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I am currently planning a trip for next November, leaving from Albany/Rensselaer to LAX.
Do any of you have any suggestions regarding which train I should take--Southwest Chief vs. Texas Eagle/Sunset Limited? I am very interested in the scenery. (I always have my face plastered up against the window when I'm on a train!)
I am a veteran of 60+ trips up and down the east coast, from Miami to Montreal, so I'm very familiar with those trains, but have no knowledge of the midwestern or western trains.
Thank you for any advice.
Posts: 10 | Registered: Mar 2003
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I have taken both trains and I prefer the chief.Others may disagree but I found the many hours across Texas rather boring. Then it was so Late that we missed the scenery we really wanted to see. But since you have taken neither why not take one route out and the other route back?
Posts: 1577 | From: virginia | Registered: Jun 2005
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Train Lady offers good advice. If you are taking the train roundtrip I'd try one train one direction and the other for coming back.
The most interesting scenery for my tastes is the middle day on the Southwest Chief crossing Raton Pass and then descending through northern New Mexico.
So.......If I were going one way I would definately favor the Chief. If I were taking the train roundtrip I would take the Eagle/Sunset out and the Chief back (the eastbound Chief generally arrives Chicago closer to schedule than the Eagle) particularly if you are looking at changing then to the Lake Shore back to Albany.
Have a great trip and let us know how it went when you get home!
-------------------- 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's 2 nights from CHI-LAX on the Chief, but 3 nights from CHI-LAX on the Texas Eagle/Sunset combo. I think it's kinda cool to get 3 nights in the same roomette/bedroom.
I would say the scenery is about equal.
Posts: 100 | From: Milwaukee, WI | Registered: Feb 2006
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For sceneries sake I would take the California Zephyr to Sacramento, in my opinion the most scenic route in the west, then the Starlight to La and come back on the Chief.
Kind of round about and depends on time constraint.
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I'd second the motion of johnhedge in making a "triangle" trip from Chicago. As a thoroughly "shaken-up" veteran of many rides on the LSL between Albany & Chicago, I feel confident in saying that you will LOVE the western trains. The west-bound Zephyr is a beautiful ride. I just took the westbound SW Chief in September, and I wish for scenery's sake I had been able to take that ride eastbound due to early nightfall. Since you are talking November, be conscious of the limited daylight & how it affects your seeing the highlights of the scenery. Sounds like a wonderful trip.
-------------------- My new "default" station (EKH) has no baggage service or QuikTrak machine, but the parking is free! And the NY Central RR Museum is just across the tracks (but not open at Amtrak train times. . ..) Posts: 337 | From: Goshen, IN | Registered: Jun 2006
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