South Bend Airport to Amtrak

[gatelouse]

Before too long I'll need to transfer from the South Bend airport (actually the South Shore Line commuter stop) to the Amtrak station. Any suggestions, particularly for catching 30 which departs around 8:30pm? On weekdays a South Shore train arrives around 7:30pm. The one before that is 4pm.

 

[Train2104]

A cab's your best bet going in this direction. Going the other way SB Transpo route 4 could work, but it doesn't serve the closer stops on the inbound.

 

[gatelouse]

Fair enough. Or if I'm feeling enthusiastic I might take Transpo 4 halfway into town and walk the mile to Amtrak. Too bad the 4 does "directional running" to serve the Amtrak station outbound only.

For anyone still reading, any worthwhile stops on the South Shore Line for a quick break or railfan indulgence? Looks like I'd be in for a 2.5 hour commuter ride if I don't break up the trip somewhere.

 

[Ben_G]

South Shore is a rather boreing ride from South Bend to Chicago....been years since I was on it but the only neat thing was when it ran thru the street in Michigan city. Other than that no stations really near anything where getting off and waiting for the next train would be worthwhile IMO.

 

[Jersey Jeff]

Fair enough. Or if I'm feeling enthusiastic I might take Transpo 4 halfway into town and walk the mile to Amtrak. Too bad the 4 does "directional running" to serve the Amtrak station outbound only.

For anyone still reading, any worthwhile stops on the South Shore Line for a quick break or railfan indulgence? Looks like I'd be in for a 2.5 hour commuter ride if I don't break up the trip somewhere.

The area around the Amtrak station - at least when I lived in South Bend 20 years ago - was pretty rough, although we used to love chowing down at Frankie's Barbecue a block away.

 

[Steve4031]

You might want to take an earlier train. That hour between Millineum and Union station could be tight if Chicago traffic goes chicago stupid as it often does. If the south shore train is late, then you have additional problems.

 

[MikefromCrete]

You might want to take an earlier train. That hour between Millineum and Union station could be tight if Chicago traffic goes chicago stupid as it often does. If the south shore train is late, then you have additional problems.

What are you talking about? He said he would arrive in South Bend Airport at 7:30 p.m. and the Amtrak train would leave at 8:30 p.m. That's in South Bend, not Chicago.

A cab is probably your best bet.

By the way, the ride on the South Shore is anything but dull. You ride on the multi-track Metra Electric, go though the back yards of neighborhoods in Hammond, ride along the Indiana Toll Road through East Chicago, see the urban ruins of Gary, head through the Dunes National Lakeshore, ride through the streets of Michigan City, get a good look at the railroad's shops in Michigan City, head through rural country east of Michigan City and end up at an airport/railroad station/bus terminal. That's more variety than just about any commuter train run.

 

[Steve4031]

Oops. I did not read carefully. Sorry.

 

[fairviewroad]

By the way, the ride on the South Shore is anything but dull.

I agree. I love the South Shore. Granted, I don't think I'd want to commute in from South Bend to Chicago every day...it's a long haul for a commuter

run...but as a short-distance intercity run, it's pretty sweet.

As an aside, I'd bet the South Shore line is the only commuter rail line in the nation that crosses a time zone boundary. In fact, looking at a map of US

time zones, I'd say it's probably one of the few transit routes of any sort that crosses a time zone boundary (as most boundaries are purposefully located

in rural areas.)

 

[gatelouse]

Thanks for bumping the thread--I've since completed this trip. I ended up at Millennium Station around 3pm to find a bilevel and a bunch of single-level trains. The bilevel was the next train (3:15 or so) to Gary. So I rode that one, and took the following train from Gary to South Bend. That way I got all my South Shore equipment types covered.

Very interesting ride between the railfan window views, the gauntlet tracks, chasing a Michigan-bound Amtrak where the tracks parallel each other, Michigan City streets, the wilds of Indiana, and the roundabout approach to South Bend airport. Aside from the stopover in the dreary Gary station, a great ride.

I did miss the 7-minute connection to Transpo due to the late-arriving train, but a $10 cab ride got me to the Amtrak station in plenty of time.

 

[cirdan]

Fair enough. Or if I'm feeling enthusiastic I might take Transpo 4 halfway into town and walk the mile to Amtrak. Too bad the 4 does "directional running" to serve the Amtrak station outbound only.

For anyone still reading, any worthwhile stops on the South Shore Line for a quick break or railfan indulgence? Looks like I'd be in for a 2.5 hour commuter ride if I don't break up the trip somewhere.

Michigan City with all the street running. Catch it before it passes into history. Very photogenic.

The Amtrak station is also easily walkable from the 10th Street Station. I've done it myself.

 

[Monon81]

Very interesting ride between the railfan window views, the gauntlet tracks, chasing a Michigan-bound Amtrak where the tracks parallel each other, Michigan City streets, the wilds of Indiana, and the roundabout approach to South Bend airport. Aside from the stopover in the dreary Gary station, a great ride.

Where are the gauntlet tracks? I thought they widened the bridge where that tragic head-on happened years ago.

Speaking of neighborhood sights on the South Shore, there's an interesting take on the old coachman lawn ornament in some well-kept trackside yard in Gary. (A well-kept yard in Gary is itself an unusual thing.)

 

[MikefromCrete]

Very interesting ride between the railfan window views, the gauntlet tracks, chasing a Michigan-bound Amtrak where the tracks parallel each other, Michigan City streets, the wilds of Indiana, and the roundabout approach to South Bend airport. Aside from the stopover in the dreary Gary station, a great ride.

Where are the gauntlet tracks? I thought they widened the bridge where that tragic head-on happened years ago.

Speaking of neighborhood sights on the South Shore, there's an interesting take on the old coachman lawn ornament in some well-kept trackside yard in Gary. (A well-kept yard in Gary is itself an unusual thing.)

Gauntlet tracks are located at the high level platforms stations at Hegewisch, Hammond and I think East Chicago. They allow a freight train to pass a short distance away from the platform, while passenger trains can get right up against the platform.

 

[SubwayNut]

That sound's like a likely reason for gauntlet track (didn't know about that example), we have some in the northeast on New Jersey transit's Raritan Valley Line at the high-level Union City and Roselle Park Stations shared with the CSX Lehigh Line.

The other example I know about is at every intermediate stop on the WES Commuter Rail outside of Portland, OR, strangely I don't know of any high-level Amtrak stations with enough freight traffic passing directly alongside the platform here in the Northeast to warrant gauntlet track.

 

[rtabern]

I took a cab between the South Shore station and the Amtrak station a couple of years ago... I was trying to ride in the Capitol Limited when they were first testing out the Cross Country Cafes. It was early on a Saturday morning that I was at the South Bend Airport and had some trouble getting a cab in a timely fashion... should have probably called ahead. I think it was only a $5 or $10 ride though over to Amtrak.