Question about cross-country train trip

[user 6862]

Agreed, Amtrak coach seats are very comfortable. But I don't get how another poster in this thread was able to meet more people in coach as compared to sleeper. Nearly all the great encounters and conversations we had were because we were seated with strangers in the dining car, or by sitting in booths in the Sightseer lounges (SSL) or cafe cars. I've ridden coach (mostly less than 6-hr trips, granted) for 50 years and can barely recall any decent conversations in coach - people are usually reading or working or sleeping, or now with Covid, they don't even seat you with a stranger. Seek out the booths!!

I think you misread me. I wrote that you are with quite a few other people 24 hours a day which doesn't indicate we had conversations with the all or even with some.

I agree that most of the deeper conversations come from being seated with strangers in the diner or sitting in the SSL, but not all. I also think immaterial of the food quality that the diner is the best part of the Amtrak LD train experience. There's nothing else like it having a moving panorama while in good company and seated at a table to eat and drink.

All that said coach travel and sometimes the people are different than in a sleeper, different atmosphere too, but that's not to say you can't strike up a conversation with others.

 

[jis]

All that said coach travel and sometimes the people are different than in a sleeper, different atmosphere too, but that's not to say you can't strike up a conversation with others.

Having had some crazy parties even in Coach back in the days I have to agree with you Though I would say the Lounge is most suited for such. The Le Pub on the Montrealer or the dimly lit smoke filled Lounge with drinks flowing freely on the Broadway Limited while a musically inclined co-travelers or two strike up their guitar with some cool country music comes to mind. Ah those were the days.

One of the problems these days specially on single level trains is that the darned Lounges, such as they are, are too brightly lit. You could almost get sun burnt there

 

[BalmyZephyr]

I think you misread me. I wrote that you are with quite a few other people 24 hours a day which doesn't indicate we had conversations with the all or even with some.

I agree that most of the deeper conversations come from being seated with strangers in the diner or sitting in the SSL, but not all. I also think immaterial of the food quality that the diner is the best part of the Amtrak LD train experience. There's nothing else like it having a moving panorama while in good company and seated at a table to eat and drink.

All that said coach travel and sometimes the people are different than in a sleeper, different atmosphere too, but that's not to say you can't strike up a conversation with others.

Agreed! Sorry to misread/mischaracterize. (I'm supposed to be working on a book deadline but keep seeing AU alerts, haha, so was rushing through some posts.) The SSL and cafe (unlike the diner at mealtime) would be a total mix and in fact may have more coach people than sleeper people. Of the top five conversations I can recall on LD trains, 2 were in the SSL (SW Chief), 2 in the dining car (SW Chief), and 1 in the cafe car (Cardinal) last week.

 

[user 6862]

Having had some crazy parties even in Coach back in the days I have to agree with you Though I would say the Lounge is most suited for such. The Le Pub on the Montrealer or the dimly lit smoke filled Lounge with drinks flowing freely on the Broadway Limited while a musically inclined co-travelers or two strike up their guitar with some cool country music comes to mind. Ah those were the days

And this is only the stuff you dare mention...

 

[user 6862]

Agreed! Sorry to misread/mischaracterize. (I'm supposed to be working on a book deadline but keep seeing AU alerts, haha, so was rushing through some posts.) The SSL and cafe (unlike the diner at mealtime) would be a total mix and in fact may have more coach people than sleeper people. Of the top five conversations I can recall on LD trains, 2 were in the SSL (SW Chief), 2 in the dining car (SW Chief), and 1 in the cafe car (Cardinal) last week.

Now that's a good thread theme, top conversations had on Amtrak.

Don't work too hard.

 

[tgstubbs1]

Thank to all of you for your answers !!

I'm questioning myself for those of you who did so much hours of train (in my case : Cardinal/Lake shore limited + California Zephyr + Coast Starligh + Empire Builder) in one time, isn't it hard for one travel ?

I mean, I really like train travel but I'm not use to do so much hours in France so, I'm questinning myself if it's better to focus on doing the most of America by train or balance the most with cities ? How do you feel doing so much hours of transport ? Thank you for all again !

If you want to ride coach overnight, I think mixing a 24 hour hotel layover after a night on the train would help fight the fatigue.

Fortunately there are many stops with hotels reasonably close, even within walking distance.
https://www.amtraktrains.com/forums/where-to-go-what-to-see.90/

 

[jis]

And this is only the stuff you dare mention...

What happens on trains, stay on trains

 

[user 6862]

What happens on trains, stay on trains

Now you have piqued my curiosity.

