Pittsburgh to Dillon, SC

Guest · Jun 21, 2018

We are hoping to travel by train to the Myrtle Beach area in September. Anyone been able to get close via train? I see Dillon is the closest, but worry about rental cars!! Any help would be appreciated. Also - does the Palmetto not offer sleepers??

If we must stay over to catch a connector in Philly, has anyone stayed in the hotels near the 30th St. station? Thanks!

the_traveler · Jun 21, 2018

Actually, Florence is a better station. However, the Silver Meteor (which does have sleeping cars) stops at 3 am southbound and 11 pm northbound. You can connect to/from Pittsburgh in Washington on the Capitol Limited. Unless you wish to, there is no need to connect in Philadelphia.

The Palmetto is a day train, and thus does not have sleepers or a full Dining Car - only a cafe car.

cpotisch · Jun 21, 2018

As the_traveler said, the Palmetto doesn't have sleepers or a dining car - it's just coaches (including business class) and a cafe car. The same thing applies with the Pennsylvanian, which would be your first train, connecting to the Palmetto in Philadelphia.

I would recommend you take the Capitol Limited to from Pittsburgh to Washington D.C, and then the Silver Meteor to Florence. Both trains are much nicer than the Pennsylvanian and Palmetto, most notably because they offer sleeping and dining cars. Plus, you will get a Sightseer Lounge on the Capitol, which is a vastly nicer place to relax than the Amfleet lounges on the Pennsylvanian.

ParanoidAndroid · Jun 22, 2018

I'd also recommend the Capitol Limited to DC. After that, taking the Palmetto the next day might be better to avoid getting off the Meteor at 3am. Rental car places will definitely not be open at 3am. The Palmetto departs DC at 10am, also a bit more comfortable than the 7:32am departure from Philly.

Florence has more rental car places than Dillon (or Kingstree), but the train arrival cuts it close to 6pm which is when most rental car places close.

Other options include taking Southeastern Stages direct from Florence to Myrtle Beach (9:55am -> 11:25am) or getting off the train in Charleston and going from there.

Seaboard92 · Jun 22, 2018

Florence is the better location because there is a four lane road with a 60 mph speed limit that goes direct from Florence to Myrtle Beach via Conway.

What part of Myrtle beach are you trying to reach? North Myrtle or regular Myrtle. I'm local to SC so I can give you the best routing advice. Florence the station is also substantially safer than Dillon. Dillon being one of the poorest communities in the entire state.