Haven't done long distance, but used to do Poughkeepsie to NYC, more Albany to NYC in recent years.

Sleeping cabs are not like small hotel rooms, as they used to be. The only pro I see is that someone else is driving so you can sleep or daydream. The big con is that you have no control over your stops, the state of the shared bathroom, and the seats are as bad as flying coach. If you like riding rugged, happy trails!

We did a Monterey (or was it "somewhere near Salinas..."?) to Los Angeles in a sleeper car with a shower and a private bathroom.  At the end of the first hour we were musing about taking a cross country train and oh what fun it was.  After a few hours we didn't think so any more.  By the time we reached our destination we had totally lost interest.

This was in the early 90s.

Susan

     
“Half a truth is often a great lie.”

Ben Franklin

Thanks, peeps!  I remain undiscouraged! 

The US is a mystery to me, so I want to do an epic trip, even if that means spending too much time on trains.  Short trips in Coach mixed with longer trips with Bedrooms mean I can probably manage it financially, and I'm a pretty patient traveller on buses so I can't imagine trains being worse.  (Not compared to being a Canadian attempting American air travel, anyway.)

I'm still investigating, and I'm happy to read anyone's experiences. :)

Stop by and see me in Los Angeles.  I think the closest stop is Simi Valley about 20 miles from here.  I'll pick you up and take you to lunch!  Or dinner.

Van Nuys, CA (VNC) is closer.

Susan

     
“Half a truth is often a great lie.”

Ben Franklin

This might be worth checking out:

www.discoverypass.com

30 days of unlimited bus travel in the US and Canada for $399.

LA and Denver, check.  That's cause enough for a trip already!

http://www.trainweb.com/accommod/superliners.html

~ Amanda

"Just fear me, love me, do as I say and I will be your slave..."

Zephyr ends in SF, so there ya go.  (And now I'm thinking about a Vertigo/Zodiac tour...)

Perhaps I should just plan a west coast trip as it's own thing and worry about the east later. :P

Angel, thanks for the link; I was also able to find a few YouTube videos that were interesting.

Posted on Sun, Jan. 10, 2010

Personal Journey: America's spaces flash past train window By Marilyn MacGregor For The Inquirer

 I'd been staring at the same dry stretch of Texas for about three hours when the conductor came through to say it might be an hour before we could move. I looked at my husband, concerned that our Amtrak train, the Sunset Limited from Los Angeles to New Orleans, wouldn't make it in time for our connection north to our new home in Philadelphia. But then Florence, a well-dressed woman of retirement age, sitting across from us in the observation car, spoke up: "Three hours? Four hours? I don't care. I'm here, and this is what I'm doing." There it was - the real difference between flying cross-country and taking the train. If I couldn't find my inner Zen stuck behind a freight train in the middle of the Texas desert, I'd be better off in the airport security line. I looked again at the flat, featureless landscape outside the windows, taking in every last nuance as the light faded toward evening. The rolling world of a train is one of remarkable peace and tranquillity. A few rowdy teenagers who complained about the delay were the exception - when they got off, the calm settled back in. Regular meals, early bedtimes, attendants helping you understand the way things work - it was like camp without games and marshmallows. Train time keeps a farm schedule, sunrise to sunset. The day is defined by short stops in towns named Alpine and New Iberia and occasional glimpses of high civilization in big-city skyscrapers. America, in detail, passed before our eyes. Meals have ceremony and ritual, and when it was our turn, we obeyed at once. The steward seats for community; except for groups of four, passengers are always placed with strangers. He was wise as well as practical - he knew this was how we'd get to know our fellow travelers. A short menu and a long ride are great for bringing out people's stories. Jessica and Amy, friends separated by Hurricane Katrina, were trading visits between Houston and New Orleans. John and son Jacob were on the last leg of a train adventure that had taken them all over the Northwest, down the California coast, and now to New Orleans, from where they'd head home to Chicago. Michael, with a gold tooth and a menacing look, turned out to be a sweetheart, treating his giggling daughter and two of her friends to a train ride. Nighttime in our cozy little bunk meant the hum of constant motion and an occasional flash of light as we barreled through a station. To my ears, the long echo of a train whistle in the dark was no less romantic from the inside. We picked up speed at night; the lost hours in the desert disappeared, and we slid into New Orleans right on schedule. In the morning we'd be on the Crescent north to Philadelphia. There's time to think on a train. We didn't see any spectacular scenery on this route, but there were plenty of scenes, including the border fence in El Paso and the low-slung shacks in Louisiana flood country. The United States can be a difficult place to understand, but tracking its wide spaces mile by mile makes a good start. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Marilyn MacGregor lives in Society Hill.

I've been riding Amtrak since the early 80s when I regularly went from East Lansing, MI to my aunts in Springfield, IL.

 My first long distance trip was in '88, Barstow, CA to Chicago, IL (duh) and that still holds my record for being late (27 hrs) after we broke down in Vegas.  I neither gambled (having problems in that area I know to stay away) nor went to the show (Nudes on Ice) at the hotel they put us up at.

