What is the best GPS to have on Amtrak trips?

[cment4u]

I'm planning a trip on the Capitol Limited next week. I would like to purchase a GPS unit so I can see where I am and how fast I'm going. Can anyone advise?

 

[kt1i]

I'm planning a trip on the Capitol Limited next week. I would like to purchase a GPS unit so I can see where I am and how fast I'm going. Can anyone advise?

I'm going on an Amtrak trip cross country later this month and taking my Garmin 60 CX. It runs on AA cells and has the Topographic mapping software installed. I think that a handheld type vs a car type would be easier to use.

 

[jackal]

I'm planning a trip on the Capitol Limited next week. I would like to purchase a GPS unit so I can see where I am and how fast I'm going. Can anyone advise?

I'm going on an Amtrak trip cross country later this month and taking my Garmin 60 CX. It runs on AA cells and has the Topographic mapping software installed. I think that a handheld type vs a car type would be easier to use.

Agreed. If you do end up with a car type, it might try to keep jumping onto nearby roads and not accurately showing your location or calculating your trajectory. (Someone suggested elsewhere looking for an off-road option or a bus route option which would supposedly turn off the jump-to-nearest-road feature.)

 

[RRrich]

Agreed. If you do end up with a car type, it might try to keep jumping onto nearby roads and not accurately showing your location or calculating your trajectory. (Someone suggested elsewhere looking for an off-road option or a bus route option which would supposedly turn off the jump-to-nearest-road feature.)

On Monday we will take our first train trip - STL to CHI via the Texas Eagle, followed by CHI to NOL on the City of New Orleans. We are EXCITED

I am planning on taking my GPS - a Garmin Streetpilot C340 with AC adapter & suction window mount. Why this model? Because I have it!

I hope to post a trip report shortly including how the GPS, WIFI laptop & Mobility Scooter work/are handled by Amtrak.

 

[cment4u]

Thank you KT1i,Jackal and RRrich. I didn't know about that road search problem I'll be looking for a G 60 CX this afternoon. Electronics devices and trains go together very well. I have a race scanner from Radio Shack and I entered all 100 railroad frequecies in the thing. On a recent trip on The Zephyr I had everyone in my sleeper visiting my room to listen in. Word of caution, if you are in coach or a roomette use the earphones. Otherwise you will be treated like one of those rude cell phone yellers. Rich, you are going to love the City of New Orleans. Don't eat before boarding, they surprized us all by feeding us right after leaving CHI. Another nice thing about The City is being on time everywhere. CN doesn't hold Amtrak up like UP.

Joe

 

[Joel N. Weber II]

Why would a bus route option be expected to not jump to the nearest road? Just about every bus I've ever seen just runs on normal roads...

 

[AlanB]

I have a race scanner from Radio Shack and I entered all 100 railroad frequecies in the thing. On a recent trip on The Zephyr I had everyone in my sleeper visiting my room to listen in. Word of caution, if you are in coach or a roomette use the earphones. Otherwise you will be treated like one of those rude cell phone yellers.

Joe,

Just in case you didn't know, you don't have to scan all 96 of the AAR channels. If you head over to OTOL you'll find the needed channels for each train orgranized by route including the points where frequencies change.

 

[eee]

I don't think a car GPS will necessarily put you onto roads. I have a Mio C220. You can get them for pretty cheap.

I haven't yet used it on a train. But I have used it on a commercial flight. It has a pedestrian mode which doesn't move your position onto the nearest mode.

Mio C220

 

[p&sr]

I haven't yet used it on a train. But I have used it on a commercial flight. It has a pedestrian mode which doesn't move your position onto the nearest road.

Wow! Pedestrians walking at 600 MPH. What next!

 

[dan72]

My dad brought along his Magellan Maestro 4xx and it worked great on the whole trip. It even found our position deep in the bowels of Union Station in CHI.

For the most part, it did identify a railroad and stayed on it, but once in awhile it would jump over to the road if we were running parallel to a highway.

Dan

 

[Rick J]

(Someone suggested elsewhere looking for an off-road option or a bus route option which would supposedly turn off the jump-to-nearest-road feature.)

Why would a bus route option be expected to not jump to the nearest road? Just about every bus I've ever seen just runs on normal roads...

In another thread about GPS I made a post saying that on my Garmin Nuvi 350, I had to go into Navigation Settings and tell it that I was going off road. This is what keeps the display from jumping to the nearest road.

I also mentioned that I usually tell it I'm on a bus but I don't know if that's necessary, but since it works I stick with the setting. I assume that it asks what kind of vehicle you're in because that might affect satellite tracking. Since it doesn't list train as a choice, a bus seems like the closest thing.

Somehow those two suggestions seem to have gotten combined into one.

 

[p&sr]

I made a post saying that on my Garmin Nuvi 350, I had to go into Navigation Settings and tell it that I was going off road.
I also mentioned that I usually tell it I'm on a bus...

Somehow those two suggestions seem to have gotten combined into one.

Sure! The Off-Road Bus! It's a great way to travel...