This is a tough one.
Amtrak discontinued the Desert Wind a few years ago, which would have been a good choice for most of the trip.
You best option is on 3 trains - west to Los Angeles, then north to Seattle, then east to Montana. Sorry, there is no service directly to Missoula.
Day 1. West: LV to Los Angeles via Amtrak Thruway Bus,
3 motorcoaches each day. $38
8:50 am - 2:55 pm; 11:50 am - 5:40 pm; 4:50 pm - 10:35 pm
Days 2-3. North: LA to Seattle via "Coast Starlight"
10:15 am to 11:30 pm, next day $139
Days 4-5: East: Seattle to Whitefish, MT via "Empire Builder"
4:45 pm to 7:26 am, next day. $162
The problem is getting from Whitefish (or any Amtrak station in Montana) to Missoula. I think you need to check maps to see how close Amtrak and Greyhound cities are located, and adjust your schedule.
Amtrak stations in MT: Browning, Cut Bank, Essex, Glasgow, East Glacier Park, Havre, Libby, Malta, Shelby, Whitefish, West Glacier, Wolf Point.
Grehound stations in MT: Basin, Billings, Bozeman, Butte, Dillon, Drummond, Forsyth, Glendive, Great Falls, Hardin, Helena, Hyshan, Kalispell, Livingston, Miles City, Missoula, Polson, Ronan, St Ignatius, St Regis, Three Forks, Wibaux
Good luck
2006-08-02 19:16:40
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answer #1
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answered by Tom-SJ 6
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Please read this answer fully. If you want to be time conservative, take a flight from Las Vegas to Missoula. There are plenty of flights that do so. Go on United Airlines from Las Vegas to Missoula with a short stop in Denver. If you really have your heart set on taking a circuitous train excursion from Las Vegas to Missoula, then do this. Take a Commuter Carriers bus from the Las Vegas airport (McCarran International Airport) to Needles California. You arrive in Needles at 12:30 Am and make the Southwest Chief to LA at 12:49 AM, and getting you into LA at 8:20 later that morning, meaning you can get some shut eye. Then, from there, at 10:15 AM, board the Coast Starlight and head north to Seattle where you will arrive in Seattle at 8:30 PM the next day. From there, board the Empire Builder the next afternoon at 4:45 PM and take it to Whitefish, getting you to Whitefish at 7:26 AM, where you can then take a bus to Missoula. Between all the trains you would have to take and the much much shorter flight to Missoula, the prices would probably be more in favor of the plane trip than the train trip, unfortunately. Either way, have a fun trip up to Missoula.
2006-08-03 14:26:49
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answer #2
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answered by ratpac7_10519 3
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Bad luck. Since 1997 when Desert Wind train (Chicago-Los Angeles via Salt Lake City and Las Vegas) was discontinued, no passenger service there. And Missoula hasn´t passenger service since 1979 when the North Coast Hiawatha train was discontinued. You can go to Chicago from Flagstaff and after from Chicago to Whitefish, from there there are buses to Missoula. If not, you can take Greyhound, their fastest schedule (6050) is 20h 55 min with two bus changes, that is quite good.
2006-08-03 01:29:30
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answer #3
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answered by tgva325 4
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