Western Long distance trip

[margo]

We would like to take a train-riding only trip, with as few hotel lay-overs as possible. I would like some opinion/tips on my plan.

Leave LCH on SL on a Wednesday at 1:55 pm

Arrive LAX on a Friday at 5:35 am (hopefully)

Depart LAX on CS same day at 10:10 am

Arrive SEA Saturday 7:51 pm Get a hotel room

Depart SEA on EB Sunday at 4:40 pm

Arrive CHI Tuesday 3:55 pm Get a hotel room

Depart CHI on SWC on Wednesday at 3:00 pm

Arrive LAX on Friday at 8:15 am

Depart LAX on Pac. Surfliner same day at 11:20 am

Arrive SAN DIEGO same day at 2:13 pm

Depart SAN on Pac. Surf. same day at 3:58 pm

Arrive LAX same day at 6:57 pm

Depart LAX on SL same day (Friday) at 10:00 pm

Arrive LCH Sunday at 3:29 pm

Thoughts?

 

[Rail Freak]

Sounds like a great trip! A couple of years ago, I did a similar trip. What happened to me was the SWC didn't arrive til 4 pm, which wiped out my SAN leg that was planned. I planned to purchase the LAX-SAN when I arrived in LAX so missed that part but had plenty of time to catch the SL! Gives me a reason to take another trip to SAN! LOL!!!

Have Fun

 

[montana mike]

I hope the SL timekeeping improves for you!

 

[Railroad Bill]

You might want to add a night in LA on the first leg since the connection between SL and CS could be a problem if the SL is moderately late. That would avoid a possible bus ride to Bakersfield and a trip up the SJ to SAC that would take away all that beautiful California coastline scenery.

 

[ParanoidAndroid]

You might want to add a night in LA on the first leg since the connection between SL and CS could be a problem if the SL is moderately late. That would avoid a possible bus ride to Bakersfield and a trip up the SJ to SAC that would take away all that beautiful California coastline scenery.

Second that, you can visit attractions in LA as well for that day. Hollywood, Griffith Park, Santa Monica, Venice Beach, etc.
Train 1 can be as early as 4:15am and late as several hours.

Also, what would you do in San Diego for 1.5 hrs? That's not much time... but if you make it to 768, you might be able to visit some places or have lunch. Check out Ghirardelli's in Gaslamp Quarter if you have the time.

 

[Tennessee Traveler]

Sounds good, but tiring sleeping on trains multiple nights. And you left out the most scenic and fun LD Western train, the California Zephyr. If you are able, I would suggest beginning the trip taking the City of New Orleans from NOL to Chicago and transferring to the California Zephyr Chicago to Sacramento or Emeryville and then connecting to Coast Starlight to Seattle and then resume the regular route you originally listed. That gets you on the CZ and avoids the duplicate trip on the SL. To begin the trip you could use local transportation to connect to the 1:45 PM departure of Train 58 from New Orleans or even meet the train in Hammond if more convenient. Of course, you could also travel on SL LCH to NOL the day or days before the train from New Orleans and overnight in New Orleans.

FYI, same day connections in Chicago east to west are usually not a problem. In fact if the CONO were to be unusually late, Amtrak would take you off in Champaign, IL, and bus you to Galesburg(about 2 hours), IL to meet the CZ. I have made this connections many times and never not had several hours in Chicago between trains.

 

[Bob Dylan]

Nice trip, but I agree with Tennessee Traveler that ya'll should ride the Zephyr to California instead of the Sunset Ltd. and allow more time for San Diego or spend the night in LA and sight see there as Masbuskirk suggests.

 

[Asher]

Sounds good. Book it, if it works great, if it don't deal with it. Its all part of the ride. Don't sound like your going to any special event that will be missed if you miss a connection.

 

[KmH]

For a trip dedicated to riding Amtrak trains it sounds good to me.

As mentioned buying your tickets for the Surfliner once you get to LA makes a lot of sense as a hedge against the Sunset Limited/Texas eagle being way late..

Frankly, I usually hope whatever train i am on runs a bit late, so I get more time on the train.

I would get off the Coast Starlight in Portland and spend the night, because I would want to ride the train along the Columbia River rather than go over the mountains just east of Seattle.

For me the Southwest Chief route on day 2 is very scenic, but in a different way from the California Zephyr.

However on the Zephyr both day 2 and day 3 are very scenic, which is why the CZ route is so often called the most scenic Amtrak long distance train route.

 

[ParanoidAndroid]

Here's another idea

Wed-Fri, 1 Sunset Limited LCH-LAX

Sat, 14 Coast Starlight LAX-EMY/SAC

Sun-Tue, 6 California Zephyr EMY/SAC-CHI

Wed-Thu, 30 Capitol Limited CHI-WAS

Thu-Fri, 19 Crescent WAS-NOL

Sat, 1 Sunset Limited NOL-LCH

If you're willing for a longer trip,

Day 1-3, 1 Sunset Limited LCH-LAX

Day 4, 14 Coast Starlight LAX-SLO

Day 5, 782 Pac. Surf. SLO-LAX

Day 5-7, 4 Southwest Chief LAX-CHI

Day 8-10, 5 California Zephyr CHI-SAC

Day 10-11, 14 Coast Starlight SAC-PDX/SEA

Day 11-13, 8 Empire Builder PDX/SEA-CHI

Day 13-14 59 City of New Orleans CHI-NOL

Day 15, 1 Sunset Limited NOL-LCH

The possibilities are endless. The second plan lets you do all of the major LD trains and the CA coast, while taking much longer. Also, bring some snacks... the cafe is a bit expensive* and you might get tired of the same Amtrak diner food after 1-2 weeks.

*rather insignificant compared to the cost of the trip itself

 

[margo]

Thank you all for your input. We have been to all of these changing-train cities more than once, so we won't be doing any sightseeing. The only train we have not ridden is the Pacific Surfliner. I hope we can make all of our connections, but if we don't, it will be different scenery. I hope we can make another trip like this later next year to include the CZ. Any train trip is good, some are just a little more memorable than others. We just returned in Sept. from a trip to the NE. My trip report is posted under "How we rode the Adirondack, the Vermonter and Downeaster in 5 days". Thanks again. Happy rails

 

[Lonestar648]

I have done the SL to LAX to CS several times and never missed the CS. The latest we arrived was 4 hours late at 9:30 so we just crossed to the CS, never went into the station. Earliest was 4:30 which is so early. I think your trip will be great. The overnights are great so you can clean up some things so you have to pack less. I always make sure the hotel I stay at has a washer and dryer if I am doing a long trip.