Does this cross-country itinerary look feasible?

[Austruck]

This is my big bucket-list cross-country train trip -- I'm going just so I can experience long-distance train travel and write a book about the experience. I'm a total newbie to train travel. I'm traveling alone, on purpose. I'm a 55-year-old writer.

I'm looking at early May as my departure. And I'm so excited I can barely contain myself!

QUESTIONS:

* Does an itinerary like this look feasible? (I want long, uninterrupted stretches on the train, if possible.)

* Where are the weak links in this chain?

​* Where I have a choice of trains or stations, did I pick the best ones?

​* Did I leave enough time between connections on same-day changes?

Day 1:

PGH to CHI [CL] to KCY [sWC] -- Coach seats on both legs

(Depart PGH 11:59 PM, Day 1 / Arrive KCY 10:11 PM, Day 2)

Stay with a friend until Day 5.

Day 5:

KCY to LAX [sWC] -- Roomette (35+ hours)

(Depart KCY 10:45 PM, Day 5; Arrive LAX 8:15 AM, Day 7)

Day 9:

LAX to SEA (Or should I use a different station?) [CS] -- Roomette (34+ hours)

(Depart LAX 10:10 AM, Day 9; Arrive SEA 8:12 PM, Day 10)

I have friends around Seattle.

Day 15:

SEA to CHI [EB] to PGH [CL] -- Roomettes, both legs (45+ hours, 9.5 hours)

(Depart SEA 4:40 PM, Day 15; Arrive CHI 3:55 PM, Day 17;

Depart CHI 6:40 PM, Day 17; Arrive PGH 5:05 AM, Day 18)

 

[greatcats]

For the itinerary you describe, this looks good to me. I might leave off the sleeper on the last leg.

 

[Austruck]

It's still coming in under budget for me to use the sleeper on the last leg. I just asked myself whether I wanted to sit up in a seat that far into the trip, especially since I'll get in here at home around 5 in the morning. But yes, that would be the one leg I could cut back on, down to a coach seat.

Also, what is the difference between a coach seat and a lower-level reserved seat??

 

[greatcats]

I see the EB misconnected yesterday with the CL, but believe that was due to winter weather.

 

[Austruck]

I'll be going probably in May -- so weather shouldn't be much of a concern at any point along the way. (I hope.)

 

[Lonestar648]

This itinerary looks doable. Since I prefer traveling in a Roomette, I would add the Sleeper to the CL so you can sleep and shower and have your own privacy. Adding the Sleeper to KCY gives you access to the Met Lounge in CHI, privacy and dinner. You might check the price difference because sometimes buying in advance the difference may be low enough to make it well worth the extra.

 

[greatcats]

The seats are the same. That section of about 12 seats seems intended for elderly and disabled and has space for wheelchairs.

 

[Austruck]

Thanks! I'd never been able to figure that out!

 

[Lonestar648]

Lower level coach seating does sell out quickly.

 

[Austruck]

No special issues here, so a regular coach seat will work for those legs where I don't already have a roomette in mind.

----

Did I leave enough leeway in connection times on same-day trains?

 

[caravanman]

Hi,

As a regular visitor to America, one of my favourite cities is Portland, which has a distinctly more "European" vibe than most. I suggest that you might consider breaking your journey to Seattle here. I understand that you are looking for the long train ride experience, more than visiting cities, so it is just an idea. You could continue north next day and arrive earlier into Seattle.

Some of the "fun" of any journey is the unpredictability. If you miss a connection, it might make for a more interesting book item.

For more peace of mind than fun, I would break my journey eastbound and have a night or two in Chicago.

You may care to have a look at Jenny Diski's book: Stranger on a Train:Daydreaming and Smoking around America With Interruptions. Ms. Diski is a rather unconventional person, but I like the way she includes her own troubled life into her books. (Smoking is no longer permitted on Amtrak.)

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2002/aug/18/travel.features

As with any project of this nature, it may be better not to read others efforts first, but to approach with a fresh mind and a clean sheet!

Cheers,

Ed.

 

[Austruck]

Lonestar, do you mean the CHI to KCY connection? That's only 7-8 hours and is during the day (3 PM to about 11 PM). The only negative is that I'd already thought I could handle the coach seat from PGH to CHI overnight (since I anticipate being too wired to sleep that first night, plus I'm a night owl).

I'm already coming in well under budget with something like this, so I could upgrade a few things as needed, or add a hotel room at some point along the trip to break things up.

---

EDIT: caravanman ... I have a stepdaughter and her husband in Chicago, so that's a possibility, for sure. I'll price out adding Portland to see how that changes things.

EXTRA CREDIT QUESTION FOR ALL: Have I chosen "good" trains for this experience? Sights along the way? Amenities? This doesn't need to be a perfect trip. In fact, I am a humor writer, so a few minor misadventures will only add to the charm for me and will make the writing easier.

 

[niemi24s]

If you're not already familiar with AmSnag http://biketrain.net/amsnag/amSnag.php it can be used to minimize costs if there's a little flexibility in your itinerary. What I suggest is printing an AmSnag query for a 30 day period for each of the 6 legs of your trip. Use the "Filter Results" tab to select the train of your choice and eliminate all the others to keep the display and printout as simple as possible. You may even be lucky enough to spot the occasional travel date when a Bedroom is cheaper than a Roomette!

However, looking that far in advance you may find little or no fluctuations in fares throughout the 30 day period. Another nice feature of AmSnag is its Fare Alerts. After you pick the dates of travel for each leg and make the reservations, if you sign up for Fare Alerts you'll get an email from AmSnag each time a fare is lowered. You can then call Amtrak and have your reservation modified to the lower fare.

