Montana and
Wyoming, don't offer unlimited miles. Check closely! A car you get in
Denver with unlimited may only come with 100mi/day if rented in wyoming.
If renting in Salt Lake, you may not have to get to the airport. Some of
the rental companies have downtown locations. Or try Enterprise and see if
they'll deliver to you at the train station!
And if you do rent at the airport, be sure to tell them that you didn't come
in on a plane! There is often a surcharge (10%-20%) for airport rentals,
but I beleive it is waived if you didn't arrive by air.

Mark

"Railroadman" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 17 Oct 2003 17:23:17 +0100, "Keith Willshaw"
wrote:


"LJB" wrote in message
...


Shelby, MT would be the most convenient, decent mid-day arrival and
departure times, and a straight shot down I-15 to the south, the only
problem is that there doesn't seem to be a car rental agency in the
town.
Is that true, or am I just not looking hard enough? The ride on the
California Zephyr would be more scenic than the Empire builder between
Chicago and Shelby. Provo would be a good jumping off stop, but again,
I'm
not sure if there are convenient car rentals.


Renting a car in Provo shouldnt be problem, its a pretty sizable city.

Any suggesstions? I'll probably end up flying to Salt Lake city, but
it
might be nice to consider the alternative of taking the train.




Shelby is a pretty small place with no car rental agencies
I recall. Havre MT which also has an Amtrak Station has a
budget car rental office though.

Alternatively the Amtrak timetable shows a bus service
to Great Falls operated by Rimrock Trailways

I'd check this out very carefully though, Amtrak hasnt got the
greatest reputation on earth for time keeping and I doubt its
a frequent service.

Keith

---------------------------------------------
The wife and I are planning on taking a similar trip in the near
future. If Amtrak survives George the train basher, we will probably
fly from Jacksonville, FL to Denver and ride Amtrak to Salt Lake City,
where I am sure there is no problem renting cars although one might
have to take a cab to the airport, which is pretty close to downtown.
Another alternative we are looking at, probably a lot pricier is to
somehow get to Sand Point, ID, and take the tour train from there to
Livingston, or wherever it terminates and then take their bus charter
to Yellowstone. Probably need to take out a second mortgage to do
it, but-------

Railroadman

"LJB" wrote in message
...
Yeah, I know Amtrak doesn't go anywhere near the park, but then, neither do
the airlines. (The closest airport with scheduled service is Bozeman,
MT. -- Oh, yes, and Jackson, WY, but I'm planning a winter trip, and West
Yellowstone seems to be the jumping-off point for the snowcoaches, Park
roads are closed to cars in the winter.)

"http://www.nps.gov/yell/planvisit/todo/ranger/concessionprograms.htm"

The snow coaches also leave from Flagg Ranch near Jackson.
The easiest way is to fly to Jackson, WY from SLC. But renting
a car in SLC and driving to Flagg Ranch is also an option. It's
a longer snow coach ride from Flagg Ranch than from West
Yellowstone (I've done it from both locations). When I went
in from West Yellowstone we drove all the way from California
as it was just too complicated and too expensive to deal with
flying anyplace close.

"LJB" wrote in message ...
Yeah, I know Amtrak doesn't go anywhere near the park, but then, neither do
the airlines. (The closest airport with scheduled service is Bozeman,
MT. -- Oh, yes, and Jackson, WY, but I'm planning a winter trip, and West
Yellowstone seems to be the jumping-off point for the snowcoaches, Park
roads are closed to cars in the winter.)

Any suggesstions? I'll probably end up flying to Salt Lake city, but it
might be nice to consider the alternative of taking the train.


These aren't closer, but both Billings MT and Pocatello ID have car
rental agencies. Horizon Air serves both airports; Billings has
service from other airlines as well.

I have rented a car in Pocatello and driven to Yellowstone. You can go
two ways. One is to approach Jackson from the south; the other is to
approach Teton Village WY from the west by way of the Teton (I think)
Pass. Both ways take you to Teton NP; from there you would drive north
to Yellowstone. Since another lister says that the southern entrance
to Yellowstone will be closed starting on November 3, you would need
to hurry.