Amtrak

Author
Discussion

JamesyBoy75

Original Poster:

115 posts

156 months

Sunday 5th July 2015
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Hey guys,

I'm off to the U.S. in Aug and am thinking of taking a train from SFO to Colorado. Has anyone made this trip before, I think it takes about 27 hrs.

Tango13

8,398 posts

175 months

Sunday 5th July 2015
quotequote all
I used to date a girl that had worked on the West coast of the US on an exchange thing, on completion of her 1 year contract she had to travel back to Washington before flying back to the UK. She decided to get the train instead of flying, to see a bit of scenery you understand, she got 3 days of scenery!!

Iirc the first bit up to and including the Rockies was interesting and the last bit into the East coast was the same as the West coast but the Great Plains in the middle were, well, plain...

Truckosaurus

11,183 posts

283 months

Monday 6th July 2015
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I investigated the same route (but in the other direction) as a potential holiday option.

I'd make sure any particular scenery you are interested in coincides with daylight hours.

Online Reviews seemed to be split between Perfect and Terrible, mostly down to whether the particular train had delays or plumbing issues.

Just doing the SF to Denver section should minimise the dull mid-western plains factor.

jimmyjimjim

7,329 posts

237 months

Monday 6th July 2015
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The best part is that you get out at Union Station in Denver, turn left and walk 30 seconds to the Rodizio Grill.

Dan_1981

17,352 posts

198 months

Monday 6th July 2015
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I did the following route all by Amtrak back in 2004 - extremely enjoyable.... Decent trains, good enough facilities, you get to meet plenty of 'characters'

Miami - Washington - New York - Buffallo (niagra falls) Detroit - Chicago - San Fran - bus to Vegas - LA - Daytona (think this was about 50 hours) and was pretty dull much of the way - Miami.

From what I remember the route from Chicago to San Fean was pretty stunning, nice viewing car with observation deck and glass roof etc.

Pack a book, your camera and enjoy!

MBBlat

1,602 posts

148 months

Monday 6th July 2015
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I did it in 2008 - train was 8 hours late into Denver eek

Mind you it was January & the track looked like this
worldtour_5794.JPG by MBBlat, on Flickr

The standard seats are big, comfy and recline - grab a blanket though for nigh-time.
Sleeping cabins are also available. If you want a discount and are prepared to take a risk ask after boarding as any empty cabins are sold at a discount at the conductors discretion on a first come first serve basis.

Food in the dining cars is reasonable & not too expensive, and included in the price of a sleeper. Avoid the snacks in the sightseeing lounge.
Large items of luggage can be booked into the baggage car, but you will not have access to them until the end of your journey.

Lots of good up to date advice here http://www.seat61.com/UnitedStates.htm

CrutyRammers

13,735 posts

197 months

Monday 6th July 2015
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Did 3 days from New Orleans to LA back in 199...2 I think it was. The scenery was novel for about the first 2 hours. The rest was, umm, pretty awful. Though it was a lot better than the greyhound bus we took the other way from Vancouver to New York. Now that was hellish.

silverfoxcc

7,683 posts

144 months

Tuesday 7th July 2015
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Did Detroit to Chicago in 1991.A distance that BR would have covered in 3hrs took 6.
Since then i have just flown... and i am train mad.

Dr JonboyG

2,561 posts

238 months

Tuesday 7th July 2015
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silverfoxcc said:
Did Detroit to Chicago in 1991.A distance that BR would have covered in 3hrs took 6.
Since then i have just flown... and i am train mad.
With the exception of the Northeast corridor (DC to Boston) all the train tracks in the US are owned by freight companies, and so freight trains get priority. Which is why train journeys now take longer than they did 50 years ago.

Last year the UK government spent $8 billion on trains. The US government spent $1 billion. On a country the size of Europe.

http://www.nationaljournal.com/magazine/amtrak-ace...

Nickyboy

6,700 posts

233 months

Tuesday 7th July 2015
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Take the timing with a pinch of salt, it's normal for them to run hours late especially on the longer routes

Dr JonboyG

2,561 posts

238 months

Wednesday 8th July 2015
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anonymous said:
[redacted]
The reason why it didn't happen is because the freight lines own the tracks (much more freight moves by rail here compared to Europe) and they've got no interest in sharing their tracks with passenger trains.

Dr JonboyG

2,561 posts

238 months

Wednesday 8th July 2015
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anonymous said:
[redacted]
There are actually new high speed rail lines planned in a few places, but the problem is buying up the land. No one has the money to do it, since most Americans (outside of the NE corridor) think trains are something for effete Europeans or some similar bullst. Deregulation of the airlines made plane travel so cheap there was no point trying.

Nickyboy

6,700 posts

233 months

Wednesday 8th July 2015
quotequote all
Dr JonboyG said:
The reason why it didn't happen is because the freight lines own the tracks (much more freight moves by rail here compared to Europe) and they've got no interest in sharing their tracks with passenger trains.
And the customers who use the freight companies can also pay a premium to make their trains "hot" We (UPS) have certain piggy back trains than run "hot" meaning they have priority over even Amtrak trains