amtrak: Lorton va help getting to the station

[mommiepoppins]

I am thinking about taking the auto train. I have to get it in Lorton va. I live in Central ny. Map quest said about 7hrs. Now I really do not want to do 95 in Va due to it is a big pain in my butt. Sitting in Traffic for hours. Please help
my directions are 81-83-581-15-40-270-495-95
I hope I am not going to be stuck in that traffic. I will be going Thanksgiving week.

 

[mommiepoppins]

bump any one:confused

 

[plutolovr]

All I can tell you is that the exit for the Auto Train is right of 95. Now if there is a different way to get there I don't know.

 

[cherylp3]

note I have never done this.
you may want to check with someone who lives in VA
But instead of going to 83 - stay on 81 to Strausberg then take 66 toward washington then take 123 toward Fairfax then 642 toward lorton

check these links for routes
http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=7233296&postcount=114

http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=9566753&postcount=194

 

[nordkin]

I am thinking about taking the auto train. I have to get it in Lorton va. I live in Central ny. Map quest said about 7hrs. Now I really do not want to do 95 in Va due to it is a big pain in my butt. Sitting in Traffic for hours. Please help
my directions are 81-83-581-15-40-270-495-95
I hope I am not going to be stuck in that traffic. I will be going Thanksgiving week.

You should not have any trouble with this route as you will not be going over the Woodrow Wilson Bridge. You will only be on 95 in Virginia for about 5 or 6 miles. You will be on th outer loop of the beltway in Virginia and they have recently opened a new exit for 95 south that makes it much easier to get on to 95 south.

I have often driven the 581 -15-270-495 route and it takes about 1 and a half to two hours. From the 270-495 merge you are looking at about 30 minutes to get to Lorton. I drive this several times a week and even during rush hour it is 45 minutes max. Also of note 15 and 40 are the same road through Frederick, Maryland.

 

[nordkin]

note I have never done this.
you may want to check with someone who lives in VA
But instead of going to 83 - stay on 81 to Strausberg then take 66 toward washington then take 123 toward Fairfax then 642 toward lorton

Not a good idea. 66 gets backed up, 123 has heavy traffic and lots of stop lights as does 642. I would stick with the original route as the above suggested route takes you about 60 miles out of your way.

 

[PlutoPony]

I-66 east is not a problem outside of morning rush hour (it's 8 lane past Manassas now) so that's a viable alternative that let's you hit 495/Capitol Beltway further south than taking it all the way from the far north side where it joins 95. Evening rush hour on the Beltway starts around 3 and lasts until maybe 7 so if you can avoid it during those times it should be manageable. All bets are off however if it's snowing or sometimes even raining!
IMHO the best way to go would be take I-66 East to South on Route 7100 (Fairfax County Parkway) exit 55. Follow the signs when the Parkway ends to I-95 South (you'll be on Backlick Road, it's really straight forward). This puts you on I95 at Exit 197 I think, and you get off at 193 which is about as good as that gets. This route will work mostly any time, but I would avoid the metro DC area in rush hour if possible.

Edit - I'd avoid Route 123 frankly, agree that the lights and local traffic make it very slow. The Beltway's a better bet IMHO, just not at rush.

 

[cherylp3]

Nordkin, If you are stll around any advice on getting to Harrisburg PA from Lorton??

 

[bdcp]

270 is terrible also and 30 minutes from 270-495 merge to Lorton? Maybe at midnight. Harrisburg, PA to Lorton , Rt 15 all the way down into VA, there are a couple of ways from rt 15 : I-66 to 495 to 95 and south (can be a problem also). Rt 15 to Leesburg to rt 7 east to Fairfax County Pkwy south (rt 7100) to 123 to Lorton. We live east of Leesburg, VA and took that route (picked up Fairfax County Pkwy at a different location because we know lots of routes) in Nov on a Thursday morning and got there in plenty of time (45 minutes). 123 was fine at 11:30 am. My son goes to college near Harrisburg and he and we drive the route between Harrisburg and northern VA via rt 15. Definitely less traffic. There is a thread here on the auto train and I recommended the rt 15 route to someone who used it and thought it was great. Sorry for the rambling. Everytime someone mentions I-270 I have to respond. That is not the way to go, ever. It's very very heavily travelled pretty much 24-7. And 495 is heavy also.