I need help with Amtrak!!!

[Libby]

I'm trying to figure out how to set up a trip.

1. After you buy a Rail Pass, do you still have to pay for individual TICKETS, or does the Rail Pass take care of those expenses? Do you need a Rail Pass to travel with Amtrak?

2. Can you take a segment between ANY two cities?

3. How could I use a 45 day Rail Pass to see (at least pass through) every state the US (with the exception of the states Amtrak doesn't connect to) ? I'm trying to figure out what routes to take in the 18 segments if I'm beginning in Tampa, FL. 

I'm trying to figure out where I want to settle down. Everyone I speak to tells me the best way to get a feel of a place is to go there! That's why I want to use the pass to its maximum potential. Thanks in advance for any feedback!

 

[PerRock]

1)I believe you shouldn't have to pay for individual tickets unless your wanting an upgrade. However you still need to book the tickets. Someone else here probably knows better.

1A) You do not need a railpass to travel on Amtrak. If you prefer you can just book train tickets.

2) I would check the conditions of your railpass however you should be able to take any segment you want. I do not believe the RailPass covers the AutoTrain & possible the Acela.

3) Would visit your local station and pick up a National Timetable it'll help you in figuring out your preferred route.

peter

 

[stntylr]

I traveled last year on a 15 day RailPass. I booked my tickets at the same time I bought my RailPass. It's a good idea to book early because trains often sell out.

The RailPass only covers a coach seat if you want a roomette you can still use the RailPass you just have to pay an extra room charge.

As said earlier the RailPass does not cover the Auto Train or the Acela but it does include thruway bus connections.

Have fun on your trip.

 

[johnny.menhennet]

Is there any specific region that you are slightly more inclined in thinking it's a possibiliy, and would 1-day stops be enough for you? I'm trying to put something together for you but if you know that while you're open to everywhere you'd rather see more of the Southwest or South or Midwest for example that would help, because obviously stopping everywhere is not a possibility on a 45 day pass - also any cities you know you don't need to stop at - ie NYC since it is just that, a city, and you know you're looking for something else? Sorry to make this so complicated but I'm trying to put something together.

 

[johnny.menhennet]

Let me make this simpler: Are there any specific regions you do not have an interest in, and are you looking more for a sampling of large cities or more rural rugged areas - or a mix of both?

 

[Libby]

Hey guys, thanks for the responses! I'm more interested in the northwest than any other region if that helps.

 

[Tracktwentynine]

This is just a possible itinerary. There are many possible combinations. If you get back to us with some more detail about what specific cities you'd like to visit (or not visit), that would be very helpful.

Since you asked about visiting states, I'll enumerate them based which ones you'd visit on each route. I'll only list them the first time you would go through them. I'll then add the cumulative states. For your reference, Amtrak serves 46 states. It does not serve Alaska, Hawaii, South Dakota, or Wyoming.

Segment # | Start -> End | Train (states visited) [states so far]

1 | TAMPA -> Philadelphia | Silver Star (FL, GA, SC, NC, VA, DC, MD, DE, PA) [8 states so far]

2 | Philadelphia -> New York | Northeast Regional (NJ, NY) [10 states so far]

3 | New York -> Boston | Northeast Regional (CT, RI, MA) [13 states so far]

4 | Boston -> Chicago | Lake Shore Limited (OH, IN, IL) [16 sates so far]

5 | Chicago -> Seattle | Empire Builder (WI, MN, ND, MT, ID, WA) [22 states so far]

6 | Seattle -> Portland | Cascades (OR) [23 states so far]

7 | Portland -> Oakland (San Francisco) | Coast Starlight (CA) [24 states so far]

8 | Oakland -> Denver | California Zephyr (NV, UT, CO) [27 states so far]

9 | Denver -> Chicago | California Zephyr (NE, IA) [29 states so far]

10 | Chicago -> Los Angeles | Southwest Chief (KS, NM, AZ) [32 states so far]

11 | Los Angeles -> Dallas | Texas Eagle (TX) [33 states so far]

12 | Dallas -> St. Louis | Texas Eagle (AR, MO) [35 states so far]

13 | St. Louis -> Chicago | Lincoln Service (none) [35 states so far]

14 | Chicago -> New Orleans | City of New Orleans (KY, TN, MS, LA) [39 states so far]

15 | New Orleans -> Atlanta | Crescent (AL) [40 states so far]

16 | Atlanta -> Charlotte | Crescent (none) [40 states so far]

17 | Charlotte -> Washington | Crescent (none) [40 states so far]

18 | Washington -> TAMPA | Silver Star (none) [40 states so far]

The states the above example misses are:

NH and ME - Only reachable by the Downeaster, running between Boston and Augusta.

