Nashville → St Louis, MO: Several of our parents will generously drive us to the St Louis train station. 🙏🏼
📣 DEPART: Mon Jun 16 8:00AM @ Christ Community Church in Franklin
We will stop for lunch on the way to the train station.
St Louis, MO → Raton, NM: We will take the Amtrak from St Louis to Raton. We will switch trains in Kansas City.
TRAIN 319: St Louis → Kansas City (departs St Louis @ 3:11PM, arrives Kansas City @ 8:51PM)
TRAIN 3: Kanas City → Raton (departs Kansas City @ 10:17PM, arrives Raton @ 9:47AM Jun 17)
Raton, NM → Philmont: Philmont runs a shuttle service between the train station and basecamp.
Philmont tracks the train schedule and will pick us up when we arrive. It is about a 45-60 minute bus ride to Philmont.
There will be an option to get food/lunch when we arrive in Raton, either at a grocery store or one of several fast food places.
WHILE AT PHILMONT
Jun 17: this is an extra day, we will get settled into camp. This gives us an additional day of elevation acclimation, as well as buffer in the event that travel is delayed for any reason.
Jun 18: this is the day that our treks officially start. We will meet with our Rangers and start final prep for the trep (getting food, gear, learning various Philmont specifics).
Jun 19-29: we hit the trail morning of the 19th, and will return to base camp sometime on the 29th (specific times are different per crew).
Jun 30: we depart Philmont. Since our train leaves later in the afternoon we will have some final time to visit the Scouting Museum and other attractions at Philmont.
TRAVEL - TO NASHVILLE
Philmont → Raton, NM: We will take the Philmont shuttle back to Raton.
Philmont tracks the train schedule and will tell us when to leave.
Raton, NM → St Louis, MO: We will take the Amtrak from Raton to St Louis. We will switch trains in Kansas City.
TRAIN 4: Raton → Kansas City (departs Raton at 4:26PM, arrives Kansas City at 6:36AM Jul 1)
TRAIN 318: Kansas City → St Louis (departs Kansas City at 8:40AM, arrives St Louis at 2:20PM)
St Louis, MO → Nashville: We will take a Greyhound bus from St Louis to Nashville.
📣 Departs St Louis 7:00PM, arrives at the Nashville Bus Station at 1:40AM Jul 2.
MISC TIPS
We will wear class-A uniforms for the entirety of the trip. We will likely encounter other Scouts on the train heading to/from Philmont.
When packing your bags - DO NOT pack things on the outside of your backpack (even if you are planning to do that on trail). For example if you store a z-fold type mattress on the outside when hiking, store that inside the bag when traveling. On the train between St Louis & Kansas City our bags will likely be in the same car as us, but between Kansas City & Raton they will likely be in a separate baggage car, handled by Amtrak employees.
A small pocketknife is fine to take on the train - pack it in your backpack (not the daypack that you will keep in your seat with you).
You can track the status of our trains on the Amtrak website, or RailRat links below:
Food on the train is basically convenience store food - combination of snacks and various things they can microwave to heat up (you cannot use their microwave). Plan to bring money to buy food for meals or bring your own snacks/food for the trip.
Cell coverage on the train is spotty. They do have wifi but it’s based on cell coverage. If you would like to watch movies/etc on your phone/tablet it’s best to download them before you leave.
The train between St Louis & Kansas City feels like a commuter train (modern/comfortable, but not as plush). The train between Kansas City & Raton has plush chairs that fully recline with leg rests and tray tables. Electric outlets in all seats (bring your own charger and a long enough cable to stretch across a potential seatmate). Highly recommended that you bring a blanket for the overnight (it gets cool!).