I think we may be at cross purposes here. Each railpass
is valid for a certain number of segments, so in effect you are buying a certain number of trips. You can check it all out on the Amtrak.com website. There is a "what should I know" link near the top of the railpass page. I copied the following from it 5 minutes ago!
"What is a Travel Segment?
Amtrak considers a travel segment any time you get on and then get off a vehicle (train, bus, ferry or other allowable leg) regardless of length.
Example 1
Because we don't have a direct route from Washington, DC to Oklahoma, City, OK, you could ride the Capitol Limited train from Washington to Chicago (segment 1), then ride the Texas Eagle train from Chicago to Fort Worth (segment 2) and finally ride the Heartland Flyer train from Fort Worth to Oklahoma, City (segment 3). This journey from Washington to Oklahoma City would use three of your allowable segments.
Example 2
To travel from Spokane, WA to Portland OR, you could ride the Empire Builder train directly to Portland using one segment or you could ride the Empire Builder train to Seattle (segment 1) and then ride the Amtrak Cascades train from Seattle to Portland (segment 2). Both journeys take you to Portland but use a different number of your allowable segments.
Each segment booked counts toward the total allowable number of segments permitted for the pass."
Anyway, it sounds as if Transit rider is going to have a great time.
Cheers,
Eddie