Around the Continent

[Dallas]

Hello all!

Someone here recently posted seeking help with the Amtrak system, and was also offered itineraries by some kind responders. Like me, the poster lives in Florida. The itinraries were very helpful, but my destinations also include Canada (the other poster's did not). I basically want to get from Jacksonville, FL to Canada, then through the rest of Continental US (with the exception of the states Amtrak doesn't serve). I saved enough money for a 45 day Rail Pass, plus three extra tickets in case I don't want to waste a segment on a shorter trip (I want the longest trains possible, to save segments, yet cover a lot of ground).

I'm not more inclined to see one region of the US than another, nor am I interested in stopping for sightseeing (saving segments). I just want to physically be in nearly every state throughout the trip! The lines and dots on the Amtrak route map don't translate to anything fathomable, as I am new to Rail travel and need help understanding!

The itinerary doesn't necessarily have to end in Florida. I'll finish the trip wherever you decide to take me, then fly back back to Florida from there. The itinerary isn't limited to 18 segments either, since I can purchase extra tickets if need be (though I hope it can fit in to 18 segments!). Any suggestions? Thanks!

 

[Ryan]

Welcome! The big question is what parts of Canada you want to see.

For a "cover as much of the US in ~18 segments" trip, you've got lots of options. There are a lot of ways to connect the dots.

I would do (numbers indicate segment number):

JAX-NYP on a Silver Service train (1)

NYP-BOS on a regional (pay for this, it's cheap)

BOS-POR-BOS on the Downeasster (Pay for this, it's a dead end but you can pick up Maine)

(here is likely were you're going to hit Canada before heading West)

BOS-CHI on the Lake Shore Limited (2)

CHI-SEA on the Empire Builder (3)

SEA-SAC on the Coast Starlight (4)

SAC-CHI on the California Zeypher (5)

CHI-LAX on the Southwest Chief (6)

LAX-SAS on the Sunset Limited (7)

NOL-CHI on the City of New Orleans (8)

CHI-WAS on the Cardinal (9)

WAS-NOL on the Crescent (10)

Fly home from NOL.

The only two states that you miss that Amtrak serves would be Oklahoma and Arkansas (assuming that you hit Vermont in your Canada jaunt at the beginning).

You can work those two in by doing a good bit of backtracking if you really want to hit all the states...

 

[Swadian Hardcore]

The problem is that Amtrak's system is centered around the Chicago hub and other hubs, like New York or Los Angeles. The hub-centric system means that, to go to all the states Amtrak serves, you would have to go croos the country and run around in circles over and over again. I would suggest that you try to make your trip less confusing by doing Greyhound connections between Amtrak trains.

For example, you could easily visit OK and AR on Greyhound by connecting to Amtrak trains. This way you don't have to backtrack to see those states. You can also do connections to WY on Greyhound, which Amtrak does not serve, the same can be said for SD but you would have to ride Jefferson Lines.

I support Amtrak, but Greyhound is a great compliment to the Amtrak system. You could also buy a Greyhound Discovery Pass, but those buses are a lot less comfortable than Amtrak, so I would not suggest long Greyhound trips (over 12 hours). The advantage is that the Discovery Pass offers unlimited segments, so you can stop off as much as you like.

 

[Tracktwentynine]

I'm not sure how much of Canada you want to see. The Amtrak 45-day pass is not valid in Canada, though I think it does work on the Adirondack and Cascades, but not the Maple Leaf, because in Canada, the Leaf is operated by Via.

The itinerary shown below takes you to ALL 46 states that Amtrak serves. Wherever it says "(night in city)", you could extend your stay by a day or so to see the city. But you said you didn't care about that, so that's up to you.

NOTE: This itinerary will ONLY WORK IN SUMMER, when the ferry between Burlington and Port Kent is running.

Key: Day #: Origin -> Destination: Train (night aboard train) [segment #] = {new states - states so far} (night in city)

If the train is not preceded by a D#, it means the connection happens during the same day. See Day 4 for example, with a same-day connection in Springfield, MA. Additionally, if there's a night aboard the train, but not a night in a city following that, it's a same-day connection. See Day 1/Day 2 for example.

