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Matthew H Fish

Lead Service Attendant
Joined
May 28, 2019
Messages
499
This happened almost five years ago, but I thought that I should share the details of this trip: in part because I have been writing too many non-Amtrak things on this Amtrak forum!

So, back in the summer of 2014, my life was kind of stuck in a rut for reasons I won't bore you with, and my mother suggested a nice long train trip might cheer me up. At first it was only a fanciful idea, but then I started studying train schedules and system maps, calling up a few old friends, and decided on a rather ambitious idea: a 30 day long rail pass trip across the country. The trip ended up taking place, starting around September 16, meaning it was a pretty comfortable time of year: the south was kind of cooling down, but the north wasn't really cold yet. I started putting together a route, and one day, I set off from Spokane, Washington...

I didn't have my full itinerary from the start, but here are the places I would go on this trip:

1. Spokane -> Chicago (Empire Builder)
2. Chicago, -> New York City (Lake Shore Limited
3. New York City -> Boston (NEC)
Boston -> Portland, Maine and Back (Via Bus)
4. Boston -> Washington, DC (NEC)
5. Washington, DC -> New Orleans (Crescent)
6. New Orleans -> Chicago (City of New Orleans)
7. Chicago -> Dallas (Texas Eagle)
Dallas -> Denton and back (Light Rail and Commuter Rail)
8. Dallas -> Springfield, Illinois (Texas Eagle)
9. Springfield, Illinois -> Galesburg, Illinois (Amtrak Van)
10. Galesburg, Illinois -> Emeryville, California (California Zephyr)
11. Emeryville, California -> Portland, Oregon (Coast Starlight)
12. Portland, Oregon -> Whitefish, Montana (Empire Builder)

I think I got back to Whitefish a day or two before the 30 days ran out.
I only took coach on the trip. I also only rented a hotel room for one night, in New Orleans, and stayed with friends in four other places: New York City, Portland, Maine, Denton, Texas and Portland, Oregon. I only ate I think one meal in the dining car, and most of the time subsisted on dried snacks, or waited until I had a layover or a break to get a real meal. I also ate lots of cafeteria car meals, including those overpriced, low quality, but indispensable DiGiorno's pizzas. The itinerary might give a wrong impression of my trip: Washington, DC is only the fifth stop on the trip, and there are a lot of long rides after it, but it was actually half way through my trip. I spent a lot of time in New York City and Portland. Basically, the trip was to enjoy train travel on its western legs, but its eastern legs were just because it was the most utilitarian way to see several things.
There was no major delays on the trip, at least not ones that made me lose connections. There was a few hours on the Empire Builder, and then the California Zephyr was delayed in Denver. I was also searched by the Sheriff in Dallas, doing spot checks. I remembered having one or two annoying people, or people trying to smoke on the train once...but in general, it was a pretty smooth trip. It was a bit hectic, in the East, but once I got on a long distance train, I just felt myself relax and let the miles slip away. Between Dallas and Portland, Oregon, I spent four nights on the train in a row (one on the Texas Eagle, two on the California Zephyr, and one on the Coast Starlight), and that was the most consecutive days I had to sleep on the train. Actually, adding it up, I spent maybe 12 days sleeping on the train during the entire trip.

I guess if I wanted to sum the trip up, I wouldn't say so much that there was a single, "blow-me-away" memory, like there wasn't a moment of epiphany...it is just that the weight of seeing everything added up to a lot. Basically, outside of a train, there are no realistic ways to do this. For around 1000 dollars, altogether, I managed to see 38 states in 30 days, and I probably saw more of the United States on that trip than 80% of people in the US ever see. The only other way to see that much so quickly would be by private jet, or by car, if two people were driving in shifts...

The other thing is, and people asked me about this afterwards: how did this particular itinerary leave so much left unseen? During this trip, for example, I spent probably a week, combined, in Portland, Maine and Denton, Texas, meaning that a quarter of my tour of the US consisted of those two towns. Well, for one thing, that was where my friends were, but also, I do think that a somewhat random sample of the country let me see things that a trip where I hit more "big tourist spots" would not, if that makes any sense. Due to the necessities of route plannings, I spent an afternoon in Galesburg, Illinois. I didn't visit Philadelphia, or Miami, or the Grand Canyon, but I saw...Galesburg, Illinois. But I think that being able to see a lot of small and out of the way places was somewhat serendipitous.

So...a lot more to say, but don't know where to start, so I will let people ask questions and I will try to answer them.
 
My only small question looking at that travel itenary I see here, is how come going to Portland, ME you took the bus instead of the Downeaster? Were the train times not convenient for you, or were the bus fares just cheaper? If it's the latter I understand, since sometimes I've taken bus instead of Amtrak if the bus fare(Megabus) to Milwaukee(from Chicago) was cheaper.

