# Rapid City SD



## BillVas (Aug 11, 2006)

Okay I have found that a person is leaving my store so I am trying to get in a quick trip to Rapid City SD, to see mt. Rushmore and then rent a car to go to another destination. Does Amtrak even come close to rapid City SD, as I have been reading the Schedules and I cannot find anything that I think i can use.

Any help would be appreciated.

thanks Bill


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## PennCentralFan (Aug 11, 2006)

I think it's either Denver or Ft. Morgan CO or Minot, Williston, or Stanley, ND. I really think that a Chicago, Iowa City, Des Moines, Sioux Falls, and Rapid City to Cheyenne, Ft. Collins, to Denver train would do well especially in the summer, but it doesn't exist.


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## lepearso (Aug 11, 2006)

From what I can tell, the best way to get there by Amtrak is to take the Empire Builder to Fargo, ND or the California Zephyr to Omaha and then board a Jefferson Lines bus. You may have to change buses in Sioux Falls. The telephone number for Jeff lines is 1-888-864-2832.

I have never ridden a Jeff Lines bus before, but I recall Amtrak's Intermodal Services manager telling me that Jeff Lines is one of his favorite companies to work with.


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## Tilley (Aug 11, 2006)

BillVas said:


> Okay I have found that a person is leaving my store so I am trying to get in a quick trip to Rapid City SD, to see mt. Rushmore and then rent a car to go to another destination. Does Amtrak even come close to rapid City SD, as I have been reading the Schedules and I cannot find anything that I think i can use. Any help would be appreciated.
> 
> thanks Bill


Minot has the best array of rental car companies. With luck they will come down to the Amtrak station and pick you up. The arrival of the Empire Builder into Minot is also in the middle of the day and there is a better chance that you will not get stranded someplace in the middle of the night when the rental car companies are closed.


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## radsmom (Aug 12, 2006)

Okay I feel a bit stupid for even asking this but where are you coming from? My In-Laws live in Rapid and we wish we could take the train there. I have analyized it from a variety of strategies but it is not an easy venture. Mom came to visit us via Amtrak a few years ago but had to get to Denver to catch the train. We have taken most of the routes around the area so I could suggest strategies but I don't know where you are departing from, I guess I missed something. 

Always lurking...


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## boratwanksta (Aug 12, 2006)

radsmom said:


> Okay I feel a bit stupid for even asking this but where are you coming from? My In-Laws live in Rapid and we wish we could take the train there. I have analyized it from a variety of strategies but it is not an easy venture. Mom came to visit us via Amtrak a few years ago but had to get to Denver to catch the train. We have taken most of the routes around the area so I could suggest strategies but I don't know where you are departing from, I guess I missed something.
> 
> 
> Always lurking...


it looks like from where you live(and based on my limited knowledge of where Greyhound and other bus carriers run routes along), you unfortunately don't have any easy ways to catch an Amtrak train. unfortunately, i can only think of 2 not-so-easy ways to get there: taking a bus east from Rapid Falls to Sioux Falls, SD, then take a connecting bus either north or south to Fargo, ND(for the Empire Builder), or to Omaha, NE(California Zephyr). and if you drive by car to an Amtrak station, Williston is the closest Empire Builder stop, and Fort Morgan, CO is the closest California Zephyr stop(both sadly being hundreds of miles away from Rapid Cty). only bad thing is that if you try to catch the train in Fargo, the trains stop in the VERY MIDDLE of the night. going to Omaha(if you decide to connect to Amtrak via a bus) would be better, as the westbound train comes during the evening, and the eastbound one arrives in the early morning hours(the latter one typically runs 2-3 hours late most of the time, due to UP's stupid dispatchers that give freights priority). :angry: i think probably going to Williston(staffed station), or to Omaha(staffed station) are probably your best bets, as both stations have actual station agents handling ticketing, and the trains don't arrive in the VERY MIDDLE of the night(unlike if you were to board in Fort Morgan(unstaffed station) or in Fargo(staffed station)).

just to fill me in, where are trying to specifically go on Amtrak? i could give you a much better reply if i could figure out where you are trying to travel to.


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## boratwanksta (Aug 12, 2006)

^ sorry, i see i completely misread your post!! didn't realize you were trying to go to Rapid City and to Mt. Rushmore. where are you traveling from to get to SD??


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## Sam Damon (Aug 13, 2006)

Of course, SD is one of the states that has *zero* Amtrak service.

I think most chances of restoring any Amtrak service there went away when The Milwaukee Road became defunct.


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## PennCentralFan (Aug 13, 2006)

Sam Damon said:


> Of course, SD is one of the states that has *zero* Amtrak service.
> I think most chances of restoring any Amtrak service there went away when The Milwaukee Road became defunct.


That is a shame. I believe that a Chicago-Des Moines, Iowa City, Sioux City, Sioux Falls, Pierre, Vermillion and Rapid City to Denver route has potential.


