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Old 10-19-2012, 11:22 AM
 
Location: Bel Air, California
23,771 posts, read 28,847,574 times
Reputation: 37326

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my wife took the train to Chicago for a girlfriend weekend and loved it. she sprung for the roomette which also included meals and said that the morning passage along the mississippi river bluffs was very memorable. no complaints about delays or other issues.
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Old 10-19-2012, 12:00 PM
 
8,276 posts, read 11,834,103 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ghengis View Post
my wife took the train to Chicago for a girlfriend weekend and loved it. she sprung for the roomette which also included meals and said that the morning passage along the mississippi river bluffs was very memorable. no complaints about delays or other issues.
The roomettes can be pricey, though, often much more than a hotel room.

Amtrak is quite popular here on the East Coast, but they aren't always the cheaper version when one makes comparisons with flights. I'm assuming that an Amtrak passenger would take the train to see the scenery, but, of course, you'd be seeing the same scenery twice, and the journey home would be a long one.

I've taken Amtrak cross-country four times, and I enjoyed each trip, but it wouldn't take the train for any truly extended time again ( at least not BOTH ways).


Note to Ghengis: "I'm going crazy here at the lake".....

Last edited by MassVt; 10-19-2012 at 12:56 PM..
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Old 10-19-2012, 11:09 PM
 
Location: Minneapolis (St. Louis Park)
5,993 posts, read 10,126,264 times
Reputation: 4401
Quote:
Originally Posted by MassVt View Post
The roomettes can be pricey, though, often much more than a hotel room.

Amtrak is quite popular here on the East Coast, but they aren't always the cheaper version when one makes comparisons with flights. I'm assuming that an Amtrak passenger would take the train to see the scenery, but, of course, you'd be seeing the same scenery twice, and the journey home would be a long one.

I've taken Amtrak cross-country four times, and I enjoyed each trip, but it wouldn't take the train for any truly extended time again ( at least not BOTH ways).


Note to Ghengis: "I'm going crazy here at the lake".....
Geez!!!

Seriously people, just take the car on this one. It's the best compromise between the scenery and the price, and you can actually stop and get out of the car whenever you want to! Normally I promote public transportation where feasible but it doesn't sound like this is a feasible option for the OP anymore.
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Old 10-20-2012, 09:34 AM
 
25 posts, read 46,171 times
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Just did a megabus search for curiosity, entered the first monday in november to depart and wednesday to return. One of the results was 9 dollars!?! Damn, I thought typo at first but there was others for 13 and 16. Cheap as hell but yes it's 8 hours on a bus. EDIT-the 9 dollars was one way but return trips just as cheap, saw one for 5 dollars

Last edited by mike6679; 10-20-2012 at 09:39 AM.. Reason: add info
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Old 10-20-2012, 09:39 AM
 
228 posts, read 662,870 times
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Keep in mind the clientele on Megabus could be interesting.
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Old 10-20-2012, 03:29 PM
 
Location: Minneapolis, MN
10,244 posts, read 16,276,294 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Min-Chi-Cbus View Post
I heard it was "connected".....were you able to (or did you) use the internet at all while on the bus? That would make the trip a whole lot easier!
Yes, it had wi-fi internet service. It was a little choppy though, went in and out alot.

Quote:
Did it feel relatively comfortable to take the bus?
On the way to Chicago we went in the morning and it was full of college kids on their way to Lollapalooza. It was fine, we got there without incident. On the way back we took the overnight bus in the middle of the week and the clientele was older and mostly lower income. This would've been fine except there was a crazy schizophrenic lady who kept screaming at an imaginery person the entire time....needless to say everyone on the bus was scared to death.

Quote:
Can you get dropped off somewhere in the outskirts of town, like Schaumburg or Elgin (that's where I stay when I visit family)? I know the bus doesn't stop wherever you want it to but I wasn't sure if there was one final stop before downtown.
For the one we took there is only one stop, in Milwaukee.
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Old 10-22-2012, 02:43 AM
 
Location: Minnesota
5,147 posts, read 7,439,591 times
Reputation: 1578
Huge warning. The train from MSP to CHI has a horrible ontime record. Fully one third of the trains are late. I took one on a trip to Toronto. The train started 4 hours late and then got even later on the way. They ran out of food for the dining car and had to take on sandwiches at the Wisconsin Dells. Those who prepaid for dinner in the dining car didn't get it. And at least two groups of people missed their connection to trains leaving Chicago. We got vouchers for an overmight hotel stay, but we had to stand and wait three hours, from 11pm to 2am, just to get the vouchers. My worst train experience ever. The main cause of this is the fact they share the track with BNSF which owns the track. Trains shipping oil from North Dakota have priority and trains have to sit and wait for BNSF to clear them to go. A lot of newbie travelers don't know anything about this. There were one or two months when the ontime record was zero percent. No trains stayed on schedule. I think other modes do better because they don't depend on a private company to provide clearance on the highway or in the air.
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Old 10-23-2012, 11:15 AM
 
Location: MN
3,971 posts, read 9,627,631 times
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Train travel seems so dirty.

I feel gross flying.
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Old 10-23-2012, 11:37 AM
 
32,944 posts, read 3,895,327 times
Reputation: 14355
Quote:
Originally Posted by laxster View Post
Yeah, the reason for wanting to do Amtrak is simply my being a train-enthusiast. I've driven to Chicago so many times and realized I haven't seen a lot more than the Interstate - and it's downright unenjoyable with the number of police who monitor the unreasonably-low 65 MPH limit.
I have driven from northern MN to Chicago many times over the past 20+ years and always enjoy the scenery of Wisconsin. I also enjoy the reasonable speed limit of 65 MPH and wish people would just obey the law and drive the posted speed limit. (People's lives are at stake.) Good for Wisconsin for patrolling their highways!

If you are in a hurry then by all means fly.
I did the train on one of my trips and loved it. I know Chicago, so I was comfortable once I got there as far as knowing where I was headed, etc.
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Old 10-23-2012, 11:49 AM
 
Location: On the Rails in Northern NJ
12,380 posts, read 26,748,155 times
Reputation: 4580
Quote:
Originally Posted by knke0204 View Post
Train travel seems so dirty.

I feel gross flying.
You can get up and move around on a train theres also a tray that comes down like on a plane along with 2 outlets per seat , wifi and a quiet car.... Trains are cleaned at the Terminals so there rarely dirty..


Coach Seating on Amtrak's Empire Builder by Lee Rentz, on Flickr


The Coolest Amtrak Employee EVER! - YouTube
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