VT - Accessible on the Vermonter between Washington and St. Albans or the Ethan Allen between New York and Rutland.

WV - Accessible by riding through on the Capitol Limited or Cardinal between Washington and Chicago.

MI - Accessible by riding on the Michigan Service between Chicago and Detroit or Port Huron or Grand Rapids.

OK - Accessible only by the Heartland Flyer between Fort Worth and Oklahoma City.

 

[Swadian Hardcore]

I would suggest this following routing: TPA-NYP-BOS-CHI-SEA-LAX-NOL-WAS-TPA. Then come home and rest or just continue from WAS. Second routing TPA-WAS-CHI-EMY-LAX-(Southwest Chief)-CHI-(Cardinal)-WAS-TPA. This itinerary covers 14 segments.

To visit Maine and New Hampshire, you must take the Downeaster from BON-POR. To visit Vermont, the best way is to take the Vermonter from WAS or NYP-SAB. To visit Arkansas, take the Texas Eagle from CHI-SAS, it goes through Arkansas. To visit Oklahoma, take the Heartland Flyer from FTW-OKC. To visit Tennesse, you must take the C ity of New Orleans from NOL-CHI. I was unable to intregate these trains into my suggested itinerary.

Note that all stations are in code, so book your tickets with these codes. Just having a USA Rail Pass is not enough to board a train, you must then go to the station and use your pass as "money" to buy tickets. You do not have to pay anything for coach, but you do have to pay supplements for sleeper tickets.

An alternative to the USA Rail Pass is Greyhound's Discovery Pass, unlimited travel and unlimited stops on Greyhound in the time frame allowed in the U.S. and Canada. Greyhound goes to far more places and have far more frequencies than Amtrak, but the buses are not very comfortable. However, Greyhound is introducing larger seats on all buses, which puts them a step above airline flights for comfort. Also, free Wi-Fi.

 

[johnny.menhennet]

You never said it had to end in Tampa, so I created an itinerary with 21 segments that mostly focuses on the West Coast/Mountain West. However, 9 of the segments cost less than 50 dollars, so I suppose you could pay for the three cheapest ones by yourself. I'm including the prices of the cheapest ones. I tried to include a good mix of resort towns, large cities, and small towns. Here goes.

Tampa FL - Charleston SC

CHS - Washington DC

WAS - Cincinnati OH

CIN - Chicago IL ($45)

CHI - Minneapolis/St. Paul MN

MSP - West Glacier MT

WGL - Seattle WA

SEA - Portland OR ($32)

PDX - Klamath Falls, OR ($38)

KFS - Sacramento CA ($40)

SAC - Reno NV ($42)

RNO - Salt Lake City UT

SLC - Glenwood Springs CO

GSC - Denver CO ($41)

DEN - Galesburg IL

GBB - Albuquerque NM (option of visiting Santa Fe still car-free)

ABQ - Phoenix AZ (via bus from FLG - then have to get self to MRC)

MRC - Los Angeles CA

LAX - San Diego CA ($36)

SAN - Santa Barbara CA ($41)

SBA - San Jose CA ($44) (option of going to San Francisco)

sounds like a super fun itinerary visiting plenty of NW/West cities, both small such as West Glacier, Klamath Falls, and Glenwood Springs and larger places such as PDX, SEA, and the Sacramento/San Francisco area. Southern California and the desert like Phoenix and Albuquerque are represented. I know that many large swaths of the NE and south are not represented, but I used your focus area of the NW as pretty contrasting to those other areas. You by no means have to follow any of this, but it is a nice sampling. Plenty of these places may be of no interest to you, so feel free to modify, but you will come close to $100 dollars over paying for individual segments. Remember to book every segment super early because every segment on the pass that you don't book at the lowest bucket means you have to pay more for it as well. Good luck with deciding on the itinerary and the trip itself. Continue asking any questions you may have!

 

[Ispolkom]

To visit Vermont, the best way is to take the Vermonter from WAS or NYP-SAB.

For the life of me, I can't imagine why anyone would want to go to St. Albans. I had an enjoyable enforced stay in Brattleboro (transmission died), and also would suggest Essex Junction (for Burlington), Montpelier, even White River Junction.