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## Tilley (Aug 13, 2006)

Sam Damon said:


> Of course, SD is one of the states that has *zero* Amtrak service.
> I think most chances of restoring any Amtrak service there went away when The Milwaukee Road became defunct.


The DME has been proposing for years an extension and improvement of their rickety freight line from where it current ends in South Dakota, over through the Black Hills and into the Powder River coal basin. The main stumbling block seems to be the Mayo Clinic and the City of Rochester, Minnesota, which have filed suit to hold it up (wonder if the UP and BNSF have their hand in that). The people and business leaders of Western South Dakota seem to have supported this, so long as it did not cut right through the middle of any tourist attractions.

If the DME gets their project off the drawing board, one of the requirements of continued local and government support (and funding) should be the implementation of fast, frequent, and reliable passenger rail service.

Sadly, Western Kansas is about to lose the Chief due to the impending abandonment of the old Santa Fe line east of Trinidad, Colorado. If it is not killed altogether, it will either become a stub train off the Zephyr thru Nebraska, or be rerouted south through Amarillo.

So, things are going to get worse for the midwest before they get better.


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## Tilley (Aug 13, 2006)

Here is another possibility:

For a couple years Amtrak ran Sturgis specials from the east cost for motorcycle enthusiasts. Auto-train motorcycle carriers were combined with passenger cars and as I recall they made the trip from Denver up to Newcastle, Wyoming at least once. The bikes and people were unloaded there, which is about as close as you can get to Mt. Rushmore on passenger train capable track.

Amtrak still theoretically has the legal authority to run such a special trains, although it is so expensive to do so that it seldom happens. If the state of South Dakota wanted to kick in some revenue sharing money, Amtrak has always been willing to run regular trains, and likly would do so again.


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## Guest (Aug 13, 2006)

"*Sadly, Western Kansas is about to lose the Chief due to the impending abandonment of the old Santa Fe line east of Trinidad, Colorado. If it is not killed altogether, it will either become a stub train off the Zephyr thru Nebraska, or be rerouted south through Amarillo."*

The Southwest Chief is going to stop running east of Tinidad, CO?!?!?


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## Dee (Aug 13, 2006)

Tilley said:


> Sadly, Western Kansas is about to lose the Chief due to the impending abandonment of the old Santa Fe line east of Trinidad, Colorado. If it is not killed altogether, it will either become a stub train off the Zephyr thru Nebraska, or be rerouted south through Amarillo.
> So, things are going to get worse for the midwest before they get better.


Do you have a reliable link to this information --- or is it water cooler gossip?

It frankly makes no sense.


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## Guest (Aug 13, 2006)

Dee said:


> Tilley said:
> 
> 
> > Sadly, Western Kansas is about to lose the Chief due to the impending abandonment of the old Santa Fe line east of Trinidad, Colorado. If it is not killed altogether, it will either become a stub train off the Zephyr thru Nebraska, or be rerouted south through Amarillo.
> ...


The BN never wanted this line, they only kept up the appearances long enough to get the merger deal through on the old Santa Fe freight line. They have been trying to get rid of it ever since.

The state of NM has supposedly bought the Raton to Albuquerque part, so the western end should be secure. Even though NM is only using a bit of the south end of it for commuter services at the present time, those with some insder knowledge say the state has hopes of implementing Albuquerque to Denver service eventually.

The line is jointed, and up until quite recently still had semaphores. There is no traffic on it except the daily Amtrak service.

The Chief route is still important, even if you do away with all long distance routes, it would seem like a California route to the midwest and east would still be one of the last to go. The question is what do you do with the Kansas part.


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## Tilley (Aug 13, 2006)

The water cooler gossip comes in when you consider what the alternatives are. There will be a change to the Chief, that is sure. It is just a question of when.

First, the Chief is the fastest route between the east and the west coast. It would even be faster if you followed the freight and went through Oklahoma and the Texas panhandle, instead of going over Raton Pass. That would mean missing Albuquerque, since the freight line uses the Belen cutoff. Sure, this is middle of the night country, but do you sactifice Kansas, Colorado, and New Mexico, and hope to pick up traffic in Oklahoma and Texas.

There has been talk of combining the Chief and Zephyr at Denver, and running a combined train across Nebraska. This means Kansas City loses its fastest passenger train connection to the rest of the world. Oh, hyou could still take the Mule or the Ann Rutledge, but its not very appealing to go to Chicago that way in order to catch a train to California.

Is there a short line operator that would take over this trackage and keep it up to passenger train standards? The Buckingham Branch in Virginia is the only example I can think of, and the jury is still out on that one, it is really too soon to say.

So.....


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## George Harris (Aug 14, 2006)

The reroute of the Chief has been talked about off and on for at least 20 years. Do not see abandonment of the ex ATSF passenger main that likely to happen, particularly est of LaJunta CO. Only La Junta to Trinidad CO would seem to be at risk. South of there it is now owned by the state of New Mexico. East of there it does have certain limited freight. Was it Mark Twain that said reports of my death are exaggerated?


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