The first three parts of this writing will showcase what riding these rails was like for us in 2019.
I’m also sharing this part for those who are curious about train travel, so this first entry digs deep into pre-boarding stuff.
People ride trains for many different reasons,
I'd gauge my "train temperature" as somewhere between love of trains and railing fanning, but I also dislike flying, like to see the land, and don't like driving.
One reason NOT to ride trains is cheaper costs. Sometimes that can be true, especially if you go in coach on the train, but it's not assured. And remember, in coach, you have to buy food for long distance hauls.
A year ago, I encouraged a friend to ride the Sunset Limited from Deming, NM to Houston, Texas. In coach. Bad idea. She was a zombie afterwards.
Therefore, my inclination now is to DISCOURAGE people who've never ridden a train from doing it, but the girls informed me that wasn't fair.
"Just share what you can to help, and let each person decide if it's a gig they want to do."
So here's my little
People ride trains for many different reasons,
- Fear or dislike of flying
- Want to the country on land
- Don't want to drive
- Commuting
- Love of trains
- Railing fanning - extreme love of trains
I'd gauge my "train temperature" as somewhere between love of trains and railing fanning, but I also dislike flying, like to see the land, and don't like driving.
One reason NOT to ride trains is cheaper costs. Sometimes that can be true, especially if you go in coach on the train, but it's not assured. And remember, in coach, you have to buy food for long distance hauls.
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Haley waiting on lunch in the dining car of the SW Chief.
Food is factored into Sleeping Car tickets whereas Coach Passengers have to pay on the spot. If the train has a true dining car, the food is often delicious but rather expensive. Real dining food is being replaced by packaged box food day by day on many Amtrak trains, a trend that stirs much angst amongst die-hard rail fans.
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A year ago, I encouraged a friend to ride the Sunset Limited from Deming, NM to Houston, Texas. In coach. Bad idea. She was a zombie afterwards.
Therefore, my inclination now is to DISCOURAGE people who've never ridden a train from doing it, but the girls informed me that wasn't fair.
"Just share what you can to help, and let each person decide if it's a gig they want to do."
So here's my little
How-To Guide for Newbies
AMTRAK 101:
FIGURING OUT HOW TO GET TO ALL ABOARD!
Some people "rail by the seat of their pants" but, as a planner, that's not my thing.
Before this trip, I’d ridden countless trains in China and more trains than most people in the US, including:
SW Chief from Flagstaff to ABQ;
SW Chief from ABQ to Las Vegas, NM;
SW Chief from ABQ to Chicago
Sunset Limited from Tucson-LA;
Pacific Surfliner from LA-Anaheim;
Sunset Limited from Tucson to San Antonio;
Coast Starlight from LA to northern California;
Empire Builder from Montana to Chicago, and the
Cardinal from Chicago to Charleston, WV.
When I was a child, our family rode a train from Charleston, WV to Beaumont, Texas. It was a whole different experience than any above, as we sat at a rickety table in a FREIGHT CAR for part of the trip! Otherwise, I’ve traveled in coach, roomettes, and bedrooms at various times.
SW Chief from Flagstaff to ABQ;
SW Chief from ABQ to Las Vegas, NM;
SW Chief from ABQ to Chicago
Sunset Limited from Tucson-LA;
Pacific Surfliner from LA-Anaheim;
Sunset Limited from Tucson to San Antonio;
Coast Starlight from LA to northern California;
Empire Builder from Montana to Chicago, and the
Cardinal from Chicago to Charleston, WV.
When I was a child, our family rode a train from Charleston, WV to Beaumont, Texas. It was a whole different experience than any above, as we sat at a rickety table in a FREIGHT CAR for part of the trip! Otherwise, I’ve traveled in coach, roomettes, and bedrooms at various times.
In spite of all that, I studied about this summer 2019 trip A LOT before booking it.
First, I joined several FaceBook train groups like FRIENDS OF THE SOUTHWEST CHIEF and AMTRAK FANS. These groups directed me to a pile of sites to help me plan out the trip.
First, I joined several FaceBook train groups like FRIENDS OF THE SOUTHWEST CHIEF and AMTRAK FANS. These groups directed me to a pile of sites to help me plan out the trip.
The 3 websites there were most useful for sorting how to best “ride the rails" were:
1) AMTRAK www.amtrak.com
Through this site, you can
- make reservations
- keep track of train status,
- study routes,
- find schedules, and
- determine costs
to see best ways get from point A to point B.
In Deming, NM, we could have boarded the Sunset Limited or Texas Eagle (which are connected together until the 2 trains go different directions in San Antonio).
That option would have put us on some interesting trains around the southern US to reach Virginia that I've never experienced, but, well, I really, really dislike the hot, gravely, in the middle-of-the intersection Deming stop.