 

[PerRock]

Segment # | Start -> End | Train (states visited) [states so far]

1 | TAMPA -> Philadelphia | Silver Star (FL, GA, SC, NC, VA, DC, MD, DE, PA) [8 states so far]

2 | Philadelphia -> New York | Northeast Regional (NJ, NY) [10 states so far]

3 | New York -> Boston | Northeast Regional (CT, RI, MA) [13 states so far]

4 | Boston -> Chicago | Lake Shore Limited (OH, IN, IL) [16 sates so far]

5 | Chicago -> Seattle | Empire Builder (WI, MN, ND, MT, ID, WA) [22 states so far]

6 | Seattle -> Portland | Cascades (OR) [23 states so far]

7 | Portland -> Oakland (San Francisco) | Coast Starlight (CA) [24 states so far]

8 | Oakland -> Denver | California Zephyr (NV, UT, CO) [27 states so far]

9 | Denver -> Chicago | California Zephyr (NE, IA) [29 states so far]

10 | Chicago -> Los Angeles | Southwest Chief (KS, NM, AZ) [32 states so far]

11 | Los Angeles -> Dallas | Texas Eagle (TX) [33 states so far]

12 | Dallas -> St. Louis | Texas Eagle (AR, MO) [35 states so far]

13 | St. Louis -> Chicago | Lincoln Service (none) [35 states so far]

14 | Chicago -> New Orleans | City of New Orleans (KY, TN, MS, LA) [39 states so far]

15 | New Orleans -> Atlanta | Crescent (AL) [40 states so far]

16 | Atlanta -> Charlotte | Crescent (none) [40 states so far]

17 | Charlotte -> Washington | Crescent (none) [40 states so far]

18 | Washington -> TAMPA | Silver Star (none) [40 states so far]

I'm a little confused about your segment splitting/routing on a couple. Why disembark the Silver Star in PHL and take a Regional to DC & another Regional to NYP, when you can take the Silver Star all the way to NYP. I would think this would save you 2 segments. And again on the West Coast, why take the Cascades between SEA & PDX when you can take the Starlight the whole way from SEA to Oakland?

peter

 

[AmtrakBlue]

Segment # | Start -> End | Train (states visited) [states so far]

1 | TAMPA -> Philadelphia | Silver Star (FL, GA, SC, NC, VA, DC, MD, DE, PA) [8 states so far]

2 | Philadelphia -> New York | Northeast Regional (NJ, NY) [10 states so far]

3 | New York -> Boston | Northeast Regional (CT, RI, MA) [13 states so far]

4 | Boston -> Chicago | Lake Shore Limited (OH, IN, IL) [16 sates so far]

5 | Chicago -> Seattle | Empire Builder (WI, MN, ND, MT, ID, WA) [22 states so far]

6 | Seattle -> Portland | Cascades (OR) [23 states so far]

7 | Portland -> Oakland (San Francisco) | Coast Starlight (CA) [24 states so far]

8 | Oakland -> Denver | California Zephyr (NV, UT, CO) [27 states so far]

9 | Denver -> Chicago | California Zephyr (NE, IA) [29 states so far]

10 | Chicago -> Los Angeles | Southwest Chief (KS, NM, AZ) [32 states so far]

11 | Los Angeles -> Dallas | Texas Eagle (TX) [33 states so far]

12 | Dallas -> St. Louis | Texas Eagle (AR, MO) [35 states so far]

13 | St. Louis -> Chicago | Lincoln Service (none) [35 states so far]

14 | Chicago -> New Orleans | City of New Orleans (KY, TN, MS, LA) [39 states so far]

15 | New Orleans -> Atlanta | Crescent (AL) [40 states so far]

16 | Atlanta -> Charlotte | Crescent (none) [40 states so far]

17 | Charlotte -> Washington | Crescent (none) [40 states so far]

18 | Washington -> TAMPA | Silver Star (none) [40 states so far]

I'm a little confused about your segment splitting/routing on a couple. Why disembark the Silver Star in PHL and take a Regional to DC & another Regional to NYP, when you can take the Silver Star all the way to NYP. I would think this would save you 2 segments. And again on the West Coast, why take the Cascades between SEA & PDX when you can take the Starlight the whole way from SEA to Oakland?

peter

? So the OP can check out the cities ? That is the reason for her trip, to scope out places to see if she'd like to move there.

 

[Tracktwentynine]

Segment # | Start -> End | Train (states visited) [states so far]

1 | TAMPA -> Philadelphia | Silver Star (FL, GA, SC, NC, VA, DC, MD, DE, PA) [8 states so far]

2 | Philadelphia -> New York | Northeast Regional (NJ, NY) [10 states so far]

3 | New York -> Boston | Northeast Regional (CT, RI, MA) [13 states so far]

4 | Boston -> Chicago | Lake Shore Limited (OH, IN, IL) [16 sates so far]

5 | Chicago -> Seattle | Empire Builder (WI, MN, ND, MT, ID, WA) [22 states so far]

6 | Seattle -> Portland | Cascades (OR) [23 states so far]

7 | Portland -> Oakland (San Francisco) | Coast Starlight (CA) [24 states so far]

8 | Oakland -> Denver | California Zephyr (NV, UT, CO) [27 states so far]

9 | Denver -> Chicago | California Zephyr (NE, IA) [29 states so far]

