I should have done this months ago. A summary of our trip, the good and the bad.
This entry is really overdue. I’ve been meaning to do this for months. I just never got around to it. I just finished reviewing the entries I made on the 2006 trip, corrected a few spelling and grammatical errors (I ain’t no English major so there’s probably some that I missed.) I have been active on www.trainorders.com posting comments that related to my trip and the trains that we rode. I’ve just sort of neglected this blog.
Did we have any problems? Yes. Would I do it again? Yes. Would I recommend it to someone else? Yes, but… Let me expand each of these.
Did we have problems? It seems that in today’s world, “intercity travel” and “trouble” are almost interchangeable. If you drive you have to contend with construction delays, wrecks, poor road conditions due to weather, and 38 miles to the next restrooms. If you fly you have delayed flights, take your shoes off (not to relax but for security), the 311 rule (containers three ounces or less, in a one quart zip-top bag, one per passenger), arrive two hours early, cramped seating with no legroom, weather delays, rerouting due to weather, and canceled flights. If you take the bus you have most of the problems associated with driving, tight seating with no legroom, and probably some passengers that you might not like to be close to. If you take the train (Amtrak) you often run late, trains usually only run once a day or once every other day along a particular route, additional delays are encountered due to accidents along the route or mechanical breakdowns.
So, would I do it again? You bet! The problems we encountered along the way are common to the other form of commercial intercity travel.
• We traveled over 7100 miles on 7 different trains (turned out to be 6 trains, 1 bus) with planned stops in 6 cities (Chicago twice, once going and once returning). The total cost for transportation was $771.75 and that was for two people (not $771.75 each.) Transportation by air to two or more cities starts getting expensive real quick.
• Cab rides between the stations and the hotels were less than $8.00 most places, $12.00 minimum in New Orleans. Public transportation (some free) was available around the hotels or we could walk to the places of interest. Compare that with airlines. A taxi from the airport to hotels near attractions can easily cost $30 or more in some cities. An alternative is a rental car.
• Amtrak recommends that you arrive 30 minutes before departure times, not 2 hours like the airlines.
• The scenery was great. We traveled along the Pacific coastline in California, through the Rockies and Glacier National Park, and the Pacific Northwest.
• Even riding coach, the ride was comfortable. Someone once said it was like doing 79 mph in your Lazy Boy. (79 mph is the normal speed limit.) We had plenty of legroom. Neither of us had any problems sleeping. The seats recline and they have foot and leg rests. We brought light fleece blankets and Amtrak supplied the pillows. If we got tired of our seats we could go to the observation car in most cases for a different view of the passing countryside. If we wanted to eat we could go to the diner, or to the café area in the lower level of the observation car.
Would I recommend it to someone else? Yes, but… I know. What’s this “but” part all about. Well, you need to know a few things and I have a few suggestions.
First, a little planning info. All of the official stuff you need can be found at www.amtrak.com. You can download system maps, route maps, route guides, and timetables. You can obtain station information (location and services), information for first time riders, hot deals, and train status. You can plan your trip and order your tickets also. Amtrak offers several fare options and often you qualify for one and will receive it without knowing it. Some fares are based on zones. IE: Cincinnati and Chicago are in the same zone. Travel to the west coast from either location and the fare may be the same.
Take a look at the system map and decide where you want to travel to. If you plan right you can easily stop at three locations and return to the point of origin and the extra stops won’t cost anything extra. If you get real creative you can get even more stops but they would often be limited to less than 24 hours.
Now that you have some idea of where you want to go, go to the reservations section of the Amtrak web site. Choose either the Round Trip or the Multi-city option. Enter the stations, the dates, and let Amtrak perform their magic. Don’t worry. You can do all of this without login in or giving any credit card info. Often Amtrak’s web site will offer you several options for travel between cities. For example, Chicago to Seattle.