 

[BCL]

Agreed, Amtrak coach seats are very comfortable. But I don't get how another poster in this thread was able to meet more people in coach as compared to sleeper. Nearly all the great encounters and conversations we had were because we were seated with strangers in the dining car, or by sitting in booths in the Sightseer lounges (SSL) or cafe cars. I've ridden coach (mostly less than 6-hr trips, granted) for 50 years and can barely recall any decent conversations in coach - people are usually reading or working or sleeping, or now with Covid, they don't even seat you with a stranger. Seek out the booths!!

My first time in an Amtrak dining car I was with my child and we were (likely deliberately) seated for breakfast with a couple with a room. That was rather fun. But another time I was traveling home alone and it was four solo coach passengers for lunch, then four solo coach passengers for breakfast.

It was different than my time in a dining car in Australia. There I remember tablecloths and a server dressed just like a waiter

 

[Seaboard92]

The best advise I can give you is take the Cardinal Eastbound because that is the only way to guarantee you will get the New River Gorge in Daylight, and it has recently been made a National Park if I remember right. When you go in the spring you should get a bit of the Ohio River Valley on the left hand side, and the Kanawha River as well. Then you enter the gorge truly around Montgomery. The further east you go the more rugged it will get. After Hawks Nest the scenery moves over to the right hand side. In my opinion the rest of the scenery is the best on the right hand side the rest of the way to Charlottesville.

Make sure you look for the Gordonsville Marine he will be on the left side. I believe he is a retired marine and he meets every single Amtrak that passes his house on his balcony. After the last car passes he will about face and march back inside.

I really like doing the Lake Shore Limited going to Chicago just because it is faster and easier.

I personally don't really like the Zephyr I know that's sacrilegious for this group. But I just don't care for it. It is like scenery overload. There is some dessert on it as well depending how early you wake up. I do prefer the Sierras to the Rockies on it.

The other thing you could do is pop down the Valley with the bus combination to LAX from Sacramento. Then take the Coast Starlight all the way north to Portland.

 

[BalmyZephyr]

The best advise I can give you is take the Cardinal Eastbound because that is the only way to guarantee you will get the New River Gorge in Daylight, and it has recently been made a National Park if I remember right. When you go in the spring you should get a bit of the Ohio River Valley on the left hand side, and the Kanawha River as well. Then you enter the gorge truly around Montgomery. The further east you go the more rugged it will get. After Hawks Nest the scenery moves over to the right hand side. In my opinion the rest of the scenery is the best on the right hand side the rest of the way to Charlottesville.

Make sure you look for the Gordonsville Marine he will be on the left side. I believe he is a retired marine and he meets every single Amtrak that passes his house on his balcony. After the last car passes he will about face and march back inside.

Totally bummed we missed this guy last week!
Our eastbound Cardinal did not switch sides near Hawk's Nest as planned, it stayed on the south side of the gorge, so the best view of the bridge was out the left side. We almost missed it because I was waiting for the crossover first. We were in the cafe car the whole time in the Gorge so we could switch window sides regardless.

Another highlight (out the left/north side) are the old trains resting at Culpeper VA, – CORRECTION, Clifton Forge – including the Greenbrier locomotive.

 

[MARC Rider]

For the eastern trains, I'm not sure which one would be tops, in my opinion. If you're going coach, maybe the Capitol Limited would be best, as that's the shorter overnight ride. Other than that, here are my ratings:

Lake Shore Limited: Scenic ride up the Hudson, and, if you get a sleeper, you can hang out in the new Viewliner-2 Diner Lounge. Right now, it's flex food, but the car is very nice. If you go westbound, the 3 PM departure guarantees the view up the Hudson, if you're going eastbound and the train is delayed, you might do that part of the ride in the dark.

Capitol Limited: Nearly all of the scenery crossing the mountains is done in daylight on the eastbound run. If you go westbound, Harpers Ferry will be in daylight, and in the summer, daylight should last up to the crossing of the Alleghenies on the Sand Patch Grade. This train is double decker Superliner equipment. Unfortunately, they're not operating the train with the Sightseer Lounge right now. Hopefully, it will return soon. There is a diner-lounge which provides flex-food dining service for sleeper passengers and cafe food for coach passengers. They let people hang out there, partly, it seems, to compensate for the lack of a Sightseer lounge. I did that on my last trip, and it wasn't too bad.

The Cardinal is the longest and most interesting ride. You get a combination of the Northeast Corridor and the mountain crossing, as well as a ride through the New River Gorge. The eastbound crossing gives you all of the mountain scenery in daylight, and in the summer, it stays light all the way beyond Baltimore (if the train is on time.) During the summer, you get a most of the New River gorge in daylight if the train is running close to schedule. (I once saw a westbound Cardinal pass through the gorge from the overlook at Hawk's nest. This was in August.) The problem with the Cardinal is that the consist is limited -- it usually only has one sleeper, and one Amfleet cafe car that is used as a diner-lounge, with one end reserved for the sleeper passengers, who are served flex food, and the other end for the coach passengers, who have to order off the limited cafe menu.

