Nervous First Timer with some questions.

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lauramcconnell76

Joined
Feb 14, 2023
Messages
12
Location
California
Hi, everyone!

I am taking a long distance trip next Friday, from Sacramento to Portland, the. Portland to Grand Forks. I have never been on an Amtrak train before and have some questions.

1.) Are small scissors allowed? I plan on embroidering to kill the time and need snips to cut thread. The snips I plan to bring have 1” blades. Will those get confiscated?

2.) I sleep with a cPap machine, will the machine in its case count as one of my personal items or is it like flying where the ADA guarantees us the right to take our medical devices without it being counted against you?

3.) What’s the one thing you had known on your first long distance trip?
 
No problem bringing scissors or any other kind of tools. No TSA or x-raying of bags. So far no one has been able to hijack a train 🙂

The carry on baggage rules are pretty generous and generally not strictly enforced, I think as long as your carryons are within reason there shouldn't be a problem.

Bring an extension cord and an outlet strip, especially the superliner roomette you have only one outlet and you have CPAP plus phone chargers etc.
 
lauramcconnell76 said:
Hi, everyone!

I am taking a long distance trip next Friday, from Sacramento to Portland, the. Portland to Grand Forks. I have never been on an Amtrak train before and have some questions.

1.) Are small scissors allowed? I plan on embroidering to kill the time and need snips to cut thread. The snips I plan to bring have 1” blades. Will those get confiscated?

2.) I sleep with a cPap machine, will the machine in its case count as one of my personal items or is it like flying where the ADA guarantees us the right to take our medical devices without it being counted against you?

3.) What’s the one thing you had known on your first long distance trip?
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Are you traveling coach or sleeper?
 
lauramcconnell76 said:
Hi, everyone!

I am taking a long distance trip next Friday, from Sacramento to Portland, the. Portland to Grand Forks. I have never been on an Amtrak train before and have some questions.

1.) Are small scissors allowed? I plan on embroidering to kill the time and need snips to cut thread. The snips I plan to bring have 1” blades. Will those get confiscated?

2.) I sleep with a cPap machine, will the machine in its case count as one of my personal items or is it like flying where the ADA guarantees us the right to take our medical devices without it being counted against you?

3.) What’s the one thing you had known on your first long distance trip?
Click to expand...
On the Portland to Grand Forks part of your trip the train Empire Builder #28 which you will be on will join Empire Builder #8 in Spokane. During the connection process power might be cutoff in all cars for a short time. This will normally happen in the middle of the night while you are sleeping. The interruption won't last long but I thought you might want to be aware of this.
 
One tip that you may not think of (at least I didn’t) is that you probably will pass through areas with very spotty cellular data service. If you had planned on watching tv shows or movies to entertain yourself during the trip, I would recommend downloading them ahead of time rather than trying to stream them during the trip.

Other than that, be prepared for cold temperatures on the train. Regardless of outside weather when you go, if you are someone who gets cold easily you might find the train a bit chilly - pack a sweater or light jacket.

If you are in a roomette, realize that you will have fairly tight quarters. Don’t try to bring too much carry on baggage with you. Just bring basically what you will need for the time you will be on the train. In a bedroom or in coach this is less of an issue.

If you are in coach, meals are not included. Plan accordingly. The cafe food is not totally inedible, but it mostly isn’t all that great and it is a bit pricey. If you are in a sleeper your trains will have a diner car and all meals will be included.

Finally, be aware that Amtrak schedