Learn me Amtrak...

In reply to Klayfish:

I always thought the Auto Train was a great deal.

Wow,

Thanks for all the info so far, this is great.

So it looks like: A) byob B) byos (bring your own sammich) C) Be prepared to talk to people, not a problem and D) let it be about the journey not destination and E) Call Amtrak to get some better info...

Cool thanks

ThePhranc wrote: Buy your tickets early and for an early morning time. I know that from DC to NYC a few hours difference can be a200% price jump.

For the original poster, there aren't any choices as the train only passes through St. Paul once a day: going west, you leave at 11:15pm, going east you leave at 7:50am.

pinchvalve wrote: Never been on a train, but I would walk barefoot over 300 miles of red hot steel spikes before I would take Greyhound again. It HAS to be better than that. Slow death is better than that.

but greyhound has come a long way since the mid 90's... but it may also have a lot to do with location... it is the cheapest form of transport cross country so you are traveling with some undesirables... pack accordingly (aka bag locks for your carry on lol) and if possible choose who you sit next to carefully (smelly guy sucks lol)... but after riding public transport/buses in 3rd world countries greyhound is downright luxury :)....

NOTHING compares to public transport in europe... that was awesome stuff...

If it's available in your area, check out http://us.megabus.com/, their rates are crazy cheap and they have free Wi-Fi. :) They have a nonstop route from Minneapolis to Chicago I'm tempted to try sometime.

I went from L.A. to Seattle on an Amtrak and it was LOVELY. It was a multi-stop thing so it took a day and a half, but you get to step off the train and experience your surroundings. The real joy was the snowy mountainous scenery.

Our train was set up much like a plane with every other row of seats removed. I couldn't touch the seat in front of me with my feet. There was actually enough room for my 6'1" frame to sleep on the floor at my wife's feet.

I would say if you're looking for the train trip to be part of the vacation its great. If you're looking for fast, economical transport to your destination, its not the right way. Generally tickets are expensive, but the Amtrak website has an "outlet" where you can buy cheap tickets to fill seats. Our tickets were something like $86 each.

One positive I thought of today is that, even if the train is stuck on the tracks somewhere, it's still not as horrible as being trapped on the tarmac in a plane that's not going anywhere for 8 hrs.

I hate flying. Too bad it's so efficient and cheap most of the time.

In reply to ddavidv:

While flight is efficient and Cheap most of the time, when on a train I don't have it running constantly through my mind if we're gonna crash land in a field somewhere everytime I feel turbulence or keep an eye on everyone who gets up during the flight. Yes I do have a wonderful paranoia with flying.

mtn wrote:

stuart in mn wrote: You can make connections there to The City of New Orleans, which goes to (duh) New Orleans. I imagine you can get connections from Seattle south to California but I don't know what train that is.

I need to take this train sometime. Best damn train song ever written, which puts it in contention for the best damn song ever written. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-lgnfk9PXNw

That's the train I took. It was a very good time. I live a mile from the penultimate stop, so it's very convenient for me too. The leaves are changing right now. It was actually this time last year that I went. Chicago falling away at night is amazing. I have never taken the final stretch into New Orleans though. I've driven the highway parallel to the tracks, so I'm sure it's picturesque.

"Why did you take the train? Afraid of flying?"

"Nooo. I'm not afraid of flying. I just want to be bored."

I just made the completely illogical decision to travel by train from Jacksonville to New Orleans for my vacation next month. It will be a two-day endeavor that goes north to North Carolina before heading southwest to NOL, but I'm really looking forward to it.

MitchellC wrote: I just made the completely illogical decision to travel by train from Jacksonville to New Orleans for my vacation next month. It will be a two-day endeavor that goes north to North Carolina before heading southwest to NOL, but I'm really looking forward to it.

Report back man! Let us know how it goes!

I will never buy a ticket from them for the same reason I'll never buy a newer GM or Chrysler product. Wonder why their website sucks and their antiquated method of travel is so damned expensive? No risk of failure = no motivation to offer superior service or competitive pricing.

http://www.usatoday.com/travel/news/2009-10-27-amtrak-passenger-subsidies_N.htm

I'll tell you something. There is only one thing to place blame on the way modern rail travel is nowadays. The federal government. They did nothing to help the railroads out when air travel started taking over in the '60s. The only thing they did was buy up passenger rolling stock from the railroads and start Amtrak. They have tried hard to maintain rail service as an affordable alternative to air travel, but unfortunately cannot anymore.

