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.

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.

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).

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.