I keep track of all my train mileage because I’m one of those people. By my reckoning I’ve done over 41,000 miles on Amtrak alone and another 10,000+ on other systems, mostly in Europe. A full quarter of my Amtrak mileage is on a single train: the Lake Shore Limited, which operates between Chicago and New York, with a section to Boston. I’ve taken it to three Moodle Hack/Doc Fests: Summer 2009 at Smith College, Winter 2010 at Lafayette College, and Summer 2011 at Hampshire College. I’ve ridden it to a pair of weddings. I took it to HighEdWeb 2012 and B-Fest 2013. I’ve made three trips on it in the last eight months. This makes writing the following all the harder: Lake Shore Limited, I’m afraid that we may have to break up.

Here’s the situation. I have cause to make the trip between New York and Chicago at least once a year for the B-Movie Festival in Evanston, Illinois. I’m likely to make it another time for business related to the German Studies Association, and it’s a fair bet that I’ll make at least one trip for pleasure to the Midwest. I’ve never made less than two round-trips in a calendar year since 2009. I’ve done one already this year, another is booked and at least one more is on the horizon. I’m just not sure I can do it on the Lake Shore Limited anymore. I think my future lies with the Capitol Limited.

7 things I don’t like about the Lake Shore Limited

  1. The eastbound departure time from Chicago. The Lake Shore Limited is Amtrak’s cleanup train, handling misconnecting passengers from the west. This is a necessary and useful function, but the 9:30 PM departure is a hardship. You’ve got to find dinner in Chicago, though if you’re a sleeper passenger they give you all the wine you want. If the Empire Builder got stuck in the Dakotas you might be a few hours late leaving.
  2. The eastbound afternoon crawl across upstate New York. Because of the late departure time from Chicago you spend all the daylight hours between Buffalo and Albany. It’s very, very boring. You do get lunch.
  3. CSX’s handling of the train in western New York. Amtrak is dependent on the freight railroads for dispatching. CSX does an absolutely terrible job between Schenectady and Rochester. They’re incapable of getting the train though on time. It’s just frustrating.
  4. The toilet in the Viewliner roomette. Amtrak experimented with the design of the Viewliner and included a toilet in each roomette. There’s no problem with smells or anything like that it’s just…awkward…in an already confined space. I can’t tell you how many times I wished for a public restroom instead, even though it meant a walk.
  5. The track quality around Buffalo. It’s very rough around Buffalo, and westbound you hit it around midnight (ish, depending on how badly CSX screwed you, see point #3) which guarantees you’ll be woken up.
  6. The Amfleet lounge. I’ve discussed this in the various route guides linked above but the Amfleet lounge/cafe simply doesn’t compare to the Sightseer Lounge on the Capitol Limited. There’s no good place for sitting and watching, and perhaps more importantly there’s not enough seating.
  7. The Amfleet lounge, Part II. It’s located on the back of the train because it travels to Boston. If you’re a New York sleeper passenger you’re walking through five coach cars to reach it.

The Capitol Limited improves on all these points. Its most significant drawback, of course, is that it doesn’t go to New York–it terminates in Washington, D.C. Passengers traveling to and from New York must take a Northeast Regional. That adds about four hours to the trip, allowing for connection times. This April I’m testing out taking the Capitol Limited westbound. We’ll see how it goes.