10 | Chicago -> Los Angeles | Southwest Chief (KS, NM, AZ) [32 states so far]

11 | Los Angeles -> Dallas | Texas Eagle (TX) [33 states so far]

12 | Dallas -> St. Louis | Texas Eagle (AR, MO) [35 states so far]

13 | St. Louis -> Chicago | Lincoln Service (none) [35 states so far]

14 | Chicago -> New Orleans | City of New Orleans (KY, TN, MS, LA) [39 states so far]

15 | New Orleans -> Atlanta | Crescent (AL) [40 states so far]

16 | Atlanta -> Charlotte | Crescent (none) [40 states so far]

17 | Charlotte -> Washington | Crescent (none) [40 states so far]

18 | Washington -> TAMPA | Silver Star (none) [40 states so far]

I'm a little confused about your segment splitting/routing on a couple. Why disembark the Silver Star in PHL and take a Regional to DC & another Regional to NYP, when you can take the Silver Star all the way to NYP. I would think this would save you 2 segments. And again on the West Coast, why take the Cascades between SEA & PDX when you can take the Starlight the whole way from SEA to Oakland?

peter

? So the OP can check out the cities ? That is the reason for her trip, to scope out places to see if she'd like to move there.

Correct. I assumed the OP might be interested in seeing Philadelphia. If not, they can continue on to New York. Or Boston. Or wherever. It was just a suggestion.

 

[Libby]

WOW, you guys are unbelievably helpful, especially the itineraries! Thank you all so much!

I apologize for not mentioning this to begin with: Once I leave Florida, I'm not coming back. I'm sure that might alter the routing. I'm going to end wherever the route takes me, book a hotel (for a while!) Then relocate to the state of my choosing.

 

[Libby]

Also, how long do you suppose any of the above listed itineraries will take? Do you think it could be completed in 45 days?

 

[johnny.menhennet]

WOW, you guys are unbelievably helpful, especially the itineraries! Thank you all so much!

I apologize for not mentioning this to begin with: Once I leave Florida, I'm not coming back. I'm sure that might alter the routing. I'm going to end wherever the route takes me, book a hotel (for a while!) Then relocate to the state of my choosing.

Yeah I figured that would be the case. With my itinerary, you could definitely complete it in 45 days. Such as:

Day 1: TPA-CHS (SS)

Day 2: Charleston

Day 3: CHS-WAS (Palmetto)

Day 4: Washington DC

Day 5-6: WAS-CIN (Cardinal)

Day 7: Cincinnati

Day 8: CIN-CHI (Cardinal)

Day 9: Chicago

Day 10: CHI-MSP (EB)

Day 11-12: MSP-WGL (EB)

Day 13: Glacier

Day 14-15: WGL-SEA (EB)

Day 16-17: Seattle

Day 18: SEA-PDX (Cascades/CS)

Day 19: Portland

Day 20: PDX-KFS (CS)

Day 21-22: KFS-SAC (CS)

Day 23: SAC-RNO (CZ)

Day 24: Reno

Day 25-26: RNO-SLC (CZ)

Day 27: SLC-GSC (CZ)

Day 28: Glenwood Springs

Day 29: GSC-DEN (CZ)

Day 30: Denver

Day 31-32: DEN-GBB (CZ)

Day 32-33: GBB-ABQ (SWC)

Day 34-35: ABQ-PHX (SWC + Bus)

Day 36-37: MRC-LAX (SL)

Day 38: LAX-SAN (PS)

Day 39: San Diego

Day 40: SAN-SBA (PS)

Day 41: Santa Barbara

Day 42: SBA-SJC (CS)

And this way, you can still add in three extra days in other towns/cities. Easily done if you try to make the most out of each 1 or two day stop. But in a place like ABQ, I don't think you would need to stop for more than 24 hours, IYKWIM. Plenty of the places in the NW could have days added in, and you could make this a great trip.

 

[Libby4ever21]

Thanks!

I was looking at the routing on the map, and I noticed these squares that represent stations. Am I going to have to get off and then re-board everytime I come to one of those stations? If so, does that count as a segment?

btw, I'm the OP.

 

[Tracktwentynine]

Thanks!

I was looking at the routing on the map, and I noticed these squares that represent stations. Am I going to have to get off and then re-board everytime I come to one of those stations? If so, does that count as a segment?

btw, I'm the OP.

No.

For example, the Capitol Limited runs from Washington to Chicago, via Pittsburgh and Cleveland (and countless other places). If you're going from Washington to Chicago, you can stay on the same train the whole way (and that's 1 segment). If you want to get off in Pittsburgh, though, and spend the night, that would mean going from Washington to Pittsburgh (overnight) and then Pittsburgh to Chicago would be 2 segments.

 

[Libby4ever21]

Thank you!! Looking forward to this trip!!