Machka 

Across the USA by Train for Just $213
Turns out, you don’t need a car to see America.


Across the USA by Train for Just $213

cooker

Only if you just want to see one stripe.

spectastic

yeah, aside from the sightseeing in utah, colorado, maybe upstate ny?? along with a probably layover in chicago, you don't really get to see much. the midwest is pretty bleh

Dahon.Steve

Interesting.

Thanks for posting and sharing those pictures. I went to the Amtrak site and it's about $370.00 dollars today to do the same trip. Not bad if you ask me since it almost 4 years ago when you took the trip.

Rail travel is really something to be experienced and can't be described. I would love to take a long trip someday. However, I would have to have a sleeper car because I’ve taken Amtrak from New York to Virginia and my rear end was in pain!!

A 15 day rail pass is now $459.00 dollars so the price went up. Still, I thought the pass was only available for foreign travelers and I’m glad anyone can qualify.

In keeping with the carfree forum. I would prefer to take Amtrak ANYWHERE over driving.

Darth Lefty 

Think how scenic those places would be if there weren't a railroad through them

Roody

bullcrap.

Roody

Better than a freeway or highway with strip malls. I can't believe the negativity on this forum. Is there anything in the world you peopl like???

Sorry, Darth, I'm responding to your post but I don't mean to say that you in particular are negative. The whole tone of this forum leaves something to be desired. On a day when we had such positivity from a foreign visitor (Pope Francis), this is particularly galling to me. I think this is our country's curse, this negativity, purposelessness, and cynicism. Yes, we face enormous problems, but when haven't we?

Much in life is good and pleasant and positive, but we have to draw our own attention to it and celebrate it. Trains are marvelous--very efficient, comfortable, romantic--a wonderful way to see the spacious skies of this beautiful nation. I think that, along with bicycles, they are the epitome of human transportation.

[/rant--for now]

Machka 

It's not my article or trip.

I'm not a young man by the name of Derek Low.

wolfchild

Are people allowed to bring bicycles on those trains ??.

I-Like-To-Bike

Only as checked baggage with fees, limitations and restrictions on trans U.S. routes; must be boxed, and baggage service must be available at both origin and destination, many/most stations do NOT offer this service for Trans US routes. Quite inconvenient if planning on making several stops along the way as done by the traveler cited in OP. Folders may be OK. Amtrak - Experience - Onboard - Bring Your Bicycle Onboard

I've traveled cross country by AMTRAK, arrived over 24 hours late at my destination, poor service in cars with dirty windows. Never again. May be OK for people afraid to fly.

Note: sleeper car accommodations or hotel room at stop overs may double or triple the cost of the trip; food purchased at stations or on the train is not cheap. I would recommend packing food and drink for three days and nights if saving money is an important consideration.

wolfchild

Well that sucks. So much for exploring USA by train...It would be better for a car-free person to rent a car when making a long distance cross country trip, that way you could bring a bicycle along...Here in Ontario, Canada we have an initiative called "bike train" introduced few years ago. Some train cars have a special area with bike racks, so a cycle tourist can bring their bicycle along when traveling.

Ekdog

The L.A. to Chicago leg can be a blast.

gregf83 

Same service is available on many Amtrak trains. Like Canada it's not available on the longer routes. I could take my bike on a train south as far as Eugene Or. Opens up a lot of cycling opportunities.

Roody

Amtrak is gradually allowing bikes on trains. The trains in Michigan just started this last year. So check ahead to see if a certain train allows bikes free on board.

Machka 

Apparently there's a new roll-on service:

Great Allegheny Passage - www.gaptrail.org

I-Like-To-Bike

Several regional Amtrak routes offer such service, for a fee and subject to availability of limited space. None however is offered on trans USA routes, the subject of your OP. https://www.amtrak.com/bring-your-bicycle-onboard

Note: correction to my earlier comment about the additional cost for sleeping accommodations on the across-USA-route/ If available, a roomette/bed for a single passenger for two overnights adds approximately 4 to 5 times the current best reserved seat price.

Artkansas 

On a local note, taking Amtrak from Little Rock to Memphis takes twice as long as bicycling between the two cities, 30 hours and 48 minutes.

Walter S

I've taken several fun bike tours where a leg of the trip was on amtrak. Yes, you need to buy a bicycle box and rearrange your handlebars and pedals. That takes about 5 minutes. Yes, you need to stop at a station with baggage service. That means that your arbitrary desires might not work. It doesn't mean there are not many enjoyable trips that will work. I love traveling on the train. It is much more scenic and relaxing than other modes of travel for me. The seats are huge and lay back almost like a bed. The sound of the wheels clacking on the tracks is peaceful. You see WAY more pleasant countryside, even close to metro areas than when traveling by car. I can't sleep on planes but have no problem on trains. The staff has been much more pleasant and helpful than I find with airlines and dealing with the bicycle is much easier than with air travel too. And if you want to tour by bicycle, you get off the train and set out without a car to deal with.

