Auto Train

In reply to SyntheticBlinkerFluid:

No, long before Trayvon, the Auto Train was Sanford's claim to fame. This was when I was in H.S., which sadly does go back 30 years.

Margie

Auto Train started as a privately held company in 1971 when I entered high school. Amtrak acquired it in 1983 after a couple of years of non-service. It's been operating ever since.

I checked on this yesterday, of course the rat bastards didn't have one come out of Minneapolis.

Either way, it's good that it still is producing some form of revenue for Amtrak.

I wish that Amtrak had the ridership in the Midwest like they do in the northeast and east coast in general. Then we could have all the fun things like the Auto Train.

Have taken the Auto Train several times and plan to do it again in the future. We usually opt for the larger compartment as the small compartment with upper and lower bunks is a challenge to get in and out of bed during the night, let alone trying to get dressed in. Be aware that if you take a small, low to the ground car, they will measure the height and make you sign a waiver if it is too low. Never could find out what they are concerned about the car bottoming out on. And yes, if your starter solenoid wire vibrates lose during the trip, they will reluctantly push your car all the way out of the train as they won't let you on board to diagnose. And they won't be very happy about it! Oops!

Wouldn't it be cool if they ran this east-west nation wide? I would love to drive route 66 west to cali in my own car and then come back by train. Unfortunately, living in GA makes Amtrak virtually useless. Leaving Atlanta you have to go through New Orleans or DC first to get ANYWHERE. And that makes it an absolute loss vs flying....

Back to the posters...

There are actually 2 posters, northbound and southbound. I have both, framed and hung on the wall downstairs. The northbound one has a "Nation's Capitol" theme in the background.

IIRC, I got them both from a link on AMTRACK's web site, a few years ago.

Stu