After many years of waiting for the right opportunity and finally have some extra money to spend, I have decided to visit Washington D.C. I have booked a Roomette on Amtrak and will be going round-trip from Kansas City to Washington with a layover in Chicago. The trains are the Southwest Chief and the Capitol Limited. I am excited but I do have was wondering if any of you have tips or suggestions.
I am thinking about spending a day in Philadelphia and riding the Northeast Regional round-trip from Washington D.C. to Philly, but I have not set that in stone yet.
Again any reviews, suggestions, or tips any of you will have will be appreciated. I am leaving Kansas City April 26 and will arrive back May 9.
Thank you all in advance.
Will
Hi! Congratulations on your first Amtrak trip. Washington, DC is a great town. A side trip to Philly is also a great idea. You have layovers in Chicago. Chicago is designed perfectly for layovers. Depending on your actual time due to late or early trains there is plenty to do there. As far as the Capitol Limited and Southwest Chief, both are fine trains. Be sure to go to the Amtrak website and print out the route guides for your trains. They tell you about things you will see out the window during your trip.
Getting back to Washington, DC, the White House and Capitol building are all around the Union Station area. The Washington Metro (subway) is a great way to get around. It connects with the Smithsonian and most other major attractions. In Philly, Amtrak will bring you to 30th Street. Most of the main attractions there are between 2nd and 10th street (Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, etc). Philly has a great subway / streetcar system also, that will take you from 30th St down to the tourist spots. Just sit back and enjoy the ride and the experience.
Thank you for the reply. I didn't think about the subway in Philadelphia.
Depending on your railfan interets, you probably ought to stop off in Baltimore. The streetcar museum, well worth visiting is just a few blocks from the PRR/Amtrak station. Cars operate, not just for display. The B&O MUsuem requires a bus or taxi ride but has a marvelous collection. The ride on the Light Rail (which has a branch to the Amtrak station) north to Timonium (possbibly goes a bit further, now), is on the old Baltimore Northern RoW and is incredibly scenic. Interesting variation on going Washington - Baltimore: MARC commuter train Washington - BWI Airport, Light Rail (mostly old WB&A interurban RoW) to Baltimore.
As you may have read, upgrade to business class or acela is not really worth the money for the non-business railfan rider. But still, if it were I, I would want to experience Acela 1st Class at least once if I could afford it.
Contact your Senator on gallery passes to the House and the Senate via his Email and put Gallery Pass in the subject line put in a broad multi-day time and date range on which you can attend. Your Senators office will call or Email you back with a Secret Service form to fill out. Once you clear the security check you will be given a time and date on when you can pick them up from their office and on which you can make the visit.
I used Execucar for visiting Arlington National Cemetary and the National Cathedral..........why did I do that? Because they are two relatively far out locations to visit and if you use a tour bus it will take far longer to get there plus you have to share each with a mob of people. Call Execucar for rates and some of the better hotels you stay at have a car arrangement with the front desk......much faster and far less stress to see DC with a chauffer than crammed into a tour bus or city transit plus the Driver can recommend good places to eat aorund the tourist sites as well. Again I only did it for one day for Arlington in the morning and National Cathedral in the afternoon. Worth it because of the distance and we could extend our time at each if needed. You can use the Metro for White House, Capital and the Mall, etc.
Also, keep in mind that Northeasterners are not necessarily the same culture as you find in Kansas City. Especially on a train like a regional. Expect the seat next to you to be taken unless you paid for it as well as some passenger level noise from a cell phone........bored passenger trying to start up conversation, coughing or sneezing on you, eating and talking with their mouth full of food, etc. A little closer to cave man behavior.
If you board at a intermediate stop during a peak or shoulder peak time, your probably not going to find a window seat either.
When we go to DC, we stay at a hotel at 43 Hampton Park Blvd, Capitol Heights, MD 20743. It is MUCH cheaper than downtown hotels. You can get the Metro at the Amtrak (Union) station. Take the Blue Line to Morgan Blvd Station and the hotel will pick you up and drop you off there. You can take the Metro to most of the tourist places. If you decide you need a car there is a car rental place within walking distance of the hotel. Keep in mind that parking is abominable in DC.
Dave
Lackawanna Route of the Phoebe Snow
If you're lucky I may even have my sailboat in the water when you get to Philly. At any rate I humbly submit that I'm probably your best contact for Philadelphia railfanning. I was born and raised about a block away from the route 10 subway-surface trolley, although some folks nowadays will try to call it "light rail". Since my wife made me move to Burlington NJ my commuting vehicle is an NJ Transit Riverline diesel mu.