Rowan

And even better is that feeling of superiority and even invincibility when motor vehicles are required to stop at crossings when the train passes through.

I do have to say that with my one experience with Amtrak, there are problems unique to the US.

I did the trip from LA to Seattle back in mid-2000s. Bike was boxed and all that was OK; staff were friendly (much friendlier than, for example, Greyhound staff).

But I was allocated a seat next to a drunk. I spent a lot of time away from my seat, either in the skyview carriage, or down below my own in the luggage section asleep next to my bike box.

And because most, if not all, of the track is not owned by Amtrak, but rather a freight company, priority or right of way was always given to freight trains, resulting in extended periods of sitting in spur lines, going nowhere... leading to (very, very) late arrival in Seattle.

The trains in the UK and Europe are wonderful, by comparison. Even here in Australia, the interstate trains run close to schedule.

Jim from Boston

Across the USA by Train for Just $213

I have to agree with you Roody, at least for the Northeast Corridor from Portland, ME to Richmond, VA, but when we visit Michigan it’s always by car; we have done it by train from Boston, and car is much better.

Train routes have been described as passing through “America’s backyard,” so IMO the scenery more bespeaks of the region rather than the route. Anyways if you look, it may not be beautiful, but it can be interesting.

By choice I haven’t flown since 1988, and fortunately I can pleasantly live my life within 1,000 miles of Boston, by car, train and bike. Airline travel seem so harassing that I don’t miss it, and the other modalities allow me to transport more, including the assembled bike, to make the trip more enjoyable, and more at my convenience. BTW, always a good tip to bring your own food on train and long car trips (better food, and it saves time).

Trains in the Northeast Corridor are also made more pleasant by choosing business class. I usually travel southbound on a 9:30 PM train from Boston arriving in DC about 6:30 AM, to save a travel day. They used to have roomettes, and even a shower facility, but now disbanded. When traveling south of DC, I then rent a car at Union Station, and its not a bad drive to North Carolina, and even to Florida.

Actually from that travelogue on the OP, I was particularly enchanted by the $23,000 first class airline trip to Singapore, that followed the cross country train trip. Better food and accommodations than even by car.

Dahon.Steve

No one mentioned folding travel bikes like Bike Friday.

Artkansas 

One girlfriend and I used Amtrak to get out of L.A. and then started our bicycle trip there. We rode the train to Oxnard, got off and then went to Santa Barbara via Ojai, camping overnight at the top of the hills surrounding Ojai and avoiding the cloudburst that happened below us that night. From Santa Barbara we pedaled over the mountains to Solvang and spent a very quiet New Year's Eve together in a nice small motel. We pedaled back to Santa Barbara and took the train back to L.A..

wahoonc

Yes. Folders would be the way to go. Amtrak has started a Roll on service but I don't know what the limitations of it are.

Flown or driven recently? I got stuck coming out of DC the other day, what should have been a 1.5 hour drive to Richmond took over 5 hours. Could not get off the interstate because the exits were closed for some reason. Flew into the Indianapolis supposed to be a 24 hour round trip. Got stuck for 2 days. I can drive it one way in 11 hours... if there aren't any traffic issues. Travel in the US is a crap shoot. I will use the train for shorter hauls <6 hours. Over 6 I will most likely drive, up to 10 hours, after that I start looking at flying, which isn't any fun either.

Aaron

mconlonx

A couple decades ago, I decided to return to the east coast from a west coast trade show via bus. At the time, Greyhound offered an Ameripass ticket, which was good for transport wherever any greyhound and many affiliated bus lines went, based on a limited time. I got the 10-day ticket, but there were 7, 30, and 60 day options. It meant that I could plan a route I wanted, rather than an assigned route, stop to see friends, take side trips, etc.

Of course bus travel is lowest common denominator transport for many, so there was a varied and extremely interesting ridership for pretty much the whole way. Seating quality somewhere between adequate and horrible. Long stretches on the bus, stops at convenience marts and fast-food places, bus stations usually nowhere near any place you'd want to see or go to, and extremely limited amenities at most bus stations.

Most bus lines are grumpy about taking full size bikes, and some will bump bikes for other luggage and/or charge oversize fees. A folding bike would be ideal to take on a trip like this.

However, Greyhound no longer offers the Ameripass, which is a shame. In spite of the amount of *ahem* adventure encountered along the way, I might hope to do it or something very much like it again in the future.

Roody

That's a very good suggestion. I have done similar. for example, I have taken the greyhound from NYC to outer New Jersey, then hitchhiked to Michigan from there. On a smaller scale, I sometimes put my bike on the city bus rack, bus out to the last stop, and enjoy a ride in the country from there. Sometimes I do a big arc over to where a different bus route turns around, to return me to my home in the center of the city.