A Source for Amtrak Timetables.
I think we may have set some kind of record recently when more than a dozen readers emailed comments about timetables (or the lack thereof) on Amtrak trains and on their web site.
I take some comfort in the knowledge that I am not alone in my desire to have a timetable with me when I travel on Amtrak.
My complaint was that Amtrak has not only stopped printing timetables, there aren’t even any timetables on the Amtrak web site, which could be copied and printed at home before embarking on a long-distance rail journey.
There is good news, however. For those among us who may be traveling soon and have been frustrated by the lack of timetables, please click here. It will take you to a page in the Rail Passengers Association web site where you will find—Ta-Dah!—Amtrak timetables!
Happy copying!
And while there, if you are not a member of RPA, please consider joining.
Train to Vegas? Yes … It’s Coming.
Anyone who has made the drive from Los Angeles to Las Vegas will tell you that it’s a miserable, grueling 4-hour trip. Amtrak’s train, the Desert Wind, discontinued in 1997, made that run three days a week.
But there is new hope. Brightline, the people providing passenger train service from Miami to West Palm Beach, are in the planning stages for a high-speed train —well, OK, they say 120 mph—running from Victorville, California, to Las Vegas. Las Vegas goers will still have to get to Victorville, but the drive from L.A. is only about 85 miles. That’s progress, and these days we’ll take all of that we can get.
Hey Jim — The drive from L.A. (or San Diego) to Victorville is one of the most miserable of California’s many miserable driving experiences. It involves the Cajon Pass, a notoriously dangerous road where semi-trucks have been known to tip over from high winds, pea-soup fog often obscures visibility and freak snowstorms just shut the whole thing down. 15% grades at spots add to the fun, especially if you’re driving a tiny compact. I made the trip many times during my brief stay in Phelan (a “suburb” of Victorville) after I left Hawaii. I hope never to do it again. See this link for details https://www.dangerousroads.org/north-america/usa/4365-cajon-pass.html.