Consist of the No.20 Crescent, which side to sit?

[user 6862]

Does anyone have the current consist of the No.20 northbound Crescent please, and is one side better for views and sights than another? We are travelling from NOL through to NYP.

Thank you

 

[Ryan]

How soon? Most of the year it's locomotive-bag-BC coach-sleepers-diner-lounge-coaches. It's currently flipped so that the coaches lead, but it doesn't spend a lot of time in that configuration.

Not much preference on sides, it isn't a great route for scenery.

 

[user 6862]

It's March 29 Ryan, thanks

 

[Bob Dylan]

The best scenery on the Crescent is leaving NOL in the morning across the Causeway ( you'll think you're on a ship!) and the ride through Virginia starting about Charlottesville to Washington DC as the sun comes up.

Unfortunately you miss the Carolinas Scenery as it is dark after leaving Atlanta!

If you're fortunate enough to have 8400 or one of the long promised Viewliner Diners, or even a Heritage Diner, Breakfast on the two

mornings will be a real treat.

 

[Don Newcomb]

Maybe on the starboard side, you'll get a better view of DC before crossing the Potomac. Once over the river in DC you're down in a ditch and won't see much. Don't recall many "Oohs" and "Aahs" between HBG and WAS. Not a particularly spectacular route.

 

[MattW]

I think it's a toss up. The left gets you the Pentagon, the Washington Monument and the D.C. Skyline, the Wilmington skyline. The right gets you Atlanta's nighttime skyline for a few minutes, more of the inlets and rivers of the Chesapeake, the Philly skyline and the New York skyline. As a railfan, I prefer the left generally since most other trains will be to the left since America is right-hand running. If you're coming back on 19 though, I'd try to sit on the left in both directions. The lighting up north will be slightly different, but the night segments are the same each way. Or you could sit in Business Class which seems to only have a few people in it at any given time and could likely move across the aisle at different points during the run, but I don't know.

 

[StriderGDM]

I can only speak for the ATL-WAS segment and for some reason tend to end up more on the right side than left. The left is a bit nicer going into WAS, but honestly, it doesn't matter much in my opinion.

 

[GaSteve]

Other than as noted for coming into DC, it makes little difference.

 

[Ryan]

Maybe on the starboard side, you'll get a better view of DC before crossing the Potomac. Once over the river in DC you're down in a ditch and won't see much. Don't recall many "Oohs" and "Aahs" between HBG and WAS. Not a particularly spectacular route.

There's not much of anything to see in DC sitting on the right. What good stuff there is (Pentagon, Lincoln Memorial, Capitol if you know when to look) is on the left.

 

[kbmiflyer]

Piling on here, but I agree really doesn't matter other than crossing the Potomac into DC, in which it will be better to be on the right.

 

[Ryan]

What exactly is it that you think you see out of the right side of the train heading north?

 

[Carolina Special]

In August there was a Trails and Rails program south of Atlanta on certain days that pointed out sights over the intercom. I got this on my SB trip. Of course, most of these sights were on the other side of my sleeper car. On the NB trip the intercom was in Charlie Brown teacher mode.

Unfortunately, it looks like this program only ran on the Crescent from late May to early September last year and I don't see a 2017 schedule.

 

[niemi24s]

I'm surprised nobody has suggested a look at the Route Guide for the Crescent. It's one of the 18 Route Guides available at https://www.amtrak.com/route-guides In addition to the route guide, these allow a route to be previewed:

• Google Earth

• http://www.mytopo.com/maps/index.cfm?

• http://fragis.fra.dot.gov/GISFRASafety/

• YouTube

 

[Don Newcomb]

What exactly is it that you think you see out of the right side of the train heading north?

I'll go with the port side now. The starboard gives you a view across the river from Virginia but the port you see the Pentagon and catch glimpses of monuments and the mall going into DC. These are just flashes as the train passes the N-S streets but on the right side you'll see nothing once you cross the river.

Sitting in Atlanta, the east side is more interesting; you can watch the traffic on the highway (Whoopie). Passing over Lake Ponchartrain as you leave New Orleans, either side's about the same. Not much else comes to mind.

 

[Ryan]

You can see plenty once you're across the river if you pay attention, including some good views of the Capitol.

 

[Devil's Advocate]

Every time I see another thread asking which side of the train to focus on I can't help but think how much more would be seen and experienced if the question were worded "When should I get off the train and do some actual in person exploring?" You could sit on both sides of every train of the network and you still haven't seen much of anything compared to experiencing it on your own terms and schedule. This is true with nearly every route in the network. Even my favorite routes like the CS and CZ have benefited from getting off the train, renting a car, and exploring the really pretty parts in more detail at my own pace.

 

[user 6862]

DA, here's an alternative view to your comment, a sort or a mirror image (consider that flattery). As someone who drove and drives a lot as part of our business the opportunity to see the country rolling by while you dream, eat or chat to newly met people is to be grabbed with both hands. There is also the fact that trains ride higher than most cars, vans and trucks means you can see more too, it allows the brain to switch off a little while doing something we love most, travelling.

We have done some of the exploring in the US that you advocate and right up to the end of 2016 we spent 2 1/2 weeks on public transport and 2 1/2 weeks with a rental car in the US, so agree with you in part. Using both types of travel was for us a perfect combination, enjoyed the freedom of a car a lot and got to places impossible by train or bus, but couldn't wait to get back on train at the end of the car rental.

We have learnt so much from personal views and opinions of others on this forum, and not being from the US it is all a much bigger help than maybe to a 'local'. But still think it's worth an ask as every one of the many questions I ask throws up at least one if not more real gems of an idea that no guide book was ever going to tell us.

Yes we do read the route guides but they are written from a corporation's view and comments here are personal, we like both views.

Just saying...

 

[Don Newcomb]

Every time I see another thread asking which side of the train to focus on I can't help but think how much more would be seen and experienced if the question were worded "When should I get off the train and do some actual in person exploring?"

DC would be a good place to do that. You book through to DC, get off, store your bags ($). Go visit the National Gallery, Air & Space Museum, Library of Congress, Botanical Gardens or fuss at your Congresscritter. Eat lunch. Grab an afternoon NER or Acela to NYC. AFAIK, the only real down-sides are that it would cost a bit more and the WAS-NYP trains don't have checked baggage.

When I traveled through Sweden their fare system allowed you to get off an on as often as you like provided you kept moving in the same direction.

 

[user 6862]

We did that in 2015 Don. The sculptures either side of the Grant Memorial, the Capitol, the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument were our favourites. We also to our surprise saw a second Lincoln sculpture which was mesmerising, it was in the National Cowboy museum in OKC. The End of the Trail sculpture there was equally poignant and their western hat collection amazing.

We tend not to visit sights so much now as we have a few friends in the US and enjoy spending a little time with them, but the US does have some amazing things and places to visit and we have rarely been less than very impressed.

 

[brianpmcdonnell17]

Philadelphia is also a great city to visit along the way. I just spent 4 days there and it was far from enough. As to checked baggage, you should be able to check as much as you need through to NYP (it would remain on train 20) and pick it up when you get there. Using a multi-city booking with a transfer of less than 24 hours has the same charge as a standard Amtrak issued itinerary, although I am not 100% sure it would work in this case as you would be using 2 trains rather than one. It worked for my Boston trip where I created my own Regional to Silver Star routing leaving Boston earlier than the website recommended option.

 

[Don Newcomb]

Here is a YouTube video showing the views coming into DC sitting on the left (port) side of the Crescent.