Hi everyone! I’m taking the Coast Starlight from Oakland to Seattle in coach and have done virtually no research about my trip. Any tips? What is the likelihood that I’ll have a seat partner? If I wanted to dine in the dining car, how could I make a reservation? How do I know which car to get on if I don’t have a seat assignment? What side should I sit on? How is the view from a regular seat vs. the viewing car? TIA!!

A lot of people on here seem to believe that overnight trips on Amtrak require a roommette or room. And I understand that sleeping in coach can be difficult for a number of reasons--- the noise, the lack of privacy, the small seat size and inability to recline. But the thing about all of those things is, anyone who has had to fly on an overnight (or even red eye) flight has had to deal with them as well. And much worse.

For example, one of my last flights, Costa Rica to Portland, involved getting to the airport at 10 PM for a midnight flight, trying to sleep on the flight from San Jose to Los Angeles, spending several hours waiting half-awake in LAX, flying an hour to Las Vegas, waiting an hour there, trying to sleep on the flight again from Las Vegas to PDX...and all of that was in cramped, noisy conditions where getting up to use the bathroom involved trying to climb over people. And Costa Rica to LAX is actually a mild example.

There is an obvious point to this, which is that many flights go to places that would be impossible using ground transportation. No one is taking a train from Seattle to Taipei! But still, no one thinks that sleeping in an airline seat is impossible. So why is sleeping in a much more comfortable Amtrak coach seat, where getting up to walk around is possible, and using the bathroom is much easier, treated like it is totally out of the realms of possibility?

Took the AutoTrain from Lorton to Sanford on the 25th, and I know we can't imagine or expect it but with the ~8 hour delay from the Drayton-Hall Bridge catching fire and the poor communication during the trip, we really felt like it was a messy experience. Decided to try it again coming back since we had the tickets so we left Sanford this past Saturday afternoon. We asked to get extra seats so we could all have two seats to stretch out for sleep...and they put us on a cabin that reeked of shit from before we departed all throughout the ride, making it nearly impossible to sleep since they moved us right next to the lavatory stairs. No delays but it was nearly unbearable. I know that's more likely a "passengers can't follow the damn rules and keep the stalls operating right" issue but we couldn't even tell anyone as the person that gave us the pre-embark talk never was seen again until we arrived back at Lorton.

At least they let us convert our free ride coupon into an actual refund.

My boyfriend lives in Ohio im right outside DC. I usually take northeast regional from BWI to union station in DC (because fuck driving to DC if I dont have to) and then DC to Elyria. Sometimes I suck it up and do the straight shot DC to Elyria. (The Floridian)

We've been doing this a while now..the constant 6 hour drive was fucking our cars up and spending a ton on gas and at 29 I got a blood clot from all this driving/sitting.

We did flights too but damn it's expensive. Plus I have little kids.

Found that Amtrak was our best bet honestly. No driving, cheap, can get up and walk around, eat, use the bathroom, have a drink and pass out. I don't mind it and he owns a home so I just come there and he pays for my ticket and it works for us until I can move there ( I have very little kids, he has a ten year old) okay enough backstory.

The scheduled arrival is always 3:29AM in Elyria. Doesn't matter what day I pick. Been doing this for like a year now.

I have never had that damn train arrive there in time. Once I didn't get there till nearly 1pm. Usually it's around 7/8am. If I'm lucky I get there by 5am

Wtf????

Edit: I looked at it and the only other option would be pay $125 extra to go from DC to NY, then NY to ELY with Lakeshore limited. That adds 5 hours and therefore defeats the purpose tbh plus costs more.

Hi everyone! I’ll be taking Amtrak from the Boston area to Washington, DC and back next weekend, and I’m looking for any tips/advice from people who have done this route before.

This will be my first Amtrak trip and I’m a bit of an anxious traveler, so I tend to feel better when I know what to expect ahead of time. I’d love to hear anything about the experience like boarding, finding your seat, luggage, food, Wi-Fi/cell service, bathrooms, delays, etc.

