Anyone taking train from Seattle to Vancouver?

Better Dan

I am now starting to mildly entertain the thought of trying to go to the Vancouver show. I was wondering if anyone was driving on the day of the show and had room for one more. Also looking to split a room Tuesday night in Seattle and/or Wed night in Vancouver. I'll need to keep my expenses as low as possible if this is going to happen.

demetrios

Yep! I'm taking the Amtrak train from Seattle to Vancouver on the 3rd.

P-Town-P-Jam-Fan

I thought you had to take a Bus. When I looked into taking the train to Vancouver, I had to train it to Seattle, then switch to a bus from Seattle to Vancouver. If this is the case, check out http://www.boltbus.com. They have bus service from Portland to Seattle to Vancouver for pretty cheap. These are nice buses too. No scuzzy grey hounds. $12.00 one way...cheap!

mfc2006

Dan, you crack me up.

dmbolp

Flying into Vancouver, train to Seattle, fly back out of Seattle

RKCNDY

Don't be surprised if the train gets delayed because of mudslides...it's rainy season now.

demetrios

RKCNDY wrote:

Don't be surprised if the train gets delayed because of mudslides...it's rainy season now.

Mudslides? :shock:

smanchac1

Trains from Vancouver to Seattle on the 5th have been booked since around the time of the show announcement. They have been sold out for a long time now.

We were smart and got train tickets early on, last I heard tickets were sold out and only options available are by bus.

Best of luck!

smanchac1

demetrios wrote:

RKCNDY wrote:

Don't be surprised if the train gets delayed because of mudslides...it's rainy season now.

Mudslides? :shock:

A few people have been trying to share horror stories or mudslides and snow storms.. It is what it is. No need to stress on it.

That's like freaking out over the fact it might rain! Oh no!!

I traveled from Seattle to Vancouver by ferry in 09 and now by train. Both options are much cheaper than flying.

About the post above ^ look into a ferry as an option to travel as well. Very beautiful views on the Vancouver-Seattle trip.

Zod

Nope,

I'm taking the most annoying way possible from Vancouver to Seattle. I'm taking the ferry back from Vancouver to Victoria. Spending the night at home, then the next morning taking the ferry from Victoria to Port Angeles and approaching Seattle from south.

Stupid ferries

ps. I don't think there's anywhere on the I5/Highway 99 for midslides. I don't recall there being any cliffs on the sides of the highways anywhere.. its mostly open. there's a few hills south of bellingham.. but thats it?

Better Dan

Zod wrote:

Nope,

I'm taking the most annoying way possible from Vancouver to Seattle. I'm taking the ferry back from Vancouver to Victoria. Spending the night at home, then the next morning taking the ferry from Victoria to Port Angeles and approaching Seattle from south.

Stupid ferries

ps. I don't think there's anywhere on the I5/Highway 99 for midslides. I don't recall there being any cliffs on the sides of the highways anywhere.. its mostly open. there's a few hills south of bellingham.. but thats it?

I'm looking at the ferry options now. The AMTRAK site also has some bus options that are really affordable. Still need to figure out if this is even doable.

Zod

Better Dan wrote:

I'm looking at the ferry options now. The AMTRAK site also has some bus options that are really affordable. Still need to figure out if this is even doable.

Are there ferries from Vancouver to Seattle? That would be pretty long? There's a passenger ferry that goes from Victoria to Seattle and it's 3 hours long (and is very inconvenient because it only goes in the evening because its designed to take people back to seattle.. IE you'd probably miss the beginning of the show).

The only reason I'm using boats is that I have to go back home to drop off my brother (who i'm taking to vancouver) and pick up my wife (who I'm taking to Seattle). I sort of had to go home in between (and I guess it saves staying in a hotel for the night).

PJ_Soul

P-Town-P-Jam-Fan wrote:

I thought you had to take a Bus. When I looked into taking the train to Vancouver, I had to train it to Seattle, then switch to a bus from Seattle to Vancouver. If this is the case, check out http://www.boltbus.com. They have bus service from Portland to Seattle to Vancouver for pretty cheap. These are nice buses too. No scuzzy grey hounds. $12.00 one way...cheap!

It depends on the time of day. There is a direct train between, but I believe only once a day. If the train departure time doesn't work for you, then you've got to take the bus (which would be fine, except that there is a HUGE delay at the border doing it that way... with the train they do customs at one of the train stations, but I think if you're on a bus they make everyone get off the bus at the border).

PJ_Soul

Zod wrote:

Better Dan wrote:

I'm looking at the ferry options now. The AMTRAK site also has some bus options that are really affordable. Still need to figure out if this is even doable.

Are there ferries from Vancouver to Seattle? That would be pretty long? There's a passenger ferry that goes from Victoria to Seattle and it's 3 hours long (and is very inconvenient because it only goes in the evening because its designed to take people back to seattle.. IE you'd probably miss the beginning of the show).

