Chicago

Of Interest: downtown Chicago which includes the theater district, the Chicago Board of Trade, museums, and several universities

Hotels: Of course, at all prices and qualities

Grocery Store: Several small markets downtown. A Whole Foods is visible from the tracks, but not from the station.

Other Transit: City buses run by the station. Buses in Chicago run in a grid pattern. An El station is a short walk to the north. The loop is across the bridge. Just walk straight ahead. Besides the "L", multiple bus lines also end at the loop

ATM: in station

Lockers: yes, but $3.00/an hour

Chicago's original downtown is the to east of the station. Many commercial offices have moved north to the Golden Mile, but the futures market, the Chicago Board of Trade, is still here. Most of this area is now devoted to shopping. Chicago's theater district is to the northeast of the station while bars that serve the student population are to the southeast. The lake, and the park that runs along it, is a 30 minute walk to the east.

If you are walking to the South Loop are, Van Buren is the southmost street you can walk east without having to deal with a highway or a major road. All "L" trains meet at the Loop. The red subway line runs underneath.

Amtrak and Metra trains run from Union Station to neighboring states and the rest of the country.

Chicago is the transfer hub between trains heading east and trains heading west. Daily Amtrak trains run to New York, Washington, DC, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle, Portland, Dallas, and New Orleans and all major locations in between. Amtrak also runs multiple trains within Illinois and to neighboring states. A daily train runs to Indianapolis, IN in six hours. Also daily is train that takes four hours to get to Grand Rapids, MI. Running to the other end of Michigan, a daily train takes seven hours to get to Port Huron while three trains a day run to Detroit in five and a half hours. These two lines split at Battle Creek which is three hours from Chicago.

Trains run twice daily to Quincy, IL (four and a half hours). Along the way they stop in Galesburg where Illinois service splits from the California Zephyr and the Southwest Chief. Lincoln Service runs four times a day along the Texas Eagle route to St. Louis, five and a half hours away. The last stop within Illinois is Alton. Carbondale is also five and a half hours away, although this train runs less often, three times a day, and follows the route of the City of New Orleans.

Probably the most frequent interstate train coming out of Chicago is the Hiawatha which runs seven times a day in each direction, taking an hour and a half to get between Chicago and Milwaukee. This route parallels the Empire Builder and Metra's Milwaukee District North Line.

Metra operates eleven train lines into Illinois suburbs to the west, south, and north of Chicago. The last stop of one line, Union Pacific North, is in Wisconsin at Kenosha. Metra does not run to anywhere in Indiana. Six of these lines run from Union Station while another three run from Ogilvie Transportation Center, a short walk to the north. The other two run from stations that are just south of downtown.

Most lines do not connect. Exceptions are the Rock Island and Heritage Corridor lines which both end in Joliet, a little more than an hour away. Only Rock Island runs from Union Station and it is peak hours only in the direction of commuter traffic.

Pittsburgh

Of Interest: downtown, multiple theaters, Pitts Fort, PNC Park, Andy Warhol museum

Tourist Office: no

Restrooms: cleaned with bleach just before the first train arrived at 5 am

Hotels: multiple

ATM: several banks are a 15 to 20 minute walk away

Groceries: There are a couple of small markets downtown. There is a regular-sized grocery store is back along the tracks across a highway. This may or may not be walkable.

Other transit: Bus bay parallel to the tracks. Regional and local buses stop here. Greyhound is across the street from the station exit. There is a subway stop within walking distance, but it is not easy to find.

An amazing number of people are awake early in the morning in Pittsburgh, but there are not many businesses open early. If you are looking for a place to eat after getting off the early morning train, walk down Liberty Avenue to Smithfield. Walking further down Liberty will take you further into downtown. Liberty Avenue ends at Point State Park which is the location of Fort Pitt, where Pittsburgh was founded.

PNC Park, the home of the Pirates, is just across from downtown via the Roberto Clemente (6th Street) Bridge. The Andy Warhol Museum is on the same side of the river.

