What month?

>>2858012
March

>>2858008
I've only ever taken the Cascades. It was not bad. Vancouver, BC to Portland, OR. Mountains and Ocean.

And lear some Ebonics it's DEI heavy. About 1 in 3 Amtrak employees are brothas.

My favorite train is the California Zephyr. It’s boring from Chicago to Denver but west of there is the best scenery on Amtrak. Glenwood Springs would be a good stopover. That 5-6 hour limit won’t get you very far desu so think about extending your window.
Western routes are the best for vibes and scenery and much of the east is boring though you go through some wild ghettos and postindustrial wastelands. I never took the trains from New York to Canada but imagine the New England scenery is beautiful and it would fit more in your time constraints. The Cardinal is also good for Appalachian scenery.
I’d think about either flying into Denver to start, or plotting out eastern destinations with the kind of stuff you enjoy.

I’d be happy to share any other Amtrak lore. I’m a train autiste so I won’t sperg out and will keep it neurotypical. Just assume the train will be late. Freight railroads own the tracks and take priority and there all kind of other shit that can go wrong. Imagine you’re in some kind of post Soviet country but with shitty Americaness. Short runs in the northeast are more likely to be on time but longer routes, especially at the end of the run, will probably be late.
The food is expensive and sucks so bring as much with you as possible. With your 5-6 hour legs that shouldn’t be a big issue. Same with booze or other intoxicants but don’t get caught smoking or vaping on board.
The coach seats are roomy (I’m 6’3”) and with a blanket, eye mask and earplugs it’s easy to sleep, unless you have some fat drunk boomer next to you. The motion and noise doesn’t really bother me.
Stations are a mixed bag—some historic structure near hotels and nightlife, or a shack in the middle of nowhere that shuts down after the train leaves.
Passengers skew older and are mostly cool. In the east people are just trying to get somewhere, out west it’s more about the experience. You have have good socialization in the cafe/bar car or the Sightseer dome cars out west. Employees are mostly cool but frazzled and overworked.
Be prepared for the worst but hope for the best. It can’t be that bad with shorter hops. I’ve done two day trips in coach.

>>2858067
>That 5-6 hour limit won’t get you very far desu so think about extending your window.
There in lies the problem, I can't really extend the window, hence why I made a thread
I'd much rather go out west but the timeframe just won't let me get there
I need amtrakkable places in the east

>>2858243
A lot depends on what you’re into—big city attractions or small towns and nature. 5-6 hours or even less works out well for the east. If you’re going soon maybe head south to get out of the cold, Florida trains or the Crescent to New Orleans with stops along the way. Do a loop with the Cardinal to Chicago then back on the Lake Shore Limited. The Hudson Valley is epic but the rest of the LSL is kind of boring.

>>2858243
You're better off not limiting yourself to trains only. Checking out at 11 am and waiting hours for a train really sucks, as does waiting hours to check in after deboarding. New England in March sucks, but it's the only region that can be explored with short train journeys from NYC. Otherwise, you should only count on stopovers between 10 AM and 5 PM to limit your wait times...which obviously means a night on the train if you're boarding at 5 PM.

>>2858025
>And lear some Ebonics it's DEI heavy. About 1 in 3 Amtrak employees are brothas
It’s a legacy thing going back to the days of Pullman porters and they’re no better or worse than the average Amtrak employees. I used to ride the Texas Eagle a lot and had this flirty energy going with a qt sista conductorette who remembered me from previous trips.

>>2858278
>waiting hours for planes.
You are checking yourself into lounges, right?

>waiting hours before a train
You are using locking, and leaving luggage at your hote, right?

>>2858253
In general I lean more towards big cities, but I feel like most of the cities in the eastern US are kind of been there done that for me. Like Cleveland is actually cool but it needs exactly one day and then you've done everything.
I wouldn't mind checking out some small towns or nature though. I'm open-minded

>Do a loop with the Cardinal to Chicago
I actually really wanted to do this (Those small West Virginia towns seem really interesting), but because the Cardinal doesn't run every day, it would eat up too much time

>>2858278
I might stretch that 5-6 hours rule if its an overnight for just the reasons you said. I've only done overnight on coach once and it was fucking miserable, but I also got stuck in the very front seat in the entire car and had that bright light in my face and that door opening and closing every 30 seconds.

>>2858431
As I mentioned, Florida might be a good choice to get out of the cold, with multiple trains a day and a string of interesting stops all the way down to Miami. Too bad the Sunset doesn’t go all the way to Jacksonville any more so you can’t do a New Orleans loop with the Crescent.

>>2858625
>a string of interesting stops all the way down to Miami
What stops do you recommend along that route? This is likely the way I'll end up going

>>2859199
I’ve only ridden that route at nighttime without stopping. Charleston and Savannah for historic cities, can’t imagine there much in Jacksonville and too bad St. Augustine isn’t a stop. Anything from West Palm Beach south would be a good stopover.