Taking Amtrak

[Joie DeVive]

Do not take Amtrak if you need to be at A specific place at A specific time because, as a previous poster mentioned........passenger trains run on Freight railroad tracks and, even though contracts are in place to "ensure" on-time performance, the home team ALWAYS Wins.

Very true. I forgot to mention that my train was around 2 hours late in, and my poor husband who didn't know the reputation of trains was worried sick when it was so late. :eusa_doh:
And my Grandparents did a train trip in the 70s, and I think they were nearly 8 hours late. My Dad, who was slated to pick them up, is still mad about that.

 

[Cricket]

Wow, 8 hours late? Maybe the idea of traveling by train is not such a good idea. Just kidding. I would still like to try it. But I better be in the right state of mind. Of course, if I have a bottle of Scotch, a long train ride might be ok.

 

[Joie DeVive]

Wow, 8 hours late? Maybe the idea of traveling by train is not such a good idea. Just kidding. I would still like to try it. But I better be in the right state of mind. Of course, if I have a bottle of Scotch, a long train ride might be ok.

The 8 hour delay was exceptional as I understand things. I can't remember, but I think it was weather or a mechanical failure that caused the delay.

The only reason I knew I was late was that I wasn't sure I was going to have time to enjoy my dinner, and I got to. I found train travel to be life out of conventional time. If you are doing it to enjoy the train, you won't mind delays much unless you are on a particular schedule. It's more of a problem for the people picking you up.

 

[Josephine]

Wow, 8 hours late?

I just checked on the train that will be bringing us back to VA from FL and on the 23rd it was about 10 hours late. But my MIL said that it was probably Faye that had delayed it. And anything like storms that would delay a train would definitely delay an airplane.

 

[Cricket]

True, you never can tell what Mother Nature holds in store for us.

 

[pigeon toe]

I'd love to take Amtrak someday. When I lived in the Netherlands I absolutely loved taking the train to visit my friends in different parts of the country. Though they weren't long trips by any means, it was so convenient and pretty.

I've never been to the middle of the USA, so I think it would be a fantastic way to see some of the midwest without having to pay ridiculous gas prices to take a road trip. Who knows, maybe I'll take a train trip next summer!

 

[rikrdo]

I'd love to take Amtrak someday. When I lived in the Netherlands I absolutely loved taking the train to visit my friends in different parts of the country. Though they weren't long trips by any means, it was so convenient and pretty.

I've never been to the middle of the USA, so I think it would be a fantastic way to see some of the midwest without having to pay ridiculous gas prices to take a road trip. Who knows, maybe I'll take a train trip next summer!

A really nice trip for you would be to take Amtrak up the coast to Santa Barbara.....it is a beautiful ride and only about 3 hours.
Stay the day ( or over night) and I guarantee you will have plenty of great memories to share.

 

[pigeon toe]

A really nice trip for you would be to take Amtrak up the coast to Santa Barbara.....it is a beautiful ride and only about 3 hours.
Stay the day ( or over night) and I guarantee you will have plenty of great memories to share.

That's actually a great idea. I have a friend up in SB that I've been meaning to visit!

 

[David V]

My wife and I are planning a trip next year from Chicago to Glacier Nat'lPark. Amtrac has a vacation package section on their web-site.

You have to think of train travel AS the vacation not the way to get to vacation.

 

[Tomasso]

You have to think of train travel AS the vacation not the way to get to vacation.

Exactly. If you consider the cost of the sleeper as a nights lodging the sticker shock will fade away.

 

[rikrdo]

That's actually a great idea...............

..................I get lucky every now and then lol

 

[DerMann]

As a long time airline passenger, I was very surprised by AmTrak.

Since I didn't have anything to do this weekend, I took the opportunity to visit a friend in Chicago. From Indiana to Chicago, it was only $60 round trip.

The first thing that struck me was the friendliness of the crew. The seats were marvelously large and comfortable. Once the train started moving, I was amazed by how quiet it was compared to airtravel. Needless to say, the 3 1/2 hour ride went by quickly (thanks, of course, to sleeping).

Chicago's Union Station is magnificent. The ticket counters are very, very art deco. I saw a few Super Liners parked, and glanced in them - bally amazing stuff!

On my return trip, the train was a bit nicer. The seats were even wider and had foot and leg rests. I decided to patronise the dinning car at around 9:30PM (just past halfway through the ride). They had a multitude of various "fast" foods, from hot dogs to cheeseburgers. Apparently the lady working the counter was about to go on break, so she was rather peeved at the seemingly steady stream of patrons. It wasn't too terribly expensive, but hey, it was better than airline food

I felt as if I was transported back 60 years as I sat on the train reading my issue of The Onion, in a fedora and three piece suit.

