At first I was surprised by the price of the trip ($550). Flying from New York to Chicago could cost as little as $70 on a good day, which means it would cost significantly more to take the Amtrak.
When the day came, I was eager to find out whether the price of the ticket was worth it (short answer; it wasn't)
Now to address a related point relevant to the "Twentieth Century Limited" trip report. Elsewhere at a more advocacy related site, "the faithful" are wondering why business travel is not more prevalent in the markets Amtrak serves?
For example, why don't more business travelers opt for "The Century" or even the "Night Owl"? Why did the "Spirit of California" evaporate after about a year (replaced with an additional San Joaquin frequency) and is not running with "Lark" sized consists (eight Pullmans when I rode it circa '63) today?
Even though that 18yo Swedish kid thinks she can "shame people off planes" and that, to my surprise, a "Night Train" system over there is reemerging, I still hold such is for the lower end of the tourist market with Frommer in their backpack.
So far as myself, I'm "going over" to Salzburg in three weeks, but "I'm not about" to give up one or two of my seven nights at a Four Star to find out what OBB Night Jet is all about. I just don't need the disruption such would cause.
And I think the above is analogous to overnight rail business travel "over here". Get away from the Corridor, and I think any corporate travel desk - in house or outside - would look cross eyed at an employee request to use rail travel. Some employees have tried, and they must go through the "it's price competitive with a flight and hotel" song and dance. More likely than not, the employee required to travel from NY to Chicago will be told to be on a 6AM flight arriving 7A "on the watch", be there for your business day at 830A, then home on a 5P flight arriving, again "on the watch" at 8PM - time for "last Mile" and TSA formalities extra..
I don't know what the life expectancy of the "Night Owl" will be, but I won't be surprised if it's gone in a year. The hope such will expand beyond the "masochistic railfan" market, I think, is small.
George Harris Member # 2077
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The key to any business travel is RELIABILITY. When the railroads operated overnight business oriented trains as a matter of corporate pride they understood that, but those days are long gone. You can no longer count on a train being reasonably close enough to on time that you can plan for being part of something an hour after scheduled arrival, which in the past was commonly done. Until you get that level of consistent reliability, don't bother.
On the other hand, airline reliability seems to be fairly well out the window also. I know first hand of several people flying into Memphis recently from other locations, one from a stopover in Dallas and the others on a couple of flights out of the northeast, and in all cases were hours late.
Years ago (quite a few of them) I would fairly regularly take the Tennessean out of Memphis, and that after it would commonly have several flats of pigs on the back, and while not always making its 6:35 or thereabouts arrival, could count on being in Knoxville in time for me to make my 8:00 class or job, and only once not making it.
Gilbert B Norman Member # 1541
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"Ah, pigs on the Varnish"!
A blatant example up here was the "Golden State". "For those tuning in late", this was a Chi-LA train using the Rock Island thence the SP Sunset route.
Aside from serving the Southwest cities the Sunset Limited "serves" it was also used for passengers with medical conditions where with 8016' Sherman Hill or 7834' Raton Pass could present "issues".
Post '67 when it became "every man for himself", it was badly downgraded; the track became "Rock Island Rocky", and pigs were handled on it.
The Chicago railfan community quickly named it the "Golden Freight".
George Harris Member # 2077
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quote:Originally posted by Gilbert B Norman: ... the "Golden State". "For those tuning late", this was a Chi-LA train using the Rock Island thence the SP Sunset route.
Aside from serving the Southwest cities the Sunset Limited "serves" it was also used for passengers with medical conditions where with 8016' Sherman Hill or 7834' Raton Pass could present "issues".
This was actually more promotional than reality. The high point on the Golden State Route was still 6,726 feet above sea level. Lower yes, and by 1,109 feet, but you were still over a mile above sea level. So, not exactly the "water level route". If elevation was an issue, you could make it across another 2,000 feet lower by using the Texas Eagle. Their crest in West Texas was 4,612 feet, and that was the best you could do if you wanted to get to the west coast. (All this from the UPRR high/low elevation map. For those who think I forgot about it, the highest elevation on the Sunset Route was 5,078 feet. The point was east of El Paso, so not on the Golden State route.) The Golden State low elevation was obviously more hoopla than reality, but then to be expected from the promotionalists. Neither the designers nor the builders of the Titanic claimed it to be unsinkable. That was the promoters who, as has been apparently typical throughout time, were not well acquainted with reality.
Gilbert B Norman Member # 1541
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Something tells me, someone like Amtrak and their ad $, "got to him" causing him to modify his article with a piece having a more "positive" tone:
I took my first long-haul Amtrak train from New York to Chicago, and a few things surprised me. I was shocked I could book a private room, with two beds and a small bathroom. I was most surprised to find that the 19-hour journey didn't feel too long or boring
TBlack Member # 181
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It's interesting that the same journey can be told from several points of view!
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