I was stuck on the train for 3 hours just sitting in the middle of a corn field. I just want to veg out.

Wasn't too bad when we were stuck in the Rockies for about an hour but that cornfield can really get to you. I swear I watched the corn grow a good 2 pr 3 inches while we were sitting there. I had a roomette but the AC broke in our car and they transferred us to other rooms. I got a nice bedroom with private toilet. I really felt sorry for all of the folks trapped in coach.

Isn't Amtrak great. I love taking the train but the actual rail conditions can be horrid when you share rails with freight train priority.
https://media.amtrak.com/wp-content...d-Report-Card_FAQ_Route-Detail-2018-10-15.pdf

 

I haven't traveled by train since I was a kid. In fact, I think I've been on a train only once in my lifetime. One of the things in my bucket list, is to make a trip through the Cañón del Cobre route. It's a beautiful sightseeing experience, and the place is much larger than the Grand Canyon.

This page has some beautiful sights from the place: http://www.chepe.com.mx/# ... just kill the first warning pop-up. It advises users against buying tickets anywhere else, to avoid scams.

Also:
https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attract...-Reviews-Chepe-Chihuahua_Northern_Mexico.html

 

One of my favorite songs was written about the train that runs from Chicago to Champaign (University of Illinois) and on to Memphis and New Orleans. Back in the 70's, you could count on it not making the short leg to Champaign without drama. It would stop for no apparent reason, sometimes for hours. (The trip takes just over 2 hours by car.) Then creep slowly for miles. More than once my brother had to get off the train a couple miles north of the Champaign station and just walk the rest of the way with suitcase in hand.

Without further ado:

 

Why would I care for wifi when I have an unlimited plan on my phone.

Different time period. Wifi in hotels became a thing when, maybe mid-90's? That was back when texting on your phone cost more than making calls, which never made any sense to me. Unlimited data cell plans are only in the last decade. I think many hotels, even the expensive ones, are now giving up on trying to get revenue from wifi. Everyone has a data plan in their pocket.

 

I haven't traveled by train since I was a kid. In fact, I think I've been on a train only once in my lifetime.

My first locomotive I used to travel on about once a month as a kid.
The engineer came to know me and let me ride up in the engine cab with him!.
I usually arrived with a soot covered face!!
Max.

"The locos with enclosed cabs and large bunkers were effectively the progenitors of Collett's 4800 class.
In 1898 No. 1473 was named Fair Rosamund, to work a Royal Train on the Oxford-Woodstock branch. The engine was the usual one for the Woodstock branch in subsequent years up to 1948"

 

I haven't traveled by train since I was a kid. In fact, I think I've been on a train only once in my lifetime. One of the things in my bucket list, is to make a trip through the Cañón del Cobre route. It's a beautiful sightseeing experience, and the place is much larger than the Grand Canyon.

This page has some beautiful sights from the place: http://www.chepe.com.mx/# ... just kill the first warning pop-up. It advises users against buying tickets anywhere else, to avoid scams.

Also:
https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attract...-Reviews-Chepe-Chihuahua_Northern_Mexico.html

The California Zephyr is fantastic.


The Amtrak engine you see is ours. I believe we are waiting on that freight train to clear the tracks.



Here is a rather poor photo of the switchbacks going down into Denver. It was simply amazing to see from above.



And there is a great train museum in Sacramento too.



I would highly recommend doing the trip now as opposed to later. The current management has been systematically dismantling service along the routes. It is only a matter of time till the service is removed altogether which would be a crime.

After a bicycle tour of the Columbia River Gorge and Mount Hood, I plan to make my way up to Seattle this year and ride the Empire Builder. The Empire Builder is another great train ride but not as good as the Zephyr.

If you really wanted a ride, I would recommend taking the CZ west from Denver to Sacramento then the Cascades or the Starlight north toward Seattle (I think the Starlight only goes to Portland but you can get the Cascades in Portland). Then take the EB east to Chicago. You want to take the EB east because it passes through Glacier in the daytime. West it goes through at night.