Lucked out on my trip to Chicago. My friend introduced me to TeaGschwender and Argo Tea. Spent well over $50 in tea and tea paraphernalia.

If I get another chance, I'll definitely go again.

 

[Nathan Flowers]

I decided to patronise the dinning car at around 9:30PM (just past halfway through the ride). They had a multitude of various "fast" foods, from hot dogs to cheeseburgers. Apparently the lady working the counter was about to go on break, so she was rather peeved at the seemingly steady stream of patrons. It wasn't too terribly expensive, but hey, it was better than airline food

I think you may have had just a snack car, and not a true dining car. The dining car on Amtrak is like a sit-down restaurant, where a waiter takes your order and you're served after your food is prepared. I was on Amtrak to DC for business back in May and took advantage of the dining car on the way back. Food was very, very good. Better than many restaurants in my area.

 

[Miss 1929]

You can't get there from here

With gas being what it is, we were hoping to take Amtrak down to LA for the Queen Mary Art Deco Weekend, but apparently it only goes as far as Bakersfield. The they put you on a bus, which rather ruins the effect.
I find it hard to believe there aren't rails between the Bay Area and Los Angeles! Modern times suck in some ways.

 

[MPicciotto]

Actually rail lines owning buses and using them to transport passengers beyond the end of the rails is rather Golden Era. In fact as was the owning of buses by airlines. One company even attempted to integrate all three modes.

Matt

 

[dr greg]

I'm tracked

I went from NY to LA via NO in the 80's and I used Amtrak for quite a lot of the journey as I had a pass with unlimited travel, but every train was seriously late, to the extent that I had trouble with seeing what I wanted to as sometimes I had to virtually get out of town in a matter of hours or be stuck there for days, not quite the Chattanooga Choo-choo I gotta say, which is why I ended up hitch-hiking a lot of the way through the South. Having said that though, it was a good way to sleep cheaply, and I was fascinated by the peculiarly American custom of a customer relations person or hostess who would come through the car in the afternoon, and virtually drag people down to the club/viewing car, make sure you had a scotch or whatever and then actually introduce you to each other,as in "Well Greg from down under, this is Bob from Spokane, he's in Sports management etc etc," a good way to spend the afternoon for sure, but no way would you see it in Europe for instance, I wonder if they still do that, or has cost-cutting and economic rationalism sent it to the wall with so many other civilised practices of the past.

 

[DutchIndo]

It just doesn't seem right unless its the old Pullmans. Visions of the Little Rascals, Laurel and Hardy and the Three Stooges come to mind. And of course the WWII troop movements. I know there are a couple of restored Locomotives down here but they are the 1800 types. I took my first real train ride in Europe ( D-land and Knotts don't count ) it was fun. Too bad it's not big here in the US.

 

[Flivver]

It just doesn't seem right unless its the old Pullmans. Visions of the Little Rascals, Laurel and Hardy and the Three Stooges come to mind. And of course the WWII troop movements. I know there are a couple of restored Locomotives down here but they are the 1800 types. I took my first real train ride in Europe ( D-land and Knotts don't count ) it was fun. Too bad it's not big here in the US.

When I started my first real job in 1973, I made the 40 mile commute into Boston each day by train. It was the Penn Central at that time, and the 1950s vintage EMD GP-9 locomotive pulled a string of Pullman heavyweight passenger cars. Most of the passengers complained about the antiquated equipment, but I loved it!

Now if only that GP-9 diesel could have been replaced by a vintage steam locomotive...

 

[Warden]

Thought our US chums might in interested in this BBC view about taking an Amtrak train, click on the link to read

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-34139314

 

[Fading Fast]

Reviving a seven-year-dormant thread - might be a record.

Amtrak (away from the Northeast corridor: Boston - New York - Washington) is horribly neglected in this country. It almost always has to defer to freight trains and regional / commuter trains as it doesn't own much of the track it uses. It is also underfunded (compared to our funding for roads and airports), so it limps along as this anachronistic sideshow of American long-distance travel.

For those in other countries, with well-run-and-funded trains, it must be bizarre to see these - mainly - old trains (from the '70s and '80s - hence, not a cool era) rumble along at not-high speeds, and - as well discussed in the article you highlighted - on schedules that seem like loose recommendations at best. While the younger generation in America seems less interested in cars than prior American generations, I still haven't seen an embrace of long-distance train travel by them that could possible change he politics of where we spend our transportation dollars. But I keep hoping.