A colleague of my husband's wrote this. Some of it is tongue-in-cheek, but according to my personal experience, I'd have to say this is pretty accurate. I travel the NE corridor by train fairly regularly, but cross-country is another matter.

Here is a link that might be useful: Traveling the US Cross-Country by Train

Just wanted to say, I got as far as the title and started laughing :)

(Great wide angle photo too! Now on to the article...)

This post was edited by awm03 on Tue, Jul 9, 13 at 12:45

"Perhaps you can take some Ambien to help you sleep then wake up four hours later to find yourself driving the train."

Hilarious! Thanks for the laugh.

I took the TGV from Paris to Bordeaux and it was wonderful. I wish we had real high speed trains in the USA.

Italian train travel is nice too.

Great info along with many laughs . . . I loved it!!! Thanks for posting it, Kkay.
Lynn

kkay - That was hilarious! His treatise on moving is also a stitch.

We have friends who LOVE train travel and have done a few US and CDN trips but they organize their trips 18 months out, research to the nth degree and do everything first class.

***side note to awm (hope you see this here because you don't have email activated on GW) - got your sweet email - thank you - you made me blush

Loved the article!

I could write a book myself about my 1989 cross country trip via Amtrak. The best part: rolling through the desert and Indian reservations in a dome car with an onboard guide describing the area's history. The worst part: hard to pick just one. We missed a connecting train in Chicago due to a malfunction on the train that made us late and had to fly to catch up (I'm plane phobic and it was my 1st plane ride). Our luggage didn't catch up with us until the day after we arrived in California. There was a rodent in our sleeper car. They couldn't attach the dining car to our Eastern train and the staff made a pit stop so they could bring us all Kentucky Fried Chicken 3 piece dinners, which were brought on board in big plastic garbage bags.(I'm swear I'm not making this up).

I would say that to enjoy long distance train travel one needs to be very flexible by nature. If you like everything just so and can't go with the flow, you're going to have a very unhappy experience. If you can accept that some things will inevitably go wrong and be at peace with that, it could be a great adventure. I still remember seeing the sun come up while in the dome car and thinking it was all worth it at that moment.

I enjoyed the linked article, thanks.

I was just in Europe and rode many trains. In Scotland, our scenic train ride to Skye was delayed by about an hour due to trouble on the track ahead. They were all apologies, they gave everyone a free item from the snack cart, and passed out complaint forms to anyone who wanted one. Is that how Amtrack would handle it? Hahaha.

Well, I have to answer this one! Due to the quirks of my childhood, my parents' willingness to allow me to travel alone from age 12 on, and the fact that I have severe idiopathic vertigo and, for the past 30 years have been unable to fly - I have crisscrossed the USA by train, by coach and sleeper car. I've also traveled by train in Canada, England, Israel and Mexico, but those trips were all fairly short. I love Amtrak!

Some comments about the linked article. FIrst, he misses the main experience of dining on a train. You meet the most fantastic people! Seating in the dining car is done by filling up each 4-place table, and unless there are three of you, you will sit with strangers. Everyone has a story and almost everyone wants to hear yours. I have dined with people from around the world. Foreign tourists are especially interesting, because they want to have a real American experience and are curious about everything. But our countrymen/women are also fascinating. I could write a book about those I've met on the train.

The food is forgettable, except for the salmon and roast chicken, which are delicious. For breakfast I always have the "healthy choice" - fresh fruit, yogurt, and a muffin or croissant, plus orange juice and coffee. The snack bar is a snack bar, but does have fresh fruit.

The writer of the article discusses train travel when going by coach. I always traveled by coach when I was a lot younger and didn't require sleep and could tolerate anything. Not that there's anything wrong with coach - it's fine for a 10-15 hour trip, and many people travel that way for a lot longer time. But now that I am older and have aches and pains, I like a really good chair for curling up and reading, and a bed at night. So if it's a longer trip (to see the children and DGS) I take a roomette. Yes, it's expensive - $700 for a round trip between Salinas CA and Eugene OR. I know. But for that you have your own tiny room with two cushy seats that fold into a bed, plus various kinds of lights, electrical outlets, a fan, and good space for hanging up clothes and storing carry-ons. All meals are included, plus all the coffee and fruit juice that one could drink. And the sleeping car attendant, who will do his/her best to make you comfortable, including making up your bed, bringing extra pillows and blankets and sundries you might need, plus bringing you your meal from the dining car if you're not feeling friendly. Attendants also have their own stories to tell, if you just ask! They are unionized and have good lives. For sleeping I take a trazedone, a non-addictive sleeping pill. I turn off the lights, leave the curtains open, and if I wake up, just enjoy the passing scene, homes and farms and ranches with a light on, and the stars and moon in the sky. Very romantic!

Yes, to enjoy train travel you have to be flexible and not a germophobe. Trains don't always run on time, and someone may get sick in a public bathroom. I always bring plenty of reading matter, wash my hands frequently and never go barefoot. But I also never worry.

Two of the most beautiful trips are the Coast Starlight, from L.A. to Seattle, right out over the ocean north of Santa Barbara, and through the Cascade Mts. in Oregon. We've met many people going between L.A. and Portland or Seattle who fly one way and, just for the experience, Amtrak home. Also there is the Zepher, which rides through the Sierra Nevadas and later, Utah and southern Colorado. The Empire Builder, through Idaho and the northern Rockies, is on our list.