Two daily Amtrak routes pass through Pittsburgh. The Pennsylvanian leaves early in the morning and then returns late in the evening. This train takes five and a half hours to arrive at Harrisburg, seven and a half to get to Philadelphia and finally ends in New York City, nine and a half hours later. Pittsburgh is in the middle of the Capitol Limited. This train takes five and a half hours to arrive at Harrisburg, seven and a half to get to Philadelphia and finally ends in New York City, nine and a half hours later. Pittsburgh is an intermediate stop on the Capitol Limited route. Going north and west, the Capitol Limited is an overnight train to Chicago that stops in Cleveland and Toledo during the night. Going the other direction, it leaves very early in the morning to go to Washington, DC, eight hours away. The train coming into Pittsburgh from DC arrives in the evening.

Washington, DC

Of Interest: Our nation's Capitol, The Smithsonian, historic buildings

Hotels: yes, all expensive

Tourist Office: no, but there is a traveler's aid station

Accessible: Sort of. The station is confusing for people with visual impairments and elevators are sometimes poorly placed, especially for someone getting off a train

ATM: Citibank has a branch in the mall building

Restrooms: clean with multiple locations in the station itself

Grocery store: Some groceries can be bought at a store in the mall, otherwise there is a grocery store in the neighborhood to the left and behind the station.

Other transit: There is a bus bay on top of the station. The downtown circulator stops here. City tour buses stop out front. The Greyhound bus station is to the right, behind the station. Please note that some Greyhound buses stop on top of the train station and that multiple companies provide intercity service to DC. There is a subway station in front.

An entrance to the street will be straight in front of you when you come up from the tracks, you just have to go around the store in between. Most of the station building is taken up with a mall, and exits are not clearly marked. The station management wants you to spend money.

The same goes for finding the Capitol area. It is not clear where it is, but it is basically straight ahead when you come out of the station, maybe a little to the left. Go toward the greenest place you can, and you may come upon something you recognize. There is a circulator bus that goes to all the major DC locations and neighborhoods that leaves from the bus bay on top of the station.

The Smithsonian has a location just to the right of the station and several are within walking distance. The Smithsonian is actually a collection of museums, so not all locations are within walking distance of the station.

Washington is on multiple train routes run by multiple companies. The Union Station website has very little transit information other than that the station is on the red Metro line and a list of the train companies. Management encourages you to drive. (?????)

So if I miss anything, let me know.

As I said before, Union Station is on the red line of the Metrorail system. The red line forms a U shape that begins and ends in Maryland. It takes about forty minutes to get to Shady Grove, MD at one end and 25 minutes to get to the other end at Glenmont, MD. Rockville, MD is one stop from Shady Grove. Several trains do not run from one end to the other, but run between Grosvenor-Strathmore, MD and Shady Grove, MD, a forty minute trip in total.

Union Station DC, Rockville, and Shady Grove are all stops on the MARC's Brunswick line. Maryland Area Regional Commuter (MARC) runs three train lines from West Virginia and Maryland to Union Station DC. All lines run workdays only. Check schedules carefully, especially the farther you get from DC. It appears that each train has a unique set of stations that it stops at so times are approximate.

The Brunswick Line takes two hours to get to Martinsburg, WV, an hour and forty minutes to get to Frederick, MD, an hour and a half to get to Brunswick, MD, an hour to get to Germantown, half an hour to get to Rockville, and twenty minutes to get to Silver Spring. All trains stop at Germantown, Metropolitan Grove, Gaithersburg, Rockville, and Silver Spring. There is a small surcharge for traveling into or from West Virginia. This line runs into DC in the morning and away in the afternoon. This line connects with the red line at Rockville and Silver Spring.

The Camden Line runs both ways during rush hour. This route takes an hour to an hour and twenty minutes to run between DC and Baltimore's Camden Station. All trains stop in Dorsey, Savage, Laurel, and Muikirk (about half an hour away). This line connects with the green line at Greenbelt and College Park.

The Penn Line starts at north of Baltimore in Perry, MD (an hour and 25 minutes) then runs to Baltimore's Penn Station (one hour), continues on to Baltimore-Washinton International (BWI) Airport (forty minutes) and then heads south to Union Station DC. Trains run all day from early morning to late evening. There is work being done on the tracks right now, so times may change with very little notice.

