This September I will be making my first cross country train ride, and I am super excited.
As I have mentioned before, I strongly dislike flying. I planned a pretty neat trip to Walt Disney World and a Caribbean Disney cruise that my mom, dad, and sister will be going on with me. The only problem: I did not want to be stuck on a flying tube thousands of feet above the air for 7 hours, give or take an hour. And before some kind soul tells me: I know that airplanes are safer than cars and trains and bikes and walking...basically I have been told it's one of the safest things you can do. It's probably safer than sleeping at night, who knows! That still doesn't mean I can't have a very strong aversion to flying.
So I thought this trip would be the perfect way to test out Amtrak cross country, from San Fransisco, CA to Orlando, FL.
This is a LENGTHY train ride, let me tell you. And I was too cheap to splurge for a sleeper car, so you'll all be getting my first hand experiences sitting in a chair that reclines. It should be very interesting!
I was a little shocked to realize how many states and cities I'll be traveling through. Sure, logically I realized I'd be training across the country and so I must be cutting through a good deal of states. But seeing it on a map and then listed out makes it much more real.
On my east bound portion of the trip I am taking two different trains than on the west bound.
I did this because each train takes a different route, and I wanted to see as much as I could see from a train. For those trying to shorten their travel time, the north/south-bound Eastern trains tend to be very similar in length of time traveled. Pay close attention when booking on amtrak.com and you will notice this.
What better way to illustrate this, though, than with some maps? So below are the routes I will be taking for my east bound portion and the west bound portion of the trip.
But wait! There's more!
For those not keeping track (or too overwhelmed to) that's 20 different states traveled through on this trip.
This was a pretty long (and hopefully informative post), so I'll end it for now. Thanks for reading, and be sure to check back as I post more information about my upcoming cross country train travel vacation!
Feel free to ask questions in the comment section :)
As I have mentioned before, I strongly dislike flying. I planned a pretty neat trip to Walt Disney World and a Caribbean Disney cruise that my mom, dad, and sister will be going on with me. The only problem: I did not want to be stuck on a flying tube thousands of feet above the air for 7 hours, give or take an hour. And before some kind soul tells me: I know that airplanes are safer than cars and trains and bikes and walking...basically I have been told it's one of the safest things you can do. It's probably safer than sleeping at night, who knows! That still doesn't mean I can't have a very strong aversion to flying.
So I thought this trip would be the perfect way to test out Amtrak cross country, from San Fransisco, CA to Orlando, FL.
This is a LENGTHY train ride, let me tell you. And I was too cheap to splurge for a sleeper car, so you'll all be getting my first hand experiences sitting in a chair that reclines. It should be very interesting!
I was a little shocked to realize how many states and cities I'll be traveling through. Sure, logically I realized I'd be training across the country and so I must be cutting through a good deal of states. But seeing it on a map and then listed out makes it much more real.
On my east bound portion of the trip I am taking two different trains than on the west bound.
| East Bound | West Bound |
|---|---|
| California Zephyr | Silver Meteor |
| Capitol Limited | Cardinal |
| Silver Star | California Zephyr |
I did this because each train takes a different route, and I wanted to see as much as I could see from a train. For those trying to shorten their travel time, the north/south-bound Eastern trains tend to be very similar in length of time traveled. Pay close attention when booking on amtrak.com and you will notice this.
What better way to illustrate this, though, than with some maps? So below are the routes I will be taking for my east bound portion and the west bound portion of the trip.
East Bound
West Bound
Look closely and you'll notice that between Chicago and Washington D.C. one train takes a more northern route and the other slightly more south. For the train between DC and Orlando, one heads in towards the west for a short distance while the other remains a bit closer to the east coast.
Each of the cities highlighted is either the start (San Fransisco, CA), a train change (Chicago, IL and Washington D.C.) or the train end (Orlando, FL).
Because I am a very curious person, and with the help of Amtrak's route atlas, I zoomed in as close as possible to see exactly where I am going. I then compiled a list of the states and cities with Amtrak stops I could be visiting. I don't think Amtrak stops at every location they have a train station unless they are picking up/dropping off passengers. But I could be wrong, and if so, I will post it here after my trip!
So below is a list (very long) of the states and what cities I will for sure be passing through.
East Bound
|
West Bound
|
California
Emeryville
Martinez
Suisun
Davis
Sacramento
Roseville
Rocklin
Auburn
Colfax
Truckee
Nevada
Reno
Sparks
Winnemucca
Elko
Utah
Salt Lake City
Provo
Helper
Green River
Colorado
Grand Junction
Glenwood Springs
Granby
Fraser
Denver
Fort Morgan
Nebraska
McCook
Holdrege
Hastings
Lincoln
Omaha
Kansas (Just barely edge into,
no stops)
Iowa
Creston
Osceola
Ottumwa
Mount Pleasant
Burlington
Illinois
Galesburg
Kewanee
Princeton
Mendota
Plano
Naperville
La Grange
Chicago (Union Station)
Indiana
Hammond
Michigan City
South Bend
Elkhart
Waterloo
Ohio
Bryan
Toledo
Sandusky
Elyria
Cleveland
Alliance
Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh
Connellsville
Maryland
Cumberland
West Virginia
Martinsburg
Harpers Ferry
Maryland
Rockville
Washington, DC – Union Station
Virginia
Alexandria
Springfield
Lorton
Woodbridge
Quantico
Fredericksburg
Ashland
Richmond
Petersburg
North Carolina
Rocky Mount
Wilson
Selma
Raleigh
Southern Pines
Hamlet
South Carolina
Camden
Columbia
Denmark
Georgia
Savannah
Jesup
Florida
Jacksonville
Palatka
Deland
Sanford
Winter Park
Orlando
|
Florida
Orlando
Winter Park
Sanford
Deland
Palatka
Jacksonville
Georgia
Jesup
Savannah
South Carolina
Yemassee
North Charleston
Kingstree
Florence
Dillon
North Carolina
Fayetteville
Selma
Wilson
Rocky Mount
Virginia
Petersburg
Richmond
Ashland
Fredericksburg
Quantico
Woodbridge
Lorton
Springfield
Alexandria
Washington D.C. (Union Station)
Virginia
Burke
Manassas
Culpeper
Charlottesville
Staunton
Clifton Forge
West Virginia
White Sulfur
Alderson
Hinton
Prince
Thurmond
Montgomery
Charleston
Huntington
Kentucky
Ashland
South Shore
Maysville
Maysville
Ohio
Cincinnati
Indiana
Connersville
Indianapolis
Crawfordsville
Lafayette
Rensselaer
Dyer
Illinois
Chicago (Union Station)
La Grange
Naperville
Plano
Mendota
Princeton
Kewanee
Galesburg
Iowa
Burlington
Mount Pleasant
Ottumwa
Osceola
Creston
Nebraska
Omaha
Lincoln
Hastings
Holdrege
McCook
Colorado
Fort Morgan
Denver
Fraser
Granby
Glenwood Springs
Grand Junction
Utah
Green River
Helper
Provo
Salt Lake City
Nevada
Elko
Winnemucca
Sparks
Reno
California
Truckee
Colfax
Auburn
Rocklin
Roseville
Sacramento
Davis
Suisun
Martinez
Emeryville
|
Feel free to ask questions in the comment section :)
