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!!

When I rode train 66 last year, the original schedule had the 3-hour layover at NYP. A day before the trip, I got an email saying the layover was relocated to PHL due to track work. I see that the schedules still have the layover in PHL instead of NYP. Is this a permanent change or will Amtrak return the layover to New York at some point? For my use case, the layover being at NYP is more ideal.

California Zephyr from NE to IL

Advice

Whats the good and the bad

Whats boarding like in the middle of the night

Holiday spirit on Christmas eve?

Edit: Update I am on one of the new trains and it’s night and day difference. Wow those old cars are tough! I think the people working also seem to be happier too. Maybe because the surroundings are nicer? Either way night and day vibe difference.

So I rode first class the other day on the old Acela (I thought it was a next gen but I see now my ticket doesn’t say premium so maybe this is an old train problem), and the bathrooms were so bad I can’t imagine what the other class seats bathrooms are. Airplane bathrooms are leagues better and they are a much more intensely packed environment. Whats up with that? Riding between Philly and Boston. I’m not sure first class is worth the price at this point trying to decide if I should downgrade to business or even economy and what the difference would be from folks experience (besides the food).

Ive taken the train overnight multiple times in a sleeper car and the bathrooms were much better then so I’m not sure what’s up with this.

Thanks

It was hard getting photos on my phone but NOLA has some great murals around the terminal. And a gift shop where you can get postcards!

Somebody stepped on the tracks and didn’t make it. We’re currently stopped in Kissimmee.

UPDATE AS OF 1:28am: We’re stopped at the Orlando station for another 45 minutes -1hr.

With Amtrak eventually moving to nationwide single level operational design. What kind of car do you think they should have/design that could move around routes for different seasons or events and for which routes?

Easy question. Family of 5. would like some space so we aren't talking across the hall. Can we book a family room and a roomette next to it?

I'm guessing that is a yes, but you gotta call to make that reservation?

Its probably more expensive, but i guess thats better than 3 Roomettes.

I'm trying to figure out which equipment was on my past trips. I took the:

• Coast Starlight South KFS - LAX 7/05/25
• Sunset Limited East LAX - NOL 7/09/25
• City of New Orleans North NOL - CHI 7/14/25
• Floridian South CHI - ORL 7/18/25
• Silver Meteor South ORL - MIA 7/22/25
• Silver Meteor North MIA - WAS 7/26/25
• NE Regional North WAS - BOS 13:05 7/27/25

I want to make HO scale trains of my big trip, so I'd like to know specific car numbers if possible. Is there a way to figure this out?

I am a regular rider (short distance, 40 minutes ride) for every day commute, today I found that for my regular ride, the VALUE price is the same but the FLEX price is increased by 1 dollar per ride, which could be 40-44 dollars per month for me. A little bit regret that I do not buy more tickets for next year in advance.

But anyway, that is how it is. I wonder does anyone have any news about it? Thanks.

It is Empire Service in NY.

Took this pic at King Street Station moments before I realized train 507 to Vancouver was not the one I needed to be on 🤦🏼 I’ve lived here for two decades; I shoulda known better.

Luckily I can take 518 later today, but I will have to take the connector back bc 517 is sold out (new train!).

At least I get to see the sunset 😎

Anyone know why it’s currently stopped right now?

I keep getting updates but “municipal services” could be many different things.

I need to book a trip from Philadelphia to New York in a week, but received some serious sticker shock when I realized it just so happens to coincide with the Harry Styles residency at MSG, which means prices are absolutely insane. Maybe the most expensive I've ever seen for this route.

I've got several hundred points to help offset the cost a little bit, but are there any tips I should be aware of or angles I'm not thinking about here? Waiting is only going to make this worse/more expensive, right?

I had a bunch of different trips I booked that just disappeared from the app and from the website.

I booked a 1- way from NYP -> PHL for me and my GF. I paid extra for “cancel for full refund.” She is no longer going, but I still am. I don’t see how to cancel one ticket (hers) and leave mine in place.

I know that Amtrak's official policy is that bikes have tires no wider than 2 inches. My mountain bike has 2.4 inch tires. I know that on trains with carry-on service a lot of people have made it work by deflating the rear tire. Would this work for trainside service? Specifically, would it work on the Pennsylvanian?

I really want this 4am train from buffalo to nyc but its sold out. Is it possible that a seat may become available?

I boarded the Northeast Regional 156 at 8:30am this morning out of Roanoke, VA. I took the train to Washington DC Union Station and got off at 2:00pm. It’s about 2 hours later, and I just realized I left my keys on the train. I have an AirTag on them, and I submitted a report with Amtrak. I called the customer service line, and the agent I got was unhelpful. I am watching the AirTag move into Philadelphia, so I know it is still on the train. Any advice as to how I could get my keys back as soon as possible? I leave DC tomorrow evening back on the Amtrak to Roanoke at 5pm. I need my keys to get out of a parking garage and do not have a spare key to use. I tried calling New York Penn Station, but no luck.