Both of Virginia Railway Express (VRE)'s line also run to DC and also only run on work days. Unlike the MARC, VRE trains stop twice in DC, once at Union Station and once at L'Enfant. Both trains also serve Crystal City and Alexandria, VA (King Street Station). L'Enfant, Crystal City and King Street are all stops on the yellow metro line The last two are also stops on the blue line. Notice that some stops on some trains are get on or get off only. VRE multitrip or pass holders can use those passes and tickets on Amtrak trains that run along VRE's routes.

The Manassas Line takes an hour and fifteen to get from the Manassas area to DC. Morning trains into DC stop at all stops, the two afternoon trains only stop at select stations. One Amtrak train runs in each direction a day. All trains stop at Manassas, Alexandria's King Street Station, L'Enfant, and Union Station.

The Fredericksburg Line takes and hour and a half to run between Fredericksburg and Union Station. As of July 17, 2010, only one morning train skips some stops. Trains run into DC in the morning and back out again in the afternoon. Four Amtrak trains run along this route daily in each direction. This line connects with the blue line at Franconia/Springfield.

Which brings us to the company that runs the most trains, Amtrak. If you are traveling on Saturday or Sunday, you are going to be taking Amtrak. Also, if you are going to be traveling long-distance. Destinations served both by Amtrak and by commuter rail include Manassas, Alexandria, Fredericksburg, Baltimore, and BWI Airport. Long-distance trains from DC go to Lynchburg, Richmond, Philadelphia, New York, Boston, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Charlotte, Raleigh, Tampa, Miami, and Chicago. There is even a train that heads north to Vermont. Part of this list is the Acela Express, America's high speed train.

Right now many more people take the train between New York City and Washington, DC than fly. Expect these trains to be crowded and buy early to get a good price. Right now the base price for the Northeast Regional is only $49.

Vancouver, BC

Of Interest: Chinatown, old downtown
Tourist Office: no, but there is an interactive screen with phone numbers you can call for information
ATM: yes, but does not accept international cards
Restrooms: yes, cleanliness so-so
Accessibility: ?

Safe at night: no, but there may be lots of people. I advice walking directly to the Skytrain or the tramway.

Grocery Store: in Chinatown

Other transit: Skytrain and tramway

Galesburg, Illinois

Of Interest: downtown, railway museum, children's museum

Restrooms: yes, cleanliness so-so

Tourist Office: no, but brochures in station. Also, bus map on bulletin board.

Other transit: inter-city buses

Hotels: no, all the hotels are out by the interstate.

Galesburg is are car-oriented town that promotes its free parking while letting its sidewalks deteriorate. Predictably, people in Galesburg complain that there is no parking in Galesburg. There is a good bus map in the station, but bus stops have no markers. There are sidewalks along all streets. Unfortunately, there are not maintained. Even so, Galesburg is small enough that a lot of it is within walking distance. Hotels are near the interstate, about an hours walk from the station.

There is a Dollar General store that has a real grocery store with bulk beans, milk, flour, and other things that you can actually cook with. There are two local theaters. Not cinemas, but real live theater. There are multiple banks, so an ATM should not be hard to find. Galesburg also boasts a wide variety of restaurants. There is health foods store a couple of blocks from the station.

Intercity buses stop at the train station and announced before hand. Like I said, there is a good bus map of the local buses, but they do not stop at the station, and there is no sign to tell you where the nearest stop is.

Three different train routes intersect in Galesburg, the Southwest Chief, the California Zephyr, and Illinois Service to Quincy, IL. Chicago is about two and a half hours away by all routes. There are four trains a day to Chicago, but the Southwest Chief and the California Zephyr are both scheduled to go through Galesburg at approximately the same time. Tickets on the California Zephyr to Chicago cannot be booked online, probably because this train is often late.

Two trains a day go to Quincy, an hour and a half away. The Southwest Chief goes south once a day. It takes this train four and a half hours each evening to get to Kansas City before continuing on through Kansas and southern Colorado to Albuquerque, NM (23 hours) and, eventually, downtown Los Angeles (40 hours).

The California Zephyr also passes through once a day on its way south. Trains are usually still on time at this point. They pass through Iowa before arriving at Omaha, NE, six hours later. The train continues on to Denver(16 hours), the Rocky Mountains, Salt Lake City (32 hours), Nevada, and ends near San Francisco at Emeryville, CA (49 hours).