 It is at this point the only way I choose to travel regularly.  I don't like flying as there is no way I can conceive (hey, I before E except after C, it works! (or rather it worked this time)) of that it could be made sustainable.

 Took my last trip in the Summer of '08 and it was great.  The Empire Builder Seattle to Chicago, Chicago to Springfield IL (my Mom lives there now), St. Louis Back to Springfield (after a long unrelated story got me to St. Louis), Springfield back to Chicago, Chicago to Denver (Zephyr), Denver to Seattle by way of San Francisco(ditto into the Coast Starlight). (At one point there was a route that went Denver to Seattle direct but not for many years now.)

 Things to remember are that they run on tracks that belong to the freight companies and at their suffrage.   The lines from Seattle to Chicago and from Seattle to Portland are owned by the BN&SF and I have seldom run late on those.  The lines from Portland to S.F. and from S.F. to Denver are owned by the Union Pacific and I've been all kinds of late on those runs including one memorable stretch of several hours when we were stopped in a tunnel.  I plugged in my head set and watched the reflection of the people passing behind me in the glass of the observation car.

 Also the hardware is, in most cases, going on 40 years old.  The most glaring example of this is the fact that the locks on the toilets will often come unlocked through the rocking of the cars.  The cans are small enough that it is generally no problem to just reach out and re-do them once you figure it out.

 Be aware that the air is recycled so if you are going to sneak a smoke in the cans late at night be careful.  One might consider a washcloth with a bit of Dr. Bronners or similar smelly substance on it to filter out the aroma. 

 All that in mind I must say I love it.  Watching the country roll by, thunderstorms stacking up over Montana, the long run up out of Denver and on into the gorgeous river canyon, Mount Shasta in the early morning sun on the way from S.F. to Seattle.  As I said I don't like flying and more to the point I don't like all the B.S. that comes hand in hand with it in this day and age.  There is plenty of B.S. that goes with travel on the train but it seems to me to be more human B.S. and the view is worth it.  To me anyways.

 If one can afford it the roommettes are the best bet in my opinion.  The full size cabins aren't worth the fundage and the seats are worse than those in coach or in the roomettes.  Coach is allright but I would not think of taking it without an Iplod or Disc Dude or some other white (&black&red&whatever) noise source to screen out the screaming kids and the moaning oldsters. (In Coach) If one can travel with a partner you can block off a pair of seats and this is good.  If one can travel with three others, at one point the seats flipped around (don't know if you can still do this) so you can face each other and that is really prime.   Of course you can and I have met some great folk and had some amazing conversations traveling by myself.

Anyway, if you go I hope you enjoy.  I recommend Aaron Copland for the soundtack.  Hard for me to imagine the west going past without Rodeo or Appalachian Spring going for at least part of it.

 best, rb

"It's not so bad as long as you can keep the fear from your mind." - D. Cooper

"I must not fear. Fear is the mind killer." - P. Atreides

"Whoever can see through all fear will always be safe" - L. tzu

Redbear's story reminded me of the bathroom in our private compartment.  We were only traveling for a half-day so we didn't need the shower but there it was!  In the same maybe 2.5 x 2.5 foot space with the toilet.  I guess the idea was that you stand and shower when you need that amenity and use the toilet when you need that one.  Unfortunately for David he got a little confused over which lever controlled the flusher and which turned on the water. 

Here's a view of a current shower/toilet which seems a little more sophisticated than ours from 20 years ago.

Susan

     
“Half a truth is often a great lie.”

Ben Franklin

I'm about one third done with a spur of the moment familial duty junket by train.  The trip has, so far, gone off without a hitch (touch fake wood.)

We got into Sacramento an hour early and Denver right about on time.  I'm loving it like normal.  Particularly enjoyable was going through the Ruby and Glennwood canyons.  Rocks, snow, animals (of the non naked ape kind) and gorgeous ice falls.  It's my first winter train trip since the one that took me, eventually, to Seattle in January of '92.

Looking forward to the rest of it and hoping that it continues to roll smoothly.

"It's not so bad as long as you can keep the fear from your mind." - D. Cooper

"I must not fear. Fear is the mind killer." - P. Atreides

"Whoever can see through all fear will always be safe" - L. tzu

Cool, please follow up!

I'm happy people are still checking in on this thread.  :)  It keeps the idea fresh in my mind, which might help avoid July rolling around with me realizing I don't have my passport yet...

The rest of the trip went smoothly, more or less.

 The Denver to Chicago leg was uneventful.  It is less than 24 hours and most of that is in the dark.  I did have the vaguely surreal experience of going right by Offutt Air Force Base in the pre dawn light.  I was stationed there '83-'85 so it was like watching a ghost island pass by.  I was in coach but it was fine as the coach seats in the Super Liner are much more spacious than those found on the shorter run trains in the Midwest and, I presume, the east.  I had two to myself so was able to spread out and get my sleep in hour chunks rather than the 20 ones of the earlier run.  It was fairly quite once the two or three year old, who was deep in the NO! phase of her development, ran out of steam.  We were running about an hour and a half late by the time we reached the Iowa/Illinois border but shaved that down to about 20 minutes by the time we got to Chicago.

