The trick to riding on a train (especially if you don’t have a room) is to bring a blanket, headphones, and one’s own assortment of snacks and beverages. Put the blanket over your head, the headphones on your head, and chow down to the authentic millennial experience.
honestly the main reason I’d want to take a train somewhere is to make it part of the experience. that is, taking it through parts of this country which might be interesting (e.g. not Nebraska.) I’ve got this idea of heading out towards Montana for a while.
I’m a fan of Amtrak and have ridden first class on both the Cardinal and the Lake Shore Limited many times. I am OK with them doing this. Because I want Amtrak to continue to exist, and if they’ve gotta cut costs to do that, then so be it. They’ve been financially squeezed for a long time now as it is. I did always enjoy the dinners and talking to random people. Last time (back in May of this year) the guy they sat me with was an old retired cop and he was quite interesting to talk to. At one point he had to sign his name on something for the meal and I could see that his last name was “Peckinpah”, I asked him if he was related to the director Sam Peckinpah and it turned out he was his cousin and he talked a bit about that family…those are the kind of things that happen at those random dinner meals on Amtrak. It sucks that they’re discontinuing it - but I’ll live.
Those who truly want to travel in style should take a trip on Via Rail, Canada’s version of Amtrak. Not to knock Amtrak too much, but Via Rail’s cars are much nicer, and their food is better. The sleepers are like miniature hotel rooms, not fancy, but more ‘put together’ and ‘room-like’ than Amtrak’s sleeper compartments. You can even get connections to Via Rail from Amtrak routes. I’ve ridden the Adirondack from NY to Montreal and then caught Via Rail’s Ocean route the next day to Halifax…I’ve done this three or four times.
Now, I will say I’ve been contemplating a trip from Winnipeg to Port Churchill for the longest time. Maybe next summer…
I’ve taken some overnight trips on Amtrak, and a lot of 8+ hour ones, and always enjoyed the dining car experience. Yes, you are seated Soviet style, but as others have mentioned, I enjoyed the conversations.
My most recent 24 hour trip, Philadelphia to Chicago, I actually packed a couple of MREs. I know all the jokes, but I knew I would be craving a hot meal eventually, and this was an easy way to have one - though to avoid being busted by someone freaking out over the Flameless Ration Heater, I heated my food in the bathroom and brought back the hot food packages back to my seat.
A few years ago I rode the Amtrak Coast Starlight from Sacramento to Santa Barbara. I sat in coach since it was entirely during the day, but I did eat my meals in the dining car, and I did rather enjoy the experience. For breakfast there weren’t many people so I didn’t need a reservation and got my own table. And since I’m a millennial I took a picture of my meal to post on social media. I was heading to Santa Barbara to take a trip to the Channel Islands with the Sierra Club and at lunch I actually ended up seat with a couple who was going on the same trip.
The short distance trains within California are also quite popular. IIRC the Capitol Corridor from Sacramento to San Jose has the most ridership outside of the Northeast Corridor. I actually had to drive between Sacramento and San Jose for work last week, and I really wished I had taken the train instead. Factoring in traffic it likely would have been faster, and either way I wouldn’t have had to deal with Bay Area traffic.
and its started :MSN
What flavor is it? :dubious: