# SWC LAX to ChI and back



## Dan O (Jun 15, 2008)

I am so sorry. I didn't even think I pushed enter yet and I see several of the same post. MOD--can you delete the others?

I made reservations for this trip back in March online. We elected to pick up our tickets at the station. I started in LA even though Riverside or San Bernardino is much closer to where I live because I wanted to make sure the three of us would be sitting together. That was a good idea because the train was pretty full and it is questionable whether we could have gotten three seats together at Riverside or San Bernardino. We got seats 23, 27 and 28. 27 and 28 were right near the stairwell and we liked the fact that we had more legroom than other seats. My wife and other kids were able to come on to the train and see how the car was laid out.

We pulled out of LAX on time. My kids turned around before Fullerton, the first stop, and said that this may be a long trip. They had been on commuter trains so they were not so charmed with riding trains. The train had two engines, a baggage car, three sleeper cars, a diner, the lounge/observation car and three coach cars. The bathrooms in our car were TINY. Some of the other cars had larger ones that were much easier to use. I was glad to see our car had outlets at every seat.

We got to ABQ almost an hour early so walked around downtown for quite a while. It was pretty warm but good to be out of the train and walking around. We saw a lot of pronghorn in NE NM and SE CO both coming and going. I was surprised to find out there was only one tunnel on the whole trip and it took about a minute and a half to get through it.

We crossed the Mississippi river right after Fort Madison, IA. I have crossed it in Minnesota and near Memphis and it seemed wider both other times so I wasn’t even sure we crossed it until we saw a “Welcome to Illinois” sign on the other side of the river. I suppose I should know the geography of the US a bit better.

We pulled into Chicago about 15-20 minutes early on the 10th of June.

A few observations about the train--

Some bathrooms are incredibly small. It wasn’t until I explored the train a bit more than I discovered other bathrooms with room enough to turn around in.

I thought it was great that they had cold water and ice available.

The seats were very comfortable. I had no trouble sleeping in them. It was a bit like camping though where I woke up every hour or two. But I got 5-6 hours of sleep each night I think plus I took a short nap or two during the day.

The train folks were all very pleasant. The snack bar attendant we had on the way to CHI was very funny.

I enjoyed the scenery east of the Rockies much more than that west of the Rockies. I have been throughout the southwest and seen much more impressive scenery but I really enjoyed the different scenery in MO, IA and IL.

I felt safe on the train and was not the least worried that my baggage or valuables were in danger of being stolen.

The train was pretty cool (72ish) the entire trip but I found that very nice. I know some were a tad cool during the day and especially at night but I was not one of them.

What we did in Chicago--

Day 1 after arriving at CUS on SWC about 3 PM.

Stayed in the TraveLodge downtown which was nice enough for me (I am not picky) and was close to the station (one mile cab ride). Cheapest place I could find (about $160 per night w/ taxes).

Ate at Giordano’s--GREAT PIZZA and service. Loved it.

Went to top of Sears Tower--enjoyable view.

Walked around Millennium Park--It was nearby and we all enjoyed the fountains and sculptures.

Day 2

Field Museum--only spent 3 hours there but could have spent all day. Wonderful place.

Alder Planetarium--nice place but the two hours there was probably plenty.

Shedd Aquarium--nice aquarium with good selection of animals. I think we could have spent more than two and a half hours there had we had the time.

Took redline to Pizzeria Uno but too crowded so went up a block to Pizzeria Due. We were not there in time to have the deep dish pizza but the food we had was very good.

Cubs game at Wrigley Field. A big highlight as we have been Cubs fans for 45 years and now we finally saw a game at Wrigley. Plus the Cubs won so can’t beat that for a good time.

Day 3

Breakfast at Billy Goat Tavern on Washington Ave. Decent food for a good price.

Art Institute--I am not big on art but this is a great museum. My daughter does love art so she had a good time.

Walked around town looking at buildings and outside art.

Returned to LA on SWC. 315ish..left on time.

On the trip home we had the same cars plus a parlor car that was attached to the rear of the train but not used. We sat in seats 65/66 I think. They were the front seats in the car and like the other seats had plenty of legroom. The only downside was that every time anyone went to the lounge car that the doors opened and were noisy. The train was FULL at CHI. Over 100 Boy Scouts got on and rode it to Raton where they got off for their big camp thing at Philmont. The car attendant said scouts took the train out all summer. The train was virtually empty until we got to ABQ where it filled completely up again.

During the evening of the 12th we went very slow in MO. The conductor came on to say we were going slow because of possible high wind. We saw lightning about every 2 seconds but it didn’t look windy at all. Do you think that the high wind warning was a euphemism for possible tornado watch? We lost an hour there that we never did make up until we got off. We got off in Riverside because we had arranged for someone to pick us up there.


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## Dan O (Jun 15, 2008)

I apologize. I wrote this on Works and then pasted it into the window. Some things didn't line up right so I was fixing those when I think I hit TAB. Next thing I know the post went through. Well not so bad but I see 5 of them posted. Hey, I didn't even intend to post ONE yet. I am not sure how that happened and I apologize for that.

