Driving actually is an option. I drove from San Francisco to Phila once, in a week, and it was a long week. But possible. It would be a treat, certainly. Though I fear if it started to look like a 3 week expedition, it’d be pretty hard to justify the time. But not impossible…
I have to say the idea of staying on a train that is doing the same 60 mph or so a car might do is very appealing, if the train’s doing it 24 hours a day and I get to spend time studying and getting up and walking around a little. But if the train doesn’t get very close to that optimum setup, that might shoot it.
Too bad it’s not the way it was 50 to 70 years ago, when cross country trains were the standard for business travel (according to an old friend whose career peaked in the 30s and 40s). What he describes sounds pretty pleasant. But, then, that was the mainstream.
Unfortunately, the transcontinental trains average about 40mph, not 60, after connections, stops, and other delays are accounted for. In general, you can count on about 1000 miles covered in a 24-hour period.
I’m sorry to hear about the pulmonary problems, Napier. It sounds as though flying really isn’t an option for you; on the other hand, the conference looks interesting (assuming that’s the one you’re thinking of) and you’d undoubtedly have fun.
I would strongly recommend the trip between Denver and Salt Lake City via Glenwood Springs as a once-in-a-lifetime trip for anyone; I’ve done it both by car (I-70) and train (California Zephyr) and the latter was a much better scenic experience IMHO. Given that the main negative aspect of that routing would be the final 8-hour Greyhound bus from SLC to LV, I’d be tempted to suggest taking the train to Provo, UT, (arriving at 9:30pm, PDF schedule ) then staying overnight and renting a car for the final ~380 miles to Las Vegas. That way you’d have the advantages of the train for chewing up the first 2000 miles while you work, eat, sleep, socialize, and enjoy the scenery, without the hell of Greyhound (which DrDeth described accurately in post #17). It appears that over the last few days the train has been arriving in Provo up to an hour late, which isn’t too bad! [Note that the PDF schedule mentions that some trains may be routed via Wyoming rather than through the high part of the Rockies through Glenwood Springs – don’t make a reservation without checking with Amtrak first!]
If the conference is the one I linked to above, then it appears to last from Monday 6/25 through Thursday 6/28. If you left Philadelphia at lunchtime on Friday 6/22 and arrived back on Sunday 7/1, you wouldn’t lose much work time (plus, of course, you can read and work on the train but not if you drive). The main problem I could see is that you’d be in peak travel season, and with only four weeks’ notice all of the affordable sleeping accomodation may have already been reserved. (“Affordable” is a relative term in the above; at that time of year even couchettes are over $200 per night above the coach train fare, so you’d be looking at the order of $2000 round trip unless you’re OK sleeping in your seat). So, depending on your willingness to sleep in a seat (albeit roomy and reclinable), the rail option may not even be possible for this particular trip.
One thing about train travel is, when you buy your ticket, the ticket prices can be very modest, but the accommodations (sleeper incl. meals) are usually astronomical. Amtrak calls this “first class”, and depending on the circumstances, this can compare with first class airline travel in cost. We lucked out traveling on the Coast Starlight, for some reason our total cost with sleeper was only about $470 for the two of us. OTOH, to go cross country can run to thousands. Still, yet another thing to consider in favor of long distance train travel, with accommodations, is that you can presumably reallocate some of the budget you would have spent to stay in a hotel in one place.
If you go coach class, you can still go to the diner, but you have to pay on a restaurant like basis.
Antonius, your postings are really amazing - you have a lot of understanding and knowledge here and took considerable time to write things out for me - I really am indebted to you. Your postings belong in the Collection Demonstrating Why There’s a SDMB.
And, yes, that’s the conference. Actually there seem to be a few related events that have sprung up around it too. It’d be a peach of an event. I actually wish they’d do these things in Minneapolis or Albuquerque or Charleston or someplace with less of a flashy, high profile reputation for expensive entertainment. I don’t even gamble or drink or like stage shows. Going to Las Vegas to hear about faster matrix multiplications has to be one of the rarest ambitions in the world. I know, I know, “Monte Carlo method”, I get it. But at least theoretically it is possible for me to go enjoy this thing, so there’s really no room for complaint. And I’d get a ringside seat to watch the Nerds Do Vegas!
I note especially the recommendation for Glenwood Springs. Thank you. Speaking of our great western expanses, let me return a recommendation for Death Valley. The National Park there has the most beautiful landscapes I’ve seen - prettier, I think, than the Grand Canion and California Rt. 1 through Big Sur put together. From one vantage point you can see dirt outcroppings of purple and green and pink and orange and blue, and not pastels, but bright vivid spectral colors. You’d never imagine it…
Aww, shucks, Napier! What kind words! ::shuffles feet::
[hijack]
Since I love to travel, but am somewhat limited by spinal problems, I feel a great deal of empathy with your own health restrictions. For me, it’s “spine freeze” after sitting in the same position for a while, so being strapped in a plane is tough, but a road trip would be even worse. My “nightmare” scenario would be the recent JetBlue 11-hour waits for takeoff. At least with train travel you can always get up and walk around.
As I said earlier, for US long-haul trains you just have to lower your expectations. I’m sure that part of Spectre of Pithecanthropus’ wife’s problems with their Seattle-LA train trip were due to suddenly finding out that a trip that she thought was 12 hours was in fact 36 hours – but that’s not Amtrak’s fault. Likewise, where DrDeth talks of the 36-hour Coast Starlight trip being 2-4 hours late, if one thinks of it as a 40-hour trip that might be 2-4 hours early, one is less likely to be disappointed. [No disrespect to previous posters or their relatives intended in any way.]
In the US, one has to work with the long-distance trains that one has, not the ones that one would like to have :p. It’s not surprising that European railroad planners view the US as being a “developing country” as regards rail infrastructure (after many decades as a world leader pre-WW2). [/hijack]
Napier, please feel free to PM if you think I can be of any further help. That’s a serious offer; we can take it to e-mail or phone after that if needed (since at this point, time is of the essence). I hate to see someone travel-limited due to health reasons, and (as a sometime-fellow-scientific-programmer) I think that you should go to the conference! Or, failing that, take a cross-country rail trip at some point in the future to visit the magnificent Western States, at a time when sleeping-car reservations are easier to get, and to a place where the word Greyhound doesn’t appear on the schedule!
No, actually it was more because we were returning home from an L.A.-Vancouver cruise, and my wife had picked up some kind of respiratory ailment on the ship. Also, there are a couple of additional things the OP should be aware of, both related.
Accommodations are booked by the room, so if you are travelling alone you will pay the same price that a couple will pay for the same space. Not quite fair, IMO, since you only eat half as many meals, but there it is. Secondly, if you do travel with someone, the seating in the standard room is face to face rather than side-by-side, so you may have problems deciding where to put your feet, especially if you are not on intimate terms with your companion. On the other hand there are other places on the train where you can go to sit.