I've taken the Cardinal a number of times, and I like the ride, but they really need to upgrade the consist and provide additional lounge space for people to be able to get out of their seats during such a long ride. Of course, all the eastern trains need a food service upgrade, and better-quality food needs to be made available to coach passengers. In summary, I guess if I'm going to ride out to Chicago to connect with a western train, I'd probably take the Capitol Limited, as it's the shortest trip for me timewise, even including the connecting ride to/from Baltimore. My second choice might be a sleeper room on the Lakeshore Limited, as I can hang out in the nice Viewliner 2 diner lounge, plus I can wait out the connection in New York at the new fancy Metropolitan Lounge at the Moynihan Train Hall at Penn Station.

 

[MARC Rider]

Another highlight (out the left/north side) are the old trains resting at Culpeper VA, including the Greenbrier locomotive.

Not Culpeper, but Clifton Forge.

 

[Seaboard92]

Totally bummed we missed this guy last week!
Our eastbound Cardinal did not switch sides near Hawk's Nest as planned, it stayed on the south side of the gorge, so the best view of the bridge was out the left side. We almost missed it because I was waiting for the crossover first. We were in the cafe car the whole time in the Gorge so we could switch window sides regardless.

Another highlight (out the left/north side) are the old trains resting at Culpeper VA, including the Greenbrier locomotive.

When I was a regular on that route in the springs we would throw him stuff from the vestibule. One time we threw a marine cap. The fun days of open vestibules on the PVs. Generally the Amtrak crew is always in a vestibule with it open to go past him as well. He is an institution.

 

[sublib]

Hello everyone ! I'm french so firstly, forgive me for my mistakes, I'm currently planning a cross country trip accros the USA from Est coast to West coast for spring/summer 2022.

I planned to start from NYC and then take the Cardinal or Lake Shore Limited (which one is the best ?) amtrak train to Chicago, then, take the California Zephyr to San Francisco.

I want to get the best experience with both the most beautiful and the most diverse landscapes and cities, so I'm questionning myself about 2 options :

1) take the Coast Starlight to LA and enjoy the border of the Pacific Ocean, visit LA and then, take the Southwest Chief train to come back to Chicago (I heard that this trip isn't the best for the view but to my french point of view, it seem the most "american" landscape with desert, red rocks and country side landscapes)

2) take the Coast Starlight from San Francisco to Seattle (I rode that the view to North bounder is the best), and then take the Empire Builder to come back to Chicago (maybe stop to Whitefish to visit one day the Glacier National Park?) but I will loose the desert landscape (maybe the California Zephyr is enough ?).

What could you recommend ? Thank you by advance !

Please do not hold us against ourselves.
We are what we are.
And Amtrak is representative of us.

Take your trip, any route, and enjoy it.
Please be open to dysfunction.

 

[Kevinx244974]

Thank you all again I'm noting all information aside ! I would like to ask you, if you were an international traveller, which is the most scenic in train from San Francisco :

- Coast Starlight by the Pacific coast to LA and visiting LA before to go home.

- Coast Starlight to Portland, visiting Portland and then Empire Builder to Chicago (maybe stoping à East Glacier?).

I think that the Californian coast and LA are very americans but in the same time the train advantage is to give you the opportunity to see the country inland that not everybody could see in other way, so maybe Empire Builder passing by Montana is something more special ? What's your opinion ?

I will not use a car

 

[Rambling Robert]

If you understand the Amtrak Rail Pass ignore this. The one important thing is although the rail pass is coach seating you can request a sleeper for part of a day the conductor can sell you the ticket.

The normal railpass had three tier pricing but the sale price was 10 segment 30 day for .$299 (normally $498)

A segment is very important to understand. On your trip I think you can make it in 10 or less segments.

Example -
The cardinal is a good choice. NYC to Indianapolis is ONE SEGMENT. The LSL to Chicago is ONE SEGMENT (nice waiting room and showers, baggage check $35 (for layover) THEN CHI TO Emeryville SF on the CZ. WOW. crosscountry on three segments !!!

But if you stop in Washington overnight you make the split Cardinal TWO SEGMENTS.

However, say they’re is something of interest at the Indy500 Race track - a stay Indianapolis won’t cost you a segment because it’s at the end of the Cardinal SEGMENT

 

[Rambling Robert]

Thank you all again I'm noting all information aside ! I would like to ask you, if you were an international traveller, which is the most scenic in train from San Francisco :

- Coast Starlight by the Pacific coast to LA and visiting LA before to go home.

- Coast Starlight to Portland, visiting Portland and then Empire Builder to Chicago (maybe stoping à East Glacier?).

