Most scenic route from east to west

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BeeLady

Train Attendant
AU Supporting Member
Joined
Jul 7, 2021
Messages
26
Location
Charlottesville, VA
Hi, We live in Charlottesville Virginia and want to take a train from here to LA next October for a family wedding. We are novices at cross country travel being only NE Regional and Auto Train users. We do know that the Cardinal comes through here on its way to Chicago where we could catch a train to the west. But..... what is the most scenic route? Which train to take? And I've heard nightmarish things like you have to get up at 2 am to switch from one train to another. Is there not one train From E to W? We'd be willing to train it to DC or NYC if it meant no changes. As you can see we are newbies at a long haul.

If we really could have our wish, we'd stop in SLC for a few days to visit more family there.

Any suggestions would be most welcomes.

Thank you,
 
The Cardinal heading for west would be the easiest way for you to get to Chicago. It would arrive in Charlottesville in the early afternoon and get you to Chicago the next morning. (Assuming its running on time, of course!) You'd then have a layover of a few hours until your train heading west. Four trains that leave from Chicago eventually get to the West Coast: the Empire Builder (Seattle/Portland), the California Zephyr (San Francisco Bay), the Southwest Chief (LA), and the Texas Eagle (1 through sleeper car gets separated from the train once it reaches Texas and attached to the Sunset Limited, which runs from New Orleans to LA).

I've taken both the Empire Builder and the California Zephyr. If you want to visit family in SLC, then you'd take the Zephyr. The scenery from Denver on westward is amazing. You'd get into SLC at night (again, assuming running on time) on Day 2 of the trip out of Chicago; around 11 P.M. Mountain Time if I remember correctly. You'd be departing at a similar time whenever you continued on to California. Once in the Bay Area, you'd have to catch the Coast Starlight going south. I'm not sure about its departure times in relation to the arrival of the Zephyr.

If you decide to just go directly from Chicago to LA, you could take either the Southwest Chief or the Texas Eagle. The Southwest Chief is the more direct of the two, because you aren't going through Texas first. I can't personally speak about the scenery because I haven't taken either train; a friend did take the Chief a few years ago, and she very much enjoyed the scenery (and posted a few pictures online that looked great).

Others can correct me if I'm wrong, but I think another option for you in Charlottesville would be to take the Crescent to New Orleans, then board the Sunset Limited to LA. I believe this would involve an overnight stay in New Orleans for you, and you wouldn't be able to stop in SLC because the Sunset's route is very far south.

Hope this helps!
 
P.S. I also can't speak directly on the scenery going west on either the Cardinal or the Crescent for the first leg of your journey. From the videos I've seen on YouTube (check out trip reports from YouTube users like Simply Railway), scenery-wise your better bet is probably the Cardinal.
 
The Cardinal is the best of the East Coast to Chicago trains, scenery-wise. The Zephyr is often called the best scenery train in the system, though the desert scenery on the Southwest Chief is no slouch either. I bet you'd be happy with either of those options, which then makes the choice easier--which is most convenient, which is cheaper, etc.
 
One catch in trying to get all the best scenery into one trip is that the California Zephyr to LA requires an overnight layover for the Coast Starlight connection. If you don't have time for sightseeing the SF Bay area you would have one night in Emeryville.

If you want to go into SF there's an easy way that isn't well known: proceed from Emeryville to Oakland on one of the unreserved regional California Amtrak trains. (Your ticket will likely show the time of the last train but you can catch an earlier one.) There are three hotels/motels with a range of prices and services around Jack London Square and the ferry ride from there into the City is something that you will remember for the rest of your life. Continue from Oakland to LA on the beautiful Coast Line.
 
From joshM:"Once in the Bay Area, you'd have to catch the Coast Starlight going south. I'm not sure about its departure times in relation to the arrival of the Zephyr.'

You would have to spend the night in the Bay area as the Coast Starlight leaves EMY at 8:20 am and Oakland at 8:50, the Zephyr does not arrive in EMY until 4:10 pm IF on time! The one time I rode it into EMY we were just over an hour EARLY. Amtrak long distance schedule are well padded with recovery time, but they are still often late!
 
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If you want the easiest most convenient route, then take the Cardinal train to Chicago, which will arrive around 8am to 10 am into Chicago. You transfer to the Southwest Chief train which departs at 2.50pm the same day, direct to LA union station.
The Zephyr from Chicago is a more scenic route, but you would have to transfer again, as mentioned above, to reach LA.
 
Willbridge said:
If you want to go into SF there's an easy way that isn't well known: proceed from Emeryville to Oakland on one of the unreserved regional California Amtrak trains. (Your ticket will likely show the time of the last train but you can catch an earlier one.) There are three hotels/motels with a range of prices and services around Jack London Square and the ferry ride from there into the City is something that you will remember for the rest of your life. Continue from Oakland to LA on the beautiful Coast Line.
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Whoa! Thanks for this. I didn’t realize there was a ferry from Oakland. That’s got to be a way better option than Bart!
 
