WASHINGTON—Effective immediately, each departure of the Chicago-Washington, D.C. Capitol Limited is accepting reservations for up to 12 full-size bicycles along the route of a train that parallels popular trails through Maryland, West Virginia, and southern Pennsylvania.
Last Friday, Amtrak announced increased capacity through mid-September, “due to high demand.” For $20, passengers can check a bike up to 50 pounds as long as it isn’t greater than 70 inches long, 41 inches tall, and 8 1/2 inches wide. The bicycles are carried in the lower-level baggage section of coach-baggage Superliners.
A combination of the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal Towpath out of Washington and the Great Allegheny Passage into Pittsburgh intersect the Capitol’s route at Connellsville, Pa., Cumberland, Md., and Harpers Ferry, W.Va., as seen on a map of the two trails. Cumberland has been a popular midway train-trail transfer point, as it is 146 rail miles from Washington and 153 miles from Pittsburgh.
Most of the trail west of Hancock, Md., follows the course of the abandoned Western Maryland Railway main line, which includes numerous tunnels and passage over WM’s Salisbury Viaduct near Meyersdale, Pa.
The Capitol Limited sellouts in both coach and sleeping cars continue to occur primarily on the overnight portion of the run west of Pittsburgh, where passengers make connections to and from the Pittsburgh-New York Pennsylvanian. This allows more available lower-priced seats for bicycle and hiking enthusiasts seeking to use the train for one part of their trip.
Really would prefer that effort was put into returning the dining cars to full service rather than bikes.
What kind of bike has handlebars only 8.5 inches wide?
Very cool! Those trails look great too.