Well, we finally did it. We booked our 'round-the-nation vacation via Amtrak for this summer!

All told, we got a pretty good deal. I bought a USA rail pass and then booked roomettes for Jessica and myself for the entire way. Total Cost? $2301.00

Not bad for 3 1/2 days travel out, and 6 days back for two people. Especially when you consider that sleeper car passengers get FREE meals in the diner car, and free refreshments throughout the day, plus a bed and shower facilities!

We will leave from Birmingham, AL at 2:41 pm on Sunday the 25th of June, boarding the "Crescent" headed northbound. We will arrive in Washington DC the next morning at 10:10 am.

We will have about 5 hours to explore DC on the 26th before we have to be back at the station a block north of the capitol building to board the "Capitol Limited", which leaves for Chicago at 4:05 pm. We will arrive in Chi-town the next morning at 8:45 am.

We will have about 4 hours to explore Chicago on the 27th, before heading back to the station across the river from the Willits Tower, formerly known as the Sears Tower. We board the "Empire Builder" at 2:15 pm, headed west.

We will arrive in Spokane, WA at 1:40 am on the 29th, a day and a half after leaving Chicago, where our sister-in-law will pick us up to spend a few days with her down at the University of Idaho where she teaches (albeit she will no doubt be grumbling about how late it is the entire time)

She will drop us off back at the station in Spokane to catch the "empire Builder" again, only this time it departs for Portland, OR at 2:45 am on July 4th (also known as Oh-mi-god-its-early-no-fireworks-yet-please)

We will arrive in Portland at 10:10 am that same morning of the 4th, and have a brief 3 hours to explore Portland before we catch the "Coast Starlight" at 2:25 pm headed south to Los Angeles.

We roll into L.A. around 9:00 pm the next day, the 5th of July (hopefully having seen fireworks displays from towns along the way the night before). We grab a hotel for the night here, having chose to stay at the Metropolitan Hotel, a block away from the station.

We will have until 3:00 pm on the 6th to explore part of L.A., as that is when the "Sunset Limited" leaves for New Orleans, which we will roll into at 2:55 pm 2 days later on the 8th.

We have found a bed and breakfast in the Lower Garden District to drops our bags at while we partake of the hospitality of New Orleans for the night, but we can't party too hard, as we have to be back at the station to catch the "Crescent" back to Birmingham at 7:05 am

So, come mid-july, look for a trip report posting from us with lots of pictures

Brian,

Sounds like a great trip. Definitely want to hear your trip report and see your pictures. Have a good time.

Curt Goff

Thanks! We plan to!

Brian,

I have traveled all of the routs on Amtrak, and had a blast on each and every trip. Last year I visited my Uncle in Tuscon departing from Atlanta on the Crescent with the mandatory stopover in New Orleans continuing on to Tuscon on the Sunset Limited. On your loop you will find several mind-numbing sections, even for hardy railroaders. After the first hours of the great plains west of Chicago (corn, soy beans, corn, wheat, corn, etc.) it is time for a good book. And after the East bound Sunset breaks into the desert, there are many great vistas, but again keep those books handy.

Notes on Amtrak cars:

The Super Liners are nice, but are in various stages of upgrade. For the gadget carrying traveler in need of a recharge Amtrak is in the process of adding power outlets to most coaches and the observation / lounges, and adding more sockets in the sleepers. But on my last trip, I spent many hours waiting to share an outlet to recharge my PC and camera batteries. For the return trip from Tuscon, I actually purchased a short extension cord with three outlets so that my traveling companions an I could share one of the four outlets in the lounge. I also used the cord to extend the power from the sink over to the seat in the sleeper.

The bunks are small and the pillows are thin. If available you can usually talk them into an additional pillow, but I carry an inflatable pillow to provide a little more volume under my head. I also found that a set of airline booties (socks) were great for wearing on the train.

I am in the process of planning a trip to New England this year, and if time affords I will be taking Amtrak up again.

Have a great trip,
Ken

Well, it has been a nail biter the last few weeks as I watched the Empire Builder get hit by one natural disaster after another, all disrupting service by at best giving horrid on-time performance (6-9 hours late was the norm) and at worst cancellations.

The flooding has been ongoing since April, but there have been different factors at play.

1. Unprecedented snowmelt (April) raised Devils Lake to within 1 foot of the tracks and resulted in mud boils and slow orders on the detour Surrey Cutoff route.
2. Wave action during high winds damaged the Devils Lake crossing (late May).
3. Unprecedented rainfall (late May, early June) in Montana raised the Missouri River above flood stage, necessitating track raises and creating slow orders.
4. Unprecedented rainfall in Saskatchewan overwhelmed the flood control system on the Souris River, closing the BNSF northern transcon (two week closure estimated to begin midday tomorrow, per BNSF).

I heard a rumor on another board last night that the BNSF mainline was being closed for 2 weeks (they are expecting up to 6 feet of water over the tracks), and decided to be proactive by calling Amtrak customer service.

An hour later, Vito in customer service had done an excellent job of rerouting us and being patient with us as we negotiated the changed visit with my sister-in-law on the other cell phone.


So, here is the updated itinerary for our trip:

Sat, June 25th: Board the Crescent in Birmingham, AL at 2:24 pm headed to Washington DC.

Sun, June 26th: Due to arrive in DC Sunday morning at 9:53 am

do some sightseeing in our nation's capitol until time to check in that afternoon. (to include grabbing lunch with a friend)

Board the Capitol Limited at 4:05 pm headed to Chicago.

Mon, June 27th: Due to arrive in Chicago Monday morning at 8:45 am

Do some sightseeing until time to check in that afternoon, and catch lunch with another friend!

Here is where things got changed up a bit. Since the Empire Builder is cancelled, we were re-routed to Portland, OR via Denver and Sacramento!

We will board the California Zephyr headed to Sacramento, CA at 2:00 pm.

Tues, June 28th: full day of travel.


Wed, June 29th: Arrive in Sacramento, CA at 2:13 pm and have a approx 10 hour layover in Sacramento, then catch the Coast Starlight north to Portland, OR at 11:59 pm

Thur, June 30th: met by Sister-in-law and boyfriend, who show us around Portland, then head to the coast, and end up in Seattle, WA. Sightseeing galore!

Mon, July 4th: Board the Coast Starlight from Seattle at 9:45 am bound for Los Angeles

Tue, July 5nd: Due to arrive in Los Angeles at 9:00 pm

Staying at the Metro Plaza Hotel

Wed, July 6th: Board the Sunset Limited at 2:40 pm bound for New Orleans

Thu, July 7th: Full day of travel

Fri, July 8th: Due to arrive in New Orleans at 2:55 pm

Staying at the Fairchild House B&B in the Lower Garden District, do some sightseeing in the Quarter

Sat, July 9th: Board the Crescent at 7:00 am bound for Birmingham, AL, due to complete our trip at 2:15 pm.