Getting Home from Alexandria Virginia

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ThayerATM

ThayerATM

OBS Chief
Joined
Jan 23, 2008
Messages
595
Location
Rochester, NY
We'd like to take an Amtrak trip from Rochester (ROC) to Alexandria VA [ALX] in May to visit an old friend who lives there. Getting there doesn't seem to be a problem. Train 48 will get us (in a bedroom) to NYP, and 49 will get us (in a bedroom) back. Then both 91 and 97 will carry us (in a bedroom) to ALX, and deliver us, along with our checked luggage.

Getting back home seems to be a problem, as both Northbound 92 and 98 stop in ALX, but only to DISCHARGE passengers.

I'm hesitant to ask him to drive us 100 miles south to Richmond VA, where we could board Northbound 98 at 5:09 AM with our luggage.

Any suggestions?
 
ThayerATM said:
We'd like to take an Amtrak trip from Rochester (ROC) to Alexandria VA [ALX] in May to visit an old friend who lives there. Getting there doesn't seem to be a problem. Train 48 will get us (in a bedroom) to NYP, and 49 will get us (in a bedroom) back. Then both 91 and 97 will carry us (in a bedroom) to ALX, and deliver us, along with our checked luggage.

Getting back home seems to be a problem, as both Northbound 92 and 98 stop in ALX, but only to DISCHARGE passengers.

I'm hesitant to ask him to drive us 100 miles south to Richmond VA, where we could board Northbound 98 at 5:09 AM with our luggage.

Any suggestions?
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Ask him to take you to DC, much shorter - or you can take Metro from Alexandria to DC and be right at Union Station.
 
I would concur with the others, if you are able to manage it (with your baggage), then taking Metro (which would involve changing trains/lines in downtown Washington to reach Union Station) or VRE (no change of trains, but generally on runs during weekday rush hours) from Alexandria to Washington Union Station would be a possibility.
 
Ryan said:
I think that his point is that he'd like to be in a bedroom for the ride up the NEC.

The only way to do that is to start at Richmond or Manassass (Cardinal or Crescent)
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Thanks for catching my drift.

Yes, the bedroom is a big issue, as my wife has a great deal of difficulty getting around the train and dealing with crowded (meaning large numbers of people) conditions. Schlepping luggage from one train to another is a real chore for both of us. The trip would involve two carry-on bags for each of us, and two checked bags for each of us. That's a total of eight bags to schlep from one place to another. ROC isn't crowded, and NYP has lots of redcaps to help with it. Alexandria? I don't know, but I suppose that my friend might be willing to help. :lol:

The easy solution is to drive from ROC to ALX, and that's what we're opting to do right now. But both of us would like to get a nice (in a bedroom) train ride out of this, from ROC to ALX and back.

I did notice that 98, 20, 92, 80, and 90 all stop at WAS to discharge passengers only. I suppose that's because no sleepers really want to board in WAS. Doesn't anyone from Washington want to take the train in a bedroom from WAS to NYP?
 
Oh we do, (I'd love to at least), but Amtrak doesn't offer it.

Your best bet is to catch the Crescent in Manassass at 8:45AM. It's isn't that bad a drive, and if you're feeling really adventurous you can catch an outbound VRE train at ALX at 6:45 that would put you at MSS at 7:30 - about an hour before the Crescent rolls through.
 
If you want a bedroom, but not necessarily on the NEC, there is another strange possibility!
wacko.gif


Go ALX-WAS, connect to the CL to CLE and then connect to the LSL to ROC!
biggrin.gif
You would get 2 meals (dinner and breakfast), but the bad thing is the connection in CLE is after 2:30 AM until after 5 AM!
ohmy.gif
 
the_traveler said:
If you want a bedroom, but not necessarily on the NEC, there is another strange possibility!
wacko.gif


Go ALX-WAS, connect to the CL to CLE and then connect to the LSL to ROC!
biggrin.gif
You would get 2 meals (dinner and breakfast), but the bad thing is the connection in CLE is after 2:30 AM until after 5 AM!
ohmy.gif
Click to expand...
I am amazed, simply amazed...........My jaw hit the ground when I saw that suggestion. Have you no shame?
laugh.gif
laugh.gif
laugh.gif
laugh.gif
 
The only other suggestion I can think of would be the costly option of taking the Acela (first class maybe?) to NYP and transfer to the LSL. I know it would be crazy expensive, but by going first class would enable you to use the Club Acelas at WAS and NYP and have a nice ride to NYP. Of the other suggestions, I'd opt for going to Manassas, as it is not insanely far from ALX, and catching the Crescent from there to NYP. I like the_traveler's idea of the CL to the LSL, but the layover hours in CLE leave something to be desired in my opinion...
 
