# What's the longest you've ever spent on a train? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 21, 2013, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-longest-youve-ever-spent-on-a-train/653557 "2013-03-21T18:50:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![JackieLikesVariety](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackielikesvariety/32/296_2.png) [@JackieLikesVariety](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JackieLikesVariety)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2013, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-longest-youve-ever-spent-on-a-train/653557/61 "2013-03-23T23:47:18Z")
2 Amtrak trips, one was round trip St Paul to Seattle and a one-way Denver to Oakland. the first I was young and went coach - interesting but barely slept - the second I was older and took a sleeper others have described but the top bunk wasn’t in use since it was just me. plenty of room and loved that trip. got to California 12 hours late. it was explained to me that since Amtrak doesn’t own the track they have to pull over and let anyone who does go first. I loved the trip in the sleeper but you sure can’t go by their time table. the scenery west of Denver is AWESOME. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2013, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-longest-youve-ever-spent-on-a-train/653557/62 "2013-03-23T23:54:27Z")
Probably overnight from Beijing to Shanghai. I think that was five years ago. It took almost 12 hours. High speed. ---
**Author:** ![kenner116](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecb155/32.png) [@kenner116](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenner116)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2013, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-longest-youve-ever-spent-on-a-train/653557/63 "2013-03-24T00:15:16Z")
> [@chizzuk](#): > > About 25 hours from Beijing to Chongqing, China. Surprised to see this. My longest ride was also from Beijing to Chongqing. 30 hours and 20 minutes last March in a hard sleeper car. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2013, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-longest-youve-ever-spent-on-a-train/653557/64 "2013-03-24T04:14:42Z")
> [@OldGuy](#): > > In 1959 I took the train from Chicago to Los Angeles. We spent at least two nights on the train, but I don’t recall exactly. IIRC two nights between L.A. and Chicago has been typical at least since the early 20th century. According to Amtrak’s website the Southwestern Chief takes about 43 hours. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2013, 8:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-longest-youve-ever-spent-on-a-train/653557/65 "2013-03-24T08:57:22Z")
Washington, DC to Chicago. We got a “roomette” sleeper, and they upgraded us to a deluxe one with a private bath for very little when they called a week later. Very enjoyable ride. ---
**Author:** ![OttoDaFe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ottodafe/32/356_2.png) [@OttoDaFe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OttoDaFe)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2013, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-longest-youve-ever-spent-on-a-train/653557/66 "2013-03-24T14:42:56Z")
A tad over 50 hours, Chicago to Seattle. Four hours late. We got stuck behind a disabled freight just outside of Milwaukee, and by the time we got going again we were outside the window where Amtrak has priority. At one time we were six and a half hours behind schedule, so they did pretty well under the circumstances. ---
**Author:** ![Busy\_Scissors](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d78d45/32.png) [@Busy\_Scissors](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Busy_Scissors)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2013, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-longest-youve-ever-spent-on-a-train/653557/67 "2013-03-24T14:56:07Z")
I’ve taken the Trans-Siberian, Beijing to Moscow through Mongolia with my wife. We stopped off for a day or two at Ulan Bator, Irkutsk and Yekaterinburg, so overall it might have been pushing 2 weeks. Epic trip, train journey of a lifetime, but one you’d need to be in the right frame of mind for. Some weighty novels were read, the trans-Siberian cribbage championship was contested 50 games to 49, that sort of thing. ---
**Author:** ![Daylate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9dc877/32.png) [@Daylate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daylate)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2013, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-longest-youve-ever-spent-on-a-train/653557/68 "2013-03-24T16:49:48Z")
Probably three night on the train, in a sleeping car, between St. Louis and Seattle, back in 1951, behind a real steam engine. Remember vividly that the engine broke down somewhere in Montana, and we had to wait for some hours for a replacement to be sent out. Still steam. A real fun trip. Also, the trip back, (both trips funded by the U.S. government), was via a Boeing Stratocruiser. Took eight hours in the air between Seattle and Minneapolis (in solid comfort). Gorgeous stewardesses. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Boeing\_377\_N1033V\_PAA\_Heathrow\_12.9.54.jpg](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Boeing_377_N1033V_PAA_Heathrow_12.9.54.jpg) I really think that a lot of things were better in the olden times. ---
**Author:** ![Daylate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9dc877/32.png) [@Daylate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daylate)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2013, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-longest-youve-ever-spent-on-a-train/653557/69 "2013-03-24T17:14:33Z")
Regarding the above post, I have to apologize. I know that a lot of Dopers were expecting a photo of the gorgeous stewardesses, not a stupid airplane. Sorry. While we’re on this subject, sort of, I also got to travel between New York and Hamburg, Germany (round trip, obviously) on several crack ocean liners. On the trip over, I was only three years old, so don’t remember anything about the voyage, although I do have some old photos. However, on the trip back, on the _Bremen_, I can remember some things, in particular the play room that was provided for the kids. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Bundesarchiv\_Bild\_102-11081,_Schnelldamper_%22Bremen%22.jpg](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Bundesarchiv_Bild_102-11081,_Schnelldamper_%22Bremen%22.jpg) Sorry for the hijack. ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2013, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-longest-youve-ever-spent-on-a-train/653557/70 "2013-03-24T18:46:19Z")
