by Westernstar1
I retired 13 years ago, at age 63. For a long time, I thought of a continual Amtrak excursion around the perimeter of the US (more or less). I then asked myself, "how would I do this?" I've been thinking of a round trip, from Sacramento, as follows:
Sacramento-Seattle-Chicago-New York-New Orleans-Los Angeles-Sacramento.
Six Amtrak trains, counting the Starlight twice. I would never ride coach for such a long trip. If I booked a roomette for each train, I think the cost would be somewhere around $ 3350.00. Kind of a lot, but if you consider that a one-way trip on the Rocky Mountaineer can run that much, maybe not.
However, if the trip was broken up for sightseeing, add on more cost. For example, a day or two in Glacier Park, the overnight waits for 3x/week trains such as the Cardinal and the Sunset Limited. Also, overnight stays waiting to hop on the next Amtrak. The hotel and motel costs would quickly add up.
If cost is not an issue, it still represents a lot of train time. Probably resulting in a lot of train cabin fever. Also, Amtrak food quality would be a definite concern.
I guess the answer would be to take the train segments during different years. But still, a continual US perimeter train trip does have a certain appeal.
Any thoughts?
WS
Sacramento-Seattle-Chicago-New York-New Orleans-Los Angeles-Sacramento.
Six Amtrak trains, counting the Starlight twice. I would never ride coach for such a long trip. If I booked a roomette for each train, I think the cost would be somewhere around $ 3350.00. Kind of a lot, but if you consider that a one-way trip on the Rocky Mountaineer can run that much, maybe not.
However, if the trip was broken up for sightseeing, add on more cost. For example, a day or two in Glacier Park, the overnight waits for 3x/week trains such as the Cardinal and the Sunset Limited. Also, overnight stays waiting to hop on the next Amtrak. The hotel and motel costs would quickly add up.
If cost is not an issue, it still represents a lot of train time. Probably resulting in a lot of train cabin fever. Also, Amtrak food quality would be a definite concern.
I guess the answer would be to take the train segments during different years. But still, a continual US perimeter train trip does have a certain appeal.
Any thoughts?
WS