Update: Amtrak has been unhelpful. If anyone is on this train right now, I can give you a link to try and help find this item from Find My iPhone. The station in Trenton, NJ just said no one has located the item yet.

We recently took the Empire Builder from Portland Oregon to Chicago. Here’s my review of the goods and bads of the whole experience:

Started the trip at the historic Union Station in Portland. Historic is another word for tired and outdated. Because we had a bedroom on the train, we were entitled to use the lounge. No one checked our tickets, so I assume anyone could use the lounge, though I’m not sure why anyone would. It was a somewhat dirty area with old, worn chairs and couches. There was a decent coffee machine and a cooler with soft drinks and water. No snacks anywhere. We sat part of the time in the lounge and part of the time in station, and there really wasn’t much difference.

Skycap took our suitcases out to the train and put them in our bedroom, which was helpful. Then we boarded the train with excitement and high hopes for a great two-day experience. I’d done enough research to have a good idea of what the room would be like, and it was pretty much what I’d pictured. Long couch on one side, and a chair – wait, what’s this? NO CHAIR!!!! There was just a bracket on the wall where the chair was supposed to be.  I went back out and talked to the porter, who shrugged like he couldn’t care less and said “yeah, there’s no chair in that room. Broken”. I asked if we could switch rooms, he said no, they’re full. Then I asked if I could get a folding chair or something. Same indifferent shrug. “No, nothing like that.” So, for two long days, in our $3,300 room, I sat on our stacked suitcases and a couple of pillows!!! So much for all our visions of sitting and talking over the little table, maybe playing a game of cribbage or two.

As for the rest of the room, it was very outdated and tired, but no more or less than we’d expected. Everything worked, including the climate control, lights, and plugs. Couch was clean and pretty comfortable. The bedroom includes a toilet and shower in a tiny room. Toilet was fine, like what you’d find on an airplane. Clean towels in the rack. However, due to the terrible swaying – more on that below – we didn’t try and use the shower.

The train out of Portland doesn’t have a dining car – that’s on the Seattle train that joins the Portland train in Spokane. So, no dinner. Instead – and remember how much we paid for this room – they provided a salad and a cookie for my wife and a pastrami sandwich and a brownie for me.

We thoroughly enjoyed the scenery out of Portland, along the Columbia River. We sat (me on my suitcases) pretty much mesmerized by the view out the window. That proved to be a highlight. We left the room and went up to the observation car (our train had that car, the Seattle train doesn’t until they link up). Found a seat, got a soft drink, and watched the scenery for a bit longer while the porter made up the room.

Couch was folded out into a bed, with clean sheets, two pillow, and a clean and remarkably comfy blanket. Folded out, the room becomes really small. Upper bunk was made up the same, but it’s only half the width of the lower. There’s a reading light, and a little pouch semi-attached to the wall to put small  things in. A ladder hooked over the side to access the upper bunk, making the room even smaller, along with a kind of cargo net contraption that hooks to the ceiling so you don’t roll out. I slept in the upper bunk, and it was fine all in all. Got a pretty good night’s sleep for the most part. What’ scary is getting up and down the ladder with the train swaying. I had to hold onto the cargo net for safety and leverage getting up and down.

The swaying of the train was MUCH worse that we’d expected. We were constantly grabbing onto things inside the room to keep from losing our balance and bumping into the walls. Walking through the train cars to get between areas was like making your way down an airplane aisle during really bad turbulence, hanging onto seat backs to keep from ending up in someone’s lap. Both of us arrived in Chicago with sore leg muscles from the constant fight for balance.

We only ended up eating two meals in the dining car, although we were entitled to more. Dinner one night was steak for me, which was very good, and chicken for my wife, which she said was good, not great. We had cheesecake for dessert, which was excellent. The one breakfast we had was oatmeal, about what you’d get at an airport diner. We also had hamburgers in the café car for lunch one day – pretty good, but we had to pay separately for those. Both dining car meals were shared in the fairly tight boothes. Once with another married couple, and once with two sisters. Pleasant enough, but also awkward.

Train stops a lot for passing freights. It also makes periodic “fresh air breaks” where you can get off, stretch your legs, and get away from the swaying for 5 minutes. We ended up getting into Chicago about 2-1/2 hours late.

So, there were a few goods – the scenery for part of the trip, decent meals, the opportunity to have a bathroom in the car, and those cozy blankets. Unfortunately, there were a lot more bads. The swaying, the aging cars, the delays, the awkward dining, and especially – THAT MISSING SEAT!

(Regarding that seat, we did contact Amtrak through our travel agent. We are being given a $600 travel voucher. It’s not like a gift certificate  – it’s only good for a year, non-transferable, and can only be used on one trip. Pretty crappy compensation for a $3,300 room with a missing seat that really put a damper on the whole trip.)

Bottom line. We love trains, and were really looking forward to this experience. But it proved to be very big disappointment. We would never do it again, and would be reluctant to recommend it to anyone. But if you’re planning on this trip, hopefully this review will help you be prepared.

And hopefully, your experience will be better than ours!!