D1: Jacksonville -> New York: Silver Meteor (night aboard) [1] = {FL, GA, SC, NC, VA, DC, MD, DE, PA, NJ, NY - 10 states}

D2: New York -> Boston (South Sta): Northeast Regional [2] = {CT, RI, MA - 13} (night in Boston)

D3: Boston (North Sta) -> Portland: Downeaster [pay] = {NH, ME - 15}

----: Portland -> Boston (North Sta): Downeaster [pay] = {none} (night in Boston)

D4: Boston (South Sta) -> Springfield, MA: Lake Shore Limited [3] = {none}

----: Springfield -> Essex Jct (Burlington, VT): Vermonter [pay] = {VT - 16} (night in Burlington)

D5: FERRY Burlington to Port Kent, NY

----: Port Kent -> Montreal: Adirondack [4] = {QC - 16} (night in Montreal)

D6: Montreal -> Toronto: Corridor [pay] = {ON - 16} (night in Toronto)

D7: Toronto -> Buffalo (Depew): Maple Leaf [pay] = {none}

----: Buffalo (Depew) -> Chicago: Lake Shore Limited (night aboard) [5] = {OH, IN, IL - 19}

D8: Chicago -> Sacramento, CA: California Zephyr (2 nights aboard) [6] = {IA, NE, CO, UT, NV, CA - 25}

D10: Sacramento -> Bakersfield: San Joaquin [pay] = {none} (night in Bakersfield)

D11: Bakersfield -> Los Angeles: Amtrak Bus [pay] = {none}

------: Los Angeles -> Chicago: Southwest Chief (2 nights aboard) [7] = {AZ, NM, KS, MO - 29} (night in Chicago -> optional, to ensure your connection)

D14: Chicago -> Washington: Cardinal* (night aboard) [8] = {KY, WV - 31} (night in Washington)

D16: Washington -> New Orleans: Crescent (night aboard) [9] = {AL, MS, LA - 34} (night in New Orleans)

D18: New Orleans -> Chicago: City of New Orleans (night aboard) [10] = {TN - 35}

D19: Chicago -> Fort Worth: Texas Eagle (night aboard) [11] = {AR, TX - 37}

------: Fort Worth -> Oklahoma City: Heartland Flyer [pay] = {OK - 38} (night in Oklahoma City)

D20: Oklahoma City -> Fort Worth: Heartland Flyer [pay] = {none}

------: Fort Worth -> Los Angeles: Texas Eagle/Sunset Limited* (2 nights aboard) [12] ={none}

D22: Los Angeles -> Portland: Coast Starlight (night aboard) [13] = {OR - 39}

D23: Portland -> Chicago: Empire Builder (2 nights aboard) [14] = {WA, ID, MT, ND, MN, WI - 45} (night in Chicago -> optional, to ensure your connection)

D26: Chicago -> Detroit: Wolverine [15] = {MI - 46} (night in Detroit)

D27: FLY HOME

* NOTE: The Cardinal and the Sunset Limited only operate 3 days a week. So you'll need to plan considering that, or plan to stay an extra day somewhere.

ALTERNATE: Alternatively, if you want to visit Vancouver, British Columbia, you could modify the itinerary as follows:

D22: Los Angeles -> Seattle: Coast Starlight (night aboard) [13] = {OR, WA - 40} (night in Seattle)

D24: Seattle -> Vancouver: Cascades [14] = {BC - 40}

------: Vancouver -> Seattle: Cascades [15] = {none} (night in Seattle)

D25: Seattle -> Chicago: Empire Builder (2 nights aboard) [16] = {ID, MT, ND, MN, WI - 45} (night in Chicago -> optional, to ensure your connection)

D28: Chicago -> Detroit: Wolverine [17] = {MI - 46} (night in Detroit)

D29: FLY HOME

EDIT: Clarity.

 

[Dallas]

@Tracktwentynine, Thank you very much, I appreciate it greatly!!!!!

 

[ArchBishop]

This was fun, I tried to go as many places I could with very little backtracking or same routes, and I tried to do it in as few days as possible. I will admit there are a couple tight connections, but this was for fun and I figured in a perfect system you could pull it off. I don't think we know where we are leaving from in Florida but I picked Jacksonville for no particular reason ( I see track 29 did the same so I don't feel bad.) In order to pull this off I also make an assumption that we are leaving Jacksonville on a Sunday. I will try to do this in a similar fashion to track 29. I like this because at any given stop you could plan an extra day (except for New Orleans, where the Sunset Limited doesn't run every day).. Okay here goes.

