Comments on: Notes I Will Never Use: Amtrak

By: Shaun

Shaun — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 19:25:14 +0000

Having taken Amtrak this past weekend for the first time in over a decade, I can agree…to a point.

The seats were quite roomy, the snack bar a nice touch, and the views (when it was light out) relaxing.

But the train I was on (the Lake Shore Limited) smelled awful, no doubt from the rest rooms at one end of the car; the PA system made an annoyingly loud buzz for the first three hours of the trip; and the train was an hour late in leaving, reasons unknown.

I’ll be glad to give Amtrak another shot, but I’m definitely mixed on them after this trip.

By: almost witty

almost witty — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 17:38:56 +0000

Sounds like train travel in the UK. Only without the reclining seats. The alcoholic rich family are still there, though.

By: Hugh Stimson

Hugh Stimson — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 17:01:35 +0000

I love/hate Amtrak travel, but I think mostly love it. I’m sorry you’re having trouble with passengers; for me that’s more often been one of the pluses. Particularly on the really long haul routes, something about the situation re-arranges the usual stranger-to-stranger social norms quite convincingly. Doing Chicago-to-San Francisco (nominally 56 hours, made it in only 59!) I found myself in the observation car, making freindship bracelets as I babysat two couple’s children, and my ex-con seatmate who was on his way to Columbine to get his engagement ring back from his ex-gf played gameboy or something with one of the little girls, and the first fringes of the Sierra Nevadas rolled up upon us. Wouldn’t get that on Southwest.

By: Dave Warner

Dave Warner — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 16:14:49 +0000

A couple weekends ago, a friend of mine and I went to New York City for a friend’s party. We went up on the Bolt Bus and came back on the Amtrak, in part because my friend had to get to work the morning and the Amtrak, which left at 3:00 AM, was the only means of transport that would allow that.

Compared to the bus, the Amtrak was a limo. The seats were more comfortable, and we had ample room to store our bags — unlike the bus, where we had to cram into smaller seats with our stuff underfoot. Plus, the train ride seemed at least as smooth as your average plane trip — certainly smoother than the turbulence-filled white-knuckle flights to Dallas and Philly that I was on last year.

I do wish we’d put a little more money into our rail system here and make it as smooth and powerful as the bullet trains in France and Japan. Alas, I’m not sure I’ll see that in my lifetime. More’s the pity.

By: Matt

Matt — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 15:54:30 +0000

They are probably conductors.

Which is significantly classier than the airplane equivalent.

By: Auntie Em

Auntie Em — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 13:52:17 +0000

Thanks for the post – I’ve wanted to try an Amtrack sleeper for years. Perhaps on my next trip.

I do exhort you to come to the UK and try the London-Scotland sleeper: it’s very civilised:

http://www.scotrail.co.uk/caledoniansleeper/index.html

(not affiliated – just a satisfied traveler)

By: Jeffrey Martin

Jeffrey Martin — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 13:32:31 +0000

Hi Joel,

Nice post about the last stylish form of transportation, I agree!

Over here in Europe, the restaurant car is even better. Well, I don’t want to brag too much, so I’ll show you a panorama of ourselves drinking large glasses of yummy german beer:
http://www.360cities.net/image/drinking-beer-in-a-train

We also have lots of panoramas of Amtrak trains, shot by our resident Train Guru, Willy Kaemena:
http://www.360cities.net/search/amtrak

When I see pictures of how the insides of trains used to look, I get a very bad feeling about where the human race is headed. So let’s enjoy these locomotive dining cars before it gets any worse ;-)

cheers,
Jeffrey

By: Travel by train: "pillows that approach normal size" | dv8-designs

Travel by train: "pillows that approach normal size" | dv8-designs — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 11:40:20 +0000

[...] by train: "pillows that approach normal size" A slightly ambivalent ode to Amtrak. If you like American trains, you should try those in Europe and [...]