Do you really call yourself a hiker?Originally Posted by Mrs Baggins
If you're in a hub like Atlanta, with good airport facilities that are fairly easy to negotiate and plan your time, with stiff competition lowering prices to others hubs like NY, Boston, DC, Denver, Dallas, LA, then the time saved with air travel just makes too much sense. Time via rail is about the same as if you took the family car, and while you get the benefit of lounging in a large seat with legroom, you often end up paying about the same in airfare to do so, often plus overnite accommodations to do so.
That said, the original poster makes a good point that there really is no reason to rush to go hike (on a thru anyway) and rail would be a great way wind down in preparing for the hike. For some areas like Richmond, Mobile, El Paso, Little Rock, you might find that rail is very comparable to airfare if not better.
Plus, air travel is getting annoying. Its one thing to have a lot of security to deal with, but now I've got to pay per bag that I check, plus I have to be very careful on the size and weight of the bag or you get reamed. Its becoming worth it to take the extra time to travel by rail instead of putting up with the hassle of air travel. Its always about maximizing quality time, and typically time spent travelling does not fall in that category, but the airlines are starting to make it that way.
"I wonder if anyone else has an ear so tuned and sharpened as I have, to detect the music, not of the spheres, but of earth, subtleties of major and minor chord that the wind strikes upon the tree branches. Have you ever heard the earth breathe... ?"
- Kate Chopin
You're lucky to be able to end your travel in Atlanta. Can't tell you how much that place blows when you're trying to get to a Mid-morning on a Monday connection.
yep
Yep, connections suck. Same for rail, though, if you have to make a connection on rail, you're typically looking at an overnite in the connecting city.
"I wonder if anyone else has an ear so tuned and sharpened as I have, to detect the music, not of the spheres, but of earth, subtleties of major and minor chord that the wind strikes upon the tree branches. Have you ever heard the earth breathe... ?"
- Kate Chopin
Hey now, all, easy on the Bagginses. Not all of our travels involve hiking, and sometimes there's value in getting somewhere fast. I mean, if you're only free for a long weekend or a week, well, yeah, you want to get there, assuming that the destination is the important thing. And sometimes that is the case, regardless of how many times I have to hear someone say "the journey is the destination." Thanks, Hallmark. Sometimes the destination is the destination.
So I see where the Baggins is coming from. I took a train out west for my PCT hike, but I'll take a plane this year to the Kickoff. Because, tragically, I have to go back to work after the Kickoff.
For a bit. Then I'm off to Trail Days. I'd take the train there, but last time I tried that they tried to charge me double because of the lifesize cardboard cutout.
For the Capitol Limited connection to the Southwest Chief it was pretty cool, because the Capitol Limited was an overnight and the time between connections was 7 hours or so.
For me this was nice, because it was a beautiful day and I had never been to Chicago. Got a cheeseburger cheeseburger at the Billy Goat.
I'm not sure I ever want to fly again. Frankly, I feel entitled to rock bottom rates after taking my shoes off, completely unpacking my carry-on bag, limiting the # of batteries I take, making sure any bottles are less than a certain size, allowing baggage handlers to abuse and lose my luggage and sitting on the flightline for hours without being given basic updates.
Maybe I'd feel differently if I could afford to throw money away on their premium services, but that's not happening right now. I'd only fly if I was going a considerable distance and I had limited time--Vancouver to San Diego is not far enough.
My trip from Union Station in DC to Dahlonega, GA in '07 on Amtrak wasn't too bad. Only problem was the drunk guy they had to escort off in the middle of the night after he kept stumbling and falling onto people on his way back and forth to the drinks car. Why oh why do they serve someone like that drink after drink?
Sorry about that. I was tipping well.
Regarding passenger rail, true in a few instances. But for a trip up or down the east coast (i.e., travel to/from the AT just to keep this on point) using routes that run at least once per day each direction I can't think of many examples where this is true unless schedules have been changed recently.
To get to Springer, you would take the Crescent to Gainesville or Atlanta which runs between NYC and New Orleans. From at least Boston south, you can connect to the Crescent same-day if travelling southbound. From New Orleans north, same thing. From places like Montreal, Vermont, Maine you might need an overnight hotel unless you can get creative with multiple modes of transit. Same story if starting in Florida. But for much of the population, an overnight hotel attributable to Amtrak schedules can be avoided if using Amtrak to connect to a point on the AT.
The Crescent and other trains that begin/end in Florida, Chicago, or DC can also be used to connect to other parts of the AT without a hotel.
Getting to/from Katahdin by rail is more complex, I will concede. But that's true for other forms of transportation too.
Most coast-to-coast train travel involves making connections in Chicago. Unless a train is horribly late and misses a connection, there is rarely an overnight required. And in those examples, Amtrak owes you a hotel room and meal/taxi vouchers. Schedules are designed for passengers to connect within a few hours. That leaves time for a leisurely visit in Chicago, which has one of the USA's great downtowns. A win-win IMHO.
