Anyone ever ridden Amtrak?
 

What's it like? Would you go on a long trip with it? Are the seats like first-class aircraft seats or coach, or something completely different? Is it worth the large extra charge to get the sleeper car? Is it more like the luxury train cars of yore with good food and china and table linens in the dining car, or is it Greyhound on rails?

No but I knew a girl in high school,Lori Jones....We called her Amtrak.

Shit. Let me repeat that - shit. You'll wish you'd taken the bus.

Old crappy cars, old crappy tracks, trains fighting for track time with freights that have priority. About the best you can hope for is that your train will only be moderately late.

My best friend was on a train that derailed in Ft. Madison. They basically put the passengers off the train and told them they were on their own.

I can't speak for the quality of the sleeper accomodations or high level food service, but when you consider how bad everything else is, well....

Took one once from California to KC and made a big mistake not getting a sleeper car although I have trouble sleeping in any kind of moving vehicle.

The expierence was decent in that when going thru New Mexico they had a tour guide in the observation car pointing out Indian battlegrounds and other history tidbits.

No way in hell I'd ever take another 2+ day trip on one though.

Had a buddy that bout got creamed by a Amtrak train .. he was drunk pissin' on the tracks at the time ....

Had a great ride from STL to Chicago.... It was nice that there where plug ins in every row so you could keep charge on your electronics.

I've taken Amtrak from L.A. (Union Station) down to San Diego. We upgraded our seats and really enjoyed it...but wouldn't want to ride much longer than that. Of course, the views are amazing on that one too.

One of my friends' grandfather is retired from Union Pacific, and he has always emphasized to the rest of the family to NEVER use passenger rail. The tracks simply aren't maintained well enough for it to be safe.

I took the Amtrak to New Orleans last year, runs from Chicago down there. I caught it here in Kentucky. New Orleans was about 9 hours from here on the train. But it comes through here at 2am. So got a sleeper car, caught some shut eye and woke early enough to shower (in my private car), and got breakfast that was included in the fare.
I was around $325 round trip. Little on the expensive side but, was a new experience, and service, faculties were top notch. I'm glad I was sleeping the majority of the trip, you could bore easy on one of those things past the meal and viewing cars.

We went from Kansas City to Chicago. Wonderul trip. Plenty of bathrooms, food was good comfortable seating. Nothing like flying, which in my opinion is pricing themselves right out of some business.

I rode it from Newton, KS to LA when i was like 15. took about 24 hrs. It wasnt bad at all. The observation car was cool. Windows all around and they played a movie at night. i think it was fairly cheap too.

took amtrak w/my family from baltimore up to somewhere in conneticut. went through philly and nyc...places i'd never drive myself.

overall, it was pretty nice. only thing was on the way back, we sat in the very last car. i didn't notice, but the wife gets motion sickness pretty easy, and got a little pukey feeling. beer was kinda high priced, but i noticed a few people pulling 40's out of their bags, and drinking.

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I like Amtrack, but i've never taken a long tip on one. About an hour is the longest I've ever been.

The seats were plush and cushy, well ventilated. My experience differs from others I'd assume, since our Amtrak travels up the coastline and the cars are in good shape. The one I use to take was a double-decker. I enjoyed it. Shrug.

I have taken Amtrak from San Diego to Irvine (Orange County) and back a couple of times. It goes along the coast so the view is pretty assume.

I have never ridden on one but my folks are going from Austin to Seattle next month and then back. I can get you a good report around the end of next month if that helps. ;)

Has anybody ridden Amtrak? Yeah I have. I didn't know she was your mom? Shhhiiiiit.

You have to keep it buried if you plan on having sex in the bathroom

That is the truth.

Before my current job, I was a structural engineer consultant for railroads. We would go survey existing bridges that were going to be repaired or rebuilt. This same bridges were freight lines, however, since Amtrak leases these lines from the individual freight companies (i.e. Union Pacfic, BSF, CSXT, etc) they go across the same bridges. Needless to say I have had to be next to (or under the bridges) when the freight trains would pass and from someone that generally trusts engineering, I would NEVER take a train anywhere unless the line was fully devoted to passenger trains (mainly on east coast).