He is right about Union Station in Chicago. I remember the old Union Station (as in The Untouchables) from my childhood, a wonderful place. Now it's been remodeled and it is not fun, nor elegant. And good luck finding someone to help with luggage. You are on your own, schlepping everything behind you.

Train travel is our one true luxury, and for us, well worth it. We talk it up with our friends but still, nearly everyone prefers to fly.

I know this was long, but at least it wasn't as long as the linked "memoir"!

Sable, thanks so much for chiming in with a more positive point of view! You've piqued my interest in train travel even more.

We recently took Amtrack from Philly to Boston and were pleasantly surprised. We usually fly into Logan airport but we wanted to try something different and plane travel has indeed become an ordeal.

While I often take NJ Transit to New York City this was my first Amtrak trip. We had first class tickets but I was surprised to learn that it doesn't give you a designated seat, it just assures you that you will get a seat. DH and I had an early departure and we easily found 2 seats together. We had an excellent breakfast and a fairly tasty lunch. How nice to be served a meal on china and to have our beverages readily refilled. We thoroughly enjoyed the scenery and the attendants were friendly and efficient.

It was also a plus to be able to get up and walk around and stretch your legs. There was a snack bar and dining car, and even the bathroom was roomy.

While the train trip was significantly longer than the plane flight if you consider the extra time it takes to arrive early, go through TSA, wait to board your flight and then wait for your luggage after you land ---the overall travel time was fairly close.

I'd love to take a leisurely train trip after DH's retires.

Took the Amtrak from Minneapolis to Chicago once - worst travel experience of my life. Coworker recently took it to Glacier Park - sounded equally disastrous. They ended up on a bus for part of the trip. I would never take a train trip in the US.

After a crappy flight and even crappier TSA interaction in 2011, my daughter suggested I check out Amtrak.

I can not thank her enough - I'm a full blown rail addict now and have logged 26,000 miles since June 2011.

Amtrak is the only way I travel unless my husband wants to take a road trip.
At this point in my life, I have all of the free time in the world so taking the train and relaxing is the way to go for me.

I've traveled both coach and sleeper and have never had a bad trip or bad experience.
Delays? Yes, but nothing that ruined my trip.
I pretty much travel sleeper in a roomette exclusively now and love it.

The amount of freedom to move about, the personal space, being able to use whatever electronics I want when I want, not being treated like a criminal, meals in the dining car, hanging out with a beer in the Sightseer Lounge all make taking the train wonderful.

I just took a round trip on the Empire Builder from Chicago to Portland, then the Cascades to Seattle, and the Empire Builder back to Chicago..... just for fun - and it was!

I have a few trips to NYC, NOLA and Dallas planned this fall & winter.
Then....my next big adventure is:
the Southwest Chief to LA,
then the Coast Starlight to Seattle,
hang out a couple of days,
back on the Coast Starlight to Sacramento, and finally the California Zephyr back to Chicago.

Can't wait! I love Amtrak!

Here are a few pics....

Dining car

Sightseer Lounge

Coach seats with leg and footrests and a fold down tray too.
The person in front can recline all they want and it won't invade your space.

Roomette - sleeps 2 - upper & lower bunks
Seats turn into lower and upper gets pulled down

This post was edited by joanie_b on Tue, Jul 9, 13 at 23:35

I took a shortish jaunt by Amtrak last year to Seattle WA. I chose the train since it was cost effective (1 person RT on the train was less than what it would have cost me to drive-but 2 ppl would not have been cost effective). I really enjoyed it-I got the opportunity to stretch out and doze and was very comfortable.

The return trip was filled with fellow concert goers-so most of the discussions in the cab were about the concert we'd all attended. Since it was such a short jaunt, I didn't dine in the dining car, but did get a meal from the snackette area-about what I'd expect from that.

Will I do it again for longer jaunts? Probably not since when I travel my time is limited and I'd just as soon fly (despite the wretchedness of flying!) but if I had the luxury of time, I'd probably consider it. I think I'd research it tho-on our train line. the lines are owned by Union Pacific-so Amtrak must take a back seat to the freight trains. Amtrak will be delayed in favor of them.

Awn - Remember, flexibility, and tolerance for inconvenience! Travel by train when you have time. Your reward will be to see America mile by mile, and many places that are only viewable from a train. Let us know if you decide to do it.

Joanie - Those pictures have me yearning to get right back on a train! I just returned a few weeks ago from taking the Starlight up to Oregon and back. I would love to take the Empire Builder round-trip by myself, but it would hurt DH's feelings (although I've traveled quite a bit by myself), so we will have to save up for a really extended trip like this. I am retired but he is not, so am not totally free. I completely concur with you about the comfort of a roomette, and about being able to walk around whenever you want. Enjoy your adventure on the Chief and the Starlight!

Flexible & tolerant -- that's me!

Oooh, the Empire Builder -- named for James J. Hill who built the Great Northern Railway. I read a biography of him after visiting the James J. Hill home & museum in St. Paul. Would love to travel that line.

Sable, I too am dependent on DH's schedule for traveling. We don't take individual vacations. (I was away for 2 weeks last year, the first time I'd ever gone away independently, and we both decided "Never Again!") An adventure like a long train trip is best shared with a best friend, which is DH in my case :)

Joanie, thanks for sharing the pictures! Worth a 1000 words for sure.

This post was edited by awm03 on Wed, Jul 10, 13 at 13:40

I take the train often from central il to chicago. Much better than driving.