Escaping "Mother Nature"

[AutoTrDvr]

The thread on EB issues got me thinking...

There is no escaping "Mother Nature" when it comes to finding a permanent place to settle down and live in the USA. If it's not Hurricanes in the South, it's Nor'Easters and snow in the Northeast and upper Mid-west. It's "Tornado Alley" in the Mid-West & South Central, and it's Earthquakes and Mud Slides on the West Coast.

Likewise, there is no escaping mother nature when finding the right time/season to travel on major Amtrak LD routes. If it's not heat generating "slow orders," it's probably a winter snow storm blitzing out the route.

So, what then are the "ideal" seasons IYHOs (from a weather perspective) for travel on the following:

1. EB East Bound;
2. Cardinal West Bound;
3. SWC West bound;
4. CS Northbound;

Just a little "pre-research" for my not as yet scheduled " 'Round the Country" tour. The objective being mostly to minimize weather impact/delays on the train. I will, of course, build appropriate "layover" time at each destination to provide a little insurance (and because I actually want to tour each destination for a bit).

What has worked best for y'all?

 

[Steve4031]

The fall and spring are best IMHO.

 

[gswager]

Fall is safer than spring because of dry weather. Spring brings floods, esp in mid west and possible mud slides in the west. Unfortunately east coast may get some hurricanes in early fall.

 

[Henry Kisor]

What Steve said. March and October are my favorite train travel times: less competition for low-bucket roomettes (or Guest Rewards bedrooms). Passenger loads are lighter, OBS not quite so busy. But I'm biased in that I'm retired and don't have to travel at peak times.

 

[AutoTrDvr]

What Steve said. March and October are my favorite train travel times: less competition for low-bucket roomettes (or Guest Rewards bedrooms). Passenger loads are lighter, OBS not quite so busy. But I'm biased in that I'm retired and don't have to travel at peak times.

Would March then, for example, be a bit too soon in re: snow for the EB, especially up in Montana, etc.?

 

[Texan Eagle]

There is no escaping "Mother Nature" when it comes to finding a permanent place to settle down and live in the USA. If it's not Hurricanes in the South, it's Nor'Easters and snow in the Northeast and upper Mid-west. It's "Tornado Alley" in the Mid-West & South Central, and it's Earthquakes and Mud Slides on the West Coast.

You forgot wildfires in west-central states. I guess CZ and SWC routes have the potential of someday being affected by raging wildfires.

 

[AutoTrDvr]

There is no escaping "Mother Nature" when it comes to finding a permanent place to settle down and live in the USA. If it's not Hurricanes in the South, it's Nor'Easters and snow in the Northeast and upper Mid-west. It's "Tornado Alley" in the Mid-West & South Central, and it's Earthquakes and Mud Slides on the West Coast.

You forgot wildfires in west-central states. I guess CZ and SWC routes have the potential of someday being affected by raging wildfires.

Yeah. I guess I always think of wildfires as being more "man made" than natural, but a decent bolt of lightning in a very parched/dry forest during a thunder bumper could be a recipe for disaster. Especially during this drought we are all facing. I'm just recalling all those times now when fire fighters intentionally set certain sections of forest ablaze in a "controlled" action to keep natural wildfires from spreading to occupied residential areas. I trust the track owners are doing similar things.

 

[George Harris]

I would go for late spring early summer past the spring flood season and before the high temperature and drought season. Also, the advantage of spring is longer periods of daylight. You would get to see a lot of the sights that you would be passing in the dark in the fall.

 

[johnny.menhennet]

You are considering the Cardinal, so the best time IMO and many others at least for that train would be late October. This is before the heavy snows in the West and not yet wet enough for mudslides on the CS.

 

[SubwayNut]

The Cardinal Preferably on the two round-trips (at least the past couple years) when Ocean View is running on the train, Amtrak's one dome car. I am a bit biased, my one trip ever on the Cardinal was when that car was running last year.

 

[RRUserious]

I had a great trip on Empire Builder last October. Not sure if that can be repeated, but some things were probably specific to that time of year. Floods were over. Vacations had crested and numbers dropped. It might have been before the surge in freight trains, though I know at least a couple of times we moved aside to let other trains by. A spring trip before snow melts and heavy rainstorms might be the same, but I don't think I'll risk that.

 

[jebr]

There is no escaping "Mother Nature" when it comes to finding a permanent place to settle down and live in the USA. If it's not Hurricanes in the South, it's Nor'Easters and snow in the Northeast and upper Mid-west. It's "Tornado Alley" in the Mid-West & South Central, and it's Earthquakes and Mud Slides on the West Coast.

You forgot wildfires in west-central states. I guess CZ and SWC routes have the potential of someday being affected by raging wildfires.

Such as late June/early July. The CZ was detoured from DEN to SLC due to wildfires near Grand Junction. They also closed I-70 there, which made for some interesting reroutes (people to GJT, for example, had to take the train to SLC and then take the train, since it was running through again, to GJT.