rrdude said:
the_traveler said:
If you want a bedroom, but not necessarily on the NEC, there is another strange possibility!
wacko.gif


Go ALX-WAS, connect to the CL to CLE and then connect to the LSL to ROC!
biggrin.gif
You would get 2 meals (dinner and breakfast), but the bad thing is the connection in CLE is after 2:30 AM until after 5 AM!
ohmy.gif
Click to expand...
I am amazed, simply amazed...........My jaw hit the ground when I saw that suggestion. Have you no shame?
laugh.gif
laugh.gif
laugh.gif
laugh.gif
Click to expand...
Hey rrdude, Ease up. :hi: I did notice a couple of other circuitous routes, but had to dismiss them because of eating up an extra day of an already short schedule. :wacko: I spent a week in Cleveland one night, and that's more than enough for me. :rolleyes:
 
The Davy Crockett said:
The only other suggestion I can think of would be the costly option of taking the Acela (first class maybe?) to NYP and transfer to the LSL. I know it would be crazy expensive, but by going first class would enable you to use the Club Acelas at WAS and NYP and have a nice ride to NYP. Of the other suggestions, I'd opt for going to Manassas, as it is not insanely far from ALX, and catching the Crescent from there to NYP. I like the_traveler's idea of the CL to the LSL, but the layover hours in CLE leave something to be desired in my opinion...
Click to expand...
Remember the bedroom? :unsure: We're already going to be travelig "first class." Today we're thinking about opting for asking my friend to drive us to Richmond (RVM) to catch the Meteor (98) out of RVM at 5:09 AM. I'm thinking that if I ply him with enough beer the night before he'll agree to do it. :unsure: The big question remains if he will still be willing (or able) to do it at 3:00 AM to get us to the RVM station in time. :lol:
 
The Davy Crockett said:
The only other suggestion I can think of would be the costly option of taking the Acela (first class maybe?) to NYP and transfer to the LSL. I know it would be crazy expensive, but by going first class would enable you to use the Club Acelas at WAS and NYP and have a nice ride to NYP. Of the other suggestions, I'd opt for going to Manassas, as it is not insanely far from ALX, and catching the Crescent from there to NYP. I like the_traveler's idea of the CL to the LSL, but the layover hours in CLE leave something to be desired in my opinion...
Click to expand...
But aren't bedrooms generally pretty $$$$? I would maybe price out the acela option before taking it off the table. And acela first class is lovely.
 
ThayerATM said:
I did notice that 98, 20, 92, 80, and 90 all stop at WAS to discharge passengers only. I suppose that's because no sleepers really want to board in WAS. Doesn't anyone from Washington want to take the train in a bedroom from WAS to NYP?
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I'm pretty sure the reason is that they can run ahead of schedule, sometimes as much as 30+ min early to WAS and an hour early to New York. I've routinely seen 92 at PHL 40 minutes early. No desire for Amtrak to dwell that long with regional trains there to handle the corridor.

Maybe you can ticket RVR-NYP and call ahead to let them know you will be boarding in ALX, and keep up with the status arriving at the station early if it is on time RVR.

--Edit: I realize that won't be good unless they can accommodate your luggage too as the crews would expect to only be taking off bags at ALX.
 
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Why would you ask your friend to drive you all the way to Richmond, when they can make a much shorter drive at a much more sane hour to MSS?
 
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rrdude said:
the_traveler said:
If you want a bedroom, but not necessarily on the NEC, there is another strange possibility!
wacko.gif


Go ALX-WAS, connect to the CL to CLE and then connect to the LSL to ROC!
biggrin.gif
You would get 2 meals (dinner and breakfast), but the bad thing is the connection in CLE is after 2:30 AM until after 5 AM!
ohmy.gif
Click to expand...
I am amazed, simply amazed...........My jaw hit the ground when I saw that suggestion. Have you no shame?
laugh.gif
laugh.gif
laugh.gif
laugh.gif
Click to expand...
I'd rather be in hell than be out at 2 in the morning in CLEVELAND.
 
I think everyone's missing the obvious solution here.

Simply purchase a ticket (and have it printed and in hand) to board one of the trains in MSS or RVR, but board in Alexandria instead. As long as you have the ticket in hand and are present before the train arrives in ALX, the conductor is not going to present an obstacle to boarding. A simple tip to a red cap at ALX will also get your bags in the baggage car without issue as well. The station folks at ALX are good people, and this sort of thing is not out of the ordinary for them.

Rafi
 
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