RailForum.com
TrainWeb.com

RAILforum Post New Topic  Post A Reply
my profile | directory login | register | search | faq | forum home

  next oldest topic   next newest topic
» RAILforum » Passenger Trains » Amtrak » charleston wv

   
Author Topic: charleston wv
sojourner
Full Member
Member # 3134

Member Rated:
5
Icon 1 posted      Profile for sojourner         Edit/Delete Post   Reply With Quote 
Does anyone have any recs for visiting Charleston? I would be there with no car and want to see the capitol, so would it be best to stay right downtown? Where is the train station in relation to downtown, and how costly to get from one to the other? Also, if I take the Cardinal there, I might take a bus to leave, because I don't think I want to stay 2 nights. Anyone know anything about the bus station? Thanks
Posts: 2642 | From: upstate New York | Registered: Mar 2004  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
notelvis
Full Member
Member # 3071

Member Rated:
5
Icon 1 posted      Profile for notelvis     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post   Reply With Quote 
The train station in Charleston is across the river from downtown. Not very far at all as the Capitol Dome is clearly visible from the train.

There is a city bus system which I think serves the railroad station. It isn't a large city so getting around would not be expensive. The frequency of the city buses may not be very good though.

Here is a link for the local transit system....doesn't say for certain whether the Amtrak station is directly served but it does give you an idea of what is there.

Charleston Transit

--------------------
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  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
sojourner
Full Member
Member # 3134

Member Rated:
5
Icon 1 posted      Profile for sojourner         Edit/Delete Post   Reply With Quote 
Thanks, David. I meant the Greyhound/long-distance bus station (for catching a bus to Columbus, OH from Charleston) but all this info is useful too.
Posts: 2642 | From: upstate New York | Registered: Mar 2004  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
notelvis
Full Member
Member # 3071

Member Rated:
5
Icon 1 posted      Profile for notelvis     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post   Reply With Quote 
Hi Sojourner,

My fault for falling into 'skim mode' at the end of your post.

While looking for the link to the local bus system, I found a traveler comment about the staff at the Charleston, WV Greyhound station being rude and unhelpful. (do a Yahoo search for 'Charleston, WV bus' and you'll probably find it too.)

If I were looking to interface from bus to train in that general area, I think I would do it in Ashland, KY instead. That's because Amtrak and Greyhound share the same station building (a renovated 1914 C&O Railroad freighthouse) in Ashland and there is a downtown hotel (link below) within two blocks of the train/bus station. I have not stayed in this hotel but it looked like a possibility the last time I drove through Ashland, KY about four years ago.

One of the 'might gonna do someday' itineraries that I have in mind involves taking Greyhound from Greensboro, NC to Ashland, spending the night at the Ashland Plaza, and catching the Cardinal eastbound, make an overnight stay near DC, and catch the Carolinian back to my car in Greensboro.

Maybe someday.

Ashland Plaza Hotel

--------------------
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  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
sojourner
Full Member
Member # 3134

Member Rated:
5
Icon 1 posted      Profile for sojourner         Edit/Delete Post   Reply With Quote 
Your trip sounds great, and I'd probably like it too, David. But I want to visit Charleston WV as part of my plan to visit all 50 state capitals without flying or driving.

However, maybe I'll hold off on that for now and go to Nashville instead. Some friends of mine are going to be there next fall (flying of course) and maybe I'll catch the Crescent down to Atlanta and bus to Nashville. I could also see other friends in Atlanta and that capitol building too; though I've been to Atlanta before, I never visited the capitol.

I have to think about it. I'd want to stay in downtown Nashville, since my friends are staying at the old Union Station, now Wyndham, but I checked for a room for me and prices were pretty steep. I mean, it would be one thing if it were my only trip of the year, but I have so much else on my plate now, I don't know if I can afford it!

Also, I'm not thrilled by the idea of a Greyhound ride in this case either. Do you know where the Greyhound terminal is in Atlanta and what it's like?

I maybe could stop in Chattanooga too. I'm not sure if that would be fun or sad, because no choo choo. (And then get to an elegant old train station turned hotel in Nashville, also sad.)

Posts: 2642 | From: upstate New York | Registered: Mar 2004  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
notelvis
Full Member
Member # 3071

Member Rated:
5
Icon 1 posted      Profile for notelvis     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post   Reply With Quote 
Another link - Putting the Choo Choo back in Chattanooga for the Tennessee Valley Railway Museum.

Look particularly at their 'Dixieland Excursions' for the Autumn Leaf Specials Saturdays in October.

These are all-day steam powered excursions (but in comfortable former Southern Railway coaches) from Chattanooga to Summerville, GA. It's a good trip.

Greyhound to Nashville would be a shorter ride from either Memphis or Birmingham than from Atlanta........not familiar with the Greyhound station in Atlanta as I have not been in it since about 1977 or so.