On my bucket list is the train through the Canadian Rockies and a number of the Swiss Trains.

I took the train up the Brenner from Verona in 2010 and rode down the other side by bicycle. One of the best trips I have ever done. Hindsight I would have ridden up the Brenner. Didn't seem so awful steep.

 

My first locomotive I used to travel on about once a month as a kid.
The engineer came to know me and let me ride up in the engine cab with him!.
I usually arrived with a soot covered face!!
Max.


View attachment 166648

Was that back in the 1800s?

 

Was that back in the 1800s?

1945!
It was named for this lady https://blog.oup.com/2014/09/eight-myths-fair-rosamund/
Due to the Woodstock connection.
Max.

 

The sleeper cars on the Pacific Starlight are nice (when the kids are small).


Pacific Starlight, California next to I-5.


Empire Builder from Portland route. Across the Columbia to Hood River Oregon. Windsurfers in the water.



Yes, the wind is blowing east.

 

Not all hotels have many choices on cable. Last year I came back across country on the California Zephyr. I was supposed to transfer to the Capital Limited that same day. Well we had a series of delays and the train got in late causing me to miss my connection.

Amtrak put me up at the Swiss Hotel. Amtrak only pays $160 for a room but anyone else would pay $250 and up in the summer. The hotel was beautiful. The room enormous. I swear the bathroom was bigger than one of my bedrooms. But they had like 7 stations on cable and four of them were sports.

I did not check it out but it would not surprise me if they charged for "premium" cable because they charged for pretty much everything else. $250 for a room and people have to pay for wifi

This was something I noticed back in the ~2010 time frame when I was doing a lot of traveling. The cheaper and dumpier the hotel, the more things are included in the basic room rate. I would stay at a cheap place on one trip and get cable with all the channels, WiFi, a refrigerator and microwave in the room, and both local and long-distance domestic calls. On the next trip to the same town I would have to stay in a significantly more expensive hotel a block away and would have had to pay extra for any of those, even local calls, except basic cable (and one time even that was extra).

 

@nsaspook Have you taken the EB from Seattle? There you get the Cascades and the Sound. The problem is there is no sight seeing lounge from Seattle. I lucked out and had a room on the Sound side. I had a nice steak dinner with a glass of wine while I watched Peugeot Sound go by my window. I don't think you get a better view in any restaurant.

 

The cheaper and dumpier the hotel, the more things are included in the basic room rate

One would say that a hotel's generosity is inversely proportional to its fare...

 

This was something I noticed back in the ~2010 time frame when I was doing a lot of traveling. The cheaper and dumpier the hotel, the more things are included in the basic room rate. I would stay at a cheap place on one trip and get cable with all the channels, WiFi, a refrigerator and microwave in the room, and both local and long-distance domestic calls. On the next trip to the same town I would have to stay in a significantly more expensive hotel a block away and would have had to pay extra for any of those, even local calls, except basic cable (and one time even that was extra).

I stayed at the Vagabond in Sacramento. It was not much to look at from the outside. The rooms were really dated. But it was cheap for Sacramento, the rooms were super clean, service was excellent, it included breakfast which was very good and WIFI, refrigerator, tons of TV channels were included. On top of that it was walking distance from Old Town and the train station.

 

Isn't Amtrak great. I love taking the train but the actual rail conditions can be horrid when you share rails with freight train priority.
https://media.amtrak.com/wp-content...d-Report-Card_FAQ_Route-Detail-2018-10-15.pdf

My parents and I went on vacation back in the 1990 time frame from Denver to California and decided how nice it would be to take the train (Amtrak's California Zephyr). By the time we got there we were dreading the return trip in two weeks and my stepmom seriously considered buy one-way airline tickets to avoid it.

While we certainly saw some very pretty country, the 37 hour trip was, on the whole, miserable. Nothing but yelling and screaming kids running around loose and if you weren't a smoker then you didn't dare go to the observation car to enjoy the views because that was the only place where people could smoke and the top three or so feet of the car was completely filled smoke and the canteen located in the lower level of the observation car was completely packed, night and day, by smokers making it unbearable to even try to purchase a snack. The only reasonably peaceful place on the train was the dining car and so we ended up eating their outrageously overpriced mediocre meals just to have some peace and quiet.

