We’re considering a trip to visit family in the spring, and checking out the Amtrak option. Looks like one leg of the jouney would be 13 hours overnight.
Would this be survivable in a coach seat?
Could you do 13 hours in an airplane? That’s about the equivalent. There’s more leg room on the train, but there’s also no handrest dividing the seats. It’s also easier to walk around, you can walk to the cafe car or something if you need to stretch your legs.
But the basic comparison is an airplane seat.
Doable, certainly better than overnight on a bus, but not spectacularly comfortable. I made numerous overnight trips in coach back in the '70s and '80s and didn’t suffer too badly, but although the seats recline pretty far they don’t lay out flat. It also depends on the coach type. Amfleet (single-deckers with rounded sides) are mainly for short-distance services and are less comfortable and quiet than the double-deck Superliners used mostly on western long-distance runs. I’ve never ridden in the most recent single-deck cars used in the East so can’t comment on those.
Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that I think you’re nuts to want to do it. Six hours is about my limit. If possible, it would most likely be cheaper and faster to fly to wherever you’re going.
The cabins are actually pretty decent, though. You even get a shower!
Actually, going coach by train is considerably cheaper than flying (barring a fare war between now and then). It’s kind of a pathological trip by plane, because we have to go from our regional airport to a hub to another hub to another regional. We basically have to spend the whole day, from wee hours of the morning to late at night, either in a plane or in an airport on a layover. By train, we depart in the evening for a long trip overnight, then take another shorter leg the next day, arriving in early afternoon. Depending on how comfortable the train is, it could be a much nicer experience.
I see. Well, I’d rather do 13 hours in an Amtrak coach than 13 hours in an airline coach.
Actually I just did 10 hours coach to Montreal, not overnight though. The seats were pretty comfortable and there’s good legroom. And yeah, as opposed to the plane you can get up and move around. The seats reclined enough to get a good nap in, too.
Every summer m best fried ad take Amtrak from Harrisburg to Hammond, IN. The trip is about 15-16 hours and usually overnight one way or the other. !3 hours is certainly doable, ad I find the train ride relaxing.
Oh my. mental note: Preview
That should say:
Every summer my best friend and I take Amtrak from Harrisburg to Hammond, IN. The trip is about 15-16 hours and usually overnight one way or the other. 13 hours is certainly doable, and I find the train ride relaxing.
Depends on the train.
Chicago to Denver overnight in coach on the California Zephyr was nice and I’d do it again. The seats had foot rests and were relatively comfortable, the train was clean and the food was surprisingly decent.
Or maybe the Zephyr just seemed pleasant compared to the first leg of our trip – Philadelphia to Chicago on the Lucifer Limited. Filthy, crowded and late, the only thing worse than the stopped up bathrooms, interpassenger discord and broken seats was the thermostat stuck on 102. Wild horses couldn’t get me back on that thing. Even for an hour.
In 1993 I rode Amtrak from Seattle to Harrisburg, 3 days in coach. Boy, am I glad that’s over.
We took a trip on the Zephyr in November, and it was, mostly, pretty great. Question: do you have kids?
The coach was comfy, I thought much better than an airplane. The seat is wider and there’s much more legroom. We never had a problem snagging an extra seat–in our train, lots of people were sleeping with two seats to themselves. You can get up and stretch your legs and it’s actually pleasant. The bathrooms are airplane-like.
However, the train was quite late for both trips, so it was a good thing we checked before leaving for the station. We arrived hours late both times, since we had slow trips as well as late starts. If there’s some delay on the track, there’s nothing to do but sit and wait.
But even a 5-hour+ trip on the train, over the Sierra Nevadas, was preferable to the car ride in our opinion. It was so relaxing, and the kids (4 and 1.5) enjoyed it a lot, and we could read and color and watch things on the laptop instead of just giving them toys and hoping they’d behave the whole way.
So, if you have the time and the hankering, I’d say go for it. Just try not to get impatient.
