That's all very well, but how much did this train travel cost I hear you say. Well, if we had done it through Flight Centre it would have cost nearly $3000. Doing it myself by phone it cost US$1935.60. Never do through an agent what you can do yourself. After all, they are in it to make money. The only problem with Amtrak bookings is that if they are unusual (eg involving special needs) you cannot do it on line, so you have to phone. That isn't normally a problem unless you get a Hispanic receptionist who doesn't understand you and vice versa. I had this experience twice, not helped by having to spell Goodacre each time, throwing things into even more confusion! If your name is Smith you can rest easy. To break the fare down, Chelsea and I paid $798 and $939 respectively, and Neil and Richie paid $125 and $73 (carer and disabled). Richie comes in handy like that!
As far as accessibility goes, Amtrak is good as long as you don't want to go to the dining room or viewing lounge. The disabled rooms are spacious (compared to regular ones), and have large picture windows and full bathroom facilities. Just take plenty to read, or do as we did on this second leg, and hire a DVD Player loaded with 20 or more movies. We discovered this outside the lounge at the station, and it was $40 well spent. It kept both kids entertained for a day and a half, and when we got to Flagstaff we just dropped it into the nearest FedEx office for sending back to Chicago, already paid for.
The Southwest Chief is a double decker train with a viewing lounge, so the rooms are a little smaller to compensate. However the extra comfort and outlook from the glass surrounded viewing deck made it well worth it. I could have slept there quite easily (some people from second class did, although I don't think it is encouraged).
The trip itself was really interesting, as there had been a major dumping of snow over much of the northern part of the country the night before and we had to detour onto a track previously unused by Amtrak. The locals in the towns came out to wave as we went past, it was such an unusual sight! I can't really tell you where we went , but I know we visited a couple of states not on the itinerary, and some people had to get back home by other means. The original route was from Chicago via Kansas City, Topeka, Dodge City, Raton, Santa Fe, Albuquerque to Flagstaff. From there it went on to Los Angeles. About half way into the trip the train had to stop and take a "pilot" as they called him on board who knew the track so that he could navigate the train through this uncharted territory for Amtrak. The scenery with snow as far as the eye could see in places was beautiful, and despite having to go slower than usual in places, we actually arrived in Flagstaff early (around 9.30pm).
After waiting for our luggage to be released to us we phoned a taxi and stuffed all of our bags and wheelchair into his too small car and drove the short distance to the motel - the Radisson Woodlands on West Route 66.
The room was nice and only $75 for the night - and it was nice to sleep in a proper bed again.
The next morning after having breakfast and doing some much needed washing, Neil and I went to the airport to pick up our rental car. Then it was back to the room to wake the kids, check out and throw our bags (not unpacked for three days)in the back of the car and head off to Las Vegas on the wrong side of the road.
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