 

My parents and I went on vacation back in the 1990 time frame from Denver to California and decided how nice it would be to take the train (Amtrak's California Zephyr). By the time we got there we were dreading the return trip in two weeks and my stepmom seriously considered buy one-way airline tickets to avoid it.

While we certainly saw some very pretty country, the 37 hour trip was, on the whole, miserable. Nothing but yelling and screaming kids running around loose and if you weren't a smoker then you didn't dare go to the observation car to enjoy the views because that was the only place where people could smoke and the top three or so feet of the car was completely filled smoke and the canteen located in the lower level of the observation car was completely packed, night and day, by smokers making it unbearable to even try to purchase a snack. The only reasonably peaceful place on the train was the dining car and so we ended up eating their outrageously overpriced mediocre meals just to have some peace and quiet.

That's why you only travel via sleeper car. The sleeper diner (all meals included with the fare) and sleeper observation car are off limits to discount fares.

 

@nsaspook Have you taken the EB from Seattle? There you get the Cascades and the Sound. The problem is there is no sight seeing lounge from Seattle. I lucked out and had a room on the Sound side. I had a nice steak dinner with a glass of wine while I watched Peugeot Sound go by my window. I don't think you get a better view in any restaurant.

I've never taken the EB from Seattle but I have taken the Coast Starlight from Portland to Seattle.
I'm thinking about a one way family train trip this summer via EB from Seattle to visit Yellowstone while staying at Jackson Hole (Wind River Casino in Jackson Hole) for maybe a week and then flying back home. The direct PDX route is faster for me but I've already done that.

 

That's why you only travel via sleeper car. The sleeper diner (all meals included with the fare) and sleeper observation car are off limits to discount fares.
View attachment 166670

No way would I do it without a sleeper. As I mentioned, on my trip last year I missed my connection back to Pittsburgh. The only thing the next day was coach. It was just one night and I was miserable.

I also took coach overnight from Eugene to Sacramento. That was by design. The tickets for a sleeper where nearly $1000 for one night. I should have taken that as a hint there was something up. I learned when I tried booking a room and a Super 8 was over $200 for Eugene. There was a Grateful Dead Concert in Eugene and it was over the day I was leaving. Thankfully I belong to a bicycle touring group where I can stay at people's homes. I got to stay at a hosts home for the price of a few steaks (my choice to buy) at Costco.

 

I've never taken the EB from Seattle but I have taken the Coast Starlight from Portland to Seattle.
I'm thinking about a one way family train trip this summer via EB from Seattle to visit Yellowstone while staying at Jackson Hole (Wind River Casino in Jackson Hole) for maybe a week and then flying back home. The direct PDX route is faster for me but I've already done that.

Well the train does not go to Yellowstone (you probably know that). Where would you rent a car? Because I was thinking something similar for a trip in the future.

 

Well the train does not go to Yellowstone (you probably know that). Where would you rent a car? Because I was thinking something similar for a trip in the future.

I'm planning to stop at East Glacier Park Village, Montana ( 6:30 in the evening), get a car there to drive to Jackson Hole and then day trip to Yellowstone and near parks then hit the Casino at night.

http://www.windriverhotelcasino.com/hotel-and-rv-spaces/

 

That's why you only travel via sleeper car. The sleeper diner (all meals included with the fare) and sleeper observation car are off limits to discount fares.

There is no sleeper observation car on the EB. The sight seeing lounge (observation car) is open to everyone. and that creates a bit of a problem because people don't use it to observe. They use it to get out of coach, go there to read, get on their cell phone when they have access and play cards. The worst are the Amish. They travel in large groups and then Bogart all of the tables in the SSL, sit around and play cards and rarely look ou the window.

Meals are being cut back on some trains. They are all pre prepared on the Capital Limited now with few choices.