Need imput on New York-Cleveland Circle Trip

[JoeRids]

I am considering taking a NYP- Cleveland circle trip in a month. I have two possibilities in my mind and would like input. My return from Cleveland-NYP (Croton Harmon actually) will definitely be the Lake Shore in a roomette. Getting there I am considering either:

1. NYP-WAS-CLE (coach)

2. NYP- PGH-CLE (coach as well)

Questions are:

1. I like eating in the diner, but based on recent posts I read that the Capitol Limited diner suffers from limited space, long waits, and surly crew. Are coach passengers allowed to eat in the diner? I know they are SUPPOSED to be allowed, but will the diner crew have other ideas? Will there be announcements made and/or walks through the train to secure dinner reservations in coach? If dinner in the diner westbound is not a good option, I will almost certainly do the Pennsylvanian routing.

2. I will be turning around in CLE the same evening/early morning, i.e. arriving there around 2:50AM with the Lake Shore departing at 5:50. This is a comfortable cushion (especially considering the Lake Short could be late arriving CLE), but I would assume this connection is not guaranteed since it is not really a "connection". How has the Capitol's timeliness been recently?

 

[Railroad Bill]

We ride the Capitol Limited often and found the staff in the diner to be fine. They do take reservations from those in coach after sleeping car passengers have been scheduled. Sometimes they only walk through the lounge car so check with your car attendant to see if they can help. If you are concerned about that you might want to consider having an early supper in WAS before you leave.

As far as OTP, no one really knows what will happen on any given day..accident, weather, mechanical breakdowns. I have been informed earlier that the CL to eastbound LSL has been listed as a guaranteed connection and should work o.k. as long as there are no problems on the CL. But not sure if the computer will give you a connection from WAS if you list New York City as your destination?? I suppose that if 29 were really running late before PGH, you could jump off there and ride the eastbound Pennsylvania 42 back to NYP.

Personally I like riding the Pennsylvanian but the long wait in Pittsburgh is a deterrent for us. I would go with the NYP to WAS in the morning and then a 4:30 pm departure on the CL from WAS to CLE. Folks in CLE are nice and the station is o.k. for waiting. Restrooms and vending machines and lots of rail traffic outside.

Just one person's opinion. Others will likely chime in soon.

 

[the_traveler]

Another possibility is doing a multi-city booking of NYP (or CRT) to ALC (Alliance, OH), then ALC to ERI (Erie, PA which gives a guaranteed connection in CLE ), then ERI to CRT!

 

[Train2104]

Another possibility is doing a multi-city booking of NYP (or CRT) to ALC (Alliance, OH), then ALC to ERI (Erie, PA which gives a guaranteed connection in CLE ), then ERI to CRT!

You don't need to use such obscure cities. NYP-PGH // PGH-SDY // SDY-CRT would work. But the OP wants a sleeper on the LSL, so splitting that portion of the trip might not be possible.

 

[the_traveler]

If you input PGH-SDY, most likely you'll get the CL or Pennsylvanian but not the LSL from CLE. (You may get the LSL from NYP-SDY as a choice.)