 The coach lounge in Chicago was its typical zoo like state and it was a scrum to the train but being a big galoot I do fairly well in those.  Still I think it might be worth the extra seven or so bucks on that run to get business class and go to the front of the line.  The coach ride was crowded and noisy but only about four hours long for the trip Chi to Springfield, Il so it was tolerable.

 The run back up to Chicago was much more pleasant aside from the six-thirty roll out time but better that than run the risk of missing my connection.  The early start makes for a quieter, less crowded trip and in this case had the added benny of a glorious blazing red sun rise over the fields of central Illinois.

It was my first time in the metro lounge in Chicago and I must say I was fairly happy with it.  It would have nicer with out the bleating of the ubiquitous alters of the one eyed god which, as another 'perk' were wide screened in the swank lounge as opposed to the tiny little ones in coach pens.  It was particularly annoying because the CNN heads kept going about the Red river by Fargo rising.  This brought back unhappy memories of the 2008 trip when we ended up being bussed  from Minneapolis to Chicago due to flooding.  Being both Claustrophobic and Demophobic long run busses are one of my least favorite places to be.  We boarded in good order and I got settled in roomette number 14, bottom, front, port.

 The Empire Builder runs from Chicago to Seattle through Wisconsin, Minnesota and along the northern tier states and is a very nice run.  There is less spectacular scenery than the California Zephyr but there is something about rolling over the plains that has a relaxing, almost hypnotic effect on me.  The trip was uneventful and on time until we got to Wenathcee, WA where we got stopped by a stalled freight and spent something like an hour and a half waiting.  This was no big deal from me as I was still enjoying the ride and was not on a schedule.  It ended up being a good thing for me viewing pleasure as it gave us full light on the leg up the Cascades.  The morning sunlight falling on the snowfields on the west slope of the mountains was gorgeous.  Going down the east slope we dropped into a sea of fog and I knew I had made it back to my home. One last treat the Builder provides is a great view of Puget Sound between Everett and where it turns into the Interbay train yards about a quarter mile from my house.  It is always interesting for me to see familiar territory from an unfamiliar perspective.

 Overall impressions.  It was a good trip.  The theory that the crappy economy would lead to fewer delays seemed to be supported.  My friend pointed out a nice aspect which I was never really aware of; there is almost no advertising aimed at the train tracks as opposed to the roadways where it seems to be everywhere.

 When you are in populated areas your view is mainly that of poorer neighborhoods. Some people dislike this but I find it fascinating.  The other thing I noticed quite a bit of were human hives, housing developments that are packed so densely I wonder how people can stand to live like that.  The country views range from breathtaking to potentially monotonous but even then there are distractions such as old junk yards, farm houses in various states of repair and various ages and a fair amount of wildlife from the mundane deer to the exotic, to me, things like Pronghorns.  The dome cars give a great views but leave you open to all kinds of unsolicited conversations that can be great or terrible.

 The food on the trains is not worth the price they charge in my opinion as it is largely mediocre. I found two exceptions on this trip.  The first was the steak which was tender as heck, flavorful and big, too big in my opinion. The other was the Corned Beef Hash which was the hard core real thing although it was the breakfast special so can't be counted upon to be available.  They do offer vegetarian entrees I believe but not Vegan so if you're one of those plan accordingly.  The lounge car sells acceptable versions of typical fast food.  My one weakness there is the breakfast sandwich, sausage, egg and cheese.  It is one of those crappy foods that I, for some reason, find quite enjoyable.  They also sell chips, candy, soft drinks and really pricey booze which for those in coach is the only legal booze option.

 An unpleasant reality is that the storage tanks for the  toilets in coach can become full on long, crowded trips causing the people in the effected cars to have to use those in the other cars.  Never experienced anything like that in the sleeper cars but I'm a relative neophyte to those.

 There are discounts for students, members of the National Association of Rail Passengers (!) and many others.  I'm thinking the Amtrak web site should cover those.  There is also a frequent rollers club which might be worth looking into if you have a long trip planned. Book early for cheaper fares.

 My only advice for the trains you mentioned is if you can pick your seat/room try to be on the left side of the California Zephyr (facing the front of the train) west bound and the right side of the Coast Starlight south bound for your best views, in my opinion.  Reverse for the opposite directions to state the obvious.

 If this has been TMI I apologize.  I hope you have a wonderful trip when the time comes JVSCant, happy rolling!

rb

"It's not so bad as long as you can keep the fear from your mind." - D. Cooper

"I must not fear. Fear is the mind killer." - P. Atreides

"Whoever can see through all fear will always be safe" - L. tzu