What Amtrak Routes have you taken?

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Made my first trip in 1986 with my mom on a month long across the western US. Did not do any trips until 2005. Have been doing trip evey year after then

I have taken the California Zephyr, Southwest Chief, Texas Eagle, , Lake Shore Limited, Capitol Limited, Cardinal, Coast Starlight, Acela, and Pennsylvanian Also short trips on the Silver Meteor and the Crescent. Many trips on my home train the Chief out of Newton. Also several trips on the Heartland Flyer to connect with other trains. Very short trips on the Keystone, Hiawatha and LA area trains.
 
My trips are in my signature, though not all are fully completed. Still have a long way to go. Sometimes it's hard to start LD trips from the northern NEC.

Maybe some are lumping it in with the Northeast Regional as two daily do run it, but I'm seeing an absence of the Hartford Line route (formerly Springfield Shuttle and before that the Inland Route Regionals) on lists here. It may be 62 miles and two-three cars, but it's still a route, and important as Amtrak owns it :)

Do you all count a route as complete if you have traveled a section of it on a shorter train? For instance, starting or ending a long distance trip in Washington even though the train continues to NYC, but having traveled that section on a corridor train?
 
Not too many so far, but I hope to expand my repertoire. So far, I have been on the Southwest Chief ("home train"), Lakeshore Limited, Empire Service, Cardinal, Downeaster, Coast Starlight, and San Joaquin. Let me see about adding this to my signature.

Tourist trains include the Cumbres Toltec and Durango/Silverton train. I loved both of them and would be hard-pressed to say which one was my favorite.
 
Wow that would be over 20 years riding the rails. Lets see..... Crescent, Capitol Ltd., Cardinal, California Zephyr, Empire Builder, Southwest Chief, NE Regional/Acela, and Autotrain. We have traveled most of these routes nearly end to end many times but it is a small sampling of the entire route list. Lots of trips to the Midwest, South and Western USA. The only year that we have not traveled via Amtrak is 2021 and this will probably continue in 2022 only due to the fragile condition of the service. Just waiting for it to return to normal and will then begin traveling again.
 
Hmmm...Coast Starlight, Empire Builder, California Zephyr, Capitol Limited, Sunset Limited, Southwest Chief, Lake Shore Limited, Vermonter, Cascades, Pacific Surfliner, Keystone, bunches of NEC, and the Broadway Limited (RIP). Still missing a lot of trackage, I realize.
 
Wolverine, Carl Sandburg, Illinois Zephyr, Lincoln Service, Hiawatha, Empire Builder, California Zephyr, Southwest Chief, Lake Shore Limited, Cascades, The International, Maple Leaf, San Joaquin, and San Francisco Zephyr, when I was a kid.
 
The routes I've taken are in my signature. Longer routes I have not taken are Auto Train, Silver Star, City of New Orleans, (Floridian, Pioneer, Desert Wind) and several shorter routes. I bought tickets to San Diego, but that trip was canceled due to COVID, although I rode a Surfliner a short distance when a Coast Starlight I was on was delayed.
 
Long-distance routes I've taken end-to-end: California Zephyr, City of New Orleans, Capitol Limited, Lake Shore Limited (Boston section). Will be adding the Lake Shore Limited (NY section) in April.

Corridors I've taken end-to-end: Hiawatha, Lincoln Service, Pennsylvanian

Other trains I've taken: Acela, Northeast Corridor, Maple Leaf, Downeaster, Southwest Chief, Carl Sandburg, Illinois Zephyr, Blue Water
 
My signature also lists the Amtrak trains on which I have traveled.

I have not traveled on all routes. I think I am missing: Pere Marquette, Illini and Saluki
 
daybeers said:
Maybe some are lumping it in with the Northeast Regional as two daily do run it, but I'm seeing an absence of the Hartford Line route (formerly Springfield Shuttle and before that the Inland Route Regionals) on lists here. It may be 62 miles and two-three cars, but it's still a route, and important as Amtrak owns it :)
Click to expand...
Agreed on the Springfield Line I personally have ridden it as part of the Inland Route going from PHL to Worcester MA a trip that today you would have to do via Boston and the MBTA or have a long layover in Springfield waiting for a probably tardy LSL. I wish they would bring that train back.

The one time I took the Vermonter it was running via the New England Central track from New London via Palmer so we didn't go via Springfield. An interesting rare mileage opportunity while the Conn river route was being upgraded.
 
