train from nyc to lax, 3 days as mentioned above, cost 260,
plane to lax to nyc, 232 for same day, travel time, 8 hours
Even if he went on the american orient express, its a ten day trip, and only in november, costing 4000 dollars, but its also a scenic trip and not a type of train that you be using to move stuff in. and goes from dc to la. so the deadbeat dad is obviously lying.
Heres a list of all us trains
http://www.narprail.org/linksserv.htm