Sorry,

Dan


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## AlanB (Jun 15, 2008)

No worries Dan, I've cleaned up the duplicates. 

Thanks for the report too!


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## WhoozOn1st (Jun 15, 2008)

Dan O said:


> Cubs game at Wrigley Field. A big highlight as we have been Cubs fans for 45 years and now we finally saw a game at Wrigley. Plus the Cubs won so can’t beat that for a good time.


This off the Amtrak subject but I have a baseball question:

Dan, were you able to get Cubs tickets in advance? When planning my trip I tried and tried, but no go. Then, once in Chicago - CZ from EMY - I was riding the L and decided that if I couldn't go to a game, at least I could see Wrigley. As I walked around the stadium, taking pictures of course, I noticed that the box office was open. No harm in asking, right? So walked up to the window and asked if there were any single tickets for the next day's game. "SINGLE tickets?" "Yeah." The guy looked. YES!

As a Cubs fan, Dan, you'll know what I mean when I tell you I got a ticket - only one left in the park - for the Bartman seat.

Not only that, but the game was an unscheduled doubleheader against the Florida Marlins! That meant the ticket was a twofer!! The Cubs and Marlins had been hurricaned out the previous weekend at Florida. Talk about luck!

Cubbies split the doubleheader, and as a typical Dodgers fan I left the 2nd game early to beat the traffic. HAHA!!

So cool to have only a short stroll from the ballpark to the train.

On a more practical note, I've stayed at the Chicago Best Western on Michigan Ave. for just a little over $100/night. I'm not too picky either, and found it completely acceptable.


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## Dan O (Jun 15, 2008)

WhoozOn1st999 said:


> Dan O said:
> 
> 
> > Cubs game at Wrigley Field. A big highlight as we have been Cubs fans for 45 years and now we finally saw a game at Wrigley. Plus the Cubs won so can’t beat that for a good time.
> ...



I got them online back in Feb. I got what I thought were about the last available seats. Section 505. It looks bad but really they were pretty good seats I thought. I have been to games at Dodger, Angel stadiums and Petco park that had worse tickets than these.



> When planning my trip I tried and tried, but no go. Then, once in Chicago - CZ from EMY - I was riding the L and decided that if I couldn't go to a game, at least I could see Wrigley. As I walked around the stadium, taking pictures of course, I noticed that the box office was open. No harm in asking, right? So walked up to the window and asked if there were any single tickets for the next day's game. "SINGLE tickets?" "Yeah." The guy looked. YES!


WOW. I wish I had known that 4 years ago. We went past Chicago and would have stopped to see a game had we known we had a chance to get a ticket. BUT this was 2004, the year after the almost World Series and I saw online they were all gone in like one or two days. So I guess in the future I may try to get a ticket anyway, even if it says no more tix online.



> As a Cubs fan, Dan, you'll know what I mean when I tell you I got a ticket - only one left in the park - for the Bartman seat.


OMG..good seat. We were in the upper deck but at about that place on the field.



> Not only that, but the game was an unscheduled doubleheader against the Florida Marlins! That meant the ticket was a twofer!! The Cubs and Marlins had been hurricaned out the previous weekend at Florida. Talk about luck!
> Cubbies split the doubleheader, and as a typical Dodgers fan I left the 2nd game early to beat the traffic. HAHA!!



Almost everyone stayed to the end. A few left early but not too many. SInce I went 2000 miles to see that game there was no way I was leaving early, even if it was 15-0 Braves. Lucky for us, Cubs won.



> So cool to have only a short stroll from the ballpark to the train.


Right. There was a big line but we got on the first possible train once we made it through the subway ticket place.



> On a more practical note, I've stayed at the Chicago Best Western on Michigan Ave. for just a little over $100/night. I'm not too picky either, and found it completely acceptable.


Thanks for the tip. That's a better deal than what I got. I checked on travelocity or something like that and this TraveLodge was the best rate by far. BUT, maybe Best Western wasn't on there or for some reason they had a higher rate that particular date when I checked. It wasn't so bad b/c only 3 of us but usually when we travel there are 6. My 20 yo dtr may stay at home but that still leaves 5, the youngest one being almost 3.


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## Dan O (Jun 15, 2008)

AlanB said:


> No worries Dan, I've cleaned up the duplicates.
> Thanks for the report too!


Thanks for fixing that. I tried to see if I could delete the extras but could not find a way. I thought it was odd that it allowed 5 posts in like one second but it does not allow two posts within one minute. My computer (or me) must have gone haywire there for a brief moment.

Thanks again,

Dan


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## RailFanLNK (Jun 15, 2008)

Dan,

Congrats on the trip and I really liked the trip report. Just across the street from the Travelodge was the HI Hostel. You can stay there at

$35 per night per person. Free breakfast too! You can cook all your meals there if need to, very large kitchen. Ok, now your thinking, "I don't want my kids in a hostel" but my girlfriend, her daughter and I stayed there in March and it was under $100 a night. Also if you join HI, you get 2 nights free coupons at anhy HI. So keep that in mind if you want to do another trip and budget trip to boot.

