# Round Trip to Chicago



## BillyJo (Aug 16, 2008)

My wife, daughter (10 year-old) and I took our first real long-distance train trip this past week. Previously, we had done MetroPark to Williamsburg on the regional, but this, as you can imagine, was quite a bit longer!

To get to Chicago, we took the Regional from MET to WAS, and then got on the CL for the journey to Chicago. For the return trip, we went from CHI to PGH, and then changed to the Pennsylvanian to get to NWK. The North Jersey Coast line took us from Newark to our hometown. We had two roomettes on the ride out, and went in coach for the return trip.

Going from MET to WAS: The Northeast Regional was fine - it was not too crowded, and got us in to WAS about 15 minutes late. Our train pulled onto the track opposite the CL, so we got to see just how large those trains were as we walked in to the train station. We went to the lounge, and then headed out to the train about 15 or 20 minutes later.

*WAS to CHI:* We found our rooms, and were settled by the time we headed out of Union Station right on time. Our rooms were right across the hall from one another, which was very convenient. As we pushed in to suburban Maryland, we headed over to the Lounge to check out the scenery. Naturally, we were quite impressed! Dinner was around 7:00, and the food was much better than I expected. It was fun to sit down in a moving car and to eat a decent meal. We sat with a woman who was visiting DC, and we all had some good conversations. Dinner took longer than it would in a place like Chili’s or Friday’s, but it’s not like we had to be anywhere by 8:00. Besides, it was nice to linger.

Sleeping that night was tough, despite lying down. I was quite surprised by the amount of motion on the train, and woke up with a start on several occasions. Since breakfast was scheduled from 6:00 to 7:30, we decided to get up at 6. We all had the French toast, and then headed back to our rooms. I decided to try the shower, which was much better than I was expecting. Soon thereafter, we pulled in to Union Station right on time.

*CHI to PGH*: Lines started forming around 6:00, and they hearded us in to a holding room for about a 40 minutes before bringing us to the train. I was surprised by the number of passengers that were getting off in Pitt – it took up our whole coach! The lounge car looked much older than the one we had been on for the previous trip, but it was fine. Sleeping was quite a chore, though. I got up in the middle of the night and headed to the lounge car expecting to see fellow insomniacs there. To my surprise, it was almost empty! I did return to my seat, and slept for a bit before our arrival in Pittsburgh. We left CHI about a half hour late due to the late-arriving #6 train, and we got to Pitt about 30 minutes late.

*PGH to NWK*: The Pittsburgh train station was quite small, but this makes sense because so few trains use it. I was surprised that this train was as packed as it was. I had been hoping to upgrade our three tickets to business class, but that was already sold out.

The seats were like Superliner coach seats – I believe this was an Amfleet-2 train?? The bathrooms were another story. While the superliner coach had about 6 bathrooms/car, this only had two. Worst of all, they were filthy and disgusting at the very beginning of the ride! Fortunately, my wife didn’t have to go, but my daughter wasn’t too pleased.

The conductors to Harrisburg were great. They gave us a good guide to the Horseshoe Curve, which is really neat to see. They also described the long stone-arch bridge we were about to cross near Harrisburg. Unfortunately, NS held us up for about 45 minutes outside of Harrisburg. Other than that, the ride was good.

We arrived about 20 minutes late in Newark, but we were able to catch the North Jersey Coast soon thereafter to finish our voyage.


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## BillyJo (Aug 16, 2008)

I guess the question is, would I do this again?

One of the things I learned here is to keep expectations LOW. On the ride out, everything about the trip, from the on-time arrival, to the food, to the rooms and the lounge in DC GREATLY exceeded all of our expectaions. We really had a fantastic trip.

On the return trip, it felt quite a bit like an airplane trip - lines in Union Station, delays waiting for a connecting train, and puzzling boarding practices. Much of this may have been due to traveling in coach, though. However, the ride on the Pennsylvanian was great, at least from a sightseeing perspective.

If I did it again, I would go with roometts in both directions.

One thing I was worried about in coach was the fact that I thought it would be a loud party throughout the night. Fortunately, they turn off most of the lights and encourage passengers to use the lounge to carry on conversations. I think this is in effect from 10 PM to 7 AM, and is a great touch. We had a girl scout troupe in our car, and they definately kept the noise down.


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## J-1 3235 (Aug 17, 2008)

Excellent Trip Report; thanks for sharing it with us 

Have you started thinking about your next Amtrak adventure? 

Mike


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## BillyJo (Aug 18, 2008)

J-1 3235 said:


> Have you started thinking about your next Amtrak adventure?


Yes, I have! Several people on this board warned me that this would happen, and you are all right.

:lol:

I mentioned "Empire Builder" the other day, but my wife answered back "Crecent."


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## GG-1 (Aug 18, 2008)

BillyJo said:


> J-1 3235 said:
> 
> 
> > Have you started thinking about your next Amtrak adventure?
> ...


Well I bet the next trip includes both 

Aloha


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