Anyone ever ridden Amtrak?

[Rain Man]

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?

[Third Eye]

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.

[Donger]

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

[Sweet Daddy Hate]

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

[Jenson71]

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.

[Rain Man]

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?

[Jenson71]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

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.

[38yrsfan]

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.

[Param]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

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.

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

[sd4chiefs]

Originally Posted by HemiEd

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

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

[listopencil]

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.

[stlchiefs]

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.

[dtebbe]

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

[SLAG]

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

[Dayze]

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.

[Miles]

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.