I took went across the country (something like a four day trip) in coach and it was great- although the Chicago to New York portion was less enjoyable than my time on the Zephyr. It only cost a hundred bucks to go cross-country (less than any airline ticket I could get with two days notice) and coach is about one eight to one fifth the price of the cabins. Who pays eight hundred bucks to go cross country? I’d rather save the money and have seven hundred more bucks to spend when I get where I’m going.
There is a lot of legroom…probably three and a half feet or something rediculous. I’m a small person and I could fit all my luggage and still have a lot of legroom left. The seats are also fairly wide. It’s in no way comperable to coach on an airplane- more like business class. There was always an empty seat next to me and the footrests come up to horizontal so I had rather decent amount of space to sleep. It wasn’t the best sleep I’ve ever had, but it worked. If you get cold though, bring warm stuff to sleep in because they keep it pretty cool.
The bathrooms arn’t all the pleasant, and washing up takes some creativity, but for a one night ride that shouldn’t be an issue.
I met a lot of interesting people- everything from actors going to audition on Broadway to Amish families on vacation. I still keep in touch with some of the people I met. And nothing beats the view- mountains, deserts, fields, small towns, big cities- I’ve seen it all.
Don’t count on it being on time. Amtrak has the last priority on the tracks, and delays are pretty common. You can expect to be about a couple hours late.
Pack food. The dining car and snack cars are overpriced and not that great. They have hot water availble for making tea/oatmeal/coffee in the morning and nobody will frown on you breaking out a nice picinic.
Ohhhh…I wish I was going on Amtrak again!
I have taken many shorter trips in Amtrak coach, mainly 2h each. My experence has been:
No comparison to airplane coach, wider seats, more then enough leg room for even b-ball stars, not clohstrphobic (seems very open), you can get up and walk around any time, switch seats, and usually get both seats to yourself. You can walk up to the snack car (longer trips have a dinning car).
I didn’t see much advantage to the upgrade to business class except free (n-a) drinks and being away from the rif-raf in coach.
For a longer trip I would consider it but plan to bring something to do. You usually have access to 120V outlets, so no special adapters are needed.
Thanks for this, folks. I’ve got a 1.5 year old and have thought about taking a train trip with him sometime soon - sounds like its best to wait until he’s a smidge older and can do the laptop-DVD option. 
Thanks for this, folks. I’ve got a 1.5 year old and have thought about taking a train trip with him sometime soon - sounds like its best to wait until he’s a smidge older and can do the laptop-DVD option. He’s still a huge wanderer, so that would be a lot of walking yet.
Also good to know about the hot water. I pack food for 2 hour plane rides - this sounds like a good idea for the train too.
Anyone know if they do cabin upgrades last minute cheap if they are available?
And you didn’t tell me??!!
Yeah, I took Amtrak to and from New York before. Going, I was bombastically late (engine trouble; they went through, like, two locomotives). Coming back, we were exactly on time, despite the customs stop.
I upgraded once for a trip from Durham, MC to Baltimore, MD (about 6-7 hours). There was an announcement at the Durham station about 10 minutes before the train was due, offering an upgrade from Coach to Business Class for, IIRC, $16. I decided to take the plunge. I guess it was worth it; the seats really weren’t much (if any) more comfortable, but there was free soda and there were also TV screens playing movies.
I love the train, except it tends to be really expensive here in the north-east corridor. My partner is currently in the Boston area on a research trip, and it was considerably cheaper for her to fly from BWI to Boston than it would have been to take the train. And much faster, too—an 80 minute flight compared to a train journey of close to 8 hours (unless you take the Acela, which is even more expensive).
I echo the people who say that it’s far preferable to spend 13 hours in a coach train seat than in a coach plane seat. Much more room.
I also reiterate what others have said about the possibilty of being late.
The train from Florida to New York goes through Baltimore, and when i’m at Baltimore’s Penn Station it’s not uncommon to look up at the board and see that this train is running four or five hours late. Once it was ten hours. My heart went out to the people stuck on that train.