It has to be one of the worst on the whole U.S. route map. AVOID IT! I also didn't want to ride a bus from ABQ to El Paso to get on the Sunset Limited down there. Plus, the southern routes were longer and more costly.
That option would have put us on some interesting trains around the southern US to reach Virginia that I've never experienced, but, well, I really, really dislike the hot, gravely, in the middle-of-the intersection Deming stop.
It has to be one of the worst on the whole U.S. route map. AVOID IT! I also didn't want to ride a bus from ABQ to El Paso to get on the Sunset Limited down there. Plus, the southern routes were longer and more costly.
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| Riding the SWC in June 2000 with Daddy (Mom and Grandma went too) |
I then debated days about how best to get from Chicago to Virginia – in 2000, we used the Cardinal to de-board in Charleston, WV, but this time we wanted to go DC, and pondered about stopping in NYC and/or Philadelphia.
In the end we decided DC was all we could handle, so we selected the Capitol Limited, which was new to all of us.
HINT 1: Look at the Amtrak Route Map and imagine where you want to go and the different ways to get there.
In the end we decided DC was all we could handle, so we selected the Capitol Limited, which was new to all of us.
HINT 1: Look at the Amtrak Route Map and imagine where you want to go and the different ways to get there.
NOTE: On the Amtrak reservation site, we booked ABQ to DC as 1 trip -- and we bought the Amtrak insurance.
If you book them as 2 separate trips, you are NOT covered should you miss the connection in Chicago.
If you miss the connection, you will probably have to stay a day in Chicago before the next train leaves.
If you book them as 2 separate trips, you are NOT covered should you miss the connection in Chicago.
If you miss the connection, you will probably have to stay a day in Chicago before the next train leaves.
However, we HAD to buy the DC-Roanoke part separately because we wanted to spend a few days in DC. We did, however, reserve the hotel in DC through AMTRAK GUEST REWARDS so we'd be covered/re-imbursed if we were a day late getting into DC.
NOTE: There is a REAL chance you may miss a connection, especially on the SW Chief in Chicago. I planned everything around that chance.
NOTE: There is a REAL chance you may miss a connection, especially on the SW Chief in Chicago. I planned everything around that chance.
After a couple of days in DC, we boarded, for the first time ever, business class on the NE Regional 71 for the 5 hour trip to Roanoke, VA where relatives picked us up at the cleanest station area we saw during the whole trip.
HINT 2: Even if you do a multi-city ticket, book it as ONE trip as much as you can. Buy the insurance, it's not expensive (for us, $17 each ABQ-DC). THEN, Amtrak has to provide accommodations for you if the train is late and you miss a connection. Otherwise, you're on your own. (NOTE: We did NOT do multi-city because it was more expensive but that's not always true.)
HINT 3: Sign up for AMTRAK GUEST REWARDS. You do NOT need an AMTRAK credit card for this.
HINT 2: Even if you do a multi-city ticket, book it as ONE trip as much as you can. Buy the insurance, it's not expensive (for us, $17 each ABQ-DC). THEN, Amtrak has to provide accommodations for you if the train is late and you miss a connection. Otherwise, you're on your own. (NOTE: We did NOT do multi-city because it was more expensive but that's not always true.)
HINT 3: Sign up for AMTRAK GUEST REWARDS. You do NOT need an AMTRAK credit card for this.
2) AMSnag Verison 2.2 – www.biketrain.net is THE holy grail of train travel!
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| Southwest Chief decorated for July 4th, 2019. |
That’s how we discovered July 4th was the cheapest day to travel in the period we could go. Amtrak is NOT like airlines! There is no consistently cheaper day of the week to ride, no hidden rules how to get the best price.
But there ARE two general rules:
1. The further ahead you book, the less expensive the tickets tend to be. Amtrak allows booking up to 11 months in advance.
2. It's my understanding that pricing all depends on supply and demand, but the lowest fees start 11 months out.
That said, Amtrak also randomly offers SPECIALS which can be found on the www.amtrak.com site. With occasional exceptions, specials are often specific to coach or to a particular train. So far, the specials have never been of use to us. Reserve early or wait for a possible special that would apply to you? It's a roll of your dice.
I WOULD
NEVER, EVER, EVER
BOOK A TRAIN TRIP
WITHOUT 1st LOOKING AT
AMSnag!
HINT 4:
- After you know WHAT TRAIN you want to ride,
- Find the depart and arrival STATION CODES on the amtrak.com page. (You cannot do this on www.biketrain.net; you have to know it FIRST)
- Then figure out your time frame and whether you want to go coach, bedroom, or roomette, or business class (if the train offers that).
- THEN go to www.biketrain.net
- and check out 30 days around your dates to see what's the best pricing AT THAT MOMENT. Make no mistake -- these prices can change in an instant, depending on supply and demand!
