Train from east cost to west coast
 

Hi me again. Guys, a while back I heard that there was a train you could take from the east coast all the way over the whole continent, past the grand canyon to the west coast. Does anybody have some info on this for me? Cost? Tickets? Where on the east coast would it start?

amtrak.com

Hi, there's not a single train that goes from east coast to west coast, but you can go via two trains on Amtrak, depending on your start point. Northeast Corridor (Boston, NY, Philadelphia, Baltimore, DC as start points all would work) to Chicago and then there are 3 trains: one from Chicago to LA, one from Chicago to San Francisco, and one from Chicago to Seattle. The Chicago to LA route will pass you closest to the Grand Canyon, but you're a good distance from the Grand Canyon from the closest train stop to my understanding. I've been on the Chicago to Seattle train twice and the Chicago to San Francisco train once; they're both gorgeous rides.

I'd recommend a sleeper for this sort of distance. You're looking at $1000+ to cross the country in a roomette; booking well in advance (we're talking over half a year in advance) can save you significant money. Economy class would be cheaper naturally but in my opinion exhausting.

Have fun, whatever you decide! DANIEL

Tell us more about where you are coming from and if you can drive a rental car.
My advice, depending on where you are coming from would be to fly to either Chicago, Los Angeles or San Francisco.
From Chicago: Take the Southwest Chief to Flagstaff and spend a night in a hotel and then rent a car early the next day and drive to the South rim of the Grand Canyon. Return the rental car and then go from Flagstaff to LA. If you want to spend some time in the LA area, see what you want to see before getting on the Coast Starlight at 10:10AM (coach) to Emeryville. Spend a night in Emeryville or San Francisco.
If you have decided you like train travel take the California Zephyr in a roomette all the way back to Chicago. Fly between Chicago and the East Coast in any case.

A couple of notes. Some people like train travel and some don't. Do you know if you can sleep on atrain that's moving and making several stops.

US train travel is nothing like europe. There is no high speed anything. I find the food dreadful (granted have not done cross country - but would be surprised if the food is better than other areas) and the trains are often late - several hours late - since the freight companies own the tracks and passenger trains have to give way to freight trains.

Also the ides of going without a shower for a couple of days is not fun.

If it were me I would do only the scenic parts by train. And you will have to either rent a car or take a tour to see the Grand canyon.

You might want to investigate the train across Canada, which seems to get better reviews.

If you do take a sleeper car, there is a shower available on the long-distance trains.

While undoubtedly still not up to some people's standards, the food in the dining car for the overnight runs on Amtrak in my opinion is a marked improvement over what one gets in the cafe car on short-haul runs such as the Washington DC to Boston corridor. I remember even enjoying some meals.

I don't have a driving license yet, so renting a car isn't possible and also I'm great on trains, can sleep and I love them, more than planes. I like being on the earth. Besides, I've never seen more than parts of the east coast, so for me just seeing the landscape would be cool even if it's not scenic

PS. I'm 21 and totally not fussy, not showering for 1 night should be OK for me, as long as I get to see some cool places. I'll check the link.

DId you look at the routes maps on the Amtrak link? Where do you want to start?

Disneygirl-- I think you're the perfect candidate for possibly enjoying a cross-country train ride. Both NY--> Chicago and DC--> Chicago have beautiful parts if you go on those trains to continue west. If all is on time, you'll have ca. 4 hours layover in Chicago, or you could opt to overnight in Chicago. I think probably the toughest decision you'll have will be which train to take as you continue west. You could opt for the Southwest Chief which takes you by the Grand Canyon; I've never taken that train. Of the routes I've taken, I'd recommend a beginner take the California Zephyr which takes you from Chicago to the San Francisco Bay area via Denver, the Rocky Mountains and the Sierra Nevada. Just gorgeous.

