Here's my trip schedule for this summer:
July 14: Newton, KS to Chicago, IL on the SW Chief (leaving @ 2:52 AM yuck!)
July 14: Chicago, IL to NYC on the LSL (leaving @ 7:20 PM)
July 15: NYC to Orlando, FL on the Meteor (leaving @ 7:01 PM)
July 18: Orlando, FL to New Orleans on the Sunset Ltd (leaving @ 1:45 PM)
July 19: New Orleans to Chicago, IL on the City of NO (leaving @ 1:45 PM)
July 20: Chicago, IL to Newton, KS back on the Chief (leaving @ 3:15 PM)
I was pretty nervous last year when I scheduled a trip on this route because I kept hearing how horrible the LSL was on timing, but we arrived in NYC fairly close to the scheduled time. The Sunset Limited was also cut a week before my trip last year for track maintenance, so I managed to get similar accomodations on the northbound meteor and 3 Rivers for an enjoyable trip.
I have a hotel scheduled for July 16 through 18 in Orlando this time around so I'm really hoping that I make all of my connections again. I won't fly and I won't take a bus, so it's just going to have to work out