All about the Autotrain

[bdcp]

Anyone else get an email from Amtrak recently stating that departure is now 4pm instead of 4:30pm? Not that I am complaining because it will get us into Florida sooner the next day. Just curious.

Hmmm. We've been taking the AT since 2005 and departure has always been 4 pm. In fact, the latest we have ever left is 3:55 pm. I've never seen a 4:30 departure and we were just on it in Feb (rt). The 4:30 must have been a mistake somewhere they were correcting.

 

[Ngwira]

My husband broke his foot 10 days before our vacation. Bummer.

 

[java]

My concern now is how to disarm my car alarm. Even the dealership had no idea. Does anyone know if they leave the keys inside the car? Then my alarm won't set. Ugh! I just wAnt to get on the train already!

Oh and sorry about your husbands foot. Get a boot cast if you can. I did the same thing a day before one of our trips. That boot cast saved my trip.

 

[Katelly]

My concern now is how to disarm my car alarm. Even the dealership had no idea. Does anyone know if they leave the keys inside the car? Then my alarm won't set. Ugh! I just wAnt to get on the train already!

Yes, they leave your keys in the car and the driver side window open.

 

[klo1335]

This time tomorrow we will be getting ready to drive to Virginia. There is a mess on the Schuylkill Expressway on Philly this morning, which won't affect how we go on 95S but accidents affect anything in this area.

Do adults bring their own pillows on the train or is that just kids that do so? We have 2 bedrooms.

 

[dromio42]

This time tomorrow we will be getting ready to drive to Virginia. There is a mess on the Schuylkill Expressway on Philly this morning, which won't affect how we go on 95S but accidents affect anything in this area.

Do adults bring their own pillows on the train or is that just kids that do so? We have 2 bedrooms.

My husband and I always bring pillows. I buy pillows frequently because I have allergies, so instead of tossing the old ones, I wash them on hot (for allergies) and set them aside for the train. When we are done with the train - we toss them. We also carry them in those XXL Zip lock bags - they take up very little room when empty.

 

[bdcp]

This time tomorrow we will be getting ready to drive to Virginia. There is a mess on the Schuylkill Expressway on Philly this morning, which won't affect how we go on 95S but accidents affect anything in this area.

Do adults bring their own pillows on the train or is that just kids that do so? We have 2 bedrooms.

They provide pillows in the sleeping cars. We have only brought our own for coach seats, even back when they provided the small ones. The ones in the bedrooms are standard size, but not as good as what you have at home.

As for car alarms, we have never had an issue with ours as it is a standard feature. I think the issues come in when people have after market alarms installed. They will not lock your car and as pp said, the keys/fob stay inside and the drivers window is left down for the entire trip. The car carriers are vented, but they do not leak so even if it rains (which it has on a couple of our trips) your vehicle won't get wet. But, we also always take our spare fob/key just in case. Every time we go, they make at least one announcement for someone to bring their keys outside to the car pull in area because someone invariably will pocket their keys and walk inside to check in.

 

[java]

Live from the auto train!
We made it to lorton in exactly 4 hours as per mapquest- no issues we hit the beltway at around 11 and for the first time ever hit no traffic! NO traffic!
We grabbed lunch at the Japanese place across the street pretty good and only $20 for 2 of us.

Full train so 4 dinner slots! Glad I did priority offload. We actually left lorton ahead of schedule at 3:35 ish

So far so good!

 

[Ngwira]

Live from the auto train!
We made it to lorton in exactly 4 hours as per mapquest- no issues we hit the beltway at around 11 and for the first time ever hit no traffic! NO traffic!
We grabbed lunch at the Japanese place across the street pretty good and only $20 for 2 of us.

Full train so 4 dinner slots! Glad I did priority offload. We actually left lorton ahead of schedule at 3:35 ish

So far so good!

Keep us updated. Safe travels.

 

[java]

Disappointing update that during the night the train had mechanical problems! Then had to have crew change as a result which meant we got in to Sanford at 12 instead of 9.
And then getting cars off the ttrain. We paid for priority offloading and got into our car at 12:45 as one of the first.

Even with the time disaster we enjoyed the train and would do it again but not in a time sensitive trip. I'm heading back on it on Monday. No priority offloading so I will post a review of that as well. Safe travels all!

 

[Ngwira]

Disappointing update that during the night the train had mechanical problems! Then had to have crew change as a result which meant we got in to Sanford at 12 instead of 9.
And then getting cars off the ttrain. We paid for priority offloading and got into our car at 12:45 as one of the first.

