I didn’t want to hijack this thread about Amtrak service opinions, but I am wondering if dopers have opinions on what the most scenic Amtrak or Rail Canada routes are.
I’m thinking of taking my mom on a rail trip. She is in her late 60s and has some mobility problems. She can’t walk for extended periods but she does get around. I was thinking of a rail trip through some scenic areas, such as the Canadian or US rockies.
If I decide to do the trip we’d get a sleeper and I’d be willing to consider buying the right kind of tickets for a glass-ceilinged car. I understand there are a few routes which have those.
She’s very much into wildlife and wilderness scenery, but there’s no way we could just trek off into the wilderness due to her mobility problems.
What do you think is the most scenic and interesting route on Amtrak or Rail Canada?
The Hudson river line (Empire service) from NYC to Albany area is very seanic, Also the Ontario Lake is so too , but the speeds are slow on that line (IIRC both of them are on the same line for a extended trip - no changing of trains is needed).
I’ve also heard of a company that will add cars to the Amtrak trains and recreate the way travel used to be, in restored cars of the ‘golden age of train travel’. I’m not sure if they are still around, and where they are currently or what their name is.
Thanks. Both of those look nice and would be super convenient for us. We may be looking to go a bit further afield. Perhaps the route you mentioned hooks up with another scenic route. I’ll do some research.
Your thoughts about the restored cars is interesting. I wonder, though, how comfortable the ‘golden age of train travel’ was - we took a very short trip on an old steam railway in VT one summer and it was the least comfortable trip of my life!
Amtrak schedules the route (the Chicago/San Francisco line - the California Zephyr) through the Colorado mountains in the daytime. I’ve taken it from Denver to Glenwood Springs, and it’s beautiful.
I’ve also ridden from Denver to Miami, and Denver to Albany (both via Chicago), but neither of those had wonderful scenery except in spots. There was a stretch in western Pensylvania/Maryland that was nice, but doesn’t compare to Colorado.
As meek points out, the VIARail route (it’s not “Rail Canada”) from Jasper to Vancouver is supposed to be quite scenic. It’s an overnight trip, but I understand it is scheduled in such a way that the best scenery is passed during the day. Best place to start would be Edmonton, which is a scheduled stop and where you could fly into easily.
I haven’t travelled that route myself, but I have been pretty much from Edmonton east on VIARail. The dome cars are still there, the dining cars are still there (and the food is fantastic), and the sleeper cars are comfortable. There are a number of sleeper options you can check out.
You may also want to look into a train trip on Rocky Mountaineer Railtours. They run a number of tourist trains on the mountain routes in Canada, and still do a Calgary-Vancouver run via Banff. There are no sleepers–they stop and put their guests up at a hotel en route–but they might also be an option worth investigating.
Thanks for the clarification on VIARail. I couldn’t decide if “VIA” was some sort of advertising slogan, or what, and settled on Rail Canada as the name. Oops!