I think that the Californian coast and LA are very americans but in the same time the train advantage is to give you the opportunity to see the country inland that not everybody could see in other way, so maybe Empire Builder passing by Montana is something more special ? What's your opinion ?

When you get to San Francisco you’ll probably want to STAY. LA is business. I’ve gone by car from LA to Seattle and north is nicer. I loved Vancouver and Victoria BC

My bucket list includes - near Vancouver - VIARail to Bannf - the most beautiful place on earth

 

[Rambling Robert]

BANNF

https://unsplash.com/photos/ETj0a7Q...m_medium=referral&utm_content=creditShareLink

 

[caravanman]

Please remember that most of us here are train fans! We enjoy the ride on the train as part of our experience, not just to get from A to B. It is a bonus for us to be on a train for a long trip!

Beware that there is often only one train a day at many USA stations... If you arrive at a place at 05.00, your onward train will also be at 05.00 next day. (A few trains don't even run every day...)

The rail pass is valid for 30 days, or 10 trains. You can use it for just 2 weeks, etc, but max of 10 train rides. (If you travel from Chicago to California, and stop off at Denver and Reno, that will count as 3 train rides.)

You want a nice American experience, but spending 2 weeks all on trains seems a lot. Take the LSL, & the Zephyr, and maybe that would be enough for a first taste?

What is your age? Are you on a small budget, travel coach class or sleeper? These things may help to give better information...

Long distance trains can be slightly like a ship cruise. Some people enjoy the cruise just for the on-board experience, some prefer not to cruise as they enjoy more time seeing the destinations...

 

[Kevinx244974]

Thank you ! I'm 24 and will probably doing this with 2 or 3 other people, in fact i'm divided between 2 train trips : american train coast to coast experience (NYC -> D.C -> Chicago -> Denver -> SLC -> SF -> LA) and what I'm calling american train inland experience (NYC -> D.C -> Chicago -> Denver -> SLC -> SF -> Portland -> Chicago).

I'm planning to stay some days on these points : 1 or 2 days in NYC (I already visited), 2 days approximately in D.C, 3 days in Chicago, 2 days in Denver, 1 day in SLC, 3 days in San Francisco + 1 for Yosemite, then : 3 days in LA or 2 in Portland depending the choice. Maybe is it too much ?

I'm not american so I will probably not doing this multiple times that's why I'm searching for the most scenic by train. I'm considering myself more like a small budget traveller so coach class.

 

[pennyk]

I'm 24 and will probably doing this with 2 or 3 other people

Many of us who are responding to you are well over 24 and are using our own experiences. I think at age 24, you can handle a much different trip that I can. My comment about making reservations 11 months in advance is irrelevant since you plan to travel in coach. I wanted particular rooms that could sell out. If you are healthy and comfortable sleeping/resting in a seated position, I would do as much as you can when you are in the US.

 

[joelkfla]

Thank you ! I'm 24 and will probably doing this with 2 or 3 other people, in fact i'm divided between 2 train trips : american train coast to coast experience (NYC -> D.C -> Chicago -> Denver -> SLC -> SF -> LA) and what I'm calling american train inland experience (NYC -> D.C -> Chicago -> Denver -> SLC -> SF -> Portland -> Chicago).

I'm planning to stay some days on these points : 1 or 2 days in NYC (I already visited), 2 days approximately in D.C, 3 days in Chicago, 2 days in Denver, 1 day in SLC, 3 days in San Francisco + 1 for Yosemite, then : 3 days in LA or 2 in Portland depending the choice. Maybe is it too much ?

I'm not american so I will probably not doing this multiple times that's why I'm searching for the most scenic by train. I'm considering myself more like a small budget traveller so coach class.

Make reservations early for Yosemite. Lodging inside U.S. National Parks fills up quickly, and Yosemite more so than most.

Most historic lodges in the National Parks are spectacular, and expensive. Yosemite has the Ahwanee. Depending on the season, there may also be motel-style accommodations and tent cabins available.

 

[tgstubbs1]

(NYC -> D.C -> Chicago -> Denver -> SLC -> SF -> LA) and what I'm calling american train inland experience (NYC -> D.C -> Chicago -> Denver -> SLC -> SF -> Portland -> Chicago).

1 or 2 days in NYC (I already visited),
2 days approximately in D.C,
3 days in Chicago,
2 days in Denver,
1 day in SLC,
3 days in San Francisco + 1 for Yosemite, then :
3 days in LA or 2 in Portland depending the choice.

If you go ' clockwise' you will need to overnight in LA;
'Counterclockwise' you do not.

Usually hotels are most expensive in big cities.

I would make it 1 night LA, 2 nights Flagstaff (Grand Canyon).

Are you flying back to France from NYC?

 

[BalmyZephyr]

Not Culpeper, but Clifton Forge.

View attachment 26124

You are right! My picture of the train has that exact same yellow cast.