Even with the time disaster we enjoyed the train and would do it again but not in a time sensitive trip. I'm heading back on it on Monday. No priority offloading so I will post a review of that as well. Safe travels all!

That stinks. Glad you got there safely, though.

 

[Andythefox]

Priority offloading on a weekday northbound doesn't really make sense if the train is on time and you are heading north. Most priority cars get stuck in DC rush hour traffic when heading north. We have taken the auto train more than 10 times in the past 3 years in this direction and a couple of hours later we nearly always pass a few priority cars that my kids and I memorized during offloading. Heading to Florida is worth it as you get a jump on your vacation, but not so much heading home.

 

[java]

Home. The return trip went way smoother than the one down. Some things that I want to point out....
The autotrain is late about 45% of the time.
Once you pull into the station it's about another 20-30 minutes to decouple the car haulers.
When you get outside to wait for your car, it takes about another 30 minutes for the first car to unload.

I did not take priority offloading on the way back. I got off the train at about 10. Was in my car at 11:30. The train was about 2/3 full. My car was offloaded in the back half of cars. Not last but definitely closer to the end than the middle. So not terrible.

Final thoughts are that I really enjoyed the experience. I was way less stressed from travel. I met some very interesting people. Even with the poor ontime performance I would do it again, making sure to pad my arrival by a few hours. On the way down I heard someone changing their lunch plans at DTD to 1pm. As I pulled out of Sandord at 1 they were still standing waiting for their car.

Any questions?

 

[87Heel]

How was the ride? Did you arrive on time?

Arrived on time both to Sanford and the return to Lorton. Unloading cars seemed to take longer in Sanford but we had paid for priority so it wasn't too bad. One of the last 10 or so cars off in Lorton. I thought it was a relaxing way to travel (and the family liked it too). Had 2 roomettes for the trip each way and it was very quiet in the sleeping car. Liked having the lower level.

 

[Ngwira]

Home. The return trip went way smoother than the one down. Some things that I want to point out....
The autotrain is late about 45% of the time.
Once you pull into the station it's about another 20-30 minutes to decouple the car haulers.
When you get outside to wait for your car, it takes about another 30 minutes for the first car to unload.

I did not take priority offloading on the way back. I got off the train at about 10. Was in my car at 11:30. The train was about 2/3 full. My car was offloaded in the back half of cars. Not last but definitely closer to the end than the middle. So not terrible.

Final thoughts are that I really enjoyed the experience. I was way less stressed from travel. I met some very interesting people. Even with the poor ontime performance I would do it again, making sure to pad my arrival by a few hours. On the way down I heard someone changing their lunch plans at DTD to 1pm. As I pulled out of Sandord at 1 they were still standing waiting for their car.

Any questions?

We have been lucky to be on time every single trip. Fingers crossed that this trend continues. We leave in 2 days..on Saturday's train.

 

[FBandA]

We were early on our way down in June of 2013 had a room. On our way home we were on time and had Upper level coach seats. Next time would pick lower level seats.

 

[kate27]

Hi all. My mom and I are taking the auto train for the first time for our trip to Disney in November. Can anyone answer this question? What do people in coach seats do with their carry-on bags when they go to the dining car? We won't have anything of true value, like cash or laptops, but is it safe to just leave them in our seats when we go to dinner or other places on the train?

 

[Ngwira]

Boarding the train on Saturday!! Wohoo.

 

[bdcp]

Hi all. My mom and I are taking the auto train for the first time for our trip to Disney in November. Can anyone answer this question? What do people in coach seats do with their carry-on bags when they go to the dining car? We won't have anything of true value, like cash or laptops, but is it safe to just leave them in our seats when we go to dinner or other places on the train?

When we've taken coach (and sleepers), we leave most everything in the seat or the overhead (except cash, jewelry, passports-usually cruising). We leave Kindles and laptops in our backpack/carryon and have never had a problem with anything missing. Everyone in the same car isn't going to dinner at the same time, so the people usually know/remember who is sitting by them. It would be pretty blatant to rifle through someone's stuff on a train they can't escape from. You will notice that people leave all kinds of things in their seats.

 

[kate27]

When we've taken coach (and sleepers), we leave most everything in the seat or the overhead (except cash, jewelry, passports-usually cruising). We leave Kindles and laptops in our backpack/carryon and have never had a problem with anything missing. Everyone in the same car isn't going to dinner at the same time, so the people usually know/remember who is sitting by them. It would be pretty blatant to rifle through someone's stuff on a train they can't escape from. You will notice that people leave all kinds of things in their seats.

Ok, thanks so much! I figured that's what most people must do. I couldn't imagine everyone carrying around their stuff. Thanks!!