There are books about how to do it.

I used Bradt's "USA by Rail"

In East Glacier Park, right across the street from teh Amtrack Station is a grocery store called the Trading Company - they have rental cars which you'll absolutely need to get around the park. The Sears Motel in East Glacier also rents cars. For both, you'll need to book your car in advance. Besides the Glacier Park Lodge in East Glacier there are about a dozen mom and pop motels - we always stay at Jacobson's Cottages.

The best hiking is on the east side of the park. Most people will say that the Many Glacier area is the best, but I also like Two Medicine (just a few miles from East Glacier Park). Many Glacier is about a 75 minute drive from the Amtrack Station, but not a bad drive if you go around via Browning on HIghway 464.

Some hikes to explore in Many Glacier are Grinnell Glacier and Iceberg Lake. In Two Medicine the most popular are Scenic Point and Dawson Pass. All these hikes are on teh ranger led schedule if you prefer hiking with a group due to bears.

http://www.hikinginglacier.com/glaci...-ten-hikes.htm

You must take the drive across the Going to the Sun Road - it's one of the most scenic drives in the country. That is a full day if you stop for some short hikes along the way. Hidden Lake Overlook is spectacular and you're almost always guaranteed to see mountain goats at teh overlook.

http://www.hikinginglacier.com/glaci...e-sun-road.htm

In reply to dwooddon, I took Amtrak from Washington, DC to California once, with a relative who refused to fly. It was a living hell. Air conditioning came and went; all train personnel disappeared after the first 3-4 hours and were never seen again; schedule was blown by the end of the first day; dining car lost power (no, I don't know how or why), so passengers subsisted on cheese sandwiches with frozen centers for 24 hours. They had such a bountiful supply of cheese sandwiches that I knew it could not have been a singular event.

One night we stopped at an unlit station in the middle of nowhere for 3 hours for no reason that any passenger could discern. People got so irate that the staff locked themselves in the (defunct) dining car and didn't come out until the train started moving again. Another time, two disabled passengers (one on crutches, the other in a wheelchair) were heard arranging for themselves and their luggage to be assisted off the train at a tiny station; well, the crack staff got the luggage off, but not the people. I remember seeing their luggage sitting forlornly on the platform while they shouted and cursed as the train pulled away.

Yes, that was one experience and one only, but as god is my witness, I am not likely to try it again.

This poster has SO many threads going it is hard for any of us to know what in the world they are doing.
I wish our rail system was good. It isn't. Not on time--youdon't see the "country" ,

And they are equally out of touch with "buying a motorhome". I am beginning to question the entire thing.

Well even though I am one of the ones who thinks taking a train across the US is a bad idea, I can certainly see how someone from another country might initially think it was a good idea. It IS a good idea in some countries, just not the US. And from this posters other threads it certainly looks like they ARE taking advice from people here (I think they gave up the Atlanta, New Orleans Chicago part). I know a number of people from the US who have tried long distance train trips because they sounded romantic and/or a 'new experience'. They all agreed afterwards that it wasn't so great, but it doesn't make someone stupid to think about it. And there are some people who actually do enjoy it, they are in the minority, but still.

The motor home idea is also not the 'best' way to get around and see this country. But again, until you do some research into it I can see why someone might think it was a good idea.

Let's face it, it's tough to travel across this great land of ours: far to drive, trains are problematic, flights can be expensive. I think we shouldn't pile on the OP but keep trying to help them sort it out.

I'm up to 22 overnight trains in the US in my life so far and countless short haul daytime trips. Here's the worst of it for me. Chicago-Emeryville (San Francisco) train was 4-5 hours late as was the Emeryville(SF)-Chicago train. Due to flooding in Wisconsin one year, we were put onto an Amtrak bus in Chicago and caught the Seattle bound train in Minneapolis. An eight hour bus ride where I was squeezed against the window sitting next to an innocent chatty obese woman with a bag full of activities on her lap and a cane, as it was quite the ordeal for her even to get seated. I felt for her but remember hoping I would not need to use the bathroom. The beauty of Glacier and the Great Plains the next day for me made up for having numb legs and torso.