Nowhere near as long as Don Cornelius. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2013, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-longest-youve-ever-spent-on-a-train/653557/71 "2013-03-24T19:24:49Z")
I may have the shortest. Distancewise, my record is probably South Amboy NJ to NYC. Timewise it may have been on the T as it is slower and takes more stops, from Quincy to Logan, if you don’t count the short time for a transfer as another train ride. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2013, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-longest-youve-ever-spent-on-a-train/653557/72 "2013-03-24T22:41:18Z")
> [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](#): > > IIRC two nights between L.A. and Chicago has been typical at least since the early 20th century. According to Amtrak’s website the Southwestern Chief takes about 43 hours. I used to take the Southwest Chief between Kansas City and Chicago fairly frequently. It only took seven hours, and frankly - when you figure in the time it takes to check your luggage, to get through airport security, delays on the tarmac, to get your luggage and the travel time to and from the airport as opposed to leaving from and arriving in the city center - it was about the same amount of time as the supposedly ninety minute plane ride. But over the last few years, I’ve been using Megabus. It’s a longer trip, but so much cheaper than it doesn’t even compare. The last twenty Megabus trips I have taken have cost me $1. ---
**Author:** ![vontsira](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/51bf81/32.png) [@vontsira](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vontsira)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2013, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-longest-youve-ever-spent-on-a-train/653557/73 "2013-03-24T23:18:54Z")
> [@Daylate](#): > > Probably three night on the train, in a sleeping car, between St. Louis and Seattle, back in 1951, behind a real steam engine. Remember vividly that the engine broke down somewhere in Montana, and we had to wait for some hours for a replacement to be sent out. Still steam. A real fun trip. > > Also, the trip back, (both trips funded by the U.S. government), was via a Boeing Stratocruiser. Took eight hours in the air between Seattle and Minneapolis (in solid comfort). Gorgeous stewardesses. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Boeing\_377\_N1033V\_PAA\_Heathrow\_12.9.54.jpg](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Boeing_377_N1033V_PAA_Heathrow_12.9.54.jpg) > > I really think that a lot of things were better in the olden times. Being a steam-railway nut, I envy you the outward journey, hugely. Though if I’d been there, my memories of it would be fragmentary at best: in 1951, I was aged three ! Though I can count my blessings in that here in the UK, rail steam traction lasted most of a decade longer than in North America. ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2013, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-longest-youve-ever-spent-on-a-train/653557/74 "2013-03-24T23:27:41Z")
Not long. Washington, DC to New York City. ---
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2013, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-longest-youve-ever-spent-on-a-train/653557/75 "2013-03-25T00:21:18Z")
I think the longest has been Nairobi to Mombasa, overnight, about 13 hours, as a teenager on a family trip. I’m envious of some of you who’ve done the _real_ long trips. Maybe later. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2013, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-longest-youve-ever-spent-on-a-train/653557/76 "2013-03-25T00:21:42Z")
> [@Daylate](#): > > Regarding the above post, I have to apologize. I know that a lot of Dopers were expecting a photo of the gorgeous stewardesses, not a stupid airplane. Sorry. S’alright - you made the Doper pilots very happy. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2013, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-longest-youve-ever-spent-on-a-train/653557/77 "2013-03-25T01:33:36Z")
Back in the 1980s, Amtrak had a deal where you could do a roundtrip anywhere they went for $299, with a couple stops along the way. In 1987, I had a couple of ailing, elderly relatives I wanted to see again while they were still more or less with it, one in LA and one in the Four Corners area. So I went from DC to LA and back, with a stop somewhere in NM to rent a car to drive up to the Four Corners area to see my 94 year old great-aunt, spent a couple of days there, then drove back to the train station I’d left, took the train to LA to see my grandparents, spent a few days with them, then took the train back to DC. Altogether, I spent six days on the train, with the last three continuously except for a stop or two in the early going that were just long enough to stretch one’s legs, and a change of trains in Chicago with maybe 2 hours between trains. It wasn’t bad back when I was a quarter-century younger, and didn’t have much excess cash. But I sure wouldn’t do it now. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2013, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-longest-youve-ever-spent-on-a-train/653557/78 "2013-03-25T01:39:15Z")
> [@Daylate](#): > > Regarding the above post, I have to apologize. I know that a lot of Dopers were expecting a photo of the gorgeous stewardesses, not a stupid airplane. Sorry. S’okay. Here ya go ( **mildly NSFW** ): [www.jaunted.com/story/2006/4/19/449/50730/travel/Flight+Attendant+Pin-Ups](http://www.jaunted.com/story/2006/4/19/449/50730/travel/Flight+Attendant+Pin-Ups) ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2013, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-longest-youve-ever-spent-on-a-train/653557/79 "2013-03-25T03:45:07Z")
> [@cjepson](#): > > Careful, there… This was in 1977, so Juarez wasn’t nearly as bad as it became later on. However, I was only in town a few hours and I still got hassled. ---
**Author:** ![bluetoof](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b19c9b/32.png) [@bluetoof](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bluetoof)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2013, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-longest-youve-ever-spent-on-a-train/653557/80 "2013-03-25T03:49:14Z")
About 8 hours on a Turkish train from Ankara to Istanbul, much of it spent stalled on the tracks waiting for another engine to pull us the rest of the way. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-longest-youve-ever-spent-on-a-train/653557.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-longest-youve-ever-spent-on-a-train/653557.md?page=5)