4 Days Across the USA by Sleeper Train Part 2 - Amtrak’s Lake Shore Limited

As you leave Chicago and head east, you are basically travelling back in time. Back through America's industrial (and economic) centers of a hundred years ago. What we now call the "Rustbelt." Toledo, Cleveland, Erie, PA, Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, Albany. These cities were once the centers of American industrial might (plus Detroit, Akron, Pittsburgh and a few others.) But they now look their age, as many of the factories have been long shuttered, replaced by imported product. But that route takes you through what was once America at its finest.

I did an Amtrak rail journey back in 2019, all in roomettes. I started in West Palm Beach, Florida traveling overnight to Washington DC. After a long layover in the lounge (it was raining) I took the Capitol Limited overnight to Chicago. The layover in Chicago was several hours before boarding the Empire Builder that would take me to Portland, Oregon (the train splits in Spokane with half going to Seattle and half to Portland). I then stayed in Portland for two nights before taking the Coast Starlight on a two night journey to Los Angeles. I stayed in Portland in case the train had major delays, as it ended up we were a half hour early. To get home to Florida I took a cruise that went through the Panama Canal to get from L.A. to Fort Lauderdale.

You are now my favorite channel on train travel. Your personality is so pleasant and you don’t complain about lack of services. You seem to take everything in stride. We could all learn lessons from you in traveling. You seem genuinely happy about your journey. Enjoy!

Enjoyed these two videos. I'm from Ireland but moved to the US a few years ago and its on my list to do a train journey across america. The older I get, the less I like air travel and domestic travel in the US is very stressful. Its encouraging to see that the trains look clean and the food is good and that you got some sleep.

I'm a little surprised at the lack of announcements of notable places you passed on this trip. As a near-lifelong resident of Upstate NY and railfan, here are a couple notable items I noticed from your video while crossing Upstate: At the 8:38 and 15:30 marks is Buffalo Central Terminal, the historic train station for Buffalo NY. There is lots of neat historic info on this and I strongly recommend everyone google this to learn about it. At the 15:25 mark is one of the many locks on the Erie Canal as it runs jointly with the Mohawk River from approximately Utica to Waterford, where it empties into the Hudson River. The tracks run almost parallel to this waterway for many miles. Another notable place not shown in this video, the train and river go through a small mountain pass between the Utica and Schenectady stations. This is known as Big Nose/The Noses/Anthony's Nose by locals. It is the official divide between the Catskill and Adirondack Mountains, and the main geographic feature that allowed the Erie Canal to be created.

Thank you SO much for tuning in to watch part two of my journey across America by Amtrak train. Someone in the comments asked if this train was late or ran on time... and I completely forgot to share this in the video! I'm happy to announce, The Lake Shore Limited ran perfectly on schedule!

There is a wonderful book, "USA by Rail", by john Pitt. It tell you a little something interesting about each tow along any of Amtrak's routes, gives you estimated time between towns and includes history of the rail lines. It also includes information about Canadian routes. Love the book. We take it on our many rail journeys.

I watched the first part of this video too. Both videos were very good. You hit the nail on the head when you guessed that most of the eastern Amtrak routes are indeed just a way of getting from point A to point B. The Amtrak Superliners going cross-country are much more apt to point out sights of interest. I’m not too sure I would jump on the bandwagon about filling up your water bottles on Amtrak though. Even though almost all Amtrak passenger trains utilize both potable and non-potable water systems onboard, it is pretty recognized that fresh water holding tanks on Amtrak are not serviced very often and can be a great place for bacteria. 🤢 I am 65 years old and have been traveling via Amtrak since they have been around in the 1970s. So, if you ever have a question about anything train related, feel free to ask me, I might have an answer for you! 😉

Jesus, quality from zephyr to the lake shore is drastic. Strange. 😮

I took a round trip Amtrak from New York penn station to Delray Beach in a roomette. It was amazing and I loved every minute. Because of your video I have decided to treat myself for my 50th birthday next year on the exact trip from NYC to San Francisco on a roomette.

In 2019 Amtrak rolled out "Flex Dining" which is prepared ahead of time and served in a bowl. The western long distance trains (Coast Starlight, Empire Builder, California Zephyr, Southwest Chief, and Sunset Limited) have returned to traditional onboard dining. The Lakeshore Limited is one of the trains that have not returned to fresh cooked meals.

Good job Chloe! As an American it's fun seeing a foreigner experience this!

OMG, your butter cake dessert comes from my hometown - Rehoboth Beach, DE!! That was a surprise to see 😀

I watched your whole journey from Cali to NYC. So well done and your just adorable. Thanks😊

We did that same trip 3 weeks ago. The only difference was that the Zephyr ran 18 h late! Didn't matter because Amtrak has fantastic customer service and makes everything alright. Fantastic journey AND cheaper than the I-P in Aus...

Part of the stop in Albany is also switching to an Engine that is duel power. It runs off of diesel until you enter the tunnels in NYC. There it is required to run off of the electric 3rd rail. The Empire service that runs between Buffalo and NYC uses these Engines from end to end so there is no need to change engines in Albany.

Seeing the contrast between your experience on the Zephyr vs. Lake Shore made me giggle because I’ve never taken an Amtrak out west, but have traveled on the Lake Shore and Cardinal trains many times, and it’s definitely not luxurious by any stretch of the imagination 😅 the Cardinal is an interesting mix of both commuters and tourists though, so you do get some volunteers that come on board to give a guided tour during parts of the journey, similar to your experience on the Zephyr!

I took this train to and from the Greenbrier resort in 2013. Then I took this train to and from New York City in 2023. Both were very interesting and good experiences.😊

If I had a lovely travel companion like Chloe I would be happy to act as her guide and travel companion.

Hi I enjoy your blog from California to New York I like how you have veggie meals I am a vegetarian so I always appreciate that but OneNote give us what else in the menu for other people to the idea of what's come in the entree appetizer continue to great job 😊😊😊 from Trinidad