Josh M said:
The Cardinal heading for west would be the easiest way for you to get to Chicago. It would arrive in Charlottesville in the early afternoon and get you to Chicago the next morning. (Assuming its running on time, of course!) You'd then have a layover of a few hours until your train heading west. Four trains that leave from Chicago eventually get to the West Coast: the Empire Builder (Seattle/Portland), the California Zephyr (San Francisco Bay), the Southwest Chief (LA), and the Texas Eagle (1 through sleeper car gets separated from the train once it reaches Texas and attached to the Sunset Limited, which runs from New Orleans to LA).

I've taken both the Empire Builder and the California Zephyr. If you want to visit family in SLC, then you'd take the Zephyr. The scenery from Denver on westward is amazing. You'd get into SLC at night (again, assuming running on time) on Day 2 of the trip out of Chicago; around 11 P.M. Mountain Time if I remember correctly. You'd be departing at a similar time whenever you continued on to California. Once in the Bay Area, you'd have to catch the Coast Starlight going south. I'm not sure about its departure times in relation to the arrival of the Zephyr.

If you decide to just go directly from Chicago to LA, you could take either the Southwest Chief or the Texas Eagle. The Southwest Chief is the more direct of the two, because you aren't going through Texas first. I can't personally speak about the scenery because I haven't taken either train; a friend did take the Chief a few years ago, and she very much enjoyed the scenery (and posted a few pictures online that looked great).

Others can correct me if I'm wrong, but I think another option for you in Charlottesville would be to take the Crescent to New Orleans, then board the Sunset Limited to LA. I believe this would involve an overnight stay in New Orleans for you, and you wouldn't be able to stop in SLC because the Sunset's route is very far south.

Hope this helps!
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As a reminder, the Cardinal is a 3-day-a-week train so it limits one's travel days. The Capitol Limited might be an alternative - at least in one direction.

I've taken both the Chief and the Sunset multiple times. My vote is for the chief. For scenery, the Zephyr beats them both hands down but the Chief is distinctly superior to the Sunset. As to cost, the Sunset via NOL using the Crescent might be cheaper than the Chief or Zephyr as it is often less crowded so if money is an issue, then this route should be considered. However, like the Cardinal, it is only a 3-day-a-week train and is a longer trip.

Of course for a round trip, one should try two routes just for the experience.
 
My vote would be to do cardinal to Chicago - zephyr to slc (to do your stopover in SLC) zephyr slc to emy. Then follow that with the coast starlight to LA. The coast starlight from Emeryville down to LA is also a very scenic route. If you are doing train round trip do the Chief back.
 
Willbridge said:
One catch in trying to get all the best scenery into one trip is that the California Zephyr to LA requires an overnight layover for the Coast Starlight connection. If you don't have time for sightseeing the SF Bay area you would have one night in Emeryville.

If you want to go into SF there's an easy way that isn't well known: proceed from Emeryville to Oakland on one of the unreserved regional California Amtrak trains. (Your ticket will likely show the time of the last train but you can catch an earlier one.) There are three hotels/motels with a range of prices and services around Jack London Square and the ferry ride from there into the City is something that you will remember for the rest of your life. Continue from Oakland to LA on the beautiful Coast Line.
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Thank you for bringing up the ferry from Oakland to San Francisco. I remember the ferry rides and Fisherman’s Wharf, but not the train rides from Sacramento to Oakland way back in 1944.
 
So first of all: you have to change trains at least once. Normally in Chicago, though you have an alternative in New Orleans. Your train change in Chicago will be during the day (arrive in the morning, leave in the afternoon).

The Cardinal only runs three days a week. If it works with your schedule, the Cardinal running directly from Charlottesville to Chicago is definitely your best choice, both in terms of scenery and in terms of directness.

If you need to travel on a different day, you can take a train to DC, and change trains in DC (during the day) to the Capitol Limited, which runs overnight from DC to Chicago.

(The 2AM train change you've heard about is for people changing trains at Pittsburgh when going from Philadelphia to Chicago; it is annoying but it's basically only on that one route.)

Once you're in Chicago, the direct route is on the Southwest Chief from Chicago to Los Angeles. It's very pretty.

You can also take the slightly longer route with the California Zephyr and Coast Starlight, but you have to stay overnight in either SF or Sacramento.

If you choose the New Orleans route instead of the Chicago route, you have to stay overnight. Take the Crescent from Charlottesville to New Orleans, stay overnight, then take the Sunset Limited from New Orleans to Chicago. Again, the Sunset Limited only runs three days a week, so you have to check whether this works with your schedule.

It was MUCH easier to work out these options when Amtrak published timetables, which in a feat of spectacular incompetence they stopped doing a couple of months ago.
 
niemi24s said:
Not so. You could also spend the night in Sacramento (SAC) instead of the Bay Area. SAC is home of the California State Railroad Museum.

Here's a link to Amtraks route map to help in your planning: https://www.amtrak.com/content/dam/...lic/documents/Maps/Amtrak-System-Map-1018.pdf
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I jumped to the conclusion that not everyone would want to catch Train 11 at dawn in Sacramento. I've enjoyed that museum myself but there are limits to what I would ask non-railfans to do.
 
