Help me plan a LD "bucket trip" for my mother and myself

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mignyc

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Neither of us have ever been on a long-distance train, but we are excited to plan our first excursion!

I've been reading along here for a few weeks, trying to glean good info to help me decide which train would be best. I would love your input. I'm thinking anytime in 2014.

About us:

One 65-ish woman and her 40-ish daughter. We are East Coast based, but willing to take any line in the country. I travel from NYC to PA multiple times per year and am ready to up my train game.

Our criteria, in order (most important first):

1. One train only, no connections. We will fly to the departure point and back home from the train's end point. (Reason: delays and connection issues.)

2 SCENERY en route. We are looking for the ultimate scenic experience on Amtrak.

3. Super liner. Prefer booking separate roomettes for us.

4. If possible, we'd like to avoid high family vacation time of year. We are flexible, so we don't need to travel in the summer.

I initially thought EB was my train, but not since reading about all the problems.

Recommendations greatly appreciated. I'm learning how to use Amsnag and the differences between the types of accommodations, so please forgive me if I make any incorrect assumptions.
 
Welcome!

Given your constraints of one train and Superliners, you're going to have to fly from both ends. There are plenty of viable connections if you would like to eliminate one leg.

Ultimate scenery wise, you're probably going to get a lot of recommendations for the California Zeypher.
 
I would recommend the CZ. If you are taking it start to finish, you get 2 full days on the train, great scenery, and from what I can gather, has lower load factors than most LD trains.

If you haven't read the route guide from the Amtrak website, do. All of those route guides, schedules, and menus are available on the website. (Under routes, click on the train, and there is all the train specific guides.) They are all PDF so you can save them to your computer or tablet.
 
I have started to lean toward the CZ, yes.

I specified super liners because it seemed to me the accommodations were far superior; is that fair?
 
My goodness, prices fr the CZ in May sure do fluctuate! Using Amsnag for the first time.... So interesting.
 
You didn't say where your starting from. That would help us, if you don't want to fly. By your member name, I'm going to guess NYC.

If this is correct, I may recommend considering taking the Lake Shore Limited (LSL) to Chicago, and return on the Cardinal. These are both single level trains, but they are both one seat rides. The LSL has very scenic views of the Hudson River valley up to Albany and (depending on the time of the year) the Mohawk River valley west of Albany. The Cardinal is probably the most scenic train in the east, going thru the New River Gorge in West Virginia. However unlike most Amtrak trains, it only operates 3 days a week!

Another recommendation if you do want to/from the endpoints is the Coast a Starlight (CS) from LA to Seattle. If you fly into LAX, you can get a "Flyaway" shuttle that runs from the airport to Union Station (also coded LAX) which runs about every 1/2 hour and goes nonstop. Leaving LA, the vs goes right along the coast! Further north (in OR) it crosses the Cascades. This is a very scenic route. But the best part about the CS is that it offers the Pacific Parlour Car (PPC) which is a 1950's era Parlour car with the big swivel seats. There are only 6 of these cars left - and Amtrak owns 5 of them! The PPC is only offered on this route, and is a lounge car for sleeping car passengers only! In Seattle (or in fact Portland), there is a light rail line that goes to the airport.
 
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I am in NYC and she in York, PA ( closest Amtrak is Lancaster.) We could begin our trip in NYC, Lancaster, Philadelphia...it does look like the LSL to Chicago is a pretty good option.

What do you mean by "one seat ride?"
 
Only LD train with Superliner consist, that I have ridden, is SWC (Southwest Chief) Lots of flat land but I enjoy the 'Wild West'.

I'd like to ride the CZ myself so on my list too.
 
But again we don't mind flying to the train or back after the trip. That said, based on my interests and the opportunity for scenery, it looks like

NYC-->CHI on the LSL, then CHI-->EMY on the CZ is a fine starting plan. We'd fly back.
 
Dave Van said:
Only LD train with Superliner consist, that I have ridden, is SWC (Southwest Chief) Lots of flat land but I enjoy the 'Wild West'.

I'd like to ride the CZ myself so on my list too.
Click to expand...
Amtrak.com says the CZISa super liner.... Am I incorrect?
 
mignyc said:
But again we don't mind flying to the train or back after the trip. That said, based on my interests and the opportunity for scenery, it looks like

NYC-->CHI on the LSL, then CHI-->EMY on the CZ is a fine starting plan. We'd fly back.
Click to expand...
That would be a great trip. You have Spirit, or Jet blue back to New York, non stop out of Oakland.
 
buddy559 said:
I would recommend the CZ. If you are taking it start to finish, you get 2 full days on the train, great scenery, and from what I can gather, has lower load factors than most LD trains.

If you haven't read the route guide from the Amtrak website, do. All of those route guides, schedules, and menus are available on the website. (Under routes, click on the train, and there is all the train specific guides.) They are all PDF so you can save them to your computer or tablet.
Click to expand...
If you haven't stumbled upon the route guides, I mentioned above, they are "mini-books" about the routes. It tells points of interest on the whole route, start to finish.
 
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My first choice would be the CZ as others have said, but not during the summer, either fall or winter. But I would take the LSL to Chicago then the EB to Portland as the sights in the glacier park and along the Columbia River are beautiful. Then either fly back from Portland or take the CS as suggested by The Traveler down to LAX. I have done this several times and have never had any issues with connections. I don't fly, so I end up taking something back from LAX to make the circle.
 
Why not summer, out of curiosity? What about spring?

Seems like winter is a bad idea due to early darkness - you'd miss so much!
 
The only reason I say not summer is because there are lots of kids on the trains including boy scouts and for me the scenery is better on the off seasons, depending on how hot the summer is, the grass can be very brown and not as pretty. I am a snow person, so the other three seasons would be great.

The reason I did not say spring, is because in my opinion, spring in different parts of the country are so fickle where fall is usually the same across the country. Plus spring can have lots more cloudy rainy days that fall.
 
You leave DEN at 8am, so you have all morning to be late and still get the Rockies in the light. Similar with the schedule for the Sierras.
 
Ok, good. The LSL doesn't leave NYC til 3:40, though, soaking that trip in winter would be pretty worthless, scenery wise.
 
mignyc said:
Dave Van said:
Only LD train with Superliner consist, that I have ridden, is SWC (Southwest Chief) Lots of flat land but I enjoy the 'Wild West'.

I'd like to ride the CZ myself so on my list too.
Click to expand...
Amtrak.com says the CZISa super liner.... Am I incorrect?
Click to expand...
He was saying that the SWC is the only one of the many superliners that HE has taken. I can see how you misread it.
 
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