The bridges are at the verge of complete inadequacy and there are countless circumstances in which the piers/piles have been eroded/deteriorated to half of their cross sections... scary stuff.

Took the Amtrack from Balt to NYC. Grabbed a seat in the quiet car, plugged in the computer, watched a movie, next thing I know I was there. Same on the return trip.

Beat the heck out of driving there and paying those god-awful tolls and then fighting for parking, etc.

Don't remember much, I think it was 1956 that Mom put my sister and I on a train from California to Denver.

So based on what I'm hearing, it seems like they're a really good experience if you don't plummet off a decrepit bridge and die in a heap of twisted, burning metal.

I've been pondering a little relaxing time and was thinking about possibilities. One possibility is to buy an Amtrak pass and ride the rails for a while. You can get a 30-day pass for about $600, though you can only get on 12 trains, which may be a problem since some travel routes force you to switch trains.

On some of them, I'd want a sleeper car, though, and that's like $450 extra on each trip, which seems really steep. It'd save a hotel, but hotels don't cost that much by any stretch.

I'm trying to figure out if it would be a fun, relaxing getaway or if it would be like being on a plane for days at a time. In theory, it'd be neat to go to San Francisco and then up through Washington and Montana and back to Boston and down to Miami, and then hit New Orleans on my way to Los Angles. And I don't bore easily, as part of this would be down time to do some writing for work, so having a comfy seat with an outlet would serve me well.

My dad was a conductor on Amtrak for about 20 yrs.

He used to work the KC-Chicago route for about 5 years, then for the next 15 he worked the KC-STL route and I used to go to work w/ him all the time and went to Cards games when we got into STL at night. It would be in the 4th inning so the gate guy just let us walk in for free. Not a bad deal really.

I take one up to NYC and back every weekend. Bring a laptop, watch a movie or get some work done. You could probably even get an internet connection through a cell provider if you really need one. I've was stuck in the same car with an old lady who talked to herself the whole time which wasn't pleasant but beyond that it beats driving into and out of Manhattan once a week.

I have a few times. We took one from Rochester NY down to NYC to see baseball games. It was fun. They let us bring a cooler on the train and we had some beers and sat and relaxed. I wouldn't take it if you're in a hurry though.

Very good friends of mine -- a couple with two kids (aged 11 and 8) went on a cross-country train trip last summer. Boston to Chicago to Seattle, down the coast to SF, down to SD, over to Arizona, then back to Chicago, to DC, to Boston. FIVE weeks. They drove a small portion -- something like Arizona to Denver.

They LOVED it. L-O-V-E-D it. It took ALOT of preplanning, but they found it an extremely positive experience.

Amtrak costs as much as flying. The combination of slow and expensive kind of ruins the idea for me. It would be different if the experience was more luxurious or something but I don't think that's the case based on a couple of friends/relatives who have come to visit by train.

Been awhile ago. Went to Denver on the train. That was in the late 50's so I suppose things may have changed a little since then.

Yes, we have interstate highways now. :D

Yeah, but they really wear down the horse shoes quickly. And the buggy rides rough as hell.

Yeah, there's no real practical reason for doing it. The only real reason that I can see is that you see the countryside. It is kind of interesting to see a lot of little towns and sections of cities that you wouldn't see if you were just driving on an interstate. There's some cars that have spots where the rows of seats face each other, so if you're with a group you can kind of hang out. That's ok.
If you're in an aisle seat it's pretty crappy. It's basically a faster, less stinky bus at that point.

I take Amtrak all the time from here, St. Louis, to KC and Chicago. You lose a couple hours compared to flying, but being 6'4", it is immeasurably more comfortable.

I try to avoid using any kind of mass transit where the general public has access to the fucking brakes.

Took one in 1975, don't remember a damned thing except being at Union Station.

I went on the Amtrak to get to New York. Started in Mount Pleasant, IA. Had a five hour stop in Chicago. Total: 30 hours.

It was much cheaper than flying. I sat next to an Amish kid the first 10 hours and we talked about life and things. He was going to see his girlfriend in Indiana. You can meet some interesting people, and you can see the countryside, and you can just sit back and read if you want to. I enjoyed it.