And I can understand taking that thruway bus from Springfield to Galesburg, since otherwise Texas Eagle and Southwest Chief/California Zephyr riders would not be able to transfer between trains in the same day! I hope while in Galesburg, you got to see the Carl Sandburg house, and ditto with also the Knox College campus. Since as I remember, both places were interesting to see in Galesburg.

Someday, I was thinking about trying to do a USA Rail Pass trip myself, via perhaps Southwest Chief from Chicago to LA, Coast Starlight north to either Portland or Seattle, then Empire Builder back home to Chicago. Not sure if I'll ride from Seattle or Portland, to go back east to Chicago riding on(one of those 2 branches west of Spokane) just yet. Also, interesting you didn't upgrade to sleeper, for at least one or 2 longer segments of your trip on those long distance trains. I can survive riding in coach for longer train trips, but sometimes those minor annoyances you notice sometimes can start to get to you towards the end(i.e. crying kids, annoying/inconsiderate passengers nearby, etc).
 
Well, for going to Portland, it was a combination of two things: first, the Downeaster leaves from Boston's North Station, while the NEC service ends at South Station. The buses leave from South Station. Going from one to the other is not that arduous, but considering all the luggage I was carrying, etc., it seemed easier to just take one of the dozen buses outside of South Station.

Also, this was a Railpass trip, which means I was limited to 12 segments. Since I came out to 12 segments total, I didn't want to spend my segments on the relatively minor Boston-Portland route. Of course, I could have bought tickets without using my pass...but I didn't.

As to why I didn't use the sleeper...this thing was a railpass trip. In all, the railpass cost $699 for 30 days. Looking at prices for sleepers on those segments, they would cost probably 300 dollars to upgrade, if they would have even been available.

I mean, not to be too cranky about it, but I could spend 1000 dollars or so on this trip because it was the opportunity of a lifetime. But I, like probably most people, am not in a position where spending 300-500 dollars to avoid a day or two of discomfort is something that would be the default option for me.
 
Well, for going to Portland, it was a combination of two things: first, the Downeaster leaves from Boston's North Station, while the NEC service ends at South Station. The buses leave from South Station. Going from one to the other is not that arduous, but considering all the luggage I was carrying, etc., it seemed easier to just take one of the dozen buses outside of South Station.

Also, this was a Railpass trip, which means I was limited to 12 segments. Since I came out to 12 segments total, I didn't want to spend my segments on the relatively minor Boston-Portland route. Of course, I could have bought tickets without using my pass...but I didn't.

As to why I didn't use the sleeper...this thing was a railpass trip. In all, the railpass cost $699 for 30 days. Looking at prices for sleepers on those segments, they would cost probably 300 dollars to upgrade, if they would have even been available.

I mean, not to be too cranky about it, but I could spend 1000 dollars or so on this trip because it was the opportunity of a lifetime. But I, like probably most people, am not in a position where spending 300-500 dollars to avoid a day or two of discomfort is something that would be the default option for me.

I hear you, on those points. Including that Downeaster goes out of North Station, the fact you had a lot of baggage, and that more buses(I think per your post? never been to Boston) run out of South Station. And makes sense to save the 12 rail pass segments, for other(and I'm sure longer) routes instead! Thanks for explaining all of that.
 
I hear you, on those points. Including that Downeaster goes out of North Station, the fact you had a lot of baggage, and that more buses(I think per your post? never been to Boston) run out of South Station. And makes sense to save the 12 rail pass segments, for other(and I'm sure longer) routes instead! Thanks for explaining all of that.

Yeah, and in general, there is no specific reason to take trains in the NEC. Like, I like the train experience, but along the East Coast, to me, a train is just a bus with metal wheels. I mean, not exactly the same, but I didn't think I was going to have a more scenic ride on a train than on a bus. So bus it was. I think the bus cost me 25 dollars, too.
 
As your trip was a few years ago, you may not remember exactly, but did you always manage to get all the railpass segments for the first choice days you wanted in September, or were there some days when you had to choose an alternative travel day due to coach seat unavailability?
How long in advance did you book your tickets?

Ed.
 
As your trip was a few years ago, you may not remember exactly, but did you always manage to get all the railpass segments for the first choice days you wanted in September, or were there some days when you had to choose an alternative travel day due to coach seat unavailability?
How long in advance did you book your tickets?

Ed.

It was a while ago, so I don't quite remember, but I got all my seats on the first try, I think with a few days lead time. I bought the Spokane-New York tickets before leaving, New York to Boston like the day before, everything from Boston to Dallas two days before, and then Dallas to Portland the weekend before I left...and Portland to Whitefish the day before. It was something like that, not sure on exact time frames.

It probably also helped that late September/Early October is not a particularly busy time for train travel...although since I guess Labor Day weekend is in there, I did get lucky?
 
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