D1: Jacksonville -> New York Silver Meteor 1 night [1]

D2: New York -> Boston (South Sta) Northeast Regional [2] Overnight in Boston

D3: Boston (North Sta) -> Portland, ME Downeaster [3]

Portland -> Boston (North) Downeaster [4] Overnight in Boston

D4: Boston (South) ->Chicago Lake Shore Limited 1 night [5]

D5: Chicago -> Port Huron Blue Water [6] Arrives just after midnight, will have to make your way via local transportation across St. Clair river to Sarnia, Ontario where train leaves the next morning at 6:11

D6; Sarnia -> Toronto ViaRail

Toronto -> Vancouver, BC ViaRail-Canadian 4 nights

D10 Vancouver -> Seattle Thruway Bus (You could take a train, but to make the connection, you need the earlier bus)

Seattle -> Chicago Empire Builder 2 nights [7]

D12 Chicago -> New Orleans City of New Orleans 1 night [8] Overnight in New Orleans

D14 New Orleans -> San Antonio Sunset Limited 1 night [9]

D15 San Antonio -> Fort Worth Texas Eagle [10]

Fort Worth -> Oklahoma City Heartland Flyer [11] Overnight in OKC

D16 Oklahoma City -> Fort Worth Heartland Flyer [12]

Fort Worth -. St. Louis Texas Eagle 1 night [13]

D17 St. Louis -> Kansas City Missour River Runner [pay - only $29]

Kansas City -> Los Angeles SW Chief 2 nights [14]

D19 Los Angeles -> Sacramento Coast Starlight [15] (You could change this and get off at Emeryville, where the CZ starts, but you will get into SAC around midnight and there is a motel across the street, good place to wait for CZ)

D20 Sacramento -> Chicago California Zephyr 2 nights [16]

D22 Chicago -> Washington DC Capitol Limited 1 night [17]

D23 Washington -> Jacksonville Silver Star 1 night [18]

Optional segment 18

D23 Washington DC -> New Orleans Crescent 1 night

Would require fly home from New Orleans

 

[Dallas]

Thank you ArchBishop!! I mentioned Jacksonville in the first post, perhaps that's why tracktwentynine picked it! Lol.

You guys are so helpful on this forum!! Thanks to all you kind people!!

 

[Tracktwentynine]

Dallas,

You mentioned that Amtrak's map doesn't translate for you. Try this map by designer Cameron Booth. It shows each of the routes as if it were a subway map:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/senexprime/4785807080/sizes/o/in/set-72157624475451796/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/senexprime/4785807080/in/set-72157624475451796

 

[Ryan]

We picked JAX because that's where you said that you wanted to start.

I basically want to get from Jacksonville, FL to Canada, then through the rest of Continental US (with the exception of the states Amtrak doesn't serve).

Funny you should mention the Booth map - I've got a copy of it on my wall, and it's what I used to trace out my suggestion.

 

[Dallas]

@Ryan, I know! I had to double read my first post to make sure I did in fact say Jacksonville since ArchBishop said he basically picked it randomly!

@Tracktwentynine, THANK YOUUUU! The Booth map helps so much!

 

[Dallas]

Hey guys, is there a place where I can leave my luggage? Like a holding place in the stations? There's no way I'm gonna walk around the city with a full suitcase of luggage and a carry-on!

 

[Ryan]

Most stations do, but you'll likely have to pay (unless you're in a sleeper and the station has a Met Lounge/Club Acela).

 

[Tracktwentynine]

Hey guys, is there a place where I can leave my luggage? Like a holding place in the stations? There's no way I'm gonna walk around the city with a full suitcase of luggage and a carry-on!

When I travel, there are basically two tricks that I use.

If I'm staying the night, I go straight from the train station to the hotel to drop stuff off. If it's before check-in time, many hotels will let you leave your things at the front desk until you can check in.

If I'm not staying the night, I'll leave my bags at the station. Most of the major stations have a bag check desk, where for a fee, you can store your bag for the day. If you're traveling in sleeper, you can often leave your bag for free at the first class lounge (Club Acela or Metropolitan Lounge).

 

[Dallas]

@Tracktwentynine, about how much did they charge?

 

[Tracktwentynine]

@Tracktwentynine, about how much did they charge?

Depends on the place. I think it was like $4.50 at New York Penn.