Lately Sojourner I feel like I have been giving you more new questions rather than solid answers. Hopefully they will enhance whichever adventures you do now as well as some that you save 'for later'.

--------------------
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  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
sojourner
Full Member
Member # 3134

Member Rated:
5
Icon 1 posted      Profile for sojourner         Edit/Delete Post   Reply With Quote 
Your info is always helpful, David, even if it sends me on new tangents! And the train excursions sound lovely, but I won't be able to do those if I'm in Nashville listening to music on Saturday--but maybe NEXT time.

Re Birmingham/Memphis: I wish I had time to see those too. But Atlanta is better for me because I have friends there AND because it's a capital. I certainly plan to visit Memphis some time and I was toying with the idea of leaving that way, making a loop, but I don't think I could do that this year, don't think I'll be able to take so much time off. But, we'll see.

Do you know where the Greyhound station is with regard to the Atlanta Amtrak station--that is, are they near one another? And do you have any ideas for a good hotel to stay in in Atlanta, safe, convenient, not too expensive?

Posts: 2642 | From: upstate New York | Registered: Mar 2004  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
George Harris
Full Member
Member # 2077

Member Rated:
4
Icon 1 posted      Profile for George Harris     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post   Reply With Quote 
Greyhound's web site says that the station is at 232 Forsyth St., Atlanta GA 30303. mapquest gives me 232 Forsyth St. SW, and says it is 4.1 miles from there to the Amtrak station, which is at 1688 Peachtree St. NW, Atlanta GA 30309. When I zoom in on the aerial photo map, I find they have the Amtrak station right, but not quite sure about the bus station. Usually you can see buses, and I see what may be one near the location. This looks like a taxi trip. There is a MARTA station very close to where the address given for the bus station puts you. I have never been to the Atlanta bus station, only the train station, and train station to airport and back.

George

Posts: 2808 | From: Olive Branch MS | Registered: Nov 2002  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
notelvis
Full Member
Member # 3071

Member Rated:
5
Icon 1 posted      Profile for notelvis     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post   Reply With Quote 
If memory serves, the buses load under cover at the Atlanta Greyhound station. It was new when I was last there BUT bear in mind that on that day I arrived via bus, caught a taxi to the Peachtree Station, and boarded Southern Railway train #2. (This was November 1978 just a couple of months before Southern turned their passenger train operations over to Amtrak!).

I would recommend a taxi......probably a 5 - 10 minute ride depending on traffic. MARTA would mean a transfer or two en route.

--------------------
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  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
sojourner
Full Member
Member # 3134

Member Rated:
5
Icon 1 posted      Profile for sojourner         Edit/Delete Post   Reply With Quote 
Thanks. I was thinking, if the bus station was near the train, I might check my luggage at the train, catch a MARTA down to see the state capitol, get back up to the train station, collect my luggage, and still have time to catch a Greyhound to Chattanooga and stay there instead of Atlanta. Then the next day I could see the train museum in Chattanooga before leaving for Nashville on an afternoon bus. But since the Atlanta train and bus station are far apart, and we all know even the Crescent can be late, I think this would all be too much of a hassle (remember, the one thing I don't want to miss is the Georgia state capitol). So I suppose I had better stay in a hotel in Atlanta, dump my luggage there, and get to the capitol.

Besides, if my friends are in town, it would be nice to see them for dinner (in Atlanta, I mean).

Probably I will have to visit Chattanooga another time. I am more interested in seeing as much as possible of Nashville and maybe going to Memphis afterward and coming home from there, so I won't have time for too many other stops.

Posts: 2642 | From: upstate New York | Registered: Mar 2004  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
George Harris
Full Member
Member # 2077

Member Rated:
4
Icon 1 posted      Profile for George Harris     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post   Reply With Quote 
the bus times from Atlanta to Nashville are relatively fast, about 4.5 to 5.5 hours. Six per day. I looked at the schedule when I looked for the station address, but do not remember it precisely. Considering that the best ever time on the old NC&St.L was 6 hours, and currently to beat 8 hours would require a lot of work, you can see why a Chicago to Atlanta train or even some Nashville to Atlanta trains would be unlikely. The reason: length north of Chattanooga and curviness south of it.
Posts: 2808 | From: Olive Branch MS | Registered: Nov 2002  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
   

Quick Reply
Message:

HTML is not enabled.
UBB Code™ is enabled.

Instant Graemlins
   


Post New Topic  Post A Reply Close Topic   Feature Topic   Move Topic   Delete Topic next oldest topic   next newest topic
 - Printer-friendly view of this topic
Hop To:


Contact Us | Home Page

Powered by Infopop Corporation
UBB.classic™ 6.7.2




Copyright © 2007-2016 TrainWeb, Inc. Top of Page|TrainWeb|About Us|Advertise With Us|Contact Us