I forgot to mention that you could take Amtrak's Sunset Limited train to LA; you'd have to connect with that train in New Orleans, overnighting in New Orleans if you chose to do that route. (There is one NYC->Phila--> DC/Baltimore --> Atlanta -> New Orleans train daily.) I've been on the NYC-> New Orleans train but never the New Orleans -> LA train. I'd probably only pick that route if my starting east coast point were Atlanta.

Have a great trip! Daniel

To clarify my previous post, the California Zephyr and Southwest Chief are Amtrak trains and the Southwest Chief doesn't pass alongside the Grand Canyon but rather will get you as close as Flagstaff AZ (about 80 miles from the Grand Canyon?).

If the rental car is not an option, you go to Williams Junction and spend the night. You then take the Grand Canyon Railroad to the South Rim.
This seems to be the only way to get to the Grand Canyon without driving.

I did this a couple of years back, New York to Chicago and then Chicago to San Francisco.

For lots of info on US trains, including video of the California Zephyr see: http://www.seat61.com/UnitedStates.htm

For my trip start here (links at the top of the page): http://mytimetotravel.wordpress.com/...shore-limited/

I thought the food was acceptable for breakfast and lunch and good for dinner (not quite up to Via Rail's Canadian), and I was very comfortable in a roomette. I booked well ahead and I don't remember it costing $1,000.

I'm with the contingent that normally enjoys cross-country train travel on either AMTRAK or ViaRail. I've done the Southwest Chief route from Chicago to LA and the California Zephyr from Chicago to Emeryville (near San Francisco) several times. I also find dining car meals quite acceptable and they are included in the price of any bedroom. While it is true you may arrive late, if you go into it with that mindset, you can just sit back and enjoy the extra time on the train.

Since you don't drive, I echo TomFuller's advice to stop in Williams, Arizona rather than Flagstaff. You can then take the Grand Canyon Railroad all the way to Grand Canyon.

You did not mention what time of the year you are traveling. I believe the GCRR has a limited schedule until late Spring and after late Autumn so you may need to coordinate your arrival and departure days at Williams with that schedule.

Have a great trip.

Thanks for the info about Williams, AZ!

Well I hope any food on the train would be better than the NE corridor - which dosn;t serve meals at all - all they have are snacks - micronuked hot dogs, premade day old sandwiches, chips and beverages. I'm not comparing to restaurant food - just to something you can actually swallow and digest.

Perhaps we have different standards for food (I don't do mall chains - the food falls into the same category - mostly can't really be eaten - frozen in one central spot in god knows where and reheated - or partially- in the "restaurant")

There is no comparison between the food on day trains and that on overnight trains. I always board the train to/from Washington with a sandwich so I can avoid the snack "food". The food in the restaurant cars on the long distance trains is totally different. See, for example, http://www.amtrak.com/ccurl/188/817/...-Menu-1113.pdf

I typed in April 17th (a randomly picked Thursday) to see what the prices were for a roommette on Amtrak: $978 for NY-Seattle and $850 DC- Emeryville (San Francisco). The past 2 times I'd been on the Empire Builder to Seattle, that's why I remembered the ~$1000 price.

I booked in December 2011 for travel in May 2012, and I also got a senior discount. I checked my records, and New York to Chicago was $281.45 and Chicago-San Francisco was $507.05, so $788.50 total. It doesn't hurt so much if you don't add it up, lol, and that does include three nights room and board. However, prices seem to have gone up since then.

In the last 3-4 years or so we took the car train R/T twice Orlando-Lorton,VA.-Orlando.

Wonderful trips. Both of us in a tiny(closet) size roomette, sit down dinner (not fabulous) but good, nice breakfast. Free wine until 10pm.

We had to wait about 45-60 minutes avarage for our car to get unloaded.

The trains were mostly on time but I believe that's because the train does not stop since it can't pickup/dropoff any passengers. The car train requires the passenger(s) to have a car loaded up in the back. There was a short stop in South Carolina around 2am for a crew change.

