Help, I want to ride every train

margo · Sep 12, 2014

I have 65-75,000 AGR points. We(senior couple) like having a roomette (although a bedroom would be nice). We live in LCH. We have not ridden the Cardinal, the SW Chief, the Pennsylvanian, the Lakeshore LTD.,or any of the NE Corridor trains. We rode the CZ, but the scenery is so pretty, we wouldn't mind riding it again. We would like to ride as much as possible in 10-14 days. We have a $200.00 voucher and could pay cash for some tickets. We just want to ride and see pretty scenery. Could some of you AGR gurus work your magic and help us? Thank you very much.

margo · Sep 12, 2014

Additional info: coach is fine during the day time. Thanks again for any help. I try to plan our trips myself, but the agent never agrees with my plans.

Long Train Runnin' · Sep 12, 2014

Being in a similar situation I know if you play your cards right and you start in NOL you can do the Sunset to LA then connect same day to the Coastal Starlight where I believe you can overnight on your dime and connect in either PDX or SEA and catch the Empire Builder to CHI. From there you could do another 2 zone CHI to MIA, but I'm not sure about getting back from MIA :lol:

Ispolkom · Sep 12, 2014

A perfectly legitimate published two-zone routing is New Orleans-Chicago-Los Angeles-Seattle. Strangely, the first itinerary offered between New Orleans and Seattle is New Orleans-Washington-Chicago-Sacramento-Seattle, which is not legal according to the rules as written.

Tracktwentynine · Sep 15, 2014

Okay, just spitballing here, but how about:

START: Chicago

Day 1: 9:30P depart on the Lakeshore Limited to Boston (arrives Day 2)
Day 2: 9:10P arrive in Boston. OVERNIGHT in Boston.
Day 3: 6:10A depart Boston on the Northeast Regional to New York (arrives 11:57A).
........:12:42P depart New York on the Pennsylvanian to Pittsburgh (arrives 8:05P). OVERNIGHT in Pittsburgh
Day 4: 5:20A depart Pittsburgh on the Capitol Limited to Washington (arrives 1:10P). OVERNIGHT in Washington
Day 5: 11:05A depart Washington on the Cardinal to Chicago (arrives Day 6)
Day 6: 10:05A Arrive Chicago.
.........: 3:00P depart Chicago on the Southwest Chief to Los Angeles (arrives Day 8).
Day 7: On the Chief
Day 8: Arrive Los Angeles at 8:15A.

Now, you could cut out some of this by skipping the jaunt to Pittsburgh and instead going direct from Boston to Washington. That would leave out the Pennsylvanian.

In terms of booking, you'd book these segments:

Chicago to Boston on the Lakeshore (Sleeper). This would be 20,000 AGR points for a roomette.
Boston to Pittsburgh on the NE Regional/Pennsylvanian (Coach). I'd pay cash.
Pittsburgh to Washington on the Capitol Limited (Coach). I'd pay cash.
Washington - Chicago - Los Angeles on the Cardinal/Southwest Chief (Sleeper). This would be 35,000 AGR points for a roomette.

I'd also add sightseeing days in the mix to help break up the trip (and insulate against delays). Keep in mind that the Cardinal only operates 3 days a week, so whichever day you plan to leave Washington would need to be one of those days.