nm+

Whatever the one tht follows the northern tier would be nice as longa s you note where baggage service is
I had to take it from Libby, MT to Whitefish, MT when I cracked my rim (a whopping 1 stop). Seemed nice, but i couldn't take my bike on it.

cyclezealot

are you saying the Amtrak baggage handlers ruined your rim.? The train I took from San Diego to Oregon disappointed me in that now I had to have my bike boxed. Before I just put it in baggage, there was plenty of room) and just locked it to a rail.Slight inconvenience. If you are in a hurry don't go Amtrak. They are always late because in the US passenger trains give way to freighters. ( Freighters own the track, thats why.) That means, every freighter that passes, passenger trains have to stop and give right of way.) Plus in much of America the tracks are trashed.
If not in a hurry, so what. Go in the club car, have a beer and watch a movie. I like to not be in a hurry. Amtrak, add about 20% extra time to printed schedule; all accounting to the issue with freight trains.

DogBoy

I took the train from podunk MN to seattle (Empire Builder line) in the mid 90s. Podunk didn't have baggage service, but they did allow us to put all our luggage "downstairs." We didn't have a bike though so I can't speak to that experience. On the way out we were delayed 4 hours due to a train/car collision that stopped the train, but on the way back everything was on time. All in all it was quicker than driving, cheaper than flying and had a very relaxed feel to it.

cyclezealot

Dog boy. What an experience to relish. A feeling of relaxation. That's whats wrong with American transport. Relax? Certainly not on planes or cars. I recall AMtrak officials saying California trains have among the worst record for being late. Guess, it was because of all the freighter traffic on the Pacific corridor. Plus, the tracks in Oregon are in bad shape.

nm+

No I trashed my rim myself. needed a ride from libby, MT to Whitefish cause thatw as teh closest bike shop. Amtrak one stop was $20, no cheaper or faster option.
Also I like the empire builder because i got to wave at it twice a day

cyclezealot

We need all be aware that , Bush's head of Amtrak has called for the elimination of a nation wide rail service. I have read the Empire Builder is packed with passengers during the entire summer season. The Empire builder is one of the least utilized train lines in the US, but still packed in the SUmmer?
I do hope rail will always be available to US passengers. Many of us won't fly and bus service is downright dangerous. And miserable. In time to come, the AMerican people will regret the elimination of a national rail system. A suggestion, if off season, there is no reason to eliminate the Empire Builder. Maybe reduce service is ok, but I oppose the elimination of most passenger rail lines.

Dahon.Steve

Bush's head of Amtrak WANTS to get ride of it but they voted for the subsidation anyway because no Congressman wants to lose the only rail service in their state. Not only did Amtrak get their billion dollar subsidy but they may even get 1.4 billion! This is good news.

cyclezealot

Good. Maybe Democracy works. I think the people want Amtrak. One event that really angers me. Bush fired the former , extremely capable head of Amtrak in order to install some hack. It was this new appointee's job to dismantle Amtrak. Seems the former chair had a professional background in railroad management with his management of a large metropolitian transportation system( Philly as i recall?). This new head is doing all possible to see Amtrak fail and sell off Amtrak's equiptment.

Richbiker

It's great that you had a good experience on Amtrak in the Northwest.

But many of us with very different experiences with Amtrak aren't complaining, we're stating facts. Facts, like for example, that Amtrak has no way to accomodate bicycles to most stations in the USA. While you may be able to do it from Eugene to Seattle doesn't change the fact that I can't do it from any major northeast city to/from Lancaster PA!

Rich

Richbiker

"Last I knew. You could spend the night in Dodge City , Kn with your bike to explore with."

When was that? I bet if you tried that now, Amtrak would tell you there's no baggage service in Dodge City, no baggage car, etc.

With Amtrak, you'd better check in advance if you can take a bike aboard the train you want to take, whether its the northeast corridor, or anywhere. All other complaints aside about price, food, lateness of trains, if you want to do a bike-train vacation with Amtrak, do the following:
1. Make sure the train you want will accomodate the type of bike you have;
2. Make sure that if it does accomodate your bike, that the station where you are (dis)embarking will handle your bike at that hour. You might be able to get on a Denver bound train in Chicago with your bike, but that doesn't mean you can get off that train in Hastings Nebraska with your bike (no baggage service in small Nebraska towns where Amtrak stops in the wee hours of the morning--Amtrak won't open the baggage car for you there).

