L.A. TO WILLIAMS JUNCTION OPTION

[SUTTONK11]

In planning my rail trip around the U.S., I wanted to stop and see the Grand Canyon. Unfortunately AMTRAK stops at Williams Junction at 4:20 a.m. forcing you to pay for a room you use for only 2-3 hours or to sit around waiting for the train to the Grand Canyon ( I am using the Grand Canyon Railroad in this case ). Consider renting a car in L.A., driving to Flagstaff, return the rental and take a taxi to Williams Junction; it is a 7-8 hour drive during the day ( train travels mostly at night ) so you see the country, you arrive at your hotel in time for dinner and a full night's rest and it costs about half of what you would pay for the train. You can lease a Budget Rental car in Union Station, L.A.

 

[darien-l]

In planning my rail trip around the U.S., I wanted to stop and see the Grand Canyon. Unfortunately AMTRAK stops at Williams Junction at 4:20 a.m. forcing you to pay for a room you use for only 2-3 hours or to sit around waiting for the train to the Grand Canyon ( I am using the Grand Canyon Railroad in this case ). Consider renting a car in L.A., driving to Flagstaff, return the rental and take a taxi to Williams Junction; it is a 7-8 hour drive during the day ( train travels mostly at night ) so you see the country, you arrive at your hotel in time for dinner and a full night's rest and it costs about half of what you would pay for the train. You can lease a Budget Rental car in Union Station, L.A.

I don't see a problem, the connection at WMJ from an eastbound Southwest Chief to Grand Canyon Railway is actually pretty good. Your train will likely be a few minutes late, so you probably won't be at the Grand Canyon Railway Hotel until after 5 AM (there's a connecting bus from Williams Junction to Williams). You can leave your bags at the hotel, walk around Williams a bit, find a good breakfast place, have a leisurely brekfast, and before you know it, it will be 7:30 AM and time to board your 8:30 train to Grand Canyon. Beats a 7-8 hour drive which is not very scenic anyway. And I susect that a one-way car rental + gas + food + hotel will end up costing more what you would pay for the train (a roomette for two people should cost a total of about $300).

If you do decide to drive, though, instead of taking a taxi from Flagstaff to Williams (about 40 miles - won't be cheap!) you can take an Open Road Tours bus directly to Grand Canyon. Then you can get a one-way Grand Canyon Railway ticket to Williams and your connection to Amtrak.