Decades ago, when I was single, on my way back from Texas I detoured onto what I think Amtrak called a Kansas City Mule, but looks like they now call them Missouri River Runners, spent a night in Kansas City, then your Southwest Chief to Chicago. I can't swear what my eastern train was on that trip, but I have taken all 4 of Amtrak's ways to get from Chicago to Philly, and the late 5th Broadway Limited.
Patrick Boylan
Free yacht rides, 27' sailboat, zip code 19114 Delaware River, get great Delair bridge photos from the river. Send me a private message
Downtown Washington hotels are expensive. It might be a good idea to see if any conventions are going to be in town, these effect room rates. You can see a lot of Washington using your feet, make sure you have a good pair of shoes. The Metro is a good way to get around Washington. I used it to go to Arlington National Cemetery. You will save money if you eat lunch at the Smithsonian and other museums. The food is good and the prices are reasonable.
I would urge you to spend the extra money to travel either business class or Aleca to Philadelphia. This is part of the United States where the people ride passenger trains. It is all about your comfort.
Since the Capitol Limited arrives early you should see if your hotel allows you to check in early or will watch your luggage for you. That is one less thing you will have to worry about. Also don't forget that Amtrak has a passenger lounge in Chicago for sleeping car passengers.
And a lounge in DC, Philly, New York and Boston that sleeping car passengers can use, even if they've just gotten off their train.
http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/ContentServer?c=AM_Content_C&pagename=am%2FLayout&cid=1241245658203&WT.z_va_evt=redirect&WT.z_va_topic=Station%20Information&WT.z_va_unit=Station%20Lounge%20Locations&WT.z_va_group=Station%20Details
Possibly because I was born and raised and "educated" in the NE, I don't find the behaviour of us natives quite as offensive a anicat does. If I found a passenger sitting next to me guilty of offensive behaviour, if kind suggestions didn't work, I would hike to the cafe car and order something inexpensive but appropriate for the time, day, and closeness to mealtime, and consider myself fortunate that I was not in an airplane, bus, or shared taxi without the opportunity to move about. For me, this stratergy was not often required.
daveklepper Possibly because I was born and raised and "educated" in the NE, I don't find the behaviour of us natives quite as offensive a anicat does. If I found a passenger sitting next to me guilty of offensive behaviour, if kind suggestions didn't work, I would hike to the cafe car and order something inexpensive but appropriate for the time, day, and closeness to mealtime, and consider myself fortunate that I was not in an airplane, bus, or shared taxi without the opportunity to move about. For me, this stratergy was not often required.
Oh please, look at below video where the guest on Jimmy Kimmel goes out on the streets of NYC to get a cup of coffee.....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BjY3MZbT-2c
aricatDowntown Washington hotels are expensive.
True, best value I found was the Residence Inn about 1 mile from DC Union Station and also about two to three blocks from the Metro Station. It's down a quiet street, has railroad tracks in back, and the studio suite (seperate bedroom) was actually cheaper than you would pay at any other DC hotel. The two seperate bedroom suite wasn't bad either. Not much of a kitchen but all you need is the refrigerator and microwave. They offered car service as well to tour DC landmarks if you didn't want to use the Metro.
333 E St. SW Washington, DC is the address of the Residence Inn. If you would have mentioned this with more runway before you travel. You could have got the hotel free for the week by getting the Marriott Rewards card.....50,000 points.........then charging up another 60,000 points for a total of 110,000 points, would have bought you a 1 bedroom suite for free for a week at this location.
After nightfall on the restaurant side of Pennsylvania Avenue near the White House the street rats come out.......en masse about the time the sun is setting. Really gross, like the movie "Willard" they take over the median of Pennsylvania Ave first then start bounding towards the sidewalks and restaurants. They come out of the rain water drainage sewers. So my advice is that if you like those evening strolls....wear some sort of ankle protection or avoid that section of Pennsylvania Ave......very short segment of that street has this issue close in before the sharp turn to the section the White House is on.
Expect delays on Capital Limited. But better than earlier last year: http://www.amtrak.com/capitol-limited-train&mode=perf&overrideDefaultTemplate=OTPPageHorizontalRouteOverview
C&NW, CA&E, MILW, CGW and IC fan
I said nothing derogetory about people who live in the Northeastern United States when I suggested upgrading to business class on a trip from Washington to Philadelphia. I think that it is wonderful that so many people ride Amtrak in the Northeast. Amtrak is the best way to get from Washington to Philadephia, much better than flying, and quicker too.
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