Diridon Station, San Jose, CA

Of Interest: downtown San Jose, historic San Jose, HP Pavilion

Lodging: yes

Tourist Office: no

Safe at Night: so-so. Lots of people get on and off here, so you won't be alone. However, the surrounding parking lot creates lots of deserted space to walk through, and I wouldn't describe San Jose as a low crime area.

There is a good map of the area on the Transit Unlimited Wiki. Map of Diridon Station

The station is close to two hotels, both locally owned. The Arena (to the west) is a locally owned budget hotel while the Hotel de Anza is more upscale and dates from 1931. Both are on the same road, although this road is called The Alameda to the west and Santa Clara Street to the east. There are also hotels to the southeast of the station.

Santa Clara Street will take you into the heart of San Jose which itself is the heart of Santa Clara County. The current downtown is to the south of the street while the area where San Jose started is to the north. The downtown is made up of office buildings and public spaces. There is a farmer's market every Friday from May to December. Its route starts at Santa Clara and connects the modern business centers with the old San Jose.

The VTA, San Jose's light rail system, runs through downtown. There is also a light rail station near Diridon Station. The system connects most of the area, including Silicon Valley. Local planners think that there would be more riders if the trains went a little faster, but I the distances in a car-oriented environment are more of problem. One of the busiest stops was within easy walking distance of a supermarket near stops that serve residential neighborhoods.

Diridon Station itself is a major rail hub. Amtrak, Caltrain, and ACE all serve this station.

Amtrak's Capitol Corridor starts here seven times a day. It takes one hour to get to Oakland and three hours to get to the terminus at Sacramento. The Coast Starlight runs through here in each direction once a day. This line starts in Los Angeles, 10 hours away and runs right along the coast before arriving in San Jose. From San Jose it follows the route of the Capitol Corridor to Sacramento before heading on to Portland (20 hours) and Seattle (24 hours).

Caltrain goes north from San Jose to San Francisco which is two hours away. Caltrain connects with the BART if you need to get to the airport. One train in the morning comes into San Jose from Gilroy (forty-five minutes away) and one train goes back in the evening. If you need to get to Gilroy at other times, you can there are buses. Trains are frequent during rush hour, hourly at other times.

The Altamont Commuter Express (ACE) runs a two hour commuter route to Stockton. Three trains come into San Jose in the morning and three trains go back out in the evening on workdays.

San Jose Station was named the Diridon Station in 1994 in honor of former Santa Clara County Supervisor Rod Diridon, a long-time California rail supporter.

Sacramento, CA

For the first time, I am moving a post from my old blog that has a picture. Yeah!

Of Interest: downtown Sacramento, old Sacramento

Lodging: yes

Tourist Office: yes, in old Sacramento

Safe at night: yes, but watch out for traffic

There are two hotels close to Sacramento Station, but the city makes it a little hard to walk their direction. The hotels are in front to the station to the right, but to cross the street in front of the station, you have to go left from the station. In fact, just to start going in the general direction of the hotels, you have to cross the street three times. You need to cross the street in the crosswalk because the street in front of the station is an entry way to the highway. The cars drive fast, so you need the lights and the crosswalk to keep from dying horribly.

The two hotels nearest the station are to the south of the west part of the station area. Old Sacramento is to the west on the other side of the highway. There is a pedestrian underpass to the south near the Holiday Inn. The historic buildings of Old Sacramento mostly contain restaurants and shops, but the California State Railroad Museum, the Sacramento History Museum, and the Schoolhouse Museum are also on these historic streets. Other museums are located in downtown Sacramento.

Downtown Sacramento's buildings are not as old as those in old Sacramento, but many have some history and are quite attractive. The Capitol is in this area as are multiple office buildings. There are several hotels in this area, the closest of which is about a half an hour's walk from the station.

Luckily, the hotels.com page is accurate for Sacramento. Just look for the Amtrak link under Landmarks.

One of Sacramento's light rail lines stops at the station. Unfortunately, not many people in the area seem to know where it goes.