The only reason I'm using boats is that I have to go back home to drop off my brother (who i'm taking to vancouver) and pick up my wife (who I'm taking to Seattle). I sort of had to go home in between (and I guess it saves staying in a hotel for the night).

There is no practical ferry option from Vancouver to Seattle. There are actual special cruises between the two - the kind of thing you might do around Christmas time or for your spouse's birthday, get dressed up, have dinner, get drunk - but there aren't any regular passenger ferries between the two (I've never heard of such a thing, anyway).

RKCNDY

demetrios wrote:

RKCNDY wrote:

Don't be surprised if the train gets delayed because of mudslides...it's rainy season now.

Mudslides? :shock:

last year (winter-spring) they closed the tracks in Everett (north of Seattle) over 206 times. http://www.seattleweekly.com/home/94651 ... des-season

BNSF (the company that maintains the rails) was supposed to look into slide control.

smanchac1 wrote:

A few people have been trying to share horror stories or mudslides and snow storms.. It is what it is. No need to stress on it.

That's like freaking out over the fact it might rain! Oh no!!

:roll:

I am merely preparing people for what they may encounter. Some people aren't used to mudslides, or the type of snow we have here...it's different from the snow in Montana-they don't get the wet sloppy slushy snow. I would really hate for someone who has never been to the area to get stuck and have a really shitty time, or worse, miss a show.

People here kept saying 'It never rains on Labor Day at Alpine!'-yeah, look what happened...MUDFEST!
The rain at Alpine was totally different from the rain we have here in the PNW.

Better Dan

It's a little bit more complicated for me. I'm actually flying into Portland on Tuesday morning because I was going to hang out there for a few days. If I wanted to do the Vancouver show, the best option for me looks like the Bolt bus. It's about $30 from Portland, but it's an 8 hour ride. I can land at Portland at 11:20, take a bus at 4:00 and be at Vancouver at 10:00 :shock: Then I can have the next morning to recover, look around, etc before the show. Thanks to the poster that recommended that bus.

Lisa, are the bus routes pretty safe from mudslides?

PJ_Soul

Dan, I have never heard of a mudslide occurring on any main road between Vancouver and Seattle. I can't even think of a place were it would be possible at all on any bus route to Seattle unless you are taking one crazy-ass bus route. I really don't think anyone taking a bus has anything to worry about (I am surprised to hear there is an issue with the train, actually... I have never heard of this problem with mudslides on that route. I guess I've had my head in the mud).

RKCNDY

Better Dan wrote:

It's a little bit more complicated for me. I'm actually flying into Portland on Tuesday morning because I was going to hang out there for a few days. If I wanted to do the Vancouver show, the best option for me looks like the Bolt bus. It's about $30 from Portland, but it's an 8 hour ride. I can land at Portland at 11:20, take a bus at 4:00 and be at Vancouver at 10:00 :shock: Then I can have the next morning to recover, look around, etc before the show. Thanks to the poster that recommended that bus.

Lisa, are the bus routes pretty safe from mudslides?

yes, as PJ_Soul has said, there should be no problem with taking the bus-I've never heard of any shuttle cancellations in the last year or 2. The bridge is finally fixed, so no extra time for the detour.

I'm sure you can't wait to take a pic of yourself in front of the BoltBus anyway!

Better Dan

When I saw a picture of the bus I told myself that it must be a sign that I should go.

dmbolp

smanchac1 wrote:

Trains from Vancouver to Seattle on the 5th have been booked since around the time of the show announcement. They have been sold out for a long time now.

We were smart and got train tickets early on, last I heard tickets were sold out and only options available are by bus.

Best of luck!

Amtrak shows availability for both the morning (6:30am) and evening (5:30pm) trains

smanchac1

dmbolp wrote:

smanchac1 wrote:

Trains from Vancouver to Seattle on the 5th have been booked since around the time of the show announcement. They have been sold out for a long time now.

We were smart and got train tickets early on, last I heard tickets were sold out and only options available are by bus.

Best of luck!

Amtrak shows availability for both the morning (6:30am) and evening (5:30pm) trains

Good to know. They were showing sold out for a few weeks. This was around the time of the tour announcement..

They are early but easy! Lots cheaper than a flight for sure.

juliefer

I bet you could find a ride with someone if you change the thread title, or post a new topic. There's also the car rental option, then you could do things on whatever schedule you like.

uninnocent-

Thanks for the info on Bolt Bus. I was going to book Greyhound, but I'm giving this a shot instead.

osborne16

Better Dan wrote:

I am now starting to mildly entertain the thought of trying to go to the Vancouver show. I was wondering if anyone was driving on the day of the show and had room for one more. Also looking to split a room Tuesday night in Seattle and/or Wed night in Vancouver. I'll need to keep my expenses as low as possible if this is going to happen.

whatever you do dan, make sure you start drinking at noon the day of the show!

good luck buddy.