With Fare Alerts, I see no reason to wait and see if the fare happens to go down. I you wait too long, the Roomettes may get all sold out. Make the reservations as early as possible just to insure you've got a roomette - then let Fare Alert tell you when (and if) a fare drops - then call Amtrak.

Sounds like a splendid trip. Enjoy!

 

[caravanman]

Although I enjoy the "luxury" of sleeping flat in a roomette, I really like the cameraderie and characters one can meet in coach, and in the lounges. I feel that you should include an element of coach seating, if you only travel in roomettes, you will miss out on a big part of the Amtrak long distance experience. I prize the Zephyr over all other Amtrak trains for the scenery between Denver and Sacramento. Whether this would make it a "good" train to write about is hard to say. The Amtrak long distance rides all have some similarities, it seems to be the crews and fellow passengers that provide the long lasting memories.

Ed.

 

[Austruck]

caravanman, I do have a few coach seats here and there and hope to hit some observation cars on other days, etc., as well. (I'm an introvert so it'll be a good, healthy way to stretch outside my comfort zone.) I'm probably going to do things a lot differently than I *think* I will do them now as I'm planning. And that's okay.

niemi24s, I looked at that AmSnag site earlier today and found it a tad overwhelming. I have no idea what a low bucket is and found it more confusing than helpful.

This particular itinerary is coming in at a price I am happy to pay, so I'm partial to your idea of booking soon and then maybe allowing for Fare Alerts later (which I can ignore completely if I don't feel like worrying about saving a few bucks). What kind of savings are we talking about, generally speaking? Sometimes one's time is worth more than this (which is why I so seldom clip coupons anymore, ha!).

 

[Tennessee Traveler]

I agree with most of the commenters here. While connections east to west bound in Chicago work well, connecting from any LD train from the west to eastbound trains especially the EB to CL is very iffy, and although Amtrak guarantees the connection and would probably put you up in Chicago, almost all the trains sell out of sleeper accommodations so your continuing train the next day may very well be in "coach" even if you had booked a sleeper for the previous evening. I highly recommended a stayover in Chicago.

 

[Sauve850]

Good trains and good schedule. I don't do coach but it all should be ok even the last leg. Lots to see on almost any train. Have fun.

 

[niemi24s]

niemi24s, I looked at that AmSnag site earlier today and found it a tad overwhelming. I have no idea what a low bucket is and found it more confusing than helpful.

The ratio of the highest to lowest prices (aka buckets) for a Roomette vary from 2.2 to 2.9 for the trains on your route. As a concrete example, the surcharge for a Roomette on the Empire Builder from SEA to CHI can be as low as $258 and as high as $759. But those are just the possibilities. AmSnag will show exactly whats being charged for the various days of the AmSnag search.

It just so happens, todays search shows Roomettes on the Empire Builder (EB) are always $258 for the 1-30 May 2017 period, and this chart shows the prices (buckets) for all the long distance trains except the Palmetto:

 

[Austruck]

It just so happens that I plan to travel in May 2017.

 

[Bob Dylan]

Wonderful trip.. We're envious!

I agree with Caravanman that the California Zephyr is a Great Train with fantastic scenery between Sacramento and Reno, and through the Rockies in Colorado as far as Denver.

If you are interested in the Bay Area (San Francisco/Oakland ) I suggest you consider riding the Coast Starlight from LA to Emeryville (North Oakland where the Zephyr Starts),spend a couple of days, and then book a Sleeper from Emeryville to Glenwood Springs ( a fantastic little mountain village) then take the Zephyr in Coach to Chicago since the scenery is nothing to write home about between Denver and Chicago.

This route is a step up from the Empire Builder( which is Avery good train!) from Seattle!/Portland to Chicago in most people's opinion.

Of course Portland is a fantastic city, as is Seattle, but the Bay Area is a must do also if you haven't done it before!

 

[Asher]

Where ever and whichever route you take it will be nice to read about some humorous events.I'm sure you'll have something to write about.

 

[Austruck]

niemi24s: Your attachments kind of freak me out. Ha!

Seriously, I have no idea what half of that even means. I get the train abbreviations down the left side. I get the "C" = coach and "R" = reserved? Yes?

Beyond that I have no idea what FB and B mean. And why a list of all those number in each square? Having no experience reading regular train schedules of any sort, it's more than a little overwhelming.

Can you tell I was an English major? :help:

 

[Deni]

EXTRA CREDIT QUESTION FOR ALL: Have I chosen "good" trains for this experience? Sights along the way? Amenities? This doesn't need to be a perfect trip. In fact, I am a humor writer, so a few minor misadventures will only add to the charm for me and will make the writing easier.

In my opinion you've chosen fantastic trains for this adventure. I've been on most of them and the Empire Builder and Coast Starlight are two of my favorites. And the Cap Ltd is my favorite east coast LD train.

I second the idea from caravanman to add Portland to your itinerary. Lovely city and easy to get around without a car. Seattle is a little more challenging in that regard. Plus, if you stop off in Portland you'll then take a Talgo-equipped Amtrak Cascades to Seattle, which is a whole different train experience than the others you'll take.

 

[Austruck]

My West Coast stops are somewhat random (I have friends in several cities along that side of the country), so I will look into the Portland idea. In fact, I think I had that listed earlier as I was fiddling around, hoping that it would then put me on a more scenic train once I decided to head back east from there.

You know, I am getting absolutely NOTHING else done these past few days since posting a few threads here. All the great answers, and then all the tangential excitement have made it difficult to think about anything else but this trip! (I mean that in a good way.)

Plus, you know, I have to do my monthly Virtual Tour of the various aspects of the train... and look through picture galleries.

Ehhh... who needs to go do laundry or go grocery shopping, right?

 

[Bob Dylan]

Yep, you've caught the Train virus for sure Austruck!

There's no cure, just never ending travel and thinking about and planning more trips that include train rides!