My common routes as of the past year or so are between Washington, D.C. to Florida. I've taken the AutoTrain a few times and Silver Star. I was scheduled for the Silver Meteor next month but that was cancelled for the combined SuperTrain! Almost 2 decades ago I took a 3 week round country trip from the following (I don't remember the actual trains):

Washington, D.C. to Chicago, IL,
Chigago to Arizona,
Arizona to California (LA)
California to Seattle, WA,
Seattle to Minnesota
Minnesota back to Washington, D.C. (maybe it went to Chicago between but can't remember)
 
My observations on trains I have taken ( I live in Boston )

Lake Shore Limited ( or as my wife calls it the Late Snore Limited ) I have taken numerous times. Boston/Albany section is frustratingly slow for reasons Amtrak can't control but Albany/Chicago is usually fine as long as the train makes its slot window.

Auto Train No Complaints except dealing with Washington rush hour traffic if you didn't get a good night's sleep is not fun.

Cardinal Took it coach from DC to Chicago and only have 2 lasting memories from the trip. How pretty Cincinnati looked at night crossing the Ohio River and not a single credit card transaction was ever billed to me.

Broadway Limited In February 1977 I bought an Amtrak Rail Pass for 30 days for what was a very low price. I was booked to connect in Chicago for the Southwest Limited but wound up spending 2 nights at an Amtrak hotel with taxi and meal vouchers as we were 14 hours late. The 'hotel' I was sent to was the Holiday inn - Midtown at Halsted and Madison which in 1977 was skid row. I didn't know Chicago then and I was dumbfounded that downtown Chicago was so bleak. Then I had to take cabs to the approved Amtrak restaurant which was on N Dearborn and I think it was called 'The Rainbow'.

Southwest Limited Spent 15 hours in Kansas City waiting for the train from NY (National Limited) to arrive as it was a guaranteed connection back in 1977.

California Zephyr Is my favorite train by far. The scenery from Denver west is spectacular. Glenwood Springs, CO is a fascinating stop as the locals are ready to sell you anything :)

Empire Builder Heading west North Dakota and Eastern Montana are to be kind boring. I was disapointed.

Coast Starlight Took it last week from Seattle to San Jose for work and have been on it several times previously. My sleeper attendent said we are the best LD train in the system as we don't have to deal with Chicago BS.

Capitol Limited A very underrated train.

Downeaster Amtrak in name only but what a wonderful job the Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority (NNEPRA) has done.

Hiawatha When I lived in Chicago I took it often to the Milwaukee Airport for cheaper fares.

The first overnight train I ever took was in April, 1967 with my Mom from Boston to Miami in the dying weeks of the Seaboard Air Line RR and my love of train travel stems from that trip.

The bulk of my Amtrak travel is on the NEC and I thought I would see 2 1/2 hours between NY and Boston in my lifetime but....

This is from 1987





 
Fenway: I could not help replying to your post. Although I had loved the passenger trains since birth in 1947, it was my first sleeper (Pullman then) on the Silver Comet Richmond to Atlanta in 1966 that solidified that love. Now 275,000 miles and 74 years later that love still exists. I will, however, add that Amtrak's "inconsistent" service (especially punctuated due to COVID) has squeezed to the limits my endless patience lately. Although most of my travels were Florida to east coast, for the last 20 years I have lived closest to the Crescent route--service lately which has been much worse than "inconsistent".
 
I haven't travelled nearly as far or often as I'd like. But I do have a few miles logged.

My first trip was with my fifth grade class, way back in 1982, MKE-CHI on the Hiawatha. After that, nothing until 2015, with my eldest (who, coincidentally, was also in fifth grade), Zephyr/Hiawatha MTZ-CHI-MKE.

We've taken the CZ to RNO from MTZ a couple times, and to SAC (Capitol Corridor to SAC, too). My favorite route is the Coast Starlight, and we've done MTZ-PDX a couple times (our third coming up next month, Amtrak willing), and MTZ-EUG once, too. I'll probably always miss the Pacific Parlour car!
 
Let's see -- a number of trips on the California Zephyr and Coast Starlight and the Cascades and their predecessors. Other Amtrak trains including the Pioneer, Empire Builder (all three routes west of SPK), Southwest Chief, Texas Eagle (LA to Ft. Worth), Heartland Flyer, River Runner and their predecessors, San Joaquins, Pacific Surfliners, Capitol Corridor, Lake Shore Limited (both sections), Cardinal, Lincoln Service and predecessors, Night Owl, NE Regionals, Silver Star, Silver Meteor, North Star.

