spinnaker

I am thinking of doing the C&O and Allegheny Passage ride. I live near the end of the trail in Pittsburgh. When the trip is over, I'll be able to ride off the trail and up the hill to my home. I really want to be able to ride to the station at the start of the trip and not worry about packing up the bike once I get there.

I have seen a lot of posts on taking bikes on Amtrak but nothing about knowing if the bike needs to go as checked baggage or not.

Is there a way to tell from the Amtrak website if the train has bike racks? If so, how do I know?

Machka 

As far as I know, most Amtrak trains do not have bicycle racks. Your bicycle will very likely have to go as checked luggage. Which brings up another point, only certain stations load and unload checked luggage, so you've got to be very careful to pick the ones that do if you want to take your bicycle on the train.

Here's the info about bicycles:


https://www.amtrak.com/servlet/Conten...554487&ssid=43

spinnaker

Thanks I saw that page. Look at the first paragraph. It mentions bike racks.

No worries on luggage service both ends have it. (Assuming I will be using Union Station in DC, my next question).

Bacciagalupe

You have to call Amtrak to find out the specifics; it says so right in the 2nd paragraph:

So 20th Century.

spinnaker

Guess I needed to do more reading

But your right, so 20th century. Even Trenitalia tells you by train on their website if you can take a bike on board or not.

sedges

This site has a map of the route from Union Station. The whole site has lots of other good information for the first part of your trip.

https://bikewashington.org/canal/unionstation.php

RCordone

the simple answer is if the Train accepts checked baggage it will accept boxed bicycles. The train from Pitt to DC has a baggage car so your bike has to be in a Amtrak box and checked as baggage. It is $15 for the box though sometimes free to/or $5-10 if they have a used one laying around.

jamawani 

Ja -

Service between Pittsburgh and DC is via the Capitol Limited - a through train with baggage service. However, baggage service is only provided at Pittsburgh and DC and no intermediate points. What's more, the train times in Pitt are not terribly convenient for riding to the station. It sounds like you want to take the train to DC, then ride the C&O/ATA. That would mean getting to the station at 5:00 a.m. since the one train per day leaves at 5:45a. It really is not that hard to pack your bike in an Amtrak box since they are huge - all you have to do is turn the handlebars and remove the pedals.

PS - The Amtrak summer schedule comes ou next week. There may be slight times changes.

spinnaker

Ugg 5:45 AM ??? I hope the schedule changes. It's going to be difficult to con someone into driving me to the station that early. And I am not sure if I am looking forward to a 3:00 AM bike ride.

Machka 

Also keep in mind that Amtrak trains don't necessarily run on time. The one I took from Sacramento to Eugene was running about 8 hours late when I boarded, and 10 or more hours late by the time we got to Eugene. And I was informed that this was normal. So, bring a book, a pillow, and some snacks.

jamawani 

Of course, if YOU get to the station late, you can be sure that on that one day - the train will be on time - and long gone.

joshben

Aw geez, i typed (most of this)l this up last night and fell asleep before i posted it


I've done this twice before, once from Greensboro, NC to Union Station, DC about 6 months ago; and from Pittsburgh to DC earlier today. I'm very pleased to be able to just ride into a station, pack up the bike, and ride home at the other end.

At the Pittsburgh station, in particular, i found the staff to be very helpful. Normally, they will sell you a (very large) box for $10, or let you bring in a box from home or elsewhere (bikeshop). At Pittsburgh this morning, they happened to have a previously used bike box which they let me use for free! In addition, they found a couple other boxes just laying around so i could reduce my 2 panniers, saddle bag, and helmet down to two packages so i could meet the 2 item limit on checked baggage (the bike itself isn't included in that limit). Of course, i still had to pay a $5 handling fee, but this is very reasonable considering most airlines charge at least 10 times this amount and, as far as i'm aware, don't have boxes available for purchase at the baggage counter, making riding into the airport logistically difficult, at best. One other thing i feel like mentioning, although it's somewhat OT is that, while i was very satisfied with the staff at the Pittsburgh Amtrak station, i was a bit disappointed in the station itself, aesthetically. Most of the train stations i've been to have been very nice places to be, usually restorations/modernizations of historical stations. But the Pittsburgh Amtrak was something of a letdown. it seems as if it was built in the late 70's or later, and just felt kinda...dumpy. Surely Pittsburgh had a passenger rail station prior to this one, and i bet it was a nicer place to be, which i think is something important when you're traveling far from home. The old one must've been knocked down to but up one of those skyscrapers. It probably didn't help that there was a beggar sitting in the vestibule who bothered me each of the four times i came or went.

At the washington end, the staff were also helpful, if a little less personal. I did have to wait until everyone else from my train had picked up their baggage from the carousel before the attendant could go downstairs to retrieve my bike, but really, you can't be in a rush for these things. neither time have they had a problem with me unpacking/preparing my bike right there in the baggage claim area.

but basically, call ahead about box availability, bring your own tools, and of course arrive early. the boxes are nice and big so you don't have to take either wheel off, but you do have to take your pedals off and do something with the handlebars (the instructions on the box say to just turn them sideways, but if you have anythng other than flat bars and/or a long stem, you'll have to do something else to have it fit inside the width of the box. on my fixed gear, in Greensboro, i just pulled the bar/stem combo out of the bike and laid it on the floor of the box( in retrospect, i should've wrapped it in some newspaper or something, but in this case, no new scratches or dents appeared). In PGH, I turned the stem sideways and rotated the bars in the stem so the drops were pointing upward.

cptpitt22

I rode to DC and took the train back in high school, with basically no technical bike experience or detailed planning, and somehow everything turned out fine for all six of us. The boxes are indeed huge, and the Amtrak in PGH is a bit of a letdown in lots of ways. It works, though.

Spin, when are you leaving, and where do you live? I'm in Sq Hill, and I'll certainly give you a ride to the station at any hour. Seriously. One catch, I'm leaving on my own tour April 13th. I assume you aren't departing before that...

RCordone

On a couple occasions I have boxed my bike the previous evening and drove it to the train station, I checked it in at baggage and then took a taxi or subway to the station the next morning.

spinnaker

Thanks everyone and thanks cptpitt22. I might just take you up on that ride.

I'm really not sure what I wiill be doing this year. I talked to my buddy last night and we both want to go back to Italy this year but with the dollar in the dumper, that might not happen.

Other thoughts besides the C&O / Allegheny Passage are Yellowstone and the Rockies.

If I do the trail it most likely won't be till at least the end of June.

cptpitt22, I live about 2 miles from Brothers Grimm entrance to the trail. If you need a ride or anything else after the trip let me know. If it's my day off, I should be available any time.

tulip

I recently got a folding bike, which is great on the train baggage car or no baggage car. I take the train alot on the east coast, and I like to travel with my bike. I've never seen a train with bike racks, though.

Next month I'll be in Europe with the folding bike and train hopping. It's alot less hassle than full-sized bike boxes.