A Pilgrimage by rail?

[Pastor Dave]

In the last decade or so, I've had the privilege of leading several spiritual retreats to such places as Iona, Assisi, Greece, and the Holy Land. As the pilgrimage leader I've been charged with both the mundane details of itinerary and creating programs that are enriching and worth the investment of the participant.

I've been asked again to do an overseas retreat and, quite frankly, it no longer gets the juices flowing. So I suggested to the sponsor that we consider a "rail-pilgrimage" entailing religious landmarks in the US and following singificant historical events such as the underground railroad, etc.

While we could bus (Oh God, save me from this trial) or fly (Oh God, you can't do this to me), I am considering doing a good bulk of the itinerary by train.

My question is, does Amtrak have dedicated cars available for our group, or would it be better to investigate private varnish? My thinking is that if we had some sort of private car for our sessions, our participants could then decide on their own if they wished coach or sleeper accomodations.

Have you either rented a private car from Amtrak or leased private varnish? If so, do you have an dollar figures that this might cost?

 

[zephyr17]

For Amtrak, you could get a group rate and reservation. If your group was large enough, they might block an entire car, but you wouldn't be using your own "car".

For a PV -- those get really expensive, really quickly. I think the Amtrak mileage rate is something like $3/mile. Then you have the PV lease ON TOP of that. That is if everything is fine and the car can be handled within the power and crew limits of that train. If they have to add an engine in order to pull the extra car -- you pay for it. If the car exceeds makes the train length exceed the limit for the crew and they have to add another AC, you pay for that. If engine and crew are available, otherwise the move will be cancelled.

Then there are swiching fees, and storage fees (if you want to park at certain stations overnight). All and all, a pretty pricey proposition.

 

[the_traveler]

I do "rail pilgrimages" every year - but not to religious landmarks!

Seriously, I would suggest either contacting Amtrak to get a group rate on a "regular" train, or have everyone book their own rooms! Amtrak will not add additional coaches or sleepers (because there aren't any spares), but you may get lucky and essentially get "your own private car" if the load is low - no guarantee. We did during last year's Gathering in Boston.

The load on the Downeaster to Portland was low that day, so Amtrak let us have our own car!

I would not consider a PV, basically because of the cost. Also, if the PV is attached to a regular run, you can not go between that/those cars and the rest of the train (such as the Dining Car)!

This is especially true on western routes, as most PV's are single level (passage on the lower level) and those trains are Superliners (passage on the upper level)!

 

[rrdude]

I do "rail pilgrimages" every year - but not to religious landmarks!

Seriously, I would suggest either contacting Amtrak to get a group rate on a "regular" train, or have everyone book their own rooms! Amtrak will not add additional coaches or sleepers (because there aren't any spares), but you may get lucky and essentially get "your own private car" if the load is low - no guarantee. We did during last year's Gathering in Boston.

The load on the Downeaster to Portland was low that day, so Amtrak let us have our own car!

I would not consider a PV, basically because of the cost. Also, if the PV is attached to a regular run, you can not go between that/those cars and the rest of the train (such as the Dining Car)!

This is especially true on western routes, as most PV's are single level (passage on the lower level) and those trains are Superliners (passage on the upper level)!

You know, come to think of it, I have never seen anything other than single-level PV's. (other than domes) Obviously there wouldn't be any ex-Superliner PV's, yet. But for all I know, someone could have bought one of the many ex SF high-levels, and outfitted them into PV's.

Pastor, if your church group can afford it, and it aint' cheap, I would at least look into renting a PV. might even find an owner (maybe) willing to "give a little" since it would be for a good cause.

However, if you have a large group, and need on-board sleeping accommodations, it could get real pricey, real fast, for multiple PV's with bedrooms......

But don't not look at it, it might just be fun doing the research!

Pastor, you may want to start at AAPRCO.

 

[AlanB]

The load on the Downeaster to Portland was low that day, so Amtrak let us have our own car!

Amtrak didn't do that for us. Amtrak didn't even know that we were a group.

The NNEPRA which pays Amtrak to run the Downeaster did that for us. And they did that thanks to the determined efforts of Jay Hadley (had8ley) who contacted the NNEPRA. So thank Jay and NNEPRA for that perk!

 

[the_traveler]

And I thought it was because I was aboard, and they couldn't get the car with the penthouse suite up to BON!

Thank you Jay and NNERPA for your efforts!

 

[George Harris]

There is also the "You can't get there from here" issue. You would have to pick and choose your sites carefully to be sure that they were actually served by Amtrak, and let's don't forget teh 3:00am arrival or departures that you could be stuck with at some of the locations.

I would suggest starting with an Amtrak national timetable and your lst of possible sites and see how weel (if at all) you could mathc them.

 

[Devil's Advocate]

I think this would be a great idea, but I think the costs would be astronomical. Just because it's domestic doesn't mean it won't cost several times the price of a round-the-world ticket.

 

[A.J.]

it sounds like a lot of fun! I hope that if this does come to fruition that you will keep us posted about your journey.

 

[Shanghai]

I have been on two trains within the past year where there were tours.

I think it was America on Rails. There were tour people both in coach

and in sleepers. On one trip, the diner had the group for dinner at one

time and the rest of us had to eat later. Perhaps you can contact

America on Rails for more details. Sounds like a good idea.

 

[Pastor Dave]

Thanks for all your feedback. Our travel agent looked into a PV situation and all she could say to me was "ouch." At least it was a nice idea in my dreams....

 

[PRR 60]

You might want to contact one of the travel agencies that specializes in Amtrak travel. These agencies sometimes can put together group deals that an individual dealing directly with Amtrak cannot. They have some backdoor contacts, and have been known to advance-reserve blocks of rooms on speculation.

One such agency is Train Travel Consulting. I have never used that agency myself (since I never use any agency), but they have been around forever, and Ted and Sylvia look very kindly.

 

[zephyr17]

You might want to contact one of the travel agencies that specializes in Amtrak travel. These agencies sometimes can put together group deals that an individual dealing directly with Amtrak cannot. They have some backdoor contacts, and have been known to advance-reserve blocks of rooms on speculation.

One such agency is Train Travel Consulting. I have never used that agency myself (since I never use any agency), but they have been around forever, and Ted and Sylvia look very kindly.

I've used Ted and Sylvia for individual Amtrak travel when their agency offered sleeper waitlisting before Amtrak did. They are very knowledgable about all aspects of rail travel and are very professional.