Coming to America -Advice needed .

The Lake Shore Limited route from Buffalo to Albany gets what they call "lake-effect snow" as the winds blowing east off Lake Erie dump everything they have as soon as they're over land east of Buffalo. Syracuse really gets it (and plenty of flat land around there), but I can't say whether December might be a little early.

Thanks for that , I have already travelled both the empire builder , and lake shore routes , so would not want to do both again , if i can ride new routes .
However , There appears to be as flight from Plattsburgh to Boston , which i may end up taking , and possibly lake shore from there . probably to Toledo , bus up to Detroit , train from there to Chicago .
I am now definetly extending my trip , and leaning towards taking the southwest chief to L.A . So i have to watch the total number of segments i ride ( 8 allowed on the pass ) , although i can probably just pay for a couple of the short ones .
so , still causing me problems , getting from Plattsburgh back to the NY area , or Washington . If i can fly that would save me a day and a segment .
Other problem is the westbound Capitol . Leaving Washington at 4pm , virtually no daylite viewing . I cant take both it and the Cardinal eastbound . so may eschew it in favour of the lakshore plan mentioned .

Mr Benton,would you consider a stopover in ABQ NM then Ride NMRX to/from Santa Fe.

Backshophoss , i spent several days in Santa Fe back in the 90's , so with such limited time , it probably wouldnt be something I would be keen to do , thanks .

You're ignoring Jed Clampett's call "Ya'll come back now, here". How can our tourist traps make any money if people visit only once?

The airport in Burlington VT offers many more flights than Plattsburgh and has frequent service to the NY area and Washington DC.

Patrick Boylan wrote:You're ignoring Jed Clampett's call "Ya'll come back now, here". How can our tourist traps make any money if people visit only once?

True , and there's many places i'd love to visit again .
However a business to run , a baby to help raise , and 23 fence busting goats means i can only really afford 2 weeks maximum . 4 days of that I'll be at the rv show .( seeing as theyre paying for the trip , i feel i should probably turn up ) .

Vincent wrote:The airport in Burlington VT offers many more flights than Plattsburgh and has frequent service to the NY area and Washington DC.

Yes , but the problem is getting from Plattsburgh to Burlington .If i could do that easily , i would then take the vermonter .

Bob Roberts wrote:


Keep in mind that the Lake Champlain ferries do not run in winter (the lake freezes). Getting from the Adirondack to Vermont will be tough this time of year.

When the ice is safe, a creative entrepreneur could run a snowmobile shuttle between Port Kent and Burlington pulling a tobogan for luggage.

Ok , anyone with a snowmobile in Port Kent , Pm me .
I'm now thinking i would like to take The Capitol ,Chicago to Washington , as i would really like to see the Pittsburgh -Washington section in relative daylight . So , a plan is forming to do that , then take the train to north Carolina , ( Greensboro or Charlotte ) . Hire a car there , and drive up to the cardinal route through the New river gorge area (Huntington or Charleston ) . then take the cardinal to New York , and resume the rest of the plan from there . a couple of extra days , but worth it i think .
Probably a couple of hundred bucks extra car rental etc too .

Any pros and cons for this part of the trip ???. timing is Dec 3rd to Dec 5th .

Any pros and cons for this part of the trip ???. timing is Dec 3rd to Dec 5th .

I would not go to the US in the winter, except to Florida. And even less, after the events in New York City of the last week.

LONG way around to LA,the Eagle to San Antiono,connect with the Sunset to LAUPT.

George , Have no choice on time of year , flight and accomdation was won in a competition .
Backshophoss , I did consider this route, as i have not done the texas eagle part , but have done the sunset part twice , and its just a wee bit too long .

David Benton wrote:George , Have no choice on time of year , flight and accomdation was won in a competition .
Backshophoss , I did consider this route, as i have not done the texas eagle part , but have done the sunset part twice , and its just a wee bit too long .

I might go to Winterhaven Florida where my wife's family has some accommodation. Very nice in the winter. But nowhere else.

That's why i 'm planning to spend most of my time on the train ,not off in the woods etc . If i wanted warmth , I'd stay at home this time of year .