I intend to use an Amtrak Pass to travel the US for approx one month during May this year. My wife and I will be arriving in Toronto from Australia and intend to visit Niagara Falls entering the US from there. We then want to catch the train from Buffalo to Chicago and can find no information to help us from Niagara Falls to Buffalo. Any advice would be appreciated or indeed any other help or advice on the full trip which will be Chicago - Flagstaffe . greyhound from there to Vegas and on to fresno to visit Yosemite. Oakland - Seattle - Vancouver with the final leg back to Toronto on the Canadian. Thanks in anticipation
I don’t know if this will help you at all, but you may find my project interesting- http://www.trains.com/community/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=44882
It tells you who owns all of the track you will be traveling on.
Amtrak’s Maple Leaf travels from Toronto to Buffalo.
Amtrak’s Empire Service shows Buffalo-Exchange Street Station and Buffalo-Depew Stations, as well as Niagara Falls, NY on the timetable. The Lake Shore Limited Connects NYC to Chicago with a stop at Buffalo-Depew, NY
roger
welcome to the forums.give me a heads up what day you start your trip from buffalo to chicago.you’ll go right by where i work.i’ll try to wave.
stay safe
Joe
Dale has it right. Amtrak’s “Maple Leaf” is the connection you want. Runs daily, leaving Niagara Falls (U.S. side) at 12:35 pm, arriving Buffalo-Depew at 1:30 p.m. Your connection to Chicago on the “Lakeshore Ltd” appears to leave Buffalo - Depew at 11:55 p.m.
You might want to consider going from Niagara Falls to Buffalo by bus to maximize your time at the falls.
Note, these times come from the current Amtrak schedule, which runs thru April.
Get thee to the Lounge/Dome car from Trinidad south on #3. Remember the tunnel on top of Raton Pass, Apache Canyon just before Lamy, the Ribera loop below Las Vegas NM and Canyon Diablo (don’t blink!)[:D]
former resident of the “Smile, Hi!” City of La Junta, CO
MC is so so right. One of the most spectacular rides around. The scenery is fantastic – all the way from La Junta to Lamy – and the thrill of watching your engines (there are a number of places where you can see them from the lounge, usually, because of the curvature) pounding up the hill in 8 just can’t be beat.
and ps: if you get up early enough on 3 the morning after you leave Chicago, go to the last car and watch the sunrise over the Kansas plains at 89 mph. If there is no trailing equipment, you can look right out the window back down the track the way you came.
There may be an earlier or later train between Toronto and Niagra. The Maple Leaf is the first train to Niagara each day but there are others.
Look at the Amtrak timetable for the Lake Shore and see if you might want to connect to it further east than Depew. I can’t imagine sitting in the Depew station for 10 hours awaiting a connection. It is not close to downtown Buffalo or other places to “kill time.” Also be aware Amtrak can often be late so don’t depend on making “tight” connections. There may also be a bus service between Niagara and Buffalo.
Be sure to research the pass to see if you can get one that covers both Canada and the US. I’m not familiar with those offered to international visitors but there is a North American pass for residents of this continent and it works on both VIA and Amtrak. Also while you’re at the Amtrak site, be sure to check to see if Amtrak Thru Way service is possibly offered between some of the points not connected by train. Many locations do have connecting buses which are operated by Amtrak. While it may be a bit more than the Greyhound fare, these busses are actual extensions of the trains and they assure connections if there are delays.
While at both the VIA and Amtrak sites you can print out “full” timetables so you can see more than just the starting and end points. This would allow you better evaluation of connections. At Amtrak click on Schedules and select the train by name. On VIA it’s Plan Your Journey and then Schedules then Schedules in PDF Format.
If your travel plans include the Grand Canyon you can connect to the Grand Canyon from Flagstaff (Williams Arizona) by the Grand Canyon Railway.
If you have some railfanning time to spend in Chicago, you could be kept busy for several days. Check out http://www.dhke.com/CRJ/
for some of the possibilities. I’d be glad to offer further assistance, as would, I’m sure, other Chicagoans on the Forum.
Personally as a Chicago Railfan I would spend a few days train watching in Chicago some of the best spots in the nation in my view. I would be happy to offer any assistance. I would also try to ride 5/6 from Chicago to Emeryville since the scenery is better I think personally.
Roger: There is one train a day (each way) between Niagara Falls and Buffalo. It’s not a convenient time if you plan to go on to Chicago. I’m not sure what bus transit there is, but it is probably more convenient than the train. (I hate to say it, but it’s true.) I hope someone from Buffalo can tell you how to get to the train station.
Are you talking Niagara Falls in Canada or the U.S.? The more spectacular view of the falls is from the Canadian side.
you can take the maple leaf fron toronto to niagara falls ontario .get off and spend the day sight seeing .get back on the next day and get off in downtown buffalo at the exchange street station . spend the day in buffalo then take a cab out to depew amtrk station late in the day .you can then make your connection to the lake shore.