LD train trip in December

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ceo418

Train Attendant
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Sep 4, 2012
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Hello. I am considering the idea of taking the train to see my family for Christmas, either from MET-SEA or NYP-SEA. I will be traveling coach and have taken the Empire Builder before from CHI-SEA, so I am familiar with that route. I am considering taking either the Northeast Regional line from MET to WAS and the Capitol Limited from WAS to CHI or the Lakeshore Limited from NYP to CHI. Does anyone have recommendations for one or the other? I see that the Lakeshore Limited on-time percentage has been low lately, but I don't know if they've been averaging a few minutes or a few hours late. Thanks!
 
I don't think that you can go wrong either way. Living near WAS, I usually take the Cap headed to/from Chicago, and it's a great train for that. Leave DC late afternoon and roll into CHI the next morning.

I'll be taking the LSL for the first time in October to change things up a bit.

The biggest difference between the trains (other than the different routes and scenery) is that the Cap uses the double level Superliner equipment that you've seen on the Empire Builder. The LSL uses the single level Viewliner sleeping cars and Amfleet coaches. Again, one isn't necessarily better than the other, just different.

If it works for your schedule I'd take the Cap one way the LSL the other and see which you prefer. If you do that, I would take the Cap headed west and the LSL headed home. The Empire Builder has had a HORRIBLE summer for timekeeping, and while the construction projects that have cause much of the delays will be shut down for the winter, I'd still rather have the cushion of the later-departing LSL from my arrival in WAS.

If you're going to only do the train one way, I'd do the LSL just so you can see the single level equipment and see something new.

Hope this helps!
 
I have done both the Cap and the LSL in December. At that time of the year you will be traveling in darkness for most of the scenic portions of the trip. The LSL up the Hudson is great, but you will not see a lot. I would not make your choice based on the scenery. Just an opinion.
 
If you have not taken the single level trains, I actually prefer them, the restrooms in coach are right in the same car, no stairs to take except to get off in Chicago. I have never taken the Cap, so I can't speak of the service on there, but in coach on the LSL, which I have to take every trip I take, the café car and the dining car peeps seem pretty good. The only problem I have found taking the LSL in the winter is the cold that comes in between the cars.

December will not be too bad, except possibly around Buffalo. In January I had a blizzard that put us two hours behind and the car attendant had to shovel out the vestibule continually. Make sure you bring a blanket and pillow with you a they are not giving out pillows anymore and the train can be pretty cold.
 
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