|
New York to Chicago by Train
As of September, 2005, there were three routes
to choose from: the shorter Lake Shore Limited,
which follows a northern route that goes
north from New York City to Albany, and then
west along the old Erie Canal route before
dipping a little south to pass beneath the
Great Lakes; the more scenic Capital Limited
from Washington to Chicago; and the Cardinal,
which departs from New York, passes through
Washington, and hten dips farther south and
passes through Virginia, West Virginia, and
the southern edge of Ohio before crossing
Indiana to get back north.
With the Lake Shore Limited, you pull out
of New York Penn Station in the afternoon
and head north along the scenic Hudson River
on the left. There's a short delay at Albany
while the Boston connection joins up, and
then its westward with darkness concealing
much of New York state and Ohio, breakfast
served in Indiana, and Chicago pulling into
sight at mid-morning.
You can easily catch the Capital Limited
by taking any of the many Northeast Corridor
trains from New York Penn Station to Washington.
The late afternoon departure from Washington
means that much of the pretty scenery is
obscured by darkness on the way out. On the
way back east, however, the Capital Limited
is winding through scenic mountain valleys
from dawn onward, so you are afforded magnificent
views of curves, switchbacks, rivers and
streams below, and mountain tops above.
We do not have experience with
the Cardinal,
but Amtrak's gushes that the
Cardinal’s route
is "one of Amtrak’s most
scenic and
enjoyable" and includes:
- the mighty Ohio River
- tranquil rural Kentucky
- the magnificent green mountains of West Virginia
- the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia
In particular, they rave that "as the
Cardinal passes through the spectacular New
River Gorge, you’ll experience 60 miles of
the most breathtaking scenery east of the
Rockies, which is known for its wild beauty
and awesome grandeur. As the train twists
and turns through the canyon, wooded cliffs
rise to heights of 1,300 feet above the great
Kanawha River." |
|
|
