All about the Autotrain

[goldcupmom]

I've never done the autotrain, but have done family bedrooms and others on many trains.

My DH is 6' 235 lbs and the top "adult" bed in the family bedroom is NOT comfortable. He can get up and basically not move. Bottom bunk is quite spacious for just 1 person of his size. The "kid" beds are small. Unless you are an under 5' adult and thin you would be VERY uncomfortable. Next trip we go on we are opting for the 2 roomettes. Can't all 4 be together, but if we put the 2 adults in bottoms and teens on tops it will be much more comfy.

We had the 'suite' once as an accident - they sold our family bedroom - and it was wonderful, but the cost is outrageous.

HTH - just MTCW!

 

[C.Ann]

Is it possible to send my car to Florida via the autotrain without being on the train myself?

I'd love to use this service next year for an extended trip to Florida but I get motion sickness quite easily and from what I've read here, it could make for a VERY long ride if the train were swaying all over the place..

 

[NjRon]

From what I understand autos can not travel alone.

My wife suffers from motion sickness and it yes it is a long trip if she doesn't
take the meds on time.

 

[dandelion]

Has anyone been on the train in the last few weeks? We are booked for April 16 southbound and April 23 northbound. Did it in 2003 and liked it so much dh now thinks it's the only way to make the NY to Florida trek.

So, my questions this time are -
-is there anywhere in walking distance of the Lorton station to grab lunch? I remember a BK in the general area.

- dinner offerings? I remember several choices and we all liked what we had ... are some kid-friendly? My two are 6 and 8 and fairly picky.

- how's the bumpiness of the ride these days? Dh and I both thought it was 'ok,' in '03, kids slept comfortably through the night, and we were in the coach seats.

- we'll probably spend the night of the 16th in York, PA, drive down from there in the morning. Any particularly bad DC traffic spots on a Saturday morning?

See you on the train!

 

[cherylp3]

-is there anywhere in walking distance of the Lorton station to grab lunch? I remember a BK in the general area.

The BK is close but I'm not sure if I would call it walking distance. The shop inside the station does sell sandwiches

- dinner offerings? I remember several choices and we all liked what we had ... are some kid-friendly? My two are 6 and 8 and fairly picky.

There is definitely chicken nuggets and mac and cheese for the kids

 

[C.Ann]

Has anyone been on the train in the last few weeks? We are booked for April 16 southbound and April 23 northbound. Did it in 2003 and liked it so much dh now thinks it's the only way to make the NY to Florida trek.

So, my questions this time are -
-is there anywhere in walking distance of the Lorton station to grab lunch? I remember a BK in the general area.

- dinner offerings? I remember several choices and we all liked what we had ... are some kid-friendly? My two are 6 and 8 and fairly picky.

- how's the bumpiness of the ride these days? Dh and I both thought it was 'ok,' in '03, kids slept comfortably through the night, and we were in the coach seats.

- we'll probably spend the night of the 16th in York, PA, drive down from there in the morning. Any particularly bad DC traffic spots on a Saturday morning?

See you on the train!

--------------------------------------------------

Hi neighbor! I'm upstate NY too - Capital District area.. I'm hoping to take the autotrain next January and come back in April..

Let me know how it goes - will you? This will be a first for me..

 

[DVC Chris]

I don't think there is much to eat in walking distance. The restaurant that advertises in the ticket jacket is pretty good and only about 5 minutes away. If I remember correctly, it's called the 'Polo club' or 'Polo grill' or something like that.

We last took the train in Dec, 2004 and I personnally thought the trip south was very smooth compared with the 4 previous year's trips. The trip back North was as bumpy (ok maybe a bit less) than I remember in past years. As I've come to find in reading this board, everything takes differently to the normal movement of the train. It can be a bit worrisome the first time, but you eventually get used to it.

Hope you have a great trip...

 

[dandelion]

Hi C.Ann, I will post how this year's trip goes, but from our experience in 2003 I'd say the only bad thing about the autotrain is how far it is from northern NY.

Chris and Cheryl, thanks for the updates. I was hoping we could drop off the car and then walk to BK for lunch, but I think we'll grab the food first and then go check in. We did get the sandwiches in the station last time, and I would say they were in the 'ok' category.

BTW, on this sunny Easter morning, the current temp at home is 24, in Orlando it's 72! I know where I'd rather be.