So the seats are comfortable? If you were sitting on one for an 18-hour trip, would it be okay, relatively speaking? And how crowded are they? Would I have someone next to me in most cases, and if I wandered to the viewing lounge could I find a seat?

I wouldn't say the trip from Mount Pleasant to Chicago was full of people, but there were more people than I thought there would be. From Chicago to New York, though, I think almost every seat was taken. So yeah, you would probably have someone next to you in most cases. I know I did for probably 2/3 of the time.

The seats were comfortable enough for me. I had no complaints.

I never went to the viewing lounge. But you can get up and walk around anytime. I did go to the snack lounge and got a drink a couple of times. That wasn't crowded, and I do remember there being a booth/bench thing.

I 've rode the Sunset Limited (sleeper car - great time, good food, awesome scenery, good movies, interesting fellow travelers), the Texas Eagle (San Antonio to Dallas - short trip) and a few "unnamed" trains.

It really depends on your disposition and expectations if you will enjoy the trip. You can walk around but spend the majority of your time sitting. Walking is at times challenging so if you have a drunken stagger perfected - you'll be fine. :)

I'd recommend at least one train trip in your life.

I'd go for it, but that sounds like one hell of of a trip because it's very long.

I remember going down to Union Station and the place was packed. I think it was around 1958 and I was 4 or 5.

I took one from Denver to Sacramento once. I enjoyed it. Very relaxing. I'd say get a sleeper if you are going to be more than one night.

I've done it from STL to KC. Not a bad ride and they are improving ride times. You have more leg room than a plane and more ability to get up and move around. I'd definitely do it again.

I'd highly recommend the trip from Denver to Glenwood Springs in the winter time. Awesome scenery. The time schedule works out good where you can leave Denver early in the AM, check out the scenery, arrive in Glenwood Springs around 3p, walk across the street to the Glenwood Hot Spings Hotel, hit the hot springs and stay the evening.. and then catch the train back around noon the next day. But be forewarned.. rock slides do delay the train frequently :)

IMHO Amtrak space-wise is like 1st class, but delays can drive you nuts. I wouldn't want to be on there for more than 1 day at a time.

DT

i use to ride it all the time as a kid -
went many many many many times from newton to topeka
and a few times from newton to Cali (LA) - couple times to Colorado

the seats were way better than a 15 hr plane ride

never taken an amtrak, but took a Greyhound once from KC to Winfield KS; took fucking 9 hours (about a 3-4 hr car ride).
worst experience ever.

I suspect a train trip is similar.

I did several times as a kid but cant remember much about the experience that would be relevant now. I last looked into taking a trip about 8 years ago in college thinking it was cheap and was surprised that it was damn near the cost of a plane ticket.

The quality of the tracks and sharing them with freight trains severely limits the speed as well. It's hardly like anything in Europe where high speed rail travel is more feasible.

I would rather fly.

If Amtrak is the little Lebanese boy from down the hall........then no....I haven't

I had a buddy that liked to jump out in front of trains and make them slam on the brakes.

It never really worked and he's dead now.

Gotta say, I love the Amtrak. Sure, it's slow but it is nice to see the country without having to drive. I took a train from Albaquerque to Milwaukee and back several years ago. And last year I took the amtrak from Chicago to San Francisco, and then San Francisco to LA. Bring stuff to do, and bring your patience and it is a very chill way to travel. Oh yeah, and you can take the Amtrak to Yosemite from San Fran for like $40 round trip or something. Great deal so you don't have a rental car sitting at your campsite for a week that you are paying for.

Last summer we got sleeper rooms both times. Hadn't really planned to on the last leg, but it was cheap ($100) upgrade. I definitely recommend it. I think total for my girlfriend and I was $820 from Chicago to San Fran. But, that was 52 hours of beautiful scenery and that $820 included all of both of our meals. When you add in the meals, it is really a decent deal to upgrade to. Always bought the cheapest sleeper room where the two of you face each other.

If you are travelling alone, though, probably doesn't make sense.

You also meet some interesting people on the train, especially during dinner when they seat you with other people.

And the observation car and lounge car are cool. The Coast Starlight down the western seaboard even has some wine tasting.

Definitely bring your own booze ( wine in my case ).. it helps.