tonrob

Ah, yes. Viewliner in-room bogs. The few times I've traveled in Viewliner stock we had a gentlemens' agreement - yellow fine, but brown - down the hall. Even then you have to be careful re bumps in the track...

tonrob

My trip's come round quickly - I leave the day after tomorrow. Still looking forward to it although slightly concerned about the tedium factor. I have a friend who's flying from London to Chicago to join me for the Empire Builder bit. He'll be flying back to London the same day we arrive in Seattle, and I'm overnighting it (beers etc.) before flying Lufthansa to Frankfurt on Tuesday.

Bit concerned abour my whisky idea, tbh - seems a bit like the road to ruin for me. Given that there's no reliable way to chill a decent amount of beer, and given the space constraints in the compartment, I may decide to buy the best quality box of red wine I can find and take it from there. I'm certainly not forking over $5 (or any amount of money for that matter) for Sam Adams Boston Lager in the buffet.

Anyone around for beers in Seattle Monday evening?

joto

Your friend's plans are a bit risky. The trains don't always run exactly on time, by a lot. Sometimes the passenger trains have to go onto a siding to let freight trains by and you know how long those trains are.
Can you get one of those polystyrene cooler things and fill it with ice for the beers and get your friend bring one on in Chicago, or at least a bag of ice and replacement beers. Have a great trip.

scrubbedexpat091

I have taken Amtrak numerous times and I have never experienced this. They are always polite, decent service and clean trains.

Yes there are delays at times but this stems from the freight lines, Amtrak owns very little of the track they use, and are at the mercy of the rail road that owns the tracks.

If Amtrak was as horrible as some would like people to think they would not be seeing an increase in ridership that they have been in the last few years.

scrubbedexpat091

Would there really be more mountains by going via Canada?

Not much mountain wise between Ontario and the BC/Alberta border, its pretty flat not much to look at land.

GeoffM

Not much room in a Superliner economy room for a cooler. Wine is a better idea anyway unless you like a beer bladder on a bumpy train.

First 24 hours on the Empire Builder is a bit dull until you start to get to the more scenic parts of Montana. It's one of the more on time trains, nearly as often early as it is late. Last week wasn't so good with the train annulled in Spokane but that's pretty rare.

Same day connection to an international flight isn't really recommended but if it's a post 6pm departure then chances are he'll be okay. There is a lot of padding in the schedule : we were 2 hours late through Montana but arrived Seattle on time.

tonrob

The train would have to be 6 hours late before my mate's flight looked dicey. He's traveling on standby anyway through a BA staff deal, so he accepts the risk on that front and would also potentially be able to take the following day's flight with no penalty.

Agree the room is too small for a cooler, so a 3L box of Malbec and a plastic cup looks like the way to go! Still need to go out and buy a good book tomorrow - as much as there might be good scenery and good conversation - I'm still looking at 3 days on a train!

Bob

That doesn't really mean much. It's usually the only option people have to travel if they don't want to drive and flying isn't an option and with the cost of petrol and long term parking for flights etc, they can work out well for cost.

tonrob

I think that may be the case for some short-distance journeys (albeit in general I haven't seen that too much between Springfield and New York), but I've not noticed that on long-distance trains. Either way -sleeper accommodation pretty much negates the risk due to the cost (not that I'm paying anything! )

scrubbedexpat091

Still, point out exactly why they suck? I have ridden Amtrak many many times and I have never experienced anything where I would say they suck.

Clean trains, comfortable seats, friendly employees onboard, reasonable fares.


On long haul routes flying will always be an option.

Take out the delays Amtrak has no control over, and I think they do a good job with what they have to work with, can't be easy running a passenger rail road in a country that really seems to dislike and at times hate trains.

Bob

From my and family experience, even if you take out the fact that punctuality is a bit iffy at best. The staff have been unhelpful at best, rude at worst, the trains have been minging, the toilets vomit inducing, the seats not that comfortable and the ticket pricing not really that reasonable. They're better for the old folks who can get a discount but the rates aren't that much better.

The issue also tends to be being dumped on the edge of town, which is marginally worse than being dumped in the ghetto of down town that a coach would do.

I haven't gone coast to coast though, just Maine to Mass, but the missus and her family have used it to go down the east coast a few times.

With that Amtrak experience, I wouldn't want to go further, which is a shame as it should be a great way to see the country and I love going on the train.

Giantaxe

But from a customer perspective, it really doesn't matter whether Amtrak has no control over many of the delays. The bottom line is that long distance train travel in the US is very unreliable, with delays due to freight operations all too frequent. I doubt that will ever change. Otoh, rail ought to be a viable option for distances up to 400 or so miles, but there just isn't the political willpower to invest in the needed infrastructure.

I wanted to take Amtrak to a New York Christmas visit a few years ago. But after tracking the daily delays on the leg from San Francisco to Chicago, I realized there was just too big a risk of being stuck in Chicago through a missed connection.

Scouse Express

On the occasions that I've had to collect a group from either, Mt. Pleasant, IA, or Galesburg, IL Stations.....a delay of 6 Hours or more is not unheard of.

Jim.

kimilseung

Is West better than East?
I have had good experiences on Seattle-Vancouver and Seattle-Portland. Clean, efficient, helpful, economicish.

scrubbedexpat091

Its possible the west coast has better service. I have never encountered a dirty train, rude employees or any of the above mentioned problems and the prices are reasonable.

The trains for the most part are on-time, in So. California the freight lines mostly run late at night after Amtrak is done for the day.

In California the state has been promoting Amtrak for years and it pays off, the Pacific Surfliner (2nd most popular route) and San Joaquin routes are funded and managed by Cal-Trans but operated by Amtrak.

http://www.amtrakcalifornia.com/inde...ak-california/

The Amtrak Cascades route is a partnership with Amtrak, Oregon, Washington and British Columbia.

http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/Freight/PassengerRail/


I guess where the state governments that support rail service, the service is good.

Pacific Surfliner averages 77.8% on time performance. (there are a total of 12 daily trains on this route, so this is an average of all 12.) (airlines between San Diego and LA on United Express average 60% to 77% on time.)

In Northern California, the San Joaquin averages 89.5% on time.

Cascades is averaging 70%, between Oregon and Vancouver, Canada.

Coast Starlight between Seattle and Los Angeles at 79%.

Capital Corridor in N. California 93.3%.

For the East Coast.

Acela Express 92.6% (airlines between DCA and LGA run anywhere from 77% to 93% on time.)

Auto-Train (DC to Orlando area.) 82%.

California Zephyr is bad at 58%, seems BNSF dislikes passenger trains.

Capitol Limited DC to Chicago 84.6%

Cardinal / Hoosier State NY to Chicago via Washington, DC - Cincinnati - Indianapolis 59%


Overall many routes are better or comparable to airlines at being on-time.

But one should not be taking the train for speed, enjoy the trip and plan for delays, the fun of taking a train is looking out the window and enjoying the ride.