Join the many who will travel to Carbondale, Ill. to experience a total solar eclipse in August and take it easy by riding Amtrak while saving 30-percent on trips aboard the Illini or Saluki trains between Aug.16 and 22.

On Aug. 21, North America will experience its first coast-to-coast total solar eclipse in nearly a century. The eclipse will move across the continent at a speed greater than 930 mph and stretch from Oregon to South Carolina. It will have the longest duration near Carbondale, where it is expected to last for 2 minutes and 38 seconds, Viewers will want to be at the prime viewing destination no later than noon CDT that Monday. For more information, see the posting at blog.Amtrak.com.

Amtrak has the trains to get you (and your bicycle, too) to the prime viewing areas while avoiding the long drive up and down Interstate 57. Amtrak is a sponsor of the Carbondale Eclipse event, so the Amtrak travelmark is on viewing glasses distributed by Carbondale Tourism at the Eclipse Marketplace. Space for bicycles on the trains is limited, as are supplies of the souvenir glasses.

Discounted adult fares between Chicago to Carbondale on the Illini and Saluki are still available for as little as $24 each way, plus $10 each way for a bicycle. Amtrak operates the Illini and Saluki (Trains 390-393) under a contract with the Illinois Department of Transportation. Amtrak has you covered coming from Kentucky, Tennessee and points south on the City of New Orleans trains to and from Carbondale, with a sample adult fare of $42 each way from Memphis.

(Source: Amtrak)