Quote:
Originally Posted by JM 35 Sedan
Well darn Henry, it looks like I got things mixed up again. The actual suggestion was to take Amtrak (not Auto-train) to Chicago and connect with the California Zephyr to Reno, Nevada and then drive a rental car to Lake Tahoe. This would be in lieu of flying from Baltimore to Lake Tahoe. We would be shipping our cars via an enclosed transporter.
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My family and I have traveled across country on train several times. The main caution is that
you can have no deadlines for arrival! It is very typical for the train to be two to twelve hours behind schedule. That means you can wait an hour or two for the train to arrive where you're getting on and for us has been up to
twelve hours late arriving at our destination. Think about the cross country trains starting on schedule at one end of the track on either the east or west coast then every little delay adds up and
can not be caught up so that the further it runs across country the further behind it gets. I discussed this with a train guy once and he explained to me it is because passenger trains have last priority for use of the tracks so that if any freight train has to pass the passenger train it has to pull off on a siding and wait until it does.
But, if you want a nice leisurly trip without deadlines it beats all other forms of travel in my opinion. It is very nostalgic and romantic, relaxing and even scenic at times, going where roads don't go.