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01 Jul 08 - 06:35 PM (#2378650) Subject: BS: amtrak portland or to detroit From: GUEST,mg My roommate is going to Detroit..wanted to take the train but I was reading there were problems from the floods..anyone know for sure? This would be in about one week or so. mg |
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01 Jul 08 - 07:03 PM (#2378660) Subject: RE: BS: amtrak portland or to detroit From: John on the Sunset Coast There may be problems with the floods, but the problem with Amtrak is the system. Just yesterday I was checking routes and schedules for LA to St. Louis. This trip requires 1 or 2 changes of train, and take about 36 to 50 hours, including layovers of 4 -7 hours per change. For the two of us the total cost would be about $1000 each way for a roomette (which includes meals). The pricing policy is the fare for a seat--which you won't be using--plus way extra for the room. Now as train stations are generally not in the best part of a city, those layovers can be pretty brutal, being a prisoner of the station as it were. I refuse, at least for now, to put up with the indignities and inconveniences of flying, so it looks like St. Louis may be off the agenda. |
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01 Jul 08 - 07:19 PM (#2378671) Subject: RE: BS: amtrak portland or to detroit From: Rapparee You could (but I don't suggest) take the bus.... Several congressfolk are trying to get the Portland-Spokane-Pocatello-SLC route restored. This country NEEDS good passenger rail service and yes, the SLC station varies between awful and absurdly bad. For one thing, the train leaves there at 3 a.m..... |
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01 Jul 08 - 07:43 PM (#2378691) Subject: RE: BS: amtrak portland or to detroit From: katlaughing If you friend has the time and ability, why not go north and ride on the Canadian Rails? It'd be a beautiful trip and I would imagine would get them near Detroit. In 1992, I think it was, my daughters and I rode from Springfield, MA to Glenwood Springs, CO. We had to go up through Albany, NY to Chicago, then change trains there. We did not have roomettes as they were too expensive as noted. It was a lark and, after Chicago, there was much more room and much cleaner trains, but I'd be hard pressed to do the same trip now without a roomette. It was l-o-n-g and we repeated to get back to MA! |
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01 Jul 08 - 08:54 PM (#2378723) Subject: RE: BS: amtrak portland or to detroit From: JohnInKansas Believe it or not, a one-way auto rental may be cost competitive with train or bus. It depends a lot on the current maldistribution of vehicles for the agency you rent from. You do have to do the driving yourself, but you can stop anywhere you want, enjoy the scenery, plan in an extra day if needed to take in a sight or two or just to gather strength for the rest of the journey. If you're returning, with a weekly rate it might solve your problem for the whole trip, and you'd have the use of a vehicle while at the other end. No guarantees on this, but a friend has done it for Texas to Florida trips a couple of times recently, and claims to have "beat the cost" of alternative means of transportation. It would only take a phone call or two to check it out, if it might be of interest. West coast to Detroit will likely be about 40 hours actual driving time with added food and potty stops, and sleep as needed. (My DeLorme route planner says "quickest route" is 39 hours Los Angeles to Detroit, 2282 miles.) Forty or so years ago, I found the transcontinental bus service much preferable to rail. The scheduled time was longer, but the actual time was about the same or a little less, since on one rail trip from Kansas to Massachusetts the train was 23 HOURS late. The bus then was about half the price of the train (which was half the price of the cheapest airline). I don't believe any of the bus services have been running any thru (express) buses for at least a decade or two though, and I wouldn't expect a trip on local buses to be much fun. John |
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01 Jul 08 - 09:00 PM (#2378726) Subject: RE: BS: amtrak portland or to detroit From: JohnInKansas Recalculation: Portland OR to Detroit MI: 40:39:56 driving time, 2,387 miles. John |
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01 Jul 08 - 10:26 PM (#2378766) Subject: RE: BS: amtrak portland or to detroit From: katlaughing Greyhound Bus Lines says about $350 or so, depending on dates, etc. and that is round trip, BUT it listed 3-4 transfers and of course it takes a long time.:-) |
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01 Jul 08 - 10:44 PM (#2378777) Subject: RE: BS: amtrak portland or to detroit From: Rapparee Once I found bus travel exciting, but not since, oh, say, 1964.... |
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01 Jul 08 - 11:10 PM (#2378795) Subject: RE: BS: amtrak portland or to detroit From: katlaughing LOL...me, too, Rapaire..but it is an option, eh? |
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02 Jul 08 - 02:08 AM (#2378838) Subject: RE: BS: amtrak portland or to detroit From: open mike there are also drive-a-way companies that help people get thier vehicles to them if they fly somewhere,, i have driven cars across the country and this was a good way to trqvel. check out "drive-a-way" http://www.autodriveaway.com/ http://www.driveaway.com/ |
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02 Jul 08 - 10:01 AM (#2379063) Subject: RE: BS: amtrak portland or to detroit From: John on the Sunset Coast When you're old and cranky buses are not a viable option. As to flying, we do take livery type service to the aerodrome...thats not the problem. The problem is getting to the airport what seems like a day and a half before gate time, the interminable lines to heck in, go through security, repack the carry on and then wait 60-90 minutes at the lounge. Repeat at the connecting airport, and, likely, miss your connection. A trip to the local greengrocer seems to be the most traveling I'll be doing...I can hardly wait for the excitement of squeezing those melons. |
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02 Jul 08 - 04:49 PM (#2379473) Subject: RE: BS: amtrak portland or to detroit From: catspaw49 Damn John, I thought you'd be hot for the big dog idea. I mean if you worry about the location of train stations and the indignity of flying, then you could bitch to your heart's content on a bus! On the other hand you might enjoy the smell of the Diesel combined with the green stuff in the on board crappers. Your clothes will have to be buried or burned afterward. And then of course you might get a good buy on an imitation Rolex or have your choice of blowjobs in those lovely stations! Lots of great stuff to complain about! Spaw |
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02 Jul 08 - 10:24 PM (#2379679) Subject: RE: BS: amtrak portland or to detroit From: Charley Noble Anyone for sailing around the Horn? Takes about 3 months with a favorable wind. Cheerily, Charley Noble |
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02 Jul 08 - 11:22 PM (#2379703) Subject: RE: BS: amtrak portland or to detroit From: GUEST From the Amtrak website: Empire Builder, Trains 7/27/807 & 8/28/808 Service by the Empire Builder on CP Railway between St. Paul and Chicago, suspended since June 10 due to flooding in Wisconsin, has resumed using a Union Pacific detour route, effective June 27. You can get a 30-day USA Rail pass that allows unlimited coach travel anywhere in the US for about $550--your friend would travel Portland to Chicago on the Empire Builder (about 45 hours), then change trains for Detroit--Haven't been to the Portland station, but the contrary to what JoSuC claims, the Chicago station is a great bldg in right in downtown. Rather than going to Detroit, people usually go to the relatively new station in Dearborn, which is more convenient than the Detroit terminal for a variety of reasons. If one is so inclined, it is possible to upgrade from coach to a sleeping car on the Empire Builder-- |
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03 Jul 08 - 02:00 AM (#2379740) Subject: RE: BS: amtrak portland or to detroit From: mg Thanks. I think she would just get a one-way fare as this is a permanent move it looks like. I doubt she could afford a sleeping car, but it would be nice. mg |