Lakeshore Limited baggage checked?

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Gingee

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We are going coach on the Lakeshore Limited from Chicago to NYC. Do they check our bags all the way through or does it go in the train car with us?

Also, does the Lakeshore stop in Washington D.C. so you can get out and look at the Capitol from the train?

Thanks
 
We are going coach on the Lakeshore Limited from Chicago to NYC. Do they check our bags all the way through or does it go in the train car with us?
Also, does the Lakeshore stop in Washington D.C. so you can get out and look at the Capitol from the train?

Thanks
The LSL does not go via Washington DC. It goes the northern route via Albany, NY and down the Hudson River.

You can check bags from CHI to NYP and they will be there for you to claim shortly after arrival.
 
We are going coach on the Lakeshore Limited from Chicago to NYC. Do they check our bags all the way through or does it go in the train car with us?
Also, does the Lakeshore stop in Washington D.C. so you can get out and look at the Capitol from the train?

Thanks
I agree with what the others said. If you want to see Washington, it's not the LSL that you want.
Just a note of caution. Make sure none of your bags weighs over 50 pounds. A little over a week ago one of ours was about 3 pounds over in Flagstaff when checking it for the SWC, and my wife had to repack something into another case or dump something until we were within the 50. It's a good thing I wasn't in the case at the time or else..... :(
 
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We are going coach on the Lakeshore Limited from Chicago to NYC. Do they check our bags all the way through or does it go in the train car with us?
Also, does the Lakeshore stop in Washington D.C. so you can get out and look at the Capitol from the train?

Thanks
The LSL does not go via Washington DC. It goes the northern route via Albany, NY and down the Hudson River.

You can check bags from CHI to NYP and they will be there for you to claim shortly after arrival.
Scenic wise, is it the Cardinal or the LSL better going eastbound, or both?
 
Scenic wise, is it the Cardinal or the LSL better going eastbound, or both?
That's kind of a toss up IMHO. The Cardinal has the most dramatic scenery IMHO, but the LSL's isn't bad and the LSL's has many more miles of good scenery. Whereas the Cardinal's best scenery is the New River Gorge.

But either is a fine choice and for any real fan of both Amtrak and this big beautiful country of ours, a must ride.
 
Scenic wise, is it the Cardinal or the LSL better going eastbound, or both?
That's kind of a toss up IMHO. The Cardinal has the most dramatic scenery IMHO, but the LSL's isn't bad and the LSL's has many more miles of good scenery. Whereas the Cardinal's best scenery is the New River Gorge.

But either is a fine choice and for any real fan of both Amtrak and this big beautiful country of ours, a must ride.
Thanx Alan, what I meant to say is the eastbound direction better than westbound on these routes
 
Scenic wise, is it the Cardinal or the LSL better going eastbound, or both?
That's kind of a toss up IMHO. The Cardinal has the most dramatic scenery IMHO, but the LSL's isn't bad and the LSL's has many more miles of good scenery. Whereas the Cardinal's best scenery is the New River Gorge.

But either is a fine choice and for any real fan of both Amtrak and this big beautiful country of ours, a must ride.
Thanx Alan, what I meant to say is the eastbound direction better than westbound on these routes
I've never taken the Cardinal westbound, but I enjoyed it very much eastbound. As I recall, everyone on this board who has expressed an opinion on the Cardinal prefers it eastbound for daylight reasons, and I certainly have no complaints about the visibility of the best scenery in October traveling in that direction.

I have taken the LSL the full distance both ways (though the only daylight scenery is in New York). I prefer westbound (or "northbound" for the NYP-ALB stretch, which is the magnificent part). Coming eastbound, you're staring into the setting sun as you look across the Hudson going south, and while it's not glaring in your eyes necessarily, it makes photography much more awkward and generally provides poorer lighting for visibility even though it's plenty bright out. But this may depend a lot on time of year, too, as far as where the sun is.

So given the choice when booking a circle route here, I would definitely choose to take the Cardinal eastbound and the Lake Shore westbound (ie, the counterclockwise loop).
 
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Scenic wise, is it the Cardinal or the LSL better going eastbound, or both?
That's kind of a toss up IMHO. The Cardinal has the most dramatic scenery IMHO, but the LSL's isn't bad and the LSL's has many more miles of good scenery. Whereas the Cardinal's best scenery is the New River Gorge.

But either is a fine choice and for any real fan of both Amtrak and this big beautiful country of ours, a must ride.
Thanx Alan, what I meant to say is the eastbound direction better than westbound on these routes
For the Cardinal, eastbound is always best. During the summer months westbound can work too for the Cardinal, but during the winter and the side months, it's generally dark for the best scenery going westbound.

On the LSL, it really doesn't matter as long as the train is on time. If it's running late, well then all bets are off especially during the winter months.
 
We took the Cardinal last time and it is pretty by the New River Gorge. We had a person talking over the speaker about it but the intercom system stunk and we could not understand him. We did see the Capitol last time but was going to show our one person the spot if we were going on that way. Anything special on any stops on the Lakeshore Limited?
 
Oh do you have a option of checking your baggage or not?
As long as your bags don't exceed the quantity or sizes for carry on luggage, you have the choice to check or not. If your bags are too large or if you have more than 2 per person, then you not only should check them, you may be forced to.
 
I wonder if there is a long time to wait for your luggage if you check them. From the past in the coach and sleepers, the suitcases were in your car. I know they were on the Texas train and the Cardinal because we went and got things out of them.
 
I've never had to wait very long for luggage... as long as it made the train. To be honest, I feel like I spend more time waiting for bags after a flight than after arriving on the train.

That might be different now that airlines charge for checked baggage.
 
I really can't say about large stations, but in the past at some of the smaller stations (like GJT or RNO), I have collected my checked baggage from the cart - even before the train left the station! :)
 
I've gotten luggage in Chicago and Los Angeles without much wait. Not instantaneous, mind you, but, certainly, not much more time than it took to actually get things in order and on to the claim area.

The only time that I've had trouble claiming luggage is when it didn't make the train to NYP. The luggage room folks there were, however, very friendly and had the bags delivered to my hotel.
 
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