• Train 7 Chicago to Seattle
• Train 27 Chicago to Spokane, Train 7 Spokane to Seattle (all the same train)
• Train 27 Chicago to Portland, Train 506 or 516 Portland to Seattle
• Train 3 Chicago to Los Angeles, Train 14 LA to Seattle
In this example, all of these options cost the same. Some times one option may cost more than others. Some of the offerings are just the same thing but ticketed differently. The second option of train 27 and then train 7 is actually the same train as the first option. If you just want to enjoy the ride, the forth option would give you the grand tour. Often the default provided on the web site is not the best option, and sometimes not the least expensive. One more warning. If your trip involves a train that is less than daily, the web site may route you on a longer route so that you don’t arrive until the day your connecting train is scheduled to depart. For example, Seattle to Cincinnati involves riding the Cardinal and it leaves Chicago on Tuesday, Thursday, or Saturday. If you leave on a day that would normally put you in Chicago on a day when the Cardinal does not run, Amtrak might route you from Seattle to Sacramento to Chicago to Cincinnati, about 20 hours longer than the direct route. You would spend the extra day on the train touring these United States.
That’s the official stuff. If you really want some additional information you can Google the trains you are interested in. (IE: Amtrak empire builder). Trainweb.com has travelogues that riders have submitted with highlights and places of interest. Trainorders.com is another place to look. You can read some of the articles and comments for free but be aware that some people on that sight like to complain.
A few more things that you should know about. Food on the train is a little expensive but you don’t have a lot of choice. The good thing is that you’re not using a lot of energy and you probably won’t want to eat three good meals a day. We packed a bunch of snacks and picked up a few things (mostly soft drinks because they were much cheaper) at some of the vending machines at some of the station stops. Just don’t expect to stop somewhere and run down the street to McDonalds.
Learn to use the “Train Status” function on the Amtrak web site. Get an idea of the typical arrival time of your selected train at your destination. Like in the financial world, “Past performance is no guarantee of future results.”
Earlier I mentioned derailments. Most derailments are of freight equipment. It can take hours to get equipment in place to correct a small derailment or it may take days to clear a major derailment and repair the tracks. Amtrak is about the safest way to travel. The coaches are heavy and very strong. The couplers between coaches lock together in such a way that if a coach derails and starts to tip over, the couplers usually prevent it from happening. Collisions with motor vehicles or pedestrians, while not usually damaging the train, will cause several hours of delay for police reports and investigations.
Now for that, “Yes, but…” If you need to be somewhere at a particular time, plan carefully. You should expect the trains to be late. They don’t always run late but expect them to be late anyway. Amtrak is at the mercy of the host railroads. Federal law requires these host railroads to expedite the Amtrak trains. Sometimes it happens and sometimes it doesn’t. The summer of 2006 was a terrible year for Amtrak. On my 2005 trip we were on time or close to on time most of the time. We encountered some storm damage in Iowa but that could not be avoided. The 2006 trip was late most of the time, once due to Amtrak and three times due to the host railroad. Some trains that were over 80% on time in 2005 often ran 5% or less on time in 2006.
Our trip this year took us through Texas, Arizona, Southern California, and New Mexico. The scenery was mostly dirt, sand, cactus, and weeds. As a rail fan, I wanted to ride the City of New Orleans (trains 58, 59) and the Sunset Limited (trains 1, 2.) If you wanted to take a similar trip I would suggest going from Chicago to Los Angeles on the Southwest Chief (trains 3, 4.) It’s a more northern route going through Kansas City, Albuquerque, and Flagstaff and I’ve been told that the scenery is much nicer. Other nice routes are on the Empire Builder (trains 7, 8, 27, 28) going across the northern states, The California Zephyr (trains 5, 6) through the Sierra Nevada range and the Colorado Rockies, or the Coast Starlight (trains 11, 14) going through the Pacific Northwest, Klamath Falls, and along the Pacific coast line.
When planning an Amtrak trip, plan to enjoy the destination and the transportation.