Would You Take A Long Trip By Train? Check Out My New Guilty Pleasure...

In the past, I have taken several Amtrak auto train rides to Florida and back (Washington DC area). I'm a romantic, and tend to see things on the positive side, but life's experiences have tempered my view of Amtrak rides.
This is my experience:


1) Coach - sleeping in a chair overnight can be tiring on the legs, especially if you're tall, and we learned to take a blanket and pillow for the trip. That gave us more flexibility. If you plan way ahead, you can get good discounts, though.

Meals were the good part and were part of the price, but recently, they've changed. There used to be snacks of bananas and treats. They've cut back on that. Breakfast is very sugary. DO NOT DRINK the orange juice and eat all the sweet stuff during breakfast. By the time you get to your destination, you are drowsy and just want to sleep it off. I learned that the hard way. Started bringing my own food for breakfast. We were supposed to go on a trip in 2020, but due to the pandemic, postponed it. I honestly don't think I'll take another Amtrack train again.

2) Roomette - sleeping in a room with bunkbeds is ok, if there are NO bedbugs. When I woke up the next morning, my legs were riddled with bites. Even though I complained to the manager there, they did nothing. Never went back to a roomette again.

3) One year, at around 2-3am, the train stopped and I found out we had run over someone who had parked their car smack in the middle of the railroad. Everyone was shaken up, including me.

These are my thoughts. Just so you know from someone who has used the Amtrak auto train for several years. :)
Bedbugs! I had thought of taking a trip on Amtrak, but there is no way that I am going to expose myself to bedbugs.
 
2007,came back from South Carolina to Newark NJ after spending a couple of months with my daughter,they didn't want me to be alone for the 1st anniversary of my husbands death,I was tired,looking forward to getting home to my dog.
2014,Went to spend Thanksgiving with same daughter in same place,I loved it,there was instantaneous rapport with me and the women next to me,beautiful scenery especially lit up at night and lots of tiny towns that appeared to be in the middle of nowhere.
Left Utica at 6:30 a.m. short layover at NY PENN,would do it again in a heartbeat but the kid now lives 10 minutes away🙂
 
In the past, I have taken several Amtrak auto train rides to Florida and back (Washington DC area). I'm a romantic, and tend to see things on the positive side, but life's experiences have tempered my view of Amtrak rides.
This is my experience:


1) Coach - sleeping in a chair overnight can be tiring on the legs, especially if you're tall, and we learned to take a blanket and pillow for the trip. That gave us more flexibility. If you plan way ahead, you can get good discounts, though.

Meals were the good part and were part of the price, but recently, they've changed. There used to be snacks of bananas and treats. They've cut back on that. Breakfast is very sugary. DO NOT DRINK the orange juice and eat all the sweet stuff during breakfast. By the time you get to your destination, you are drowsy and just want to sleep it off. I learned that the hard way. Started bringing my own food for breakfast. We were supposed to go on a trip in 2020, but due to the pandemic, postponed it. I honestly don't think I'll take another Amtrack train again.

2) Roomette - sleeping in a room with bunkbeds is ok, if there are NO bedbugs. When I woke up the next morning, my legs were riddled with bites. Even though I complained to the manager there, they did nothing. Never went back to a roomette again.

3) One year, at around 2-3am, the train stopped and I found out we had run over someone who had parked their car smack in the middle of the railroad. Everyone was shaken up, including me.

