Have you taken a ride on Amtrak?
A lot more people ride Amtrak than you normally think. I would never have guessed it’d be as many as there actually were on the train. But I’ve found the ride to be pretty sweet except for the lack of Internet access. And, compared to riding on Greyhound - it was actually quite pleasurable. And I’ll explain why in the following points.
- The staff - Maybe I am lucky, but the people who were waiting on me on the Amtrak train were actually quite courteous. Everyone from the ticket lady in Shelby, Montana to the conductor on board - I found everyone to be extremely helpful. When I accidentally threw away my baggage tags and Amtrak ticket stub, the staff reassured me that as long as I wasn’t paying for anything with a Credit Card, it wasn’t that big of a deal. Plus, since they had my passenger info on record, there would be no issues about my carriage to Portland.
- The seats - Okay, the seats are way more comfortable than what I’ve experienced on Greyhound. They reclined. They were actually designed to be slept in. To be sat in. And of course, there were curtains next to your seat in case you needed the area around you to be just a bit darker so you can sleep. This was pretty cool.
- The view - There must have been some sort of planning in where the rails were placed because I’ve seen some pretty awesome sights while passing through Glacier National Park and the Colombian River near Vancouver, Washington.
- The facilities - The facilities on a Superliner Amtrak car are actually pretty sanitary. They actually use a flush toilet - which was something that I missed while I was travelling in the back of a Greyhound bus - smelling everyone else’s shit for 80-something miles. Plus, you actually can walk around the train, there are better overhead baggage services and there was actually a lounge car where you could actually get together with and talk to your fellow passengers.
- The snack bar - Okay, if you can avoid having to actually go to the snack bar, try to do so. But if you can’t avoid it and don’t have meal service, you can actually go to the snack bar and get something like a soda or a burger. It was about $6/$7 a trip for me (usually, it was a Burger and a Yoo Hoo) but it was worth it to actually get something to eat in the train. It’s very good for those who don’t have time to prepare beforehand.
- No layovers/Fewer layovers - If you are on a certain line (like Empire Builder for example), there are no layovers to have to worry about. You can stay on the train and get off where you need to. And if you have to switch lines, the stations at the end of the line usually have another line coming pretty close to when you get off and get your luggage.
- The cost - The cost to get an Amtrak ticket from Shelby, Montana to Houston, Texas was $300.00 or so - and that just wasn’t feasible when I was in Shelby. But if I definitely had all the money on me - I’d certainly take Amtrak from point a to point b if I didn’t need to be there immediately and if I were with Becca.
So will I take Amtrak again? Not without Becca. I mean, I might want to see the United States by rail sometime - based on what I’ve seen while passing through Glacier National Park but I don’t want to lose contact with my sweetie pie. We might go on an Amtrak tour of the United States after we get married. We might even get a bedroom car so we can be together without certain interruptions.
Tags: That Other Life
April 20th, 2007 at 8:01 pm
We have been trying to figure out the best way to travel to a family reunion in Iowa this July, and at one point I did check into Amtrak. The only problem was that we wanted to save money, and if we travel from Seattle to Minneapolis (one of the direct routes) we would need a ‘roomette’ on the way from Spokane to Minneapolis. They had them available going east, but not coming back west. So, we are going to have to fly.
I have taken the train a few times from Seattle to Leavenworth, WA for the Christmas lighting ceremony, That is fun, but not like on the Empire Builder would be. So, I am still waiting for my ship to come in, and me at the airport, to afford a real train journey. At 56, I am not dead yet, so it may happen!
June 19th, 2007 at 1:40 am
I’ve never taken the train, but I would like to. I usually just take the Greyhound. It’s a lot cheaper, and in my case, a few hours faster.
I usually go from Detroit to NYC, granted that usually scares everyone considering the two cities reputations, but it all isn’t too bad. Amtrak, according to their website takes about 18 hours to and from Detroit to NYC. The bus takes 13 to 16, depending on when you go.
The big storm in Minneapolis in Chicago this past winter grounded a lot of planes in Detroit and beyond, so everyone had to take The Greyhound since it was the only mode of transit able to function in that kind of weather. It’s reliable in that affect. Even when it rains, planes end up being cancelled, etc.
I like to save money, so I take the bus. The planes are just too expensive, and after 9/11 I’m not sure if I’d like to fly on one.
Amtrak, maybe one day, when it’s a bit cheaper.