Passenger Trains > Tell me about your last train ride...

I continue to be intrigued with the number of posters who start off with "I haven't been on a train in years, but..."

So, tell me about what you liked most about your last Amtrak or other train ride.

Posted from Android

Never have had a"bad" trip, so nothing to tell.

Posted from Android

Lackawanna484 Wrote:
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> I continue to be intrigued with the number of
> posters who start off with "I haven't been on a
> train in years, but..."

Yes, I find that strange also.  But then, many people do not live near a convenient Amtrak service.  I ride two or more commuter or Amtrak trains every day.

> So, tell me about what you liked most about your
> last Amtrak or other train ride.

I am on it right now.  I like sitting in the cafe car at a table where I can work on my laptop.  I also like the flexibility of the 10-Trip ticket I use since I am never 100% sure which train I am going to ride going home.  I like that the 3:35 pm train out of New York that I am on keeps up the time-honored tradition of the PRR Afternoon Congressional of running express Newark to Philly at a quick gallup.

I took the City of New Orleans from Memphis to Chicago last night.  As always, it was a fine ride.  I usually wake up around Champaign, and stumble in to the diner for breakfast.  I like the continental breakfast, although the presentation could be better.  I like to sit on the right side of the train so I can watch the sunrise on the prairie, and there's a short stretch between Clifton and Kankakee where we parallel I-57 and pass cars and trucks, proving that trains do go pretty fast.

The sleeping car attendant was very attentive, and the train was 30 minutes early. 

Everything about this trip was fine.

i showed my pass for a cndr on an Acela and asked i could ride the bistro car which has no assigned seatng ... he said get on ... most are pretty good like that ... Amtrak passes on Acela are limited to off peak hours (tween 10am - 2pm am for a 5 dollar fee ... pass riders can ride Acela after 7pm and weekends [technically]) ...

Capitol Corridor and San Joaquin, last month.  All trains were close to schedule (within what Amtrak 
considers the tolerance for "On Time" and the CalTrans-spec cafe menu wasn't bad for a shorthaul train. 

It was raining, and I liked not driving.

Okay, I hate to be a grintch,but...

The last time I was on Amtrak was in 1999, and we sat on the mainline just north of the Fayetteville, NC station for six hours with no explanation.

And that WAS the last time!

Rode VIA Rail Canadian into Vancouver Wednesday half hour early! All excellent and very professional! Drine 500 miles from my home to WPG just to get the train!! I RIDE!!

Posted from Android

My wife and I bought passes in 2012 and had a wonderful time traveling from Seattle to Chicago, Washington DC, Norfolk, NYC, Boston, Portland, Maine, Lamy, New Mexico, Los Angeles and then, home.  No missed connections, adequate to good food/beverages, pleasant train staff (in the West) and I've never seen so many Amish and Mennonites (on the midwest trains)!  We have used the Cascades service frequently between Everett, Washington and Vancouver, BC, Canada and also to Lacey, Washington.  My wife rides the Empire Builder occasionally between Norh Central Washington (Eprhrata or Wenatchee) and Seattle or Everertt.

My last long ride was on #5 CZ from Chicago to Sacramento.  One huge problem turned out well.  We got to Denver about 50" late.  Then they told us that Big Ten on the Front Range (just west of Denver) was closed for six hours to repair storm damaged track.  So, we set off and had fun for four hours in downtown Denver.  Running about seven hours late was a big bonus for me.  We left Salt Lake City at 6 a.m., and I got to see the entire Nevada desert by daylight!!  It was amazing, truly an interesting piece of railroad.  The engineering of the WP was impressive.  Railroad wise it was the highlight of my trip.

Mine was probably an Acela ride from Providence to Boston about five years ago. My wife and I went to visit a friend in the Providence area as well as attend a Red Sox game with my brother, who drove up from Connecticut with his family. We had our Rhode Island friend drop us off at Providence station and took Amtrak to South Station. The ticket agent suggested we could ride a Regional for less (and heck, we could have ridden an MBTA commuter for even less!) but we explained that riding one of the 150-mph sections at that speed was the reason for our choice.

It was, well, fast. From South Station we rode the T to Kenmore Square, where we met my brother, who drove us back to Providence after the game. The Red Sox won.

I'm glad we did it. My wife uses a wheelchair now and travel is very difficult for her.

Here in Ohio, Amtrak service is sparse and not especially convenient, especially for travel to/from points east. At my advancing age, overnight coach travel is uncomfortable -- I'm sure it's even worse for a disabled person -- and sleepers are pricey. To the extent we still travel, it's likely to be in a car.

 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/05/16 14:51 by toledopatch.

Back in June, wasn't much except No. 3 was very late no thanks to Flooding in Missouri, only thing I didn't like while I was reading in the lounge car was a lady saying Amtrak needed to be sued and I told her straight up, "Do you control the weather?" It was better to be on an hours late train instead of being stuck for who knows how long, how many people on here had that deleima in a blizzard!

Rode last northbound Auto-Train before the Blizzard of 2016 shut down service for a few days.  Arrived in Lorton 15" early and was home before the snow fell. 
Just what we wanted: no muss, no fuss, no issues...
PS And a great sleeper attendant!

