Travel By Passenger Train Coast To Coast

[Doc Murdock]

Has anyone here travelled from coast to coast on either VIA or Amtrak in one trip, no stops along the way? How was your experience and what did you experience? Inquiring minds want to know as I like to hear or read a good tale.

[TomDiehl]

I don't think you'll find any trains in North America that travel that far without intermediate stops, but if you meant to say "without changing trains," the only one in the US that came close, up until two years ago, the Sunset Limited travelled from Los Angeles, CA to Orlando, FL (not quite to the Atlantic Coastline) which was almost a three day trip. After hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast in 2005, the Eastbound trip ends in New Orleans, LA, so if you want to count the Gulf Coast to the Pacific Coast as "coast to coast" we still have one.

[CANADIANPACIFIC2816]

A couple people who are very knowledgable about train travel in both the U.S. and Canada are Ted & Sylvia Blishak of Accent on Travel. They are regular advertisers in Trains Magazine and I was looking at their web site the night before last. They have had a lot of experience riding VIA and I found a lot of useful information in their web site.

I am planning on eventually booking a rail tour through the Canadian Rockies with the Royal Canadian Pacific, and I stumbled onto the web site of Accent on Travel while looking for information about the RCP.

CANADIANPACIFIC2816

[MerrilyWeRollAlong]

I traveled coast to coast on Amtrak back in June 2002 as a present to myself for graduating from college.  The routing was as followed:

Trenton to Chicago, IL (ex-Three Rivers, nee-Broadway Limited)

Chicago to Los Angeles (Southwest Limited)

Los Angeles to San Diego (Pacific Surfliner)

San Diego to Los Angeles (Pacific Surfliner)

Los Angeles to Oakland/San Francisco (Coast Starlight)

Oakland to Sacramento and back (Capitol Corridor)

Emeryville to Chicago (California Zephyr)

Chicago to New York (Lake Shore Limited)

I had 3 day layovers in Oakland/San Francisco and in Chicago on the eastbound leg.  It was a very memorable trip and was a great way to see the middle of the country.  I live in New York City and always "flew over" the middle of the country going from coast to coast to specific desinations in the middle (Chicago and Denver).  Taking the trains enabled me to see the terrain, the towns and the people that I couldn't see or experience by flying.  While on the train, I was able to chat with folks from different areas of the country in a nice relaxing setting.Being a poor ex-college student, I traveled in coach all the time which was fine.  I was young and could withstand sleeping in a reclined chair at night.  The food decent in the dining cars.

As for interesting people: One young lady from Long Island was on her way to Chicago to see her mechanic boyfriend in Wisconsin. A family from Pittsburgh PA was on the was to Los Angeles for a wedding and Disneyland.  On the Calfornia Zeypher, one woman from CA was on her way to Virginia for a court date to regain custody of her children while another was on her way to Central Pennsylvania for her high school reunion.  Also on the Zephyer was a young man who was traveling around the country on the cheap.  So cheap that he had just slept in Golden Gate National Park in San Francisco for a week (as oppose to staying at a hotel or hostel).  All he had was a backpack and a sleeping bag.

The day of my first pass through Chicago happened to be the same day as Galesburg Day.  Milwaukee Road #261 was parked in Union Station when the Three River arrived that morning.  #261 lead a roundtrip to Galesburg that day.  That afternoon, #261 passed me on the Southwest Chief on its way back to Chicago.  Of course with Galesburg Day, the Southwest Chief was sort of an extra attraction when we pulled in to town.  A lot people waved at us and took pictures.

Overall it was a great experience and I wouldn't mind doing it again when i get some time.

 

[CANADIANPACIFIC2816]

One of the pleasures of being able to travel by train is being able to have friendly conversations with other passengers on board the train. It is not like that on board commercial aircraft when you are flying anywhere in this country. I've lost count of the number of times I have been seated next to someone on an airplane who didn't seem to have any interest in carrying on a casual, friendly conversation with me.

CANADIANPACIFIC2816

[Pathfinder]

If you can, read the book Rails & Rooms, A Timeless Canadian Journey, by Dave Preston, 2001, Whitecap Books, Vancouver.  Not quite the get on and stay on till the end but it will give you an idea of what a trans-Canada rail trip would be like.  A good read.

From the dust jacket:

A journey across Canada, a journey across time.  With humor and insight, Dave Preston invites readers to share his month-long journey across Canada, over 4,000 miles by rail.  Traveling through every province that still has track, stopping to recount the glory days of the luxurious CPR hotels, Rails & Rooms offers a unique travelogue that covers this country from Halifax to Victoria, past to present.

[ndbprr]

As a rule of thumb with some exceptions the farther west you are the better and cleaner the equipment will be as will the service, scenery and crews.

[JSGreen]

In Jan 1983 we traveled from Oceanside, CA to Washington, DC, via train.  There were two changes (LA, CHicago). 

I was travelng on military PCS orders, and since we had just returned from Japan, we did not have a car, so we decided to take the train.  Since we were traveling with small children, we went with the bedrooms, and at the time that cost close to what first class air fare would have been.  At that time, the Chicago to DC route was not improved for the double deck amtrack cars, so we were crammed into a small BR, but it still beat coach for that overnight segment.

I had expected to have to make up the difference in Travel Pay vs the tickets, but it turns out that because train travel was an authorized mode for family PCS, I didnt have to.  Highly recommended if you have the opportunity!

It was a great experience, we all enjoyed it.  Back then, there were folks assigned just to keep kids amused/occupied for part of the day.

Just make sure your schedule is flexible on the far end, and be ready to deal with delays.  But also be ready to relax and let someone else do the driving!