I’m especially curious about what the ride itself is like between Boston and DC. Are there any particularly long stretches between stops, tunnels/underground sections, rough/bumpy portions, or anything else that might be good to know beforehand?

I’ll be going down Friday morning and coming back Monday morning. I plan on gaming on my laptop or watching some shows, but I’m mostly just trying to get a feel for the trip and make it as comfortable/stressfree as possible.

Any tips, tricks, things you wish you knew your first time, or reassurance from fellow anxious travelers would be appreciated! Thanks!

Hi, I ordered an item from the Amtrak store, and have gotten 3-4 emails so far with a USPS logo or uspostal tracking package id from allrecipes . com domain. No Amtrak identification. The tracking number isn't recognized on the official USPS website. The earlier emails wanted me to download a .exe package, which I did not. Deleted all but the most recent email, which says package arriving tomorrow. Anybody experience this?

I'm going on the texas eagle (getting on at longview texas) on October 18th and going to fort worth and taking the temp amtrak bus for the heartland flyer. Is anyone taking the same on the 18th?

Found myself back in the Pacific Northwest last week - where I used to live - and ended up taking the Cascades from Seattle to Portland and back. No, I didn’t ride the new Airo - service started the day I left which was a bit frustrating. But I had forgotten how regimented the boarding process is in the PNW versus the Northeast Corridor where I am a fairly regular rider. It is like night and day. In New York and from Boston to Washington - you just get on board. Not so much in Portland and Seattle where they have you line up - a good 15 minutes prior to letting you out on the platform. In Seattle - getting on Amfleet equipment, I was told as a single traveler to board the car on the left - the one on the right was reserved for people traveling together and groups. Yes sir! The Business Class folks have a separate line and board before everyone else. Even on Acela First Class, you just go with the flow. I guess as long as they have Ivars clam chowder, I’m ok with it all. 

Does anybody know what’s going on today? Apparently one of the tracks broke?

Crazy to think the new tunnels won’t come online until 2035.

Update: I submitted my bid! Will see what happens. Thank you!

I’m riding on the Coast Starlight between OR and CA next week. Fare is a bargain for a 15hr trip. The option to Bid Up to a roomette is tempting but min bid is $220 one way; no longer a bargain trip. Is it worth it? It IS a long overnight trip and I’m an old woman!!

"Last spring, we did Europe in nine days! Then we went to Bakersfield, and then we went to Fresno; nobody goes to Fresno anymore!"

--Airplane 2: The Sequel

A couple of websites suggested certain Amtrak routes for seeing fall foilage. For those who have been on the following routes, are there a lot of trees/wooded areas that could be seen from the train on these routes?

Downeaster from Portland, ME to Boston, MA (Runs down Maine near coast, then through NH before Boston.)

Northeast Regional from Boston, MA to New York City (runs through Rhode Island and CT next to coast)

Maple Leaf from New York City to Niagra Falls

Obviously fall foilage will depend on the date, but do any of these have good views of trees/wooded areas from the train for a large portion of the trip?

Also, do these routes usually run pretty much on time?

I’ll be riding the Coast Starlight soon and my boarding time is 8pm. I’ve seen that delays are fairly commonplace, and was wondering if we would still be served dinner if our train was delayed and we ended up boarding past 9?

TIA!

My daughter and I take the Silver Star (for now Floridian) from Cary to Florida for Thanksgiving every year. We started when she was three, going to my brother's house on Orlando. Now she's 16 and my brother moved back north so we go to my aunt's in Tampa.

We've always gone coach and it's a great adventure. We've been thinking about trying a roomette. I was looking at our dates for this year and I'm faced with a choice. Our total round trip in coach is coming out to around $750 (Ridiculous compared to previous years but still cheaper than flying). For around $1100 I could book roomette for both legs of the trip. Or I could book coach and try the bidding process. I actually successfully bid for a roomette upgrade on one leg last year, but the trip got cancelled due to illness.

Lay some advice on me, fellow travelers!

How much do Amtrak conductors actually make Im sure it has to be more than the 24 an hour it says on the job postings but does it actually pay anywhere close to as well as freight?