Willbridge said:
I jumped to the conclusion that not everyone would want to catch Train 11 at dawn in Sacramento. I've enjoyed that museum myself but there are limits to what I would ask non-railfans to do.
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You can also ride the Texas Eagle #421 from Chicago to LA, it leaves Chicago @ 145pm, ( 2 Days/ 3Nights)but only runs 3 days a week all the way to LA via San Antonio where the Thru Cars( Coach and Sleeper) are connected to the Sunset Ltd #1.
 
Thank you all so much for your wonderful replies. I am cutting and pasting them to a document as we get closer to the time we need to make reservations. Actually, when might that be? I notice that as of today, July 15, there are not that many sleeper car reservations left. Someone once told me that roomettes across from each other might be less expensive than a bedroom (which we like because of the in room bathroom). But.....we approach 80 the upper berth thing might get to be too hard for me (impossible for my husband). What are your thoughts? Thank you again.
 
neroden said:
[...]
If you choose the New Orleans route instead of the Chicago route, you have to stay overnight. Take the Crescent from Charlottesville to New Orleans, stay overnight, then take the Sunset Limited from New Orleans to Chicago [Los Angeles]. Again, the Sunset Limited only runs three days a week, so you have to check whether this works with your schedule.
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Fixed typo above which might have been very confusing to someone not familiar with the Amtrak routes and train names!
 
BeeLady said:
Thank you all so much for your wonderful replies. I am cutting and pasting them to a document as we get closer to the time we need to make reservations. Actually, when might that be? I notice that as of today, July 15, there are not that many sleeper car reservations left. Someone once told me that roomettes across from each other might be less expensive than a bedroom (which we like because of the in room bathroom). But.....we approach 80 the upper berth thing might get to be too hard for me (impossible for my husband). What are your thoughts? Thank you again.
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Unless you are very limber for your age, I would definitely go with the 2 roomettes for 2 lower berths.

Also, consider whether you want to try for the lower level or upper level on the western part of the trip, which will be on a bilevel Superliner. The stairs are steep and can be difficult to climb. There is a handrail on at least one side. But if you want to visit the Sightseer Lounge and the dining car, you will need to go to the upper level. If you get rooms on the upper level, you'll only have to climb the stairs once, and you can do it while the train is not moving. But the shower is only on the lower level, and you might have to wait to use the one restroom on the upper level. It's your decision.

Another option, but considerably more expensive, would be a bedroom + a roomette on the upper level. That would get you a private bathroom and shower, while at bedtime one of you could retire to the roomette down the hall to sleep in the lower berth. If the person in the roomette needs to use the bathroom in the middle of the night, the public one would likely be available.
 
BeeLady said:
Thank you all so much for your wonderful replies. I am cutting and pasting them to a document as we get closer to the time we need to make reservations. Actually, when might that be? I notice that as of today, July 15, there are not that many sleeper car reservations left. Someone once told me that roomettes across from each other might be less expensive than a bedroom (which we like because of the in room bathroom). But.....we approach 80 the upper berth thing might get to be too hard for me (impossible for my husband). What are your thoughts? Thank you again.
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I have mentioned it over and over in this forum because we have done it many times when the savings were at least $200 (and as much as $800). For both of us, climbing to the upper bunk is difficult but not impossible so we can do it but to pay hundreds more for the in-room bathroom is often just not worth it. We'll use the toilet there but many times, it is easier to shower down the hall or downstairs because the shower is bigger, water doesn't soak the bathroom floor for someone wanting to use the toilet even hours later, water does not soak the TP in rooms where the dispenser no longer is sealed because of age and maintenance failures and everything stays dry.

It's nice having the bench seat in a bedroom - unless it is facing the wrong way. On the other hand, we can see out both sides with 2 roomettes.

Also, with nobody using the upper bunk, it can be lowered and all one's necessities - clean clothes for the morning, everything from the pockets, items not needed at night and even suitcases can be placed on the upper bunk and it can be pushed back up into place. It makes a great storage area. In the morning, one just pulls it down and everything is available. In addition, if one of us decides to do so, we can have the SCA make up the upper bunk instead of the lower one and use that one, leaving the seats "downstairs" available for when one can't sleep in the middle of the night. We don't do the latter now because climbing is a problem and more-so, going down and up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom. When we were a few years younger and price was the big issue, it made for a nice overnight feature.

Note, you MUST CALL and ask to get rooms across from one another. Using the web page doesn't work for that. And be sure you get an agent with a brain - one that knows that 3 is directly across from 4 and 5 from 6 but 4 is not directly across from 5. And have them read back both the car numbers and the rooms. I had to call back because we had rooms 3 and 4 on a portion of our upcoming October trip but the agent had put us in different cars! Note, on the four trains we are taking on that trip, one is in two roomettes, one in the family bedroom and the other two in bedrooms. Each one of those was the lowest cost. The two roomette option was all that was available on one of the trains.
 
If you decide on the California Zephyr, there is another option if you don't want to spend a night connecting to the Coast Starlight....there is a connection to the San Joaquin route train/bus combination at Martinez that would get you into Los Angeles at 2:15 AM. Not a very attractive option, admittedly. There used to be a better connection that way that would have gotten you in four hours faster, but it just misses now...
 

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