I can perfectly understand why NewbE would never want to take Amtrak after that experience. Even the Northeast Corridor has its problems; the power grid once went off for my mother between Wilmington and Philadelphia and she was stuck in limbo-land for 5 hours on a train without A/C. Thankfully, none of my 22 overnight trips have been remotely that bad. I'd like to think that if I were to have a bad experience like that, that I would remember the 22 mostly positive experiences and not be turned off from doing something I've mostly enjoyed. Generally, I've found the sleeper car and dining car staff mostly helpful and genuinely kind. For me, seeing snapshots of America out the window has always made up for any shortcoming of the trip.

Last year we did the Amtrak Auto train, R/T, Sanford, FL - Lorton, VA.

We're doing it again this coming June and you may ask why?

because, for about $400 one-way way for both, ~$500 this year, we and our car were transported both ways.

We enjoyed the white tablecloth dinner, included in the fare, full menu, as well as free wine, slept very comfortably in our small roomette, well taking care of by our room attendant, had a pleasant breakfast and got our car in less than an hour after arrival. The bathroom and showers were very clean. The food while not outstanding was above average. The bar/lounge car was fun and they also showed a movie.

The best part, we got off the train well rested, well fed, and got our car undamaged and were ready to visit our family without driving ~900 miles on I-95. This is a non-stop train with the exception of middle of the night stop somewhere in the Carolinas for crew change. Very enjoyable experience.

That's our experience with Amtrak.

Hi Montaya,
I'm from downunder also. My wife and I have made three extensive trips around the US on Amtrak, and thoroughly enjoyed each trip. Certainly there were some less than stellar moments, but overall it IS a great way to see the country.
Here are a few suggestions...
a)if you can afford it pay for a Bedroom or Roomette (these include all meals in the Diner). Far more comfortable than Coach.
b)try not to schedule any same day connections, or activities dependent on an on-time arrival, in case of delays
b)take the Coast Starlight from L.A. to Seattle
c)take the Empire Builder from Seattle to Chicago
d)take the California Zephyr from Chicago to Emeryville.

If you can fit them into your itinerary the Starlight, Builder and Zephyr are the three most scenic routes, and those are the best direction to ride them. Things you'll see ...
The Coast Starlight has the California Coast, Mt Shasta, the Cascades in the north and more scenic coastline along Seattle Sound.
The Empire Builder continues up the coast north of Seattle, inland through the Cascades, then through the Rockies (where you can stop for Glacier Park), the vast plains of Montana and North Dakota, dozens of Bald Eagles in the trees along the mighty Mississipi, finally arriving in Chicago which is a great city.
The Zephyr heads west through the farmlands of the mid-west, then through the Rockies (fabulous scenery), red desert canyons further West, and then the Sierras coming into California.
The train (Sunset Limited) from New Orleans to L.A. is probably the least interesting of the Western long distance trains. If you don't want to go to Emeryville (San Francisco) on the Zephyr then I suggest taking the Southwest Chief from Chicago to L.A.

hth

I'm sure some people enjoy the train along the California coast. But go to the Amtrak site and look at the map (http://www.amtrak.com/coast-starlight-train). It goes along the actual coast only for a very small part of the whole ride, and not the most scenic areas. The part of the Pacific Coast highway that is in all the car commercials, movies, etc is between Monterey and San Luis Obispo. The Amtrak map has the train several miles inland. I have driven that route (Rt 1, aka Pacific Coast Highway) and there were no train tracks anywhere in sight.

Looking at the big map of the US it 'looks' like the route goes along the coast, but whether it's ten miles inland or a hundred or a thousand, you are still not going to SEE the coast. Here are my photos of the PCH, this is what you are going to miss on the train. http://www.pbase.com/annforcier/central_california

Although the Starlight does run inland north of San Luis Obispo, it also does hug the very scenic coast between Oxnard and Pismo Beach. So you would see plenty of golden sand surf beaches, miss out on the rugged rocky shores.

While it is correct that the Starlight turns inland north of San Luis Obispo, it also does hug the coast from Oxnard to Pismo Beach. So one sees many beautiful surf beaches, miss out on the rugged rocky portion of the coast.

While it is correct that the Starlight turns inland north of San Luis Obispo, it also does hug the coast from Oxnard to Pismo Beach. So one sees many beautiful surf beaches, miss out on the rugged rocky portion of the coast.

I have done the Sacramento-Eugene run and it was 12 hours late getting to Eugene- however I have heard from a former Amtrak engineer that since the economy bust, not as much freight is being shipped ( which forced the passenger trains to be delayed) and Amtrak is running closer to on time these days- I have not tried it again but you might check with Amtrak to see if that is true.