Albany to Lorton

[dromio42]

Anyone drive from the Albany area to the Auto Train in Lorton? When did you leave? How long did it take? Any suggestions or cautions would be appreciated. We are going the Monday after Thanksgiving.

 

[NJRRK]

Going that far, and needing to be in Lorton by 2:30ish I would suggest leaving Sunday and staying overnight in Lorton. There is a Motel close to the Autotrain (1/2 mile or so). We always plan on 7 hours for our trip from Northern NJ, even though it's never taken us more than 4 1/2. According to Google your trip is about 7 hours, almost 400 miles, alot of "ifs" can happen in that amount of time. Plus you won't need to get up so early on Monday.

 

[dromio42]

Thanks for the answer - that's exactly what we did last time. But we just hated hanging around all day waiting for the train. We also thought a little extra tiredness might help us sleep on the train. We are a little nerveous that something could happen on the way, so we haven't picked up our tickets, that way we can cancel and drive if we need to.
Last year at the hotel I almost got stuck in the elevator....so, truly, anything can mess up plans.

 

[NJRRK]

Just down I-95 about 20 minutes (or less) south of Lorton is Potomac Mills, a big shopping/outlet area, that would be a good way to "waste" some time on Monday.

 

[dromio42]

Thanks, if we stay overnight I will look into that - sounds like fun.

Anyone out there dirive on the day of the train??

 

[ibcnu]

We are driving the day of the train. We plan on leaving Ocean County, NJ at 6am and driving straight through. My kids think I'm nuts and are already complaining, but I'm so concerned about traffic on 295, through Baltimore, and around Washington DC.

I did make a note about Potamic Mills Outlets. If we do have a few hours to spare after we arrive, we'll definately stop there.

As far as getting a room the night before, I'm just afraid of driving late at night because I need to go to work that day. I'd rather leave and drive with a few hours of sleep under my belt than to drive when I've been up already for over 12 hours.

 

[NJRRK]

We are driving the day of the train. We plan on leaving Ocean County, NJ at 6am and driving straight through. My kids think I'm nuts and are already complaining, but I'm so concerned about traffic on 295, through Baltimore, and around Washington DC.

I did make a note about Potamic Mills Outlets. If we do have a few hours to spare after we arrive, we'll definately stop there.

As far as getting a room the night before, I'm just afraid of driving late at night because I need to go to work that day. I'd rather leave and drive with a few hours of sleep under my belt than to drive when I've been up already for over 12 hours.

1 - Leaving from Ocean County at 6 a.m. might put you at the end of DC rush hour. You might want to consider a 6:30 a.m. start, we leave at 7 from Morris County and we usually get to Lorton around 11:30 we'll go down the street (to the east) from the Autotrain and have lunch in the Itlaian Restaurant in the strip mall about 2-3 miles down and we usually avoid the mad DC traffic. Plus a 7a.m. start gives us breathing room if we do hit traffic.

Last time we did the trip (Oct 08), we were on I-95 north of DC, we usually will go around the east-side of DC (staying on I-95), but there was mad traffic headed that way so we went around the West side (I-495). Took 10 minutes longer than the east side without mad traffic and we were in normal, for NJ anyway, traffic, no back-ups but plenty of other cars. I think the people who really complain about DC traffic are from non-Metro areas and aren't used to heavy, but moving, traffic. But DC can be horrendous in rush hour.

2 - I understand why you wouldn't want to leave the day before, but you only have a 3 1/2 - 4 hour drive, the OP has a 7+ hour drive. That makes a big difference, plus the OP's Autotrain is on Monday, they probably don't have work the day before, but they might.

 

[chartle]

Thanks, if we stay overnight I will look into that - sounds like fun.

Anyone out there dirive on the day of the train??

We drove from Pittsburgh the day of the trip. Left at 8:30 and got there at 1:30 as planed. We checked in and ate a lunch we packed. Figured we had to eat lunch sometime so we used that time as our buffer.

No way I would stay over night. It would add more cost and time.

Also if you get up at 8:00 the morning of the trip in a hotel near the station. You may be thinking to yourself. If I just got back on to I-95 I would be two thirds of the way to WDW by the time the train leaves at 4:00. I couldn't wait.

 

[ibcnu]

1 - Leaving from Ocean County at 6 a.m. might put you at the end of DC rush hour. You might want to consider a 6:30 a.m. start, we leave at 7 from Morris County and we usually get to Lorton around 11:30 we'll go down the street (to the east) from the Autotrain and have lunch in the Itlaian Restaurant in the strip mall about 2-3 miles down and we usually avoid the mad DC traffic. Plus a 7a.m. start gives us breathing room if we do hit traffic..

How is the traffic through Baltimore at about 9am or 10am?

 

[NJRRK]

How is the traffic through Baltimore at about 9am or 10am?

Not bad, a lot lighter than the GSP on a summer weekend.