Favorite LD train

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What is your favorite LD train?

  • Auto Train

    Votes: 5 4.1%
  • California Zephyr

    Votes: 28 23.0%
  • Capitol Limited

    Votes: 3 2.5%
  • Cardinal

    Votes: 2 1.6%
  • City of New Orleans

    Votes: 1 0.8%
  • Coast Starlight

    Votes: 30 24.6%
  • Crescent

    Votes: 6 4.9%
  • Empire Builder

    Votes: 15 12.3%
  • Lake Shore Limited

    Votes: 9 7.4%
  • Palmetto

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Silver Meteor

    Votes: 6 4.9%
  • Silver Star

    Votes: 1 0.8%
  • Southwest Chief

    Votes: 11 9.0%
  • Sunset Limited

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Texas Eagle

    Votes: 5 4.1%

  • Total voters
    122
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Donctor

Conductor
Joined
Jul 11, 2009
Messages
1,121
Location
CHI
Only trains that currently exist are listed. Trains that aren't considered LD trains (Adirondack, Carolinian, Maple Leaf, Pennsylvanian, etc.) are not listed.
 
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My favorite scenery wise is the CZ. MY favorite comfort and luxury wise is the CS.

My OVERALL favorite is the ONE I'M ON AT THE TIME!
laugh.gif
 
Hands down... the Coast Starlight! I love the train so much that I have been known to fly from Milwaukee to LA just to ride the Coast Starlight and the fly home Seattle to Milwaukee!! (Of course I would much rather do a cross-country all-train trip, but cant always get the time off work) I think the scenery is great, food is great, and I am almost in the Parlour Car non-stop!! The only bad thing I can say about the Coast Starlight is I wish it was a 2-night trip instead of a 1-night trip!!

The Zephyr is a close second because it has great scenery -- however you don't feel as special without the Parlour Car, refurbished sleepers, and the actual china in the diner.
 
My vote was for the LSL, loved the scenery along the Erie Canal, Mohawk River, and the Hudson River. Hoping to get out west some day and take some of those routes!
 
Hands down... the Coast Starlight! I love the train so much that I have been known to fly from Milwaukee to LA just to ride the Coast Starlight and the fly home Seattle to Milwaukee!! (Of course I would much rather do a cross-country all-train trip, but cant always get the time off work) I think the scenery is great, food is great, and I am almost in the Parlour Car non-stop!! The only bad thing I can say about the Coast Starlight is I wish it was a 2-night trip instead of a 1-night trip!!

The Zephyr is a close second because it has great scenery -- however you don't feel as special without the Parlour Car, refurbished sleepers, and the actual china in the diner.

It was close for me too. CS/CZ. Love both. I chose the CZ because of the 2 nites!

RF
 
Favorite train is the one that take you home.
I agree completely. When my travel plans only allow me to take Amtrak one way, I'll choose the homeward leg of the trip.
Funny, I'll always do the same thing. I've found it like a double-edged sword though.

Taking the LD train back gives you a reason to want to go back home at the end of a vacation, but having that train ride to look forward to sometimes makes you speed your vacation along as you look forward to that LD train ride!

I'd say the CL, but I do recall the CS scenery as being really therapeutic. Still need to ride the CZ west of Denver.
 
I cast my vote for the CZ because of the two nites and the great sceanery. The food is pretty good also. I won't know much about the cs until next year. I have riden it in the past in coach but next year I'm working on a bedroom :) . I rode the cs from seattle to oakland a couple of years ago and only remember the mountain that slide off itself :help: so next year I will be coming from the south to the north. I too wish the cs was a two nite trip. But since I will be coming from the east coast I'll be fine. :D
 
There should be one vote for the Chicken Bone... errr City of New Orleans, but because I viewed the results before voting, it won't let me vote. Maybe a mod can fix this. I know it can be done with UBB.
 
I like the AutoTrain ONLY because we can take our car with us onboard. Its so convenient. You load your car with everything that you could possibly need for the trip and arrive prepared to head out on the road. No baggage to pickup, no rental car needed, and the non-stop 900 mile trip is usually pleasant and ontime.
 
There should be one vote for the Chicken Bone... errr City of New Orleans, but because I viewed the results before voting, it won't let me vote. Maybe a mod can fix this. I know it can be done with UBB.
Fixed. :)

And yes, viewing the results first, casts a null vote.
 
First of all, thanks to the OP for starting this thread. The trains I ride are nothing special so I won't be voting for them but I do want to try some of the other trains that everyone keeps talking about and this is a nice way to help me decide who gets top priority.

And yes, viewing the results first, casts a null vote.
This seems to be the only truly odd thing I've noticed here compared to other forum software I've used. Why would it force you to give up your vote before showing you the results?
 
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And yes, viewing the results first, casts a null vote.
This seems to be the only truly odd thing I've noticed here compared to other forum software I've used. Why would it force you to give up your vote before showing you the results?
It's a choice that can be set in the controls. We decided that we didn't want people peaking and influencing their votes that way, so we set the switch appropriately.
 
I like the AutoTrain ONLY because we can take our car with us onboard. Its so convenient. You load your car with everything that you could possibly need for the trip and arrive prepared to head out on the road. No baggage to pickup, no rental car needed, and the non-stop 900 mile trip is usually pleasant and ontime.
How do those positives amount to "ONLY" anything? Sounds pretty nice to me :)

Or are you saying that you only chose the Auto Train for those reasons, and would vote for a different train if the poll were asking about "most scenic train" or something?
 
California Zephyr has some of the greatest scenery but also enjoyed the Coast Starlight between LA &SAC. Empire Builder had the best service and some nice scenery as well.

As long as we are riding on rails, its always a great trip :D
 
Voted Coast Starlight as I've rode this train several times and most recently last year on a sleeper roomette from Bay Area to Seattle.

In 2 weeks will be my first experience on the CZ.
 
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I like the AutoTrain ONLY because we can take our car with us onboard. Its so convenient. You load your car with everything that you could possibly need for the trip and arrive prepared to head out on the road. No baggage to pickup, no rental car needed, and the non-stop 900 mile trip is usually pleasant and ontime.
How do those positives amount to "ONLY" anything? Sounds pretty nice to me :)

Or are you saying that you only chose the Auto Train for those reasons, and would vote for a different train if the poll were asking about "most scenic train" or something?
Rating trains is a very subjective thing. The AutoTrain is not the most scenic route nor does the CSX trackage make for a smooth ride. I gave the AT my vote because we can take our car along. The food and service is comparable to what you can get on other LD trains and the scenery while nice is not at the top of my list. In short my vote was soley based on convenience of having our auto onboard with us. The EB and CZ would definitely win out on scenery.
 
I prefer the Viewliner cars therefore my favorite is the Lake Shore Limited.

I like that it departs later than many other LD trains in both directions.
 
I've got to go with Auto Train since it's probably the most consistent train in the entire system. Having a dedicated crew base that only ever works this one train (for both T&E and OBS) you've got a set of folks that knows their service very well and how and what to expect along the way. I'm also a fan of the fact that they consistently have a superior menu to most of the other LD trains, and meals are included for all classes of service, not just sleepers.
 
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