My girlfriend and I are leading 43 singles to Chicago via the CZ in September and will be taking in Wrigley Field. We can't wait! I think our seats are either 505 or 507. When you have gone to football stadiums with 80,000 seats, a ballpark with 40,000 doesn't worry me a bit unless your directly behind a girder or Steve Bartman! :lol: Thanks for the trip and welcome to the club!


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## WhoozOn1st (Jun 16, 2008)

Dan O said:


> > On a more practical note, I've stayed at the Chicago Best Western on Michigan Ave. for just a little over $100/night. I'm not too picky either, and found it completely acceptable.
> 
> 
> Thanks for the tip. That's a better deal than what I got. I checked on travelocity or something like that and this TraveLodge was the best rate by far. BUT, maybe Best Western wasn't on there or for some reason they had a higher rate that particular date when I checked. It wasn't so bad b/c only 3 of us but usually when we travel there are 6. My 20 yo dtr may stay at home but that still leaves 5, the youngest one being almost 3.


Since being robbed blind by Hotels.com I no longer use 3rd party outfits when booking. Straight to the source, say I. Usually the best rates anyway, and no middleman to grab a cut or screw things up, for which they will not take responsibilty.

It's likely that you didn't see the Best Western because the independent owner had not paid a fee to be listed - another expense that must be reflected in the rates.


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## Dan O (Jun 16, 2008)

rail rookie said:


> Dan,Congrats on the trip and I really liked the trip report. Just across the street from the Travelodge was the HI Hostel. You can stay there at
> 
> $35 per night per person. Free breakfast too! You can cook all your meals there if need to, very large kitchen. Ok, now your thinking, "I don't want my kids in a hostel" but my girlfriend, her daughter and I stayed there in March and it was under $100 a night. Also if you join HI, you get 2 nights free coupons at anhy HI. So keep that in mind if you want to do another trip and budget trip to boot.
> 
> My girlfriend and I are leading 43 singles to Chicago via the CZ in September and will be taking in Wrigley Field. We can't wait! I think our seats are either 505 or 507. When you have gone to football stadiums with 80,000 seats, a ballpark with 40,000 doesn't worry me a bit unless your directly behind a girder or Steve Bartman! :lol: Thanks for the trip and welcome to the club!


Thanks for the info. If I go w/ my wife it will be 5 of us at least. Maybe 6. I never know if my 20 year old will come along or not. She is in college so may have to work or it may conflict w/ the start of her schooling. If we go soon, I would think we'd go by car and stay outside CHI and just drive in each day. My wife does not do tunnels, elevators or subways. WE are going to go to NYC too. Imagine that w/ the above restrictions. So that trip will be no trains for us. But I hope to take my youngest son, 9 now, on the next one to CHI or some other big city in a yr or two.

I thought the seats looked bad on the map of the stadium..high and left field line. But I think they were nice. I have had much worse. The only issue would have been a post but we missed those.

I'd really like to go to another game there some time. Had the best time even if it was not a super close game. I just liked cheering for the home team for the first time ever.

Dan


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## Dan O (Jun 16, 2008)

WhoozOn1st999 said:


> Dan O said:
> 
> 
> > > On a more practical note, I've stayed at the Chicago Best Western on Michigan Ave. for just a little over $100/night. I'm not too picky either, and found it completely acceptable.
> ...


I actually did book directly w/ TL. I just didn't know what motels/hotels were in the area. I had no idea.

Dan


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## gswager (Jun 17, 2008)

I stayed with RailRookie last October at a hostel. It's a very clean one. There are two options to use that hostel- either book as an individual with strangers or book a private room that can hold up to 6. The private room charged as a room, not per person. It has its own bathroom. The individuals has community bathrooms and community showers.


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## p&sr (Jun 17, 2008)

Dan O said:


> We pulled into Chicago about 15-20 minutes early on the 10th of June.


It sounds like we were on the same Train! My wife and I left LAX on June 8th on the SWC, arriving (early) into Chicago in June 10th.



Dan O said:


> During the evening of the 12th we went very slow in MO. The conductor came on to say we were going slow because of possible high wind. We saw lightning about every 2 seconds but it didn’t look windy at all. Do you think that the high wind warning was a euphemism for possible tornado watch?


Yes, probably so. At that same time, we were on the CZ going slowly across Eastern Iowa because of high wind AND tornado warnings. Also lightning storms and downpours and overflowing rivers and such. Today I see that Amtrak has stopped the SWC across Missouri as well as the CZ (closed in Iowa since 6-13).


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## AmtrakCrescent20 (Jun 17, 2008)

For hotels and flights, I always use kayak.com which searches all the internet sites (Orbitz, Expedia etc.) and then shows you the lowest rate. As far as i know it searches all hotels and all airlines.


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