Even though it's not gonna happen, Obama had the right idea to start building high speed rail in the US. Its what we need. It works in the rest of the world rather well. Unfortunately we don't have the money.

Politics don't mean a thing when I'm cruising along from RIC to DC on Amtrak. I'm surfing the web. I'm all stretched out in my massive seat with monstrous leg room. I love just walking on the train without dealing with the TSA and assorted wingnuts. It truly is a glorious way to travel. Reminds me of how flying used to be.

SyntheticBlinkerFluid wrote: I'll tell you something. There is only one thing to place blame on the way modern rail travel is nowadays. The federal government. They did nothing to help the railroads out when air travel started taking over in the '60s. The only thing they did was buy up passenger rolling stock from the railroads and start Amtrak. They have tried hard to maintain rail service as an affordable alternative to air travel, but unfortunately cannot anymore. Even though it's not gonna happen, Obama had the right idea to start building high speed rail in the US. Its what we need. It works in the rest of the world rather well. Unfortunately we don't have the money.

As someone who worked for five year in the railroad industry, I have to say UGH! Don't you dare give any more money to that idiotic industry. All but the biggest 3/4 markets in the country loose crazy amounts of cash - even operating on shoestrings.

I thought that I should give an update on my train ride experience.

In short, I loved it. To travel from Jacksonville, FL, to New Orleans, LA, I had to take three trains. The straight shot between JAX and NOL was messed up by Katrina, but this was not a problem for me. It was pretty relaxing the whole way through.

The first train left Jacksonville around 11:30 at night. I fell asleep almost instantly; the clack-clack of the wheels on rails, and the faint flashing red lights seen through the window as we sped by rail crossings put me to sleep. The seats were roomier than any seats I have experienced on a plane. They reclined quite a bit, and I always had a footrest.

Once I disembarked in Raleigh, I used the power of the internet to see how I could best kill eight hours. The train station was adjacent to the downtown area. I walked to the state natural history museum, had an excellent Belgian waffle and omelette for an early lunch. When I walked out of the door, the light drizzle that I experienced earlier picked up, and after walking a few blocks, became a 45-degree angle, 45 degree farenheit pouring rain. I proceeded back to the station, and dried my sodden clothes under a hand dryer. Once my clothes were merely soggy, I ended up at a great BBQ place for lunch number 2. Why not?

Once on the train again, I ended up sitting next to the loudest and most obnoxious guy on the car. He was obviously on something. That's okay though, because we talked about old two-stroke bikes, the glory of Group B, and other sort of nutty car stuff. The woman who said that I took her seat (little did I know!) kept glaring back at us. I assume that she was jealous.

The train arrived in Charlotte pretty late, around 11 something PM. That's okay, though, because there was a 24 hour coffee shop/bakery nearby. So what if it was the most expensive coffee I ever purchased, if I included the $25 in cab fares to get there/back to the station. I talked up some strangers, read a lot, ate some great pastries, and before long, I was back on a train.

The Charlotte to New Orleans leg of the journey was the longest, at around 16 hours, but it still passed by quickly. The scenery was nice, since I finally got some daylight to stare out the windows. I had lunch in the dining car, and it was genuinely alright. Lobster bisque and a salad, if I remember correctly. I enjoyed it.

Some nice things about traveling by train: You can have travel with up to four 50 pound bags without an extra charge. Two can be carryons (If I remember correctly). BYOB and BYOFood. Something to read would also be great. Only one of the trains had Wi-Fi, and its reception was intermittent. If I'm not in a great hurry to get somewhere, I would definitely take it over a plane, despite the higher cost.

My train experience was close to that. But, I'm usually in more of a hurry to get there. My wife and I kicked around the idea of taking a train somewhere with the kids. Get a sleeper car and make the trip the trip, not the destination.
Glad you enjoyed it.

I really liked that both the trip and the destination were equal parts of my vacation. I would have been miserable taking the train ride at the tail end of the trip... it would have only stretching out the depressing return to reality.

I took a train from Canton Ohio to Reno Nevada to help my future wife drive a UHaul across the country. Like others have said taking the train makes getting there part of the vacation.

I fell in love with train travel when my family lived in Germany, a train trip is one of the things I want to do with my kids.