Sacramento is the last stop for most of the Capitol Corridor trains. The city is three hours from San Jose (7/day) and a little less than two hours from Oakland (16/day). Once a day the train continues on to/comes back from Auburn, an hour away. There are regular thruway buses to Roseville, Rocklin, and Colfax as well as Auburn.

The California Zephyr (to Reno, Salt Lake City, Denver, and Chicago) and the Coast Starlight (Los Angeles to Portland and Seattle) stop here once going each direction daily. Both these trains cover the Capitol Corridor route, although neither stops in Auburn.

Reno, Nevada

Of Interest: Casinos, river walk, University of Nevada, downtown Reno
Hotels: yes, cheap during the week if you can avoid the temptation of gambling
Tourist Office: I got a very good map somewhere and I don't think that I got it at the hotel

Safe at Night: There are no night trains, but the area should have lots of pedestrian traffic at all hours. The station itself is well-designed, pedestrian-oriented without spooky corners.

The first time I took the train from San Francisco to Denver, I stopped in Reno. I like trains, but I don't like to spend days on a train. The California Zephyr has started to run on time lately, but in 2007 you never knew when you were likely to get to your destination.

Hotels.com has gotten much more accurate in the last couple of years, but at the time the website told me that the Sands was the closest hotel to the Amtrak station. They are not, but they are cheap and they have a really great traditional diner on site. The station is in the middle of the casino area which is like a little Las Vegas. One of the fancier casinos is right across the street from the train station.

Reno is cool because you can walk out of the little Las Vegas to the downtown of a nice Western town or to a funky university area. Everywhere I went was very walkable. The Truckee River runs through downtown Reno and is accessible to bikers and pedestrians.

If the California Zephyr ran a little faster and more than once a day or if the Capitol Corridor extended out further, Reno Station would be a good transit center for people in the area.

As it is, one west-bound and one east-bound California Zephyr stop in Reno each day. All trains are scheduled to stop during the day. Sacramento is five hours away to the west. There are also thruway buses that connect to the Capitol Corridor. Those buses get to Sacramento in three and a half hours. (The crappiest trains in Korea go about the same speed as cars and buses if not faster.) The route continues on to the coat of the San Francisco Bay area and ends at Emeryville.

Salt Lake City is ten hours away to the east. In that direction, the train continues on to Denver, Omaha, and Chicago.

You can check recent on-time performance of the California Zephyr at Amtrak Delays. Train 6 is eastbound; train 5 is westbound. If the train is running on time, it is a cheap and pretty trip coming from the west, and cheap and saves you a hotel night coming from the east.

Grand Junction, CO

Of Interest: downtown Grand Junction

Lodging: two within walking distance, two by shuttle bus

Tourist Office: no, but there is a map on the wall and a shop selling local products

I went through Grand Junction recently on a trip from California to Denver. Grand Junction is a smoke stop, so I had a little time. I spent about half at the local products shop and half walking around the station area. The road that the station in on is at an angle to downtown, so you have to walk five-ten minutes directly toward the downtown area before you can see anything. From the station it looks like a typical midwestern town, except you don't get to most midwestern towns by going through some of the most beautiful valleys in the world.

According to its website, downtown Grand Junction is notable for its galleries, outdoor sculpture, and restaurants with patio seating. According to hotels.com, there is a convention center downtown, and two hotels within walking distance of the station. (Hotels.com is really inconsistent about the cities that list the Amtrak station as a landmark. It is good that Grand Junction's station is listed, it would be better if stations were considered landmarks in all the cities that have a significant number of hotels near their stations.) There are also two hotels that will send shuttles to the station. Both are near the interstate (I-70), so I wouldn't recommend them. But it is unlikely that anyone would get stuck without a place to stay.

In the station building itself, there is a restaurant and a local products shop. Excellent fruit is grown in the local valleys, and I bought some apricot jam. Readers of my Asian site will know that I am a sucker for good jam. There are a wide variety of food products, both locally made and snacks for the journey. There are also books and postcards of the local area, including a guide to the California Zephyr, the train that passes through this town.

A train in each direction (east/west) arrives once during the day. Both Denver and Salt Lake City are about eight hours away in opposite directions. The Zephyr continues on to either Chicago or the San Francisco Bay area, obviously depending on the direction that you are going.