These are my thoughts. Just so you know from someone who has used the Amtrak auto train for several years. :)
I'm so sorry you had a bad experience but I doubt bedbugs are standard fare in those roomettes. I think they are probably even more fastidious with cleaning those cabins since the pandemic. They would have had to refund my money if that happened to me, that's for sure. Also, the meal plans have changed. They offer the choice of breakfast sandwich, French toast or three egg omelettes on the train I'd be catching. The menus are not the same on all trains. Even the people reviewing the trips, who's reviews were generally favorable, experienced delays. Some were quite long, so the advice is never schedule something too soon after the time you expect to arrive at your destination. @Pecos
 
I'm so sorry you had a bad experience but I doubt bedbugs are standard fare in those roomettes. I think they are probably even more fastidious with cleaning those cabins since the pandemic. They would have had to refund my money if that happened to me, that's for sure. Also, the meal plans have changed. They offer the choice of breakfast sandwich, French toast or three egg omelettes on the train I'd be catching. The menus are not the same on all trains. Even the people reviewing the trips, who's reviews were generally favorable, experienced delays. Some were quite long, so the advice is never schedule something too soon after the time you expect to arrive at your destination. @Pecos
Thanks, @OneEyedDiva! Maybe I'll give it another try one day! :D
 
I took a 2 train trip from Los Angeles to Reno on a private rail car. The car was attached to the Coast Starlight up to Oakland, and the next day, after a hotel stay, iy was attached to the California Zephyr to Reno. Great trip.
 
I love trains. I have traveled from Poland all the way across Russia to Vladivostok on the Trans-Siberian. I have also traveled many long journeys across China and India. Oh yes, did the 1200 km travel from Dar es Salaam to Kilgoma in Tanzania in East Africa. You just sit and enjoy seeing the world go by. If you feel like it you can walk around.

However, I hate long bus trips. They either force you to listen to some god awful music or even worse some good awful movie on a screen just before your eyes. Pure torture for me! Train trips are classy! Bus trips, mostly speaking, are without any class! Tinted windows, sometimes very cold AC and maybe the person in front of you has his seat WAY back over you so he can really relax. I have been there and done it and sure don't want to do it ever again...... the buses, I mean.
Especially, after that beheading.
One thing I may say is that I don't think a mental skitzo can afford the trip which is better than a greyhound which I was considering right up to the time I read the Travel section here on that poor innocent man snuffed out in minutes. The man who did the killing while a whole bus load of people were there not one had a weapon for safety reasons which is allowed legally as I was told by a detective personally that she carries one and should I. It's a woman thing. Yet if that man had a means to defend himself I wonder with all the witnesses not even that bus driver was prepared. That man is out now in Canada or on a bus. I FEEL someone should give him covid-19 since the system is too merciful in that case.
 
...Which is watching Amtrak train travel videos. I got into doing this because I wanted to see what to expect if I booked a roomette, which is a bit pricier than traveling in coach. I found several videos by a few different people. Some are short with explanations of the accommodations and amenities; others are actually over a hour long with edited versions of their cross country trips. I am definitely living vicariously through these people right now. Watching the videos on a larger screen almost feels like I'm traveling with them. In the first, the couple owns Grounded Life Travel and has posted several Amtrak videos on You Tube. They have videos and blogs on their website as well. In the second, the young man is so exuberant because he's loved trains since a child and it was his first trip. He's such a cutie and I love his energy. He also gives the train tour. I've found these videos to be quite informative.
From New York to Los Angeles:
From Atlanta to New Orleans:

In this video there is captioning only, which sometimes is a nice change. He's going from Cary, N.C. to West Palm Beach, Fla. in a bedroom.
I went from Newark, NJ to Tampa Florida in January 2019 to visit my Honorary Son and his fiancee. I loved it and was supposed to do it again this month but Omicron put a hold on those plans. I'd also love to do the Amtrak USA Rail Pass with 10 segments over 30 days. But that could get to be quite expensive and the rules could make planning complicated. Plus it would have to be in coach which I wouldn't travel in right now.

Would you take a long trip by train? Have you ever? If so, how did you like it? @Pecos @Pinky @feywon @dseag2 @Bretrick
What is omnicrom
 
I have taken the Indian Pacific 6 times between Perth and Melbourne - 3 return trips.
The distance is 3,400km one way.
It crosses the Nullarbor Plain. A stretch of desert devoid of trees. Null - No, Arbor - tree. No Trees.
The train ride traverses the longest straight stretch of track in the world. 478km - 291 miles.
 

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