 

[christinou]

We took the train at the end of February and had a great trip both way, they had chicken tenders and Mac and cheese for the kids, vegetarian lasagna, pot roast or fish for the adults, as well as cheesecake (yum) and ice cream for desserts. We really enjoy the train so do our girls, we make it a part of our vacation. I will be happy to answer any questions.

 

[erinch]

We'll be on the auto train for our 6th trip this summer, in roommettes.

3 questions:

1) I'm not recalling whether there are outlets in the roommettes to plug in laptops, etc?

2) For lunch we have twice gotten off in the Springfield construction mess, and weren't sure we'd ever get back on. Is this still "under construction"? If so, any good recommendations where to pull off, coming east from PA and taking the beltway south? Generally we stop at Bob Evans.

3) Last time we were on the autotrain, there was a lemon cake to die for. Do they still have it?

thanks,
Erin Cox-Holmes

 

[christinou]

We had a family bedroom on the way back, and there was a plug there.
No lemon cake, just cheese cake. The food was a lot better in first class.
I am not sure about the construction, we came down 495 and it seems like it is always in construction....

 

[madhouserobey]

how big are the family bedrooms ? amtrak web site says 3 adults and two children will fit in one is this true? because i'm taking the auto train in nov.with dw ,ds7,dd5,ds4 should i change and get two rooms.

 

[christinou]

The rooms, I thought were big, the kids slept in the kids bed, and my husband and I actually slept together on the bottom bed, (And no I am not tiny whatsoever), so we had an empty adult bed....
There is plenty of space for 5 people to sit, before the beds are set up.

 

[AnnetteF]

We are thinking of taking the Auto Train in September and sitting in coach. We have done it before but then it was just the two of us. We will have our 18 month old DD with us this time. Has anyone done this with a child this young? If so, where and how did your child sleep? We are on a tight budget and don't want to pay for the bedroom so the alternative will be driving.

Any help or advice would be appreciated.

 

[dandelion]

We just rode the AutoTrain on Apr. 16 and 23. On the 23rd, the train was very crowded (no empty seats) and the family behind us had a 2YO boy. I think they just tried to hold him in their arms all night, because off and on I would hear him say "no no NO!" (in that 2YO way) and his mom say "why can't I hold you?"

As you probably noticed on your previous trips, they do seem to seat the families with young children in the same coach. I hope someone else here has a good suggestion for you.

Our train was about 2 hours late both getting into Sanford on 4/17 and Lorton on 4/24. They had a huge load both times, and we waited about an hour for our car to be off-loaded. Just FYI for your travel planning.

Also, didn't there used to be a Burger King very near the Lorton station? We saw lots of construction and a big dirt pile where we remembered it used to be. There is a shopping plaza with a McDonalds not too far from the station, that's where we ended up getting lunch. On our 'get on the train' day, we picked up premade sandwiches, chips and sodas at the grocery store in the plaza, very much cheaper than the in-station convenience store.

 

[AnnetteF]

Thanks dandelion. That's exactly what I was afraid of - no empty seats. They don't actually require a seat for children under 2 years and I've heard people say that they just spread out into other empty seats, but what if there are none? I'm now also thinking of getting her a seat as I saw another post on the transportation board about a promotion for kids riding free with parents but I'm trying to find out what the dates for that are.

I do remember that Burger King. I think we stopped at it once.

 

[NjRon]

Anyone planning to use the auto train in the next two months should be
prepared for delays. On May 6th, the southbound train was 6 hours late arriving into Sanford, as a result my northbound trip was 3 hours late departing Sanford and was 3.5 hours late arriving in at Lorton. From what we were told, track repairs south of Richmond are causing daily delays that become progressivly worse throughout the week. Departure delays also push the entire dinner schedules back. First seating on the 6th was at 7:15, second seating was at 9:30 with the meal being served after 10pm. I would suggest bringing extra snacks on board.

 

[Henlady]

Thanks for the update NjRon. We aren't traveling till Oct 21. Hopefully the track repairs or whatever is causing the delays will be done by then. I don't actually mind delays if I know beforehand that they are possible.


Kris

164 days till we leave for our first cruise on the 4 day Wonder and then 3 nights at POR.

 

[swimer3]

Just a quick question about coach accommodations. Do they have showers for those passengers?

 

[DC7800]

The showers are located in the sleeping cars, and are only open to sleeper passengers.