My last two train rides were, well, pedestrian.....routine, on time running throughout.  First was Salinas to Gallup, NM, coach both legs.  The big thrill on this trip was the amazing traffic on the old ATSF Transcon.  Next was Portland to Salinas....not so much traffic here, and we had to wait for time at every stop.  I always feel lucky when on the receiving end of really good service, and did get lucky on both these trips.  AA

Stanford White
Carmel Valley, CA

I took a Regional from Philly to DC. The ride was comfortable and quick, arriving in DC 5 minutes early. 

Riding in Sacramento Northern wooden bay window caboose 1642 in Portola.

Last Amtrak trip was a Capitol to Sacramento.  Nice ride.

Z

It's been a few years since I have had a ride on Amtrak, but  I took a work-related trip from Rocky Mount, NC to Fort Lauderdale, FL on No. 91 with a first class ticket. Other than my bad knee at the time, it was a fine overnight trip, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The car attendant offered to bring my meal to my compartment ,so that was great. Dinner was a good steak.  Had my portable scanner with me and tuned in to the line.  Return trip was pleasant, and the car attendant and I talked about his days on the SCL.

I also rode from RMT to Washington, DC to visit cousins in MD. That trip was fine, too.  Had to transfer to the metro train to go to Bethesda but that put me five minutes from my cousins at my stop.

Most extensive Amtrak ride was on the Empire Builder from MN to Seattle.  There were no problems, other than the Chicago crew claiming the stove was broken, necessitating a stop for two meals; lunch thus was a 6-inch Subway of their choosing. Supper was a two-piece KFC meal. Several rude Chicago crew members, but the car attendant we had was great. Had drinks and sandwiches delivered in a courteous manner to the vista-dome on the Empire Builder, as I recall.    Then down to Oakland on the Coast Starlight----that train was a great experience, and the dining car was much like a good restaurant. We booked the trip through Amtrak, and the hotels were older ones that had been recently refurbished at the time.   We road the Zephyr to Reno, but had to fly home from there.  I'd like to ride the Zephyr again one day, and see the route I missed.

Numerous other excursions, but above trips are highlights.   I am ready to ride again, but had a recent hip replacement and am now healing.


 

My last train ride was as engineer on a southbound commute train to Gilroy, CA, ended up in the E-R, four back surgeries later I haven't been on a train since.

I didn't like that train ride much, since it ended my career, I'm actually kind of scared to get on a train to tell you the truth.

Lackawanna484 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I continue to be intrigued with the number of
> posters who start off with "I haven't been on a
> train in years, but..."
>
> So, tell me about what you liked most about your
> last Amtrak or other train ride.
>
> Posted from Android

My last train ride was when I returned from overseas in August of 2015.

I took leave enroute to Wright Patt and my first stop was visiting New York City. After 3 days there, I took the Silver Meteor the entire route to Miami to connect to a flight to see family in Panama. I wanted to get reacquainted with Amtrak after riding the British Netowrk for 2 years. Post 9/11 jitters were still real in Penn Station, which is sad because in progressive Europe they don't worry about it as much, and they're much friendlier to the public. Regardless, I boarded the Meteor, and we left New York.

Along the way our train, led by a ACS-64 developed faults and struggled into Philly. We were about 4 hours late, and there was no way my to make up that time all the way to Miami. I chose to sleep in coach for economic reasons, but overall the trip was really nice. It's amazing to have leg room once again on an actual train.

My biggest gripe was there were no open vestibule Windows. Being stuck in a tube for over a day does something to you. An upside to arriving in Miami 3 hours late was that Amtrak gave me a voucher to a future train trip. I'll look forward to my next Amtrak trip that's for sure.

Posted from Android

My last trip was on the Cardinal from Cincinnati to Arlington, Va. and back.  I wanted to take my grand kids on a train ride.  They are 9 and 11.  The train was late leaving Cincinnati by a couple hours.  Storms north of Indianapolis had delayed the Chicago bound train the day before and it didn't get turned on time.  It didn't bother me or the kids but my son and his wife were a bit upset.  Once on the train everything was OK.  The dining crew seemed unorganized but we got fed.  After awhile, the kids got more interested in their electronic games rather than the stuff around them and the stuff outside of the train.  We arrived in Arlington late.  We spent two days in the DC area and returned on the Cardinal, arriving in Cincinnati about an hour late.  That bothered my son and his wife.  I enjoyed it, the kids did OK, my son and daughter-in-law said it was nice way to travel, lots of room and you can get up and walk around, but they like to get to the terminal, get on the plane or train, and get going.  My daughter-in-law was surprised when I got off at a smoke stop and brough back some softdrinks that I got from the vending machine in the station.  Couldn't do that on a plane.  BTW, I posted some comments about the late Cardinal on our departure earlier in the day.  Mentioned that there were 5 in my party.  The conductor lurks (his words) on Trainorders and had read my comments.  When we boarded, he ask for a party of 5 (us) and let us board first.  (Hey Mr Conductor if your're "lurking" today and read this, thanks.  The train was late but you and your crew took care of us.)

Since I've retired, about 14 years ago, I've traveled about 30,000 miles on Amtrak.  My wife and I used to like a trip from Cincinnati to the west coast now and then but I lost her five years ago.  A long trip like that is a lot more fun when you do it with a friend.  Looking at a possible trip this summer.  Maybe Cincinnati, to Chicago, to New York or Boston, and then back to Cincinnati.  I live in Louisville, Ky. and Cincinnati is about 90 minutes from me and the parking is easy.

John