Rich

Nigeyy

I'll post about my near Amtrak experience...... I was going to tour the length of Massachusetts (I live close to Boston not in it, and very near -a couple of miles away from a major suburban station) and wanted to take the train out to a station near the New York state border. Forget about it!

After calling up I found that if -and only if -there was a railcar specified for bikes for that train could I take one. So that was restriction number one..... I have to say that I never did check on this because of the next restriction: restriction number two, you are only allowed to take a bike on or off at certain stations. This meant I couldn't use the station close by to me (oh no!) but would have to load up my bike -avec panniers -and somehow (perhaps take the train into Boston?, ha ha!) get to Boston's South Station. Even if I had done this it would still have been useless however, as the train -though it did stop at several stations I could have happily got out at -didn't allow loading/off loading of bicycles at those stations!

Way to go Amtrak to lose a customer. The really sad thing is if I had been allowed to get onto the train at my local station with the bike, and got off the train at one of the stations with my bike I wanted to, Amtrak would have served my purposes admirably. As it was alas, they were next to bloody useless. I don't want to be too negative, but I just couldn't help but think about my experience in Europe with a bike back in the 1990's -you got onto a train with a railcar for bikes or other goods and that was it. No special platforms or an especially different railcar either. Maybe for legal reasons Amtrak can't let people unload their bikes at certain places? Is it the litigious nature of the USA that prevents this? It really is too bad......

Oh yeah, how did I get out there in the end? By car. But not through want of trying to use the train.

cyclezealot

Can't say I 've checked out Amtrak across the US, but up the Pacific corridor bikes are allowed. Lugged my bike from San Diego to Klamath Falls, Or. That was just last July. If allowed, Amtrak is the perfect mode of moving bikes . Much less hassle than airlines.

acorn_user

90mph? pah!
The HST trains in the uk do 125mph, even on our decaying tracks . I like AMTRAK, but we had trouble persuading the guard to let us on with a bike bag from the airport. I think it all depends on who you deal with. The ticket clerk at Union Station was a complete punk, but everyone else was super helpful.

Dahon.Steve

Amtrak's Acela Express can hit over 100 mph but that's when all the conditions are perfect. I happen to believe all of these issues regarding bikes would be solved if they simply took a folding bike like Bike Friday, Brompton, Dahon etc. I've never had any problems so long as I took my folder. Never.

squirt

start in Eugene, OR and take Amtrak as far north as Vancouver, Canada. I just did a tour taking Amtrak to Seattle and used the ferry a couple blocks away from the station to get over to the islands and over to the Olympic Penninsula. I then followed the coast back to Eugene. This took a week, but I'd recommend shorter miles and do it in 10 days or so. You could also do the whole Oregon coast and work your way back north to Eugene. Amtrak is pretty cool with a dedicated bike car and a pretty kick back atomsphere.

Rowan

Yes, but Steve, I don't have the readies to buy a folding bike, plus all the other little bits and pieces that are needed to make loaded touring work on them; I already have a bike that has done quite a bit of travelling; and I would prefer right now to spend whatever cash I do have on travelling with what I have found to be a proven combination.

To me, the issue relates to equity in travel -- and bicycles as legitimate luggage are not high on the list of priorities for Amtrak or other transport providers, including Greyhound and some airlines.

As to Amtrak specifically, I didn't have a particular problem with the Starlight Coastal from LA to Seattle and the actual handling of the bike box. The issue relates more specifically to the scheduling. Plus the cost of the sleepers is exhorbitant (but not nearly so much as the Via Rail options in Canada). It is at a point where travelling by air is proving a lot more cost-effective, and in my case I am a fan of Westjet because of the positive experiences I have had. For me, the "mystique" of train travel -- and in particular that thrill of having the ultimate priority at level crossings and seeing an aspect of the countryside road transport doesn't provide -- sort of fades.