cross country on amtrak?

[robin09]

Hi guys, anyone have any input on going cross country by train? It's just the 3 of us.. hubby, me and DD12. Hubby doesn't fly any longer, and we drive from upstate ny to florida every year, which I'm not crazy about... I would love to see the Grand Canyon and see the country. WHile playing around the internet I saw that Amtrak has a Rail Pass that seems relatively cheap.. DOes anyone know how this works? I read about segments..It seems interesting, but is it doable? Will I need a car at each stop? Will I be able to get off and see other parts of the country?

Thankyou, I appreciate any input...

 

[denecarter]

We went from Fort Worth, Texas overnight to Chicago... we missed our connecting train because our train was late and Amtrak paid for our hotel for the night. We then took another overnight to Pittsburg, switched trains there and went to Philadelphia. Of course we were a day behind and our first night at Philadelphia wasn't refundable.

If there is no public transportation at your destinations, you will most likely need a car. While in Philadelphia, we thought we'd walk from the station to the hotel... it didn't LOOK far on the map.

From that point, we went on an Adventures by Disney tour of Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., and Colonial Williamsburg.

We took a cab from our hotel to the trainstation in Williamsburg... a train to D.C., another train to Pittsburg, another to Chicago, and another home.

By the end of the trip, we never wanted to see a train again. And we could feel the "rocking" of the train for a couple of days after the trip was older.

Good points about the train:
1. The seats are larger and further apart than airplane coach... more like airplane first class.
2. Some trains had power outlets at the seats.
3. You can get up and walk around.
4. The observation car is pretty cool.

Bad points about the train:
1. Schedule? Hahahahaha! We started late and never caught up... it was a bad year for flooding (like this year) and there was extra freight train traffic. Freight trains have priority over passenger trains.
2. Overnight trains... unless you are willing to shell out big bucks for a private "room", you'll be sleeping with LOTS of other people around you. And there isn't that much room on the seat when you're trying to sleep in a reclining train chair... right next to someone (my grown daughter in this case). And while there is a light's out/quiet time, people are people and they make noises all night.
3. You don't always get to spread out... they put is in cars, based on our destination. Several times we were packed in, with no extra room... while other cars were practically (or sometimes totally) empty. If you try to switch seats you might "get in trouble"... we had moved because of a very large and annoying family behind us. We had to move back...
4. Food... unless you bring your own food, be prepared to pay too much for mediocre food. Dining car was "okay"... snack car was "okay"... but a couple of days of that is too much.

If I could take a "day trip" on a train, I probably would. The commuter trains we were on were pretty nice. Overnight... probably not. Not even with a private sleeper because the price isn't "worth it" to me.

 

[akcire]

I totally agree with the previous poster.

My husband and I once took the City of New Orleans train from Chicago to New Orleans--we were supposed to arrive in New Orleans two days before our cruise ship left from New Orleans. Our overnight train trip turned into a 3 day train trip, and we barely made the cruise ship.

While it was an experience, it is not one we wish to repeat. I now limit my train travel to rides that are 6 hours or less--the only part of the country where train travel works well is the East coast.

I have always wanted to take the train through glacier bay national park, but the idea of spending that much time on the train again is horrifying.

 

[bumbershoot]

The first thing to get to know, accept, and love, is that you will not get there when you think you will get there. (one exception, I went from Tacoma to San Jose in February...at one point we were 3 hours behind, which isn't that much for Amtrak, but ended up making it up at some point and got in right at the right time..of course my dad was late picking me up b/c he was expecting amtrak to be amtrak!)

Amtrak doesn't own the rails. Freight trains own them. So if there is freight that needs whatever rail you are on, your train gets to move aside. If there are problems up ahead, well, there's not multiple lanes all down the track, so you get to wait. It just is what it is, and if that can't be accepted, misery will likely ensue.



For a long trip, you will WANT a sleeper car. Which means more than the roommette they have, for a family of 3. Unless, for example, hubby wants to be in the coach seats while you and DD live it up...but that's not huge amounts of fun (was on the train with a family that did that b/c there were no more coach seats for the mom and daughter and dad was constantly going back and forth).

Third, you WANT to look at the actual routes it would take. I'm not sure that there's a normal route that gets you to the Canyon...I think you get off at the main city, then perhaps take a bus to the GC, and *then* you get on the special train.

I found this special deal for instance.



But for this, I wouldn't go by what we say. I would call Amtrak and talk to the experts.


I personally, mainly, like the train. Sure I've had some negative experiences, but one was due to my being pregnant and miserable in my skin, and the other was due to not being able to afford the sleeper car, neither of which was Amtrak's fault.

 

[Sandy321]

I have a friend that takes the train from New York to Disney every year - they are a family of 3 - they also take their car - they find it relaxing... and not that problematic...

they take the auto train out of Lorton Virginia - the train departs at 4pm daily and cars must be loaded by 2pm - it takes about 5 hours to get there from New York.