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Train travel is a terrific way to travel, if one has the time. I agree with all the comments that it depends on how independent and physically frail the passengers are. My wife and I travelled from Chicago to DC, and it was a hoot. The meals are served like a meal should be served; the food is very decent, good but not for the connisieur (sp?). Th experience and ambience makes up for - eating while watching the world pass by. The rooms are small, but very efficiently designed. Chair isn't tvery good, but the sofa/bed is OK as a seat for two. They need to enjoy the experience. I agree that the top bunk may be an issue, especially if one musy get up during the night when nature calls. If they can just go with the flow, it is really a good experience. The club car (I'm not sure taht's what they call it) has easy chairs that allow one to relax in a comfortable setting, and be waited on, to boot! I travelled on the trains alot when I was a kid (50+ yrs ago). The experience is not the same as it was in the 50'S, but that was a different time in many ways (those who have done it then will understand what I'm saying. I'm not advocating a return to then. Let's just drop it at that.) Bottom line: They should find a way to do it. It is a sublime experience comparedto te airlines or any other means of transportation except, perhaps, private jet.
Train travel is a terrific way to travel, if one has the time. I agree with all the comments that it depends on how independent and physically frail the passengers are. My wife and I travelled from Chicago to DC, and it was a hoot. The meals are served like a meal should be served; the food is very decent, good but not for the connisieur (sp?). Th experience and ambience makes up for - eating while watching the world pass by. The rooms are small, but very efficiently designed. Chair isn't tvery good, but the sofa/bed is OK as a seat for two. They need to enjoy the experience. I agree that the top bunk may be an issue, especially if one musy get up during the night when nature calls. If they can just go with the flow, it is really a good experience. The club car (I'm not sure taht's what they call it) has easy chairs that allow one to relax in a comfortable setting, and be waited on, to boot! I travelled on the trains alot when I was a kid (50+ yrs ago). The experience is not the same as it was in the 50'S, but that was a different time in many ways (those who have done it then will understand what I'm saying. I'm not advocating a return to then. Let's just drop it at that.) Bottom line: They should find a way to do it. It is a sublime experience comparedto te airlines or any other means of transportation except, perhaps, private jet.
Sky, do you mind if I ask your age?
Thanks to everyone! This thread is so informative!
My son and his partner just did this over Christmas. They really enjoyed it. They took pics, but I do not know how to post them on here. The cabin ooked adequate, it actually does have fold up chairs etc, and looks about the size of a pull along camper. There were windows, which are going to be nice to view the scenery. Montana is awesome, as well as Oregon.
I would just make sure that they understand that trains hold a risk just like any other public transportation these days. They shouldn't wander around except together. Meals are a bit pricey imo...I'd pack a thermal ice chest if it were me.
Sounds like they will be changing trains in Portland to go into Calif. Make sure they have cell phones, and they have an itinerary and some safety guidelines. They will likely enjoy the trip.
I'm a lifelong railroad buff and a former Amtrak employee (though not in a capacity that involved dealing with the public), It needs to be understood that the private railroads gave up on passengers around 1960; Amtrak was formed specifically to accomodate an aging (at the time; now long-gone) public who were reluctant to fly.
During the Fifities, a handul of railroads which were still solvent developed a few "showcase" streamlined passenger trains with Vista-domes, quality diners and the like, and ran them as "loss leaders"; the more conventional passenger trains also covered their expenses by handling mail and the like. But the Postal Serice cancelled mail contracts en masse in the mid-Sixties, and a fast-growing United Parcel Service took most of the profitable package express traffic. Economic experts predicted the demise of all passenger service by 1970.
Enter Amtrak (Railpax when originally founded) -- and run by bureaucrats and functionaries rather than businessmen answerable to "the bottom line". Amtrak replaced the aging fleet of cars from the private roads with new equipment -- as an example, it was the first time on-train showers became common -- before that, if you were going cross-country, you went to a hotel or the "Y" wihile laying over and changing trains in Chicago, St. Louis, Memphis or New Orleans.
But at any rate, the public liked the new fleet -- occasional blurbs on the "undiscovered vacation bargain" showed up, mostly on outlets like National Public Radio. But the revenues from the service didn't begin to cover the cost. And the "host" freight railroads, which had been in decline since the end of the Second World War, began a comeback as higher fuel prices put more freight on the same lines which, in many cases, had been slimmed down from four tracks to two, or two to one. Dispatching technology allowed this, and completely safely, most of the time. But when something does tie things up, which is rare, it can lead to a long wait.
It's an imperfect situation, like most of what goes on in the world, and in fairness, when someone gets stranded, the people at headquarters are usually working hard to find a way out. But rail passenger travel, at least west and south of a line from Boston to Buffalo to Richmond and Norfolk, offers nowhere near the flexibility it did two generations ago. If your group has an affinity for staying on the ground and can tolerate the slight possibiity of the unexpected, I'd go for it.
Last edited by 2nd trick op; 01-27-2013 at 09:52 AM..
My son and his partner just did this over Christmas. They really enjoyed it. They took pics, but I do not know how to post them on here. The cabin ooked adequate, it actually does have fold up chairs etc, and looks about the size of a pull along camper. There were windows, which are going to be nice to view the scenery. Montana is awesome, as well as Oregon.
I would just make sure that they understand that trains hold a risk just like any other public transportation these days. They shouldn't wander around except together. Meals are a bit pricey imo...I'd pack a thermal ice chest if it were me.
Sounds like they will be changing trains in Portland to go into Calif. Make sure they have cell phones, and they have an itinerary and some safety guidelines. They will likely enjoy the trip.
JanND, I am going to s end you a private message with my email. It would be great if you could send the photos to me via email when you have time!!
@ Jules, Thanks....I did get your email, but the facebook pics wouldn't download..So I searched and found these links below..All the better
There were a large number and variety of utube submissions regarding Amtrak. I searched using "Sleeping Car Amtrak UTube" I only posted two
Here are some links about the sleeping cars on Amtrak. Amtrak Sleeper Car - YouTube
This is true, but three hearty meals a day, are included in first class. I can't imagin a couple of senior citizens needing a lot of extra snacks.
The meals were quite good when we traveled in the sleeper car. They had a lemon-raspberry cake that was just like our wedding reception cake. Yum!
Now, I don't know how they figure out how much food they need and all that, but like I said in my first post, when we traveled coach, they would announce when the dining car was open, and they ran OUT OF FOOD entirely. They made this announcement halfway through lunch. We still had a long way to go to reach our destination. They acquired more food at some point at a further stop (I guess?), but for a good chunk of time, they had no options aside from what things were sold in the "snack bar" car (ramen, some pre-made sandwiches, chips, cookies). Maybe they plan better for this to cover those traveling 1st class? We had no issues when we were 1st class passengers.
Anyway I have read on other forums that this sometimes happens on the train, the food problem, so again I am very glad we had plenty of snacks packed. The good thing is, you can carry a lot of luggage if needed. It won't all fit in the sleeper car but there are other areas to store it so if someone felt the need, they could have a suitcase full of snacks stashed and in case of a problem they'd have access to it.
@ Jules, Thanks....I did get your email, but the facebook pics wouldn't download..So I searched and found these links below..All the better
There were a large number and variety of utube submissions regarding Amtrak. I searched using "Sleeping Car Amtrak UTube" I only posted two
Here are some links about the sleeping cars on Amtrak.
The upper bunk really doesn't look that high to me.
HUGz! Jules
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