Los Angeles to Alexandria, VA and return – Amtrak’s Southwest Chief and Cardinal. September 21 through October 13, 2024
Miscellaneous notes
A very good experience with Amtrak this trip. Most of the staff helpful and friendly. Traditional dining was good and Flexible dining was so-so.
On-time performance was pretty good. I download and save the train status for my trains from dixielandsoftware - Amtrak Train Status/Archives to include in our trip documentation.
We had some interesting dining car table mates. Most were seasoned Amtrak travelers as we are and like-minded as we choose not to fly and don’t want to drive those distances!
One couple, from Cleveland, was headed to Flagstaff and then on to the Grand Canyon. He was interested in naval history and has plans to write a book or two.
Another couple had been in New England on a tour to see the fall foliage color. They caught the Lake Shore Limited in Boston before connecting to the Southwest Chief. I believe they were connecting to the Pacific Surfliner in Fullerton and continuing south to home in the San Diego area.
Another gentleman and his elderly mother were headed to Las Vegas, NV by way of Kingman, AZ and Amtrak’s connecting service. They also use Amtrak a lot for their travel.
At our final breakfast a young man from Norway was seated with us. He had flown to Chicago and was taking the Southwest Chief to Los Angeles. He was going to spend a couple of days in Los Angeles before catching the Coast Starlight to the Bay Area for a couple of days. He was flying back to Norway from San Francisco.
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This is the third time we made this trip.
In August 2022 we took the Sunset Limited to New Orleans and the Crescent to Alexandria. We returned the same route in reverse.
In October 2020 (during the pandemic) we took a longer route to and from Alexandria. We took the Coast Starlight to Emeryville; the California Zephyr to Chicago; the Cardinal to Alexandria. Returning, we took the Cardinal to Chicago; the Empire Builder to Seattle; the Coast Starlight to Los Angeles.
Miscellaneous notes
A very good experience with Amtrak this trip. Most of the staff helpful and friendly. Traditional dining was good and Flexible dining was so-so.
On-time performance was pretty good. I download and save the train status for my trains from dixielandsoftware - Amtrak Train Status/Archives to include in our trip documentation.
We had some interesting dining car table mates. Most were seasoned Amtrak travelers as we are and like-minded as we choose not to fly and don’t want to drive those distances!
One couple, from Cleveland, was headed to Flagstaff and then on to the Grand Canyon. He was interested in naval history and has plans to write a book or two.
Another couple had been in New England on a tour to see the fall foliage color. They caught the Lake Shore Limited in Boston before connecting to the Southwest Chief. I believe they were connecting to the Pacific Surfliner in Fullerton and continuing south to home in the San Diego area.
Another gentleman and his elderly mother were headed to Las Vegas, NV by way of Kingman, AZ and Amtrak’s connecting service. They also use Amtrak a lot for their travel.
At our final breakfast a young man from Norway was seated with us. He had flown to Chicago and was taking the Southwest Chief to Los Angeles. He was going to spend a couple of days in Los Angeles before catching the Coast Starlight to the Bay Area for a couple of days. He was flying back to Norway from San Francisco.
-----
This is the third time we made this trip.
In August 2022 we took the Sunset Limited to New Orleans and the Crescent to Alexandria. We returned the same route in reverse.
In October 2020 (during the pandemic) we took a longer route to and from Alexandria. We took the Coast Starlight to Emeryville; the California Zephyr to Chicago; the Cardinal to Alexandria. Returning, we took the Cardinal to Chicago; the Empire Builder to Seattle; the Coast Starlight to Los Angeles.
