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The DW and I are planning a trip from Los Angeles to Chicago to see the Cubs. I have a few questions for the group here. Fly to Chi and train back to L.A.,or train to Chi and fly back,round trip? Planning on Southwest Chief but am willing to hear about alternate routes as well. One final question the DW would like a room with a toilet and shower do they exist. Thank you in advance for any help to any or all of these queries.
Posts: 229 | From: Long Beach CA | Registered: Jan 2007
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Bedrooms have a toilet and shower combined into the same small phone booth size space within your room. They are expensive, usually more than double the coach fare. Roomettes are a bit cheaper, very cramped, and have no floor space when the beds are down. There is a single shower for all roomette occupants in the car, and they must use common bathrooms. If cost is not an issue, bedrooms are the way to go. All meals in the dining car are included in the price of either option. For a look try this link:
(Someone needs to explain to me how to abbreviate a long link so the window doesn't switch to Cinerama)
The Southwest Chief is the fastest and most reliable LA-CHI choice. Round trip will be double the one-way fare. June-August will be more expensive than the rest of the baseball season, because it is the peak travel season. If you haven't tried a long train ride before, round trip is a gamble that you will like it. In a bedroom, it will be way more than airfare, but to us railfans, well worth it. You might get slightly better scenery in daylight going west to east.
Posts: 1572 | From: St. Paul, MN | Registered: Dec 2002
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Well, Cubzo, if I were you I would fly to Chicago, then come back home on the California Zephyr/Coast Starlight, overnighting in San Francisco. #5 can't be beat for scenery!
If you're up to a rail round-trip, take the SW Chief to Chi, then come back home the way I suggested.
If the DW is a finicky traveler (like mine), you have to pop for the bedroom, even if only one way.
Enjoy, and go Cubbies!
-------------------- Ocala Mike Posts: 1530 | From: Ocala, FL | Registered: Dec 2006
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For an alternate route and comparison shopping, you might want to look at trains 421/422. That's the through sleeping car which operates Los Angeles-El Paso-San Antonio-Dallas-St. Louis-Chicago on the 'Sunset Limited' and 'Texas Eagle'. This routing may be cheaper (or may not..) depending on the days of travel.
There are some drawbacks (which again may not be drawbacks from a railfan's perspective). For example the 421 or 422 option would have you on the train three nights each way rather than two, the Sunset only goes three days a week, and the train is more likely to be several hours late.
Keeping in mind that the Southwest Chief has a much better 'track record' for running on-time, it's still wise to plan to arrive in Chicago the day before the Cubbies play.
-------------------- David Pressley
Advocating for passenger trains since 1973!
Climbing toward 5,000 posts like the Southwest Chief ascending Raton Pass. Cautiously, not nearly as fast as in the old days, and hoping to avoid premature reroutes. Posts: 4203 | From: Western North Carolina | Registered: Feb 2004
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It appears, Mr. Cubzo, you are prepared to pay what you must for an enjoyable travel experience, or at least one way of it.
In short, there is only one accomodation to consider - the Bedroom.
Incidentially, there is a new discount air carrier in town; JetBlue has now commenced service ORD-LGB - anyone else hear the battle cry of "fare war....fare war"?
Posts: 9975 | From: Clarendon Hills, IL USA (BNSF Chicago Sub MP 18.71) | Registered: Apr 2002
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Unfortunately they shut off the HEP for a while in San Antonio. This shuts off the blowers and makes the car VERY quiet. You can clearly hear people boarding and rustling around.
Posts: 286 | From: Knee deep in the retention tank | Registered: Jan 2006
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Take the Chief. Absolute best and only way to go from LA-CHI. Now if the Desert Wind was still around then the Zephyr could be an option. But as it is now, take the Chief.
Bedrooms are expensive, and fill up way in advance. Avoid bedroom A like the plague. It is smaller then the rest but costs the same.
And last but not least go Cubbies. So what are they going to do this year with Soriano, Piniella, and hopefully a healthy Prior and Wood? My prediction, 3rd place in the NL central
-------------------- Matt Visit gallery for photos of our train layouts Posts: 579 | From: San Bernardino Subdivison | Registered: Dec 2001
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quote:Originally posted by TwinStarRocket: (Someone needs to explain to me how to abbreviate a long link so the window doesn't switch to Cinerama)
Use the full reply form, place the cursor where you want a link, then click the "URL" button at the bottom. You'll get a pop up form to paste the link, then another form to label the link. Its pretty slick, and much easier than writing the UBB code yourself (which you can also do but is beyond the scope of this tutorial).
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I would recommend the SW Chief over the Sunset Ltd. It's quicker and more scenic, and the fellow passengers in the sleepers are likely to be more diverse--Europeans and Australians, Amish travelers, others going to Grand Canyon, gamblers from Las Vegas--it's just more fun in the observation car. Also, who knows if the Sunset Ltd will have its observation car; for a while there they didn't!
Posts: 2642 | From: upstate New York | Registered: Mar 2004
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So far a lot of great suggestions and tips, thanks and I will continue to monitor this board as time goses by. ozbuc. P.S. not sure how the Cubs will do but I can predict the slogan that will be used by fall, " just wait till next year "
Posts: 229 | From: Long Beach CA | Registered: Jan 2007
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