My first train ride, not counting streetcars and interurbans, was round-trip PDX<>SEA on the Astra-Dome Union Pacific train. Besides both lines of the UP from PDX, I rode pre-Amtrak trains of the NP, GN, SP, SP&S, CB&Q, PC, EL, IC, GM&O, Milw Rd.
1977 Pioneer Logo.JPG
Corrected.
 
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Fenway said:
My observations on trains I have taken ( I live in Boston )

Lake Shore Limited ( or as my wife calls it the Late Snore Limited ) I have taken numerous times. Boston/Albany section is frustratingly slow for reasons Amtrak can't control but Albany/Chicago is usually fine as long as the train makes its slot window.

Auto Train No Complaints except dealing with Washington rush hour traffic if you didn't get a good night's sleep is not fun.

Cardinal Took it coach from DC to Chicago and only have 2 lasting memories from the trip. How pretty Cincinnati looked at night crossing the Ohio River and not a single credit card transaction was ever billed to me.

Broadway Limited In February 1977 I bought an Amtrak Rail Pass for 30 days for what was a very low price. I was booked to connect in Chicago for the Southwest Limited but wound up spending 2 nights at an Amtrak hotel with taxi and meal vouchers as we were 14 hours late. The 'hotel' I was sent to was the Holiday inn - Midtown at Halsted and Madison which in 1977 was skid row. I didn't know Chicago then and I was dumbfounded that downtown Chicago was so bleak. Then I had to take cabs to the approved Amtrak restaurant which was on N Dearborn and I think it was called 'The Rainbow'.

Southwest Limited Spent 15 hours in Kansas City waiting for the train from NY (National Limited) to arrive as it was a guaranteed connection back in 1977.

California Zephyr Is my favorite train by far. The scenery from Denver west is spectacular. Glenwood Springs, CO is a fascinating stop as the locals are ready to sell you anything :)

Empire Builder Heading west North Dakota and Eastern Montana are to be kind boring. I was disapointed.

Coast Starlight Took it last week from Seattle to San Jose for work and have been on it several times previously. My sleeper attendent said we are the best LD train in the system as we don't have to deal with Chicago BS.

Capitol Limited A very underrated train.

Downeaster Amtrak in name only but what a wonderful job the Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority (NNEPRA) has done.

Hiawatha When I lived in Chicago I took it often to the Milwaukee Airport for cheaper fares.

The first overnight train I ever took was in April, 1967 with my Mom from Boston to Miami in the dying weeks of the Seaboard Air Line RR and my love of train travel stems from that trip.

The bulk of my Amtrak travel is on the NEC and I thought I would see 2 1/2 hours between NY and Boston in my lifetime but....

This is from 1987





Click to expand...


Hey--- You're an old timer (Amtrak rider) just like me. I took my first cross country trip right after the movie Silver Streak came out in 1976 and also on a rail pass. Four of my friends and I started our trip 3 days before Christmas (ending New Years day) and went to Los Angeles from Chicago. My most memorable moment was this. We were all really excited about taking the train (coach) and got to Chicago Union Station a little over 3 hours early. Exploring around, I noticed that there were hundreds of luggage carts down where the trains come in and virtually none where passengers enter the station carrying their luggage. Back then, luggage carts weren't locked in a coin operated dispensing device. They were just loose all over the place.

So all of us worked for more than 2 hours bringing long lines of carts up to the entrance to the station and selling them for $2 each. A few people were so happy to get a cart as soon as they came in that they gave us $5 instead. Yep --- we all had quite a bit of spending money on our trip. I'll never forget that.
 
I hope this post is enough on point with this discussion. My favorite trains have always been the silver service trains (Comet, Meteor, Star)--largely because those were the trains I grew up with in the 1960's, etc (living around Richmond and Atlanta). Last night I posted a comment on Virtual Rail Ashland VA expressing my sadness that Amtrak 97/98 the Silver Meteor was not running and that this train had run every single day for about 80 years (with those rare days it may have been annulled due to weather, etc.). The post seem to get a lot of responses from participants who did not know this fact. Is my recollection correct? It was based on the fact that I think the streamliner Silver Meteor went in to service on the SAL in 1939--ran through SAL-SCL-CSX and on into Amtrak operations--and, I think, continuously. There must be one of you railfans and railroad historians who knows for sure. Thanks!
 
switzerland-golden pass line, usa-lake shore limited (to boston and to nyc), capital limited; silver star, silver meteor, cardinal, desert wind, pioneer (still my favorite), empire bulder, coast starlight, surfliner, southtwest chief
 

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