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A

AKA

OBS Chief
Joined
Apr 17, 2004
Messages
637
Location
Northern OHIO
Ok, here goes. My wife wants to do a trip. I have already established that I am married. So not only do I need help, I need some compassion.I have worn out a timetable looking for a non stop trip. She would like to go round trip from Cleveland, and not have to stay overnight any where. Remember this is Amtrak to Amtrak. No city transit. Stop overs up to a few hours are ok.( 4 to 10 , OK.) Rember this is just a thought. No need to get to worked up about it. I know that we have way more serious things to discuss on this site I just hope this does not get me banned from the site. As always . Thanks inadvance. :D :D
 
AKA,

No need to worry about being banned, this type of question is one of the very reasons that this site exists. :)

However before we can provide any advice, you will have to tell us how long of a trip were you thinking of? A week, 2 weeks, just a few days?
 
Thanks for the safety net. My wife said you guys would be a great help.OK, lets get started. First off this could be an east zone 1 or west zone 2, and back. No more than 4 to 5 days. What would be the best would be about 3 days. Night travel is ok. we are in our 60`s. We are in very good shape and used to train travel and Amtrak travel even with all its warts. Good news bad news. Bad news train is late, good news train is late! This would be in coach and is not a problem. No problem about late trains as long as conections can be made in a resonable time frame. [4 to 10 hours.] Leaving from Cleveland OH. Iam open to just about anthing and not unreasonable. I know you all will have some good ideas. By the way we are not rich or retired. Just to dispell any doubt about leisure travel. Also on this trip it is about riding the train and not about those outrages sleeper fares. Just joking!!! Best money I ever spent traveling was in a sleeper. Sorry to get off topic. :D
 
How about Chicago to Seattle on The Empire Builder and back. Train arrives in Seattle at 10:20am and returns 4:45pm. Two nights out, two nights back. Nice trip too. Spot
 
The no-overnight rule makes things a bit tough. Here's something that would take six nights (hope that's not too long).

Cleveland-Chicago-Emeryville-Portland-Chicago-Cleveland. Go through some great scenery. All guaranteed connections (overnights on Amtrak's dime if you misconnect). The reverse also works, though the Empire Builder is more interesting eastbound.

Can't really go east, since the Lake Shore Limited (at this time) doesn't connect with any outbound trains from NYP. Cleveland-Albany and back would be a one-day trip, so it's probably not that interesting to you.
 
You could ride the California Zephyr to Glenwood Spring, Coloardo, stay there a couple of nights, and come back. You would would have few hours in Chicago each way, and one night on the Zephyr between Chicago and Glenwood Springs. This would allow you to see the most dramatic part of the zephyr's route out of Denver.

I recommend trying a sleeper if you can. They are great, and your meals our included. Go on this trip before the end of may, and the prices will be lower.
 
Steve4031 said:
You could ride the California Zephyr to Glenwood Spring, Coloardo, stay there a couple of nights, and come back. You would would have few hours in Chicago each way, and one night on the Zephyr between Chicago and Glenwood Springs. This would allow you to see the most dramatic part of the zephyr's route out of Denver.
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Steve, while that's a great trip, you missed the objective here. :) They don't want to have an overnight in any city. They want all nights to be on a train.
 
How about the City of New Orleans to Memphis via Chicago. All nights are on the train, but you would have all day in Chicago and Memphis. You could also take the Empire Builder to Wolf Point, MT although I don't think there is much to do there other than a couple of museums. Another option would be the California Zephyr. You could spend the day in Denver or spend four or five hours in Reno (some risk in being late and missing a connection here) but if you like to gamble this could be good. The Texas Eagle to Dallas would be a bit riskier decision since you would only have three hours in Dallas between trains. Hopefully these give you some better ideas of some mid-range trips.
 
bmlock said:
You could also take the Empire Builder to Wolf Point, MT although I don't think there is much to do there other than a couple of museums.
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I really wouldn't consider Wolf Point any kind of tourist destination. I used to live about 45 miles east of Wolf Point (the Builder went through my town at 79 MPH), and I can't think of anything there that I would consider doing if I wanted to switch between the westbound and eastbound trains. There really isn't any kind of major touristy town anywhere along there, at least between Minot, ND and Cut Bank, MT. Minot might be possibility, as I know it does have some a few museums, as well as antique stores and the like. Only problem with Minot is the 12 hours between arrival on the westbound and departure on the eastbound.

For a trip on the Builder with no overnights in a hotel, I think I'd recommend either Portland or Seattle. Both cities have lots to do, and the layover is only about 6 hours.
 
Aloha

Out of curiosity I did a search. Coul the reverse of the route copied below fit the bill?

Route: 48 Lakeshore Limited

Departs: Cleveland, OH (CLE) Approx. Duration*: 8h 40m

Arrives: Albany-Rensselaer, NY (ALB)

Service or train number change in Albany-Rensselaer

Route: 448 Lakeshore Limited

Departs: Albany-Rensselaer, NY (ALB) Approx. Duration*: 5h 20m

Arrives: Boston - South Station, MA (BOS)

2

Route: 30 Capitol Limited

Departs: Cleveland, OH (CLE) Approx. Duration*: 11h 16m

Arrives: Washington - Union Station, DC (WAS)

Service or train number change in Washington - Union Station

Route: 94 Regional Service

Departs: Washington - Union Station, DC (WAS) Approx. Duration*: 7h 54m

Arrives: Boston - South Station, MA (BOS)
 
I knew you guys would have good ideas. We do the CLE> WAS> trip about twice a year. Its a great day trip. But with new time out of WAS. come April it could change things. Some good ideas to look over. The sleeper thing is not about the money. This is just an adventure, and to see what can be done. Also to keep my wife happy. She is a great person and likes to ride as much as I do. You have to keep your hand in the game once in a while. The question ,can it be done and will we do it looks better all the time! Thanks and keep the ideas comeing. :D
 
EmpireBuilderFan said:
For a trip on the Builder with no overnights in a hotel, I think I'd recommend either Portland or Seattle.  Both cities have lots to do, and the layover is only about 6 hours.
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One advantage of the SEA/PDX layover is that if, for some rare reason, the Westbound train is late, you're guaranteed to not miss the Eastbound return train!
 
bmlock said:
...or spend four or five hours in Reno (some risk in being late and missing a connection here) but if you like to gamble this could be good.
Click to expand...
Our train station is right in downtown and walking distance to a number of Museums and interesting sites (Harrah's National Automobile Museum, Nevada Museum of Art, Fleishman Planetarium, Nevada Historical Society, etc.) We also have a 12 screen theatre downtown if you'd rather catch a movie, or you could watch the whitewater kyakers or take a stroll on the downtown Riverwalk. Reno has a nice downtown and is a great place to spend the day, even if you don't care for gambling.

There is usually enough time (scheduled 6 1/2 hours) between the arrival of the westbound Zephyr and the eastbound Zephyr to get off and sightsee. If something did happen, though, where the westbound train was running unusually late, you could always get off the train at the previous stop of Winnemucca, Nevada and catch the eastbound train from there. Winnemucca's train station is only 1/2 mile from downtown Winnemucca and you could call the cab driver for a ride into town.

Let us know which route you decide on. B)
 
Thanks again for all the great ideas. The Memphis Chigago plan looks good . With the day in each city.I somewhat know the layout in Chicago. We have done day trips there. With all that said, you know who will made the final call.However as allways it will be the right call! If and when more like just when, I will let you all know what happens, and what trip we take. :D :D :D
 

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