 

[ChillZZ]

this is definately a thread for me to be watching! I am also planning an USA round trip, where i don't want to meet too many weather extremes. the trip should be a maximum of 90 days, the maximum allowed stay on ESTA VISA Waiver for us Europeans. I don't mind warm tempratures, as long as it is dry heat. Not the swampy/tropical feeling like we have here in the Netherlands when it hits around 80f, due to extreme high humidity. Don't mind somewhat colder weather either, since we've really are used to that as long it's not 10 feet of snow..

the amount of luggage we're allowed to bring over is limited. So as you can imagine for 90 days, i will be using alot of laundromats, no room for snowboots or parka's

Basically, what i've come up to is a double clockwise travel, beginning in the NorthEast,

with a small loop to Centralia, IL / St Louis, MO and from there, a large loop to Chicago, while finishing back on the NorthEast in New York, NY

The only deviation would be the flight from Phoenix, AZ to Rapid City, SD and from there to Las Vegas, NV

so far i've thought of this :

BOS - PHL on the North East Regional
PHL - PGH on the Pennsylvanian
PGH - WAS on the Capitol Limited
WAS - GRO on the Carolinean
GRO - ATL on the Cresent
ATL - NOL on the Cresent
NOL - MEM on the City of New Orleans
MEM - CEN on the City of New Orleans
STL - TXA on the Texas Eagle
TXA - SAS on the Texas Eagle
SAS - MRC on the Sunset Limited / Texas Eagle
KPHX - KRAP on a flight
KRAP - KLAS on a flight
LVS - LAX on an Amtrak Thruway Coach
LAX - CHI on the Southwest Chief
CHI - EMY on the California Zephyr
EMY - SFW on an Amtrak Thruway Coach
SFW - EMY on an Amtrak Thruway Coach
EMY - SEA on the Coast Starlight
SEA - CHI on the Empire Builder
CHI - ERI on the Lake Shore Limited
ERI - NYP on the Lake Shore Limited

Ofcourse i will be spending a few days in most of the cities and with friends, which will make up for a total of 90 days.

What would be the best season(s) to make this travel?

* Edit : typo

 

[Ana]

I've always travelled late September or early October and those trips have been great. No delays (time lost was always found) and pleasant travelling companions who love trains and appreciate the ride. I've just done the CS from EMY to SEA (one hour late) , the EB SEA-CHI, 4.5 hours late and the CZ CHI-EMY, 1 hour 20mins late. I met some lovely people but I also heard way more whining than I'd ever heard before, and not even on the latest of those trains. I don't know, maybe people find summer more stressful. There were certainly way more children than I'd ever seen. I've been riding LD in sleepers since 2009 when i was in my early thirties and I quite enjoyed being everyone's grandchild and the youngest by many years

 

[NW cannonball]

Mother Nature can be totally nuts some times. The floods in Minot happened in June - way later in the year than anyone would have guessed.

I took the EB MSP - SEA November 2011 - at the stop in Minot -- saw flood rubbish stuck in tree branches at the level of my upper level roomette window.

They were still working on cleaning up the station at that time.

BNSF is doing a project there in Minot to raise the tracks -- the flooding there was a once-in-a-century thing -

I remember the 1965 flood of the Mississippi here - there are still signs marking the high water mark -- 20 feet above the road and track level.

 

[jb64]

i traveled cross-country and back in March and thought it was great. The foliage is not out yet so views tend to be better, there was still a little snow in high altitutes to make it pretty but not enough to disrupt anything. We were early or on time all but twice and both of those times were less than two hours delay and OBS did seem much more relaxed and nicer. I highly recommend March. My trip was Cardinal, SWC, CS, CZ, and Cardinal again.

 

[ChillZZ]

@jb64 and @ana :

so with the above mentioned itinerary, what would be better time "slot" ?

1. january - february - march,
2. february - march - april,
3. march - april - may,
4. september, october, november,
5. october, november, december

 

[Ispolkom]

Mother Nature can be totally nuts some times. The floods in Minot happened in June - way later in the year than anyone would have guessed.

I took the EB MSP - SEA November 2011 - at the stop in Minot -- saw flood rubbish stuck in tree branches at the level of my upper level roomette window.

They were still working on cleaning up the station at that time.

BNSF is doing a project there in Minot to raise the tracks -- the flooding there was a once-in-a-century thing -

They're still working (actually, they're still not working would be a better way to put it) on the Minot station, but they aren't raising the tracks there. The project you're thinking of is at Churchs Ferry, 106 miles east of Minot, where Devils Lake's rise is requiring a ten-foot lift in the tracks.

For the Empire Builder I'd guess that late May or early June are good times (though last year I canceled a June 2 trip because of flooding), and September to November are pretty clear.

 

[johnny.menhennet]

I would not suggest December or late November due to the fact that it is unlikely to get low buckets on any trains and you will have to pay extra for most of those legs of the trip.

 

[NW cannonball]

Mother Nature can be totally nuts some times. The floods in Minot happened in June - way later in the year than anyone would have guessed.

I took the EB MSP - SEA November 2011 - at the stop in Minot -- saw flood rubbish stuck in tree branches at the level of my upper level roomette window.

They were still working on cleaning up the station at that time.

