Confused about Schedule

[LMunn]

I am wanting to make a trip from Minot, North Dakota to Little Rock, AR with my two young boys. When I tried to get a price, I got a reply that the schedule did not exist. Does this mean that the train will not go from one station to the other. My oldest son is really wanting to ride the train and it is an experience I would love to share with him. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[soitgoes]

That means that Amtrak doesn't publish a schedule for that route. It does not mean that you can't take Amtrak from Minot to Little Rock. You would most likely want to take the Empire Builder to Chicago and then the Texas Eagle from Chicago to Little Rock. The Empire Builder is scheduled to arrive at 3:40pm and the Texas Eagle is scheduled to leave at 3:20pm; this probably explains why Amtrak doesn't publish a schedule for the route. You'd have to spend a night in Chicago and leave the next day.

Edited to add:

To book such a trip, use the "Multi-City" option on the website.

 

[denmarks]

Another option is to catch the City of New Orleans in Chicago at 8 pm. You can then take a Greyhound early the next morning from Memphis to Little Rock. That would be about $25 one way, which would be cheaper than staying overnight in Chicago. It is about a 2 1/2 hour trip on the bus.

If you are returning there would be the same problem since the direct route would only have a 1 minute connection time.

Or just take a bus directly from Chicago to Little Rock. At least a portion of the trip would be by train.

 

[saxman]

Well I live over in Grand Forks, and I always have this problem when traveling to Texas, of which I am from. The Empire Builder does not have same day connections in Chicago to any other western long distance, which has proved to be very inconvenient for me, in getting to the Texas Eagle. The other guys have pretty much summed it up by either overnighthing in Chicago or taking that bus. (not that Chicago is a bad city to hang out in)

I do encourage you to take the trip though. The Empire Builder from Minot to Chicago is a very nice trip in which you should enjoy. My ladyfriend is also from Minot and one day I'll get her on the train with me