East-west train connections in a place like New Orleans will require an overnight in a hotel. There are other examples no doubt but most coast-to-coast connections are made in Chicago.
Amtrak= Awesome.
I have a room on a sleeper train reserved for my Feb. start, from NYC to Gainesville, and I can't wait! I LOVE trains. They are the only way to travel.
2010 AT NoBo Thru "attempt" (guess 1,700 miles didn't quite get me all the way through ;) )
Various adventures in Siberia 2016
Adventures past and present!
(and maybe 2018 PCT NoBo)
I, too, am super excited for my rail trip from NYC to Gainesville (a few days after you, Shlep). I don't have a sleeper cabin, but perhaps the slight lack of sleep I may experience while on the train will contribute to me actually being able to sleep the first night out. (I'm never able to-big scary monsters coming to eat me and all. :-P). I usually travel by air and the last time I travelled by a train was in China. That was 8.5 years ago... Also, being able to bring my pack with me? Super plus.
AT 2010 Feb26-Aug14
'Crash Course'
How good does a female athlete have to be before we just call her an athlete? ~Author Unknown
I'm betting you won't have trouble sleeping. There's something lulling about the movement of the train, and the coach seats are very comfortable. And if the person next to you keeps you awake (as happened to me on my coach overnight to Chicago), you can sleep in the lounge. The crew will let you do it -- they just rouse anyone sleeping there around 7am or so.
Just a minor correction, amtrak still offers unlimited passes:
http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/Conten.../1237405732514
In late March, it looks like the trains from Washington DC to Atlanta all leave at 6:30 PM and arrive the next morning at 8:13 AM. Ticket = $99.
An actual room for sleeping would cost an additional $229. Not sure that's worth it, unless I shared it with someone.
My feelings exactly- the room was expensive, but I'm glad I got it! And I'm sure I'll see you on the trail!!!
2010 AT NoBo Thru "attempt" (guess 1,700 miles didn't quite get me all the way through ;) )
Various adventures in Siberia 2016
Adventures past and present!
(and maybe 2018 PCT NoBo)
It seems that Amtrak rewards those that reserve tickets at least a few days ahead. Does anyone have experience with how accommodating they may be if you arrive ahead or behind schedule?
Those are a good deal, but are designed for short-distance trains that someone may ride a lot (work, school related usually). They are not valid for long-distance trains at all, and exclude certain city pairs and all Acela trains.
What Amtrak used to offer in the '70s and '80s was a truly unlimited USA Railpass for 14, 21, or 30 days anywhere on the Amtrak system. You could even use it on trains that crossed the border to Vancouver, Toronto, and Montreal. For a pittance ($150 for 14 days is what I usually bought) you could ride and ride and ride. It was fun to come up with scenarios that kept me on connecting trains for almost a week at a time. Then, not unlike a backpacker, it was time to take a "town" day and then go back out for another week or so.It wasn't that tough to stay relatively clean on-board, and I travelled with changes of clothing. During "town" day(s) I did laundry in between visiting friends, sightseeing, etc..
The USA Railpass covered coach travel only, though you could upgrade to private sleepers by paying the extra sleeper fee if any were available 30 minutes prior to departure.
Alas, the USA Railpass ended in the early '80s because the Reagan administration wanted to kill off Amtrak and this popular offering became a political football. Foreign visitors can still get something similar to it, but domestic travelers cannot. However, U.S. citizens can get a deal that includes a couple stopovers on the same ticket--so you can select an end-point and then plan intermediate stops along the way to visit friends/family etc. for no extra cost.
What you would actually want are not the multi-passes, but the USA Rail Pass, which is still available, but slightly more complicated than it used to be. USA Rail passes are available for the following time periods/segments: 15 days/8 segments, 30 days/12 segments and 45 days/18 segments.
So what they've done is say that it's not unlimited travel within those time periods. Let's say I wanted to take the train to the Kickoff. Because there's no direct route to California from the East Coast, I'm going to use more than one segment. It would cost me one segment to get from DC to Chicago, and another segment from Chicago to LA. And then, rather than waste a segment to get to San Diego, I'd force Squatch to pick me up and drive me there.
I'd then use two segments getting back, and if I had the 15 day pass, I'd still have four segments to use.
These are the costs, and they're for coach. You can pay for upgrades if they're available the day you travel:
15 days/8 segments:$389.00
30 Days/12 segments: $579.00
45 Days/18 segments: $749.00
All in all, not the USA Rail Pass of old, but still a pretty good deal.
Oh, to find this info, go to the "Deals" page:
http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/Conten.../1237405732514
and then click on Passes, not Multi-Ride.
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