3) trainweb.org isn’t a site most people really need, but it was vital to us. It gives a clear visual of the different kinds of sleeper configurations in each kind of train.
I printed the drawing from this site before calling Amtrak Rewards to make reservations, so I’d know how close our rooms were to each other.
It is NOT a floor plan of what a roomette or a bedroom looks like, just where they are and how they are numbered, on various kinds of long distance trains.
There are a lot of videos on youtube that show what roomettes and bedrooms look like on each kind of train. (SURPRISE: There are different KINDS of long distance trains and different KINDS of roomettes and bedrooms on each of those trains!)
HINT 5: In coach, you generally do not have any control over seating assignments even if you call Amtrak Rewards. Coach seating usually is assigned AT THE TRAIN STATION just before you hop aboard. If a train is not full, there may be a chance you will be allowed to find your own seat but that has only happened to me ONCE.
It is NOT a floor plan of what a roomette or a bedroom looks like, just where they are and how they are numbered, on various kinds of long distance trains.
There are a lot of videos on youtube that show what roomettes and bedrooms look like on each kind of train. (SURPRISE: There are different KINDS of long distance trains and different KINDS of roomettes and bedrooms on each of those trains!)
HINT 5: In coach, you generally do not have any control over seating assignments even if you call Amtrak Rewards. Coach seating usually is assigned AT THE TRAIN STATION just before you hop aboard. If a train is not full, there may be a chance you will be allowed to find your own seat but that has only happened to me ONCE.
MAKING THE RESERVATIONS
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| The SWC Flagstaff-ABQ and ABQ-Flagstaff years are over, at least for now! |
If you have anything wonky about your reservations you can call AMTRAK, AMTRAK REWARDS, or go to a MANNED station to do your booking.
CALLING Amtrak is a test of patience -- you need plenty of time to wait before reaching a REAL person. Amtrak's "Siri-person" -- JULIE -- will try to help you with canned responses on the phone AND on the website. I have not found JULIE to be the least bit helpful.
For this summer trip, I called AMTRAK REWARDS, NOT AMTRAK, to make reservations, because we wanted to for pay for my bedroom and use points for the girls’ roomette – and we wanted to be as close to each other as possible. If you book online, I don’t think there is a way to know where your rooms are until after you complete the booking.
On the SWC, my bedroom and the girls' roomette were in the same car. On the Capitol Limited, they were in the next car from mine.
6. Family Bedroom
On the SWC, my bedroom and the girls' roomette were in the same car. On the Capitol Limited, they were in the next car from mine.
A NOTE ABOUT BEDROOMS AND ROOMETTES
Amtrak offers several levels of travel:
1. Coach
2. Business (on SOME train)
3. Roomette
4. Bedroom (has own bathroom/shower)
5. Handicap Bedroom
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| The tiny hallway of BEDROOMS of SWC. The roomette features tiny rooms on BOTH side of the hall. |
Personally, I prefer coach OVER roomettes! They are ok if you're sleeping but I think when the bottom bed is converted into 2 seats, those roomette seats are hard as rocks.
However, most people prefer roomettes over coach, especially if they can afford 1 person per roomette (which sleeps 2 but has NO ROOM for much of anything but a handbag).
Part of the reasoning is that while roomettes don't have their own bathroom, they are using a bathroom designed only for the people in the roomettes on the car. That's a whole lot fewer than the number of folks who use the bathroom in a coach car.
Part of the reasoning is that while roomettes don't have their own bathroom, they are using a bathroom designed only for the people in the roomettes on the car. That's a whole lot fewer than the number of folks who use the bathroom in a coach car.
I've never stayed in a handicap or family bedroom, but the advantage and disadvantage to them are that they are, for the most part, on the ground level, and go across the whole car so you can see out both sides. One 1 of our trains, we got to look at the handicap bedroom and were surprised to see a bathroom in it!
In these downstairs rooms, I've heard that the windows are smaller than those upstairs, and sometimes the noise of the bathrooms -- which are near the family bedroom --can be disconcerting. If you want to go between cars (for the dining room or the observer lounge) you have to go up the steps. However, I understand that the conductor will bring food to your room if you need or prefer that.
As for the BEDROOM, one COULD theoretically sleep 3 people in it. The top bunk is a twin, while the bottom one is bigger than a twin and smaller than a full. Steve and I slept on the bottom bunk in a Bedroom many moons ago in our younger, thinner, more agile days, but would be super squished to do that today.
My skinny girls thought all three of us could have done fine just with a Bedroom, this summer if Amtrak would have allowed us to book 3 adults in it. And maybe that would have worked if we'd ever learn how to TRAVEL LIGHT!
UP NEXT: Travel Light - Packing for AMTRAK