BNSF is doing a project there in Minot to raise the tracks -- the flooding there was a once-in-a-century thing -

They're still working (actually, they're still not working would be a better way to put it) on the Minot station, but they aren't raising the tracks there. The project you're thinking of is at Churchs Ferry, 106 miles east of Minot, where Devils Lake's rise is requiring a ten-foot lift in the tracks.

For the Empire Builder I'd guess that late May or early June are good times (though last year I canceled a June 2 trip because of flooding), and September to November are pretty clear.

Thanks for correcting my erroneous statement of the location - got two floods confused somehow. Last November was the last time I saw that area - it takes an enormous amount of fill rock to raise even a narrow right-of-way 10 feet for about 15 miles. Hoping the disruptions won't last too long.

Mother nature gives -- an easy "water-level" route that connects existing economic centers and settlements with big agriculture and/or (like in the Pacific Northwest) hydropower, or access to ocean shipping

Then Mother Nature takes away -- floods, drowned farmlands, mudslides, washed-out bridges. - and the occasional volcanic eruption or earthquake.

Us short-living things just have to play the odds -- mudslides PDX-SEA and PDX-PSC -- mostly in January - but the most recent was this July. - etc.etc. Hurricanes mostly happen whenever - but there have been extreme exceptions.

Always have a Plan B, a Plan C, and a stash of drinking water and a blanket - or maybe only a towel - don't bring anything along you can't afford to lose - and a few day's living in coin of the realm might help - you can always blow it on a fancy brunch if you don't need it on the voyage.

Take care, and expect the unexpected, but don't count on it.

Enjoy the scenery and the people you meet and tell your kids and grand-kids about it

 

[NW cannonball]

I would not suggest December or late November due to the fact that it is unlikely to get low buckets on any trains and you will have to pay extra for most of those legs of the trip.

But early November worked a charm for me in 2011. Wildfires mostly gone, grain traffic down, the container trains of "Holiday gift splurge" stuff from the far East mostly done, winter barely started on the North Transcon.

 

[jb64]

@jb64 and @ana :

so with the above mentioned itinerary, what would be better time "slot" ?

1. january - february - march,
2. february - march - april,
3. march - april - may,
4. september, october, november,
5. october, november, december

Given that your early segments are on the east coast and deep south, I think options 2 or 3 would be good. I haven't taken any long trips in the fall so I can't comment much on 4 or 5 but I would think 4 might be fine, too. I would not plan on 1 or 5. Sounds like a great trip.

 

[Swadian Hardcore]

@jb64 and @ana :

so with the above mentioned itinerary, what would be better time "slot" ?

• january - february - march,
• february - march - april,
• march - april - may,
• september, october, november,

october, november, december

I would suggest 3.

 

[leemell]

There is no escaping "Mother Nature" when it comes to finding a permanent place to settle down and live in the USA. If it's not Hurricanes in the South, it's Nor'Easters and snow in the Northeast and upper Mid-west. It's "Tornado Alley" in the Mid-West & South Central, and it's Earthquakes and Mud Slides on the West Coast.

You forgot wildfires in west-central states. I guess CZ and SWC routes have the potential of someday being affected by raging wildfires.

Yeah. I guess I always think of wildfires as being more "man made" than natural, but a decent bolt of lightning in a very parched/dry forest during a thunder bumper could be a recipe for disaster. Especially during this drought we are all facing. I'm just recalling all those times now when fire fighters intentionally set certain sections of forest ablaze in a "controlled" action to keep natural wildfires from spreading to occupied residential areas. I trust the track owners are doing similar things.

Wildfires are mostly caused by lightning strikes, maybe as many as 70%.in the West.

 

[ChillZZ]

Awsome! Thanks for the replies, i'll make shure when this trip will happen, it will be in that stretch of time.

Given that your early segments are on the east coast and deep south, I think options 2 or 3 would be good. I haven't taken any long trips in the fall so I can't comment much on 4 or 5 but I would think 4 might be fine, too. I would not plan on 1 or 5. Sounds like a great trip.

All in all it will be quite a pricey undertaking, with the flights, roomettes, hotels, transportation in the cities, spending money for food/drinks, as well as things to see and do. But on the other hand, when i finally have the time and money it will be a once in a lifetime adventure. It is something you wouldn't do on a regular basis, but then again, just flying over from here to let's say New York isn't cheap anyway. So when i'm overthere, i should take advantage of it and see the amazing different sights of cityscapes, wide open desert, mountains etc, while on certain stops i can visit some friends along the way in North Carolina, Atlanta GA, Centralia IL, Texarkana/San Antonio TX, Phoenix AZ, Seattle WA, Chicago IL and finally a family on the Erie/New York border.

With the planning of the itinerary, i made shure to have logical connections from city to city on trains i really want to ride and stuff i want to see as well as the direction of travel on some trains regarding the views. I forgot about tempratures and climate influence on the trains however The one thing my friend in Phoenix warned me about was not to come may to september.

After reading about classic American LD trains when i was a kid and the time i have been in Toronto for work, i'm hooked on North America and it's trains. i really can't wait to make this happen!