The savings on wear and tear on our car, gasoline expense, overnight stay made up the cost of our trip. So we got to eat, drink, and have a good time in our roomette while somebody else does the driving.... :-D

The car was not damaged.

And we can boast that we were on the longest passenger train in the world - TWICE!

Nothing to do with your plans OP, but just want to tell some of other posters that Amtrak is not that bad and it's actually fun.

thursdaysd-- I agree with you; if you consider that you're getting room & board for 3 nights, if you consider that you're seeing many fascinating slices of America along the way with park rangers telling about the scenery in parts, if you consider that the train is getting you from east coast to west coast, with the added benefit of 3 days of not having to do household chores and simply relax, sometimes enjoying the company of occasionally quite interesting fellow train travellers with wine & cheese tastings and periodic games in the cafe car, $789 actually doesn't seem such a bad deal. Many people pay that for the privilege of 3 nights in a city hotel.

I do get though for those that only think of the ride as a way from A to B or for those who can't sleep on a train or those who can't get past the faults in the train experience, then it seems expensive.

I find it interesting that the Chicago-Seattle route is more expensive as the length of the ride is actually 6 hours shorter than the Chicago-SF route!

Of course, it is annoying for a single traveler that there is only a choice of a two-person roomette for one at the same price as for two, or a coach seat. In Europe and Asia I have the option to save money by sharing.

But I did enjoy the cross-country trip enough to put the other routes on my things-to-do list.

@Daniel_Williams thanks dude! I'm thinking I'll have to take the trip about 5 times to make sure I get all the routes in they all sound fantastic. I think I'll opt for the one passing by the Grand Canyon and then I'll see the Rocky's some other time!

All these ideas give me butterflies i have to say i can't believe I'm actually gonna be doing this, of course, I'm also gonna be studying, but still this seems like it's gonna be an awesome year with some great trips.

Hi, I would like to celebrate my 70th next year with a train trip across the Country and back. I will be travelling on my own, in a Sleeper. As I will leave from Boston, I am thinking Boston to Chicago, then the California Zephyr to San Fran. I would like to return to Boston via the South ~ somehow ~ I have not looked at those routes yet. What do you guys think ?

Southafricangirl~

Welcome to Fodor's forums. Hopefully people will chime in and see your question, but this thread was started 3 years ago.

You might get more helpful replies if you make a new one with your questions.

(See Post New Topic in the orange balloon at the top of the page.)

best, suze

Welcome to Fodors Southafricangirl. You have tacked on to a very old thread. It would be better if you started a new thread of your own. See the orange 'Post New Topic' button up top . . .

What the others said. But also see:

https://www.seat61.com/UnitedStates.htm

Southafricangirl--

Enjoy those trips! Going cross country by the southern route, you'll have to plan carefully as the Amtrak LA to New Orleans train (called the Sunset Limited) only runs 3 times daily last I checked. I took the Sunset Limited from New Orleans to San Antonio a few years back, actually arrived in San Antonio early! It's not as scenic as some of the other routes but I still found it interesting seeing the Louisiana Bayou by train through the window.

I'd probably opt to spend a day or four in New Orleans before getting on the New York City bound train, known as the Crescent. Be aware that sometimes the freight lines do track work for the winter months beginning maybe a week after New Year's Day between New Orleans and Atlanta, so the Crescent Train runs only from New York City to Atlanta for this period. Make sure the train is expected to run out of New Orleans before booking!

From New York City to Boston, there's the Northeast Regional and the much more expensive Acela as options.

Hope the trips go off without a hitch! Daniel

"Amtrak LA to New Orleans train (called the Sunset Limited) only runs 3 times daily last I checked."

Err, think that should be weekly, not daily!

Thank you all ~ and for the tip about starting my own new thread ~ I'm sure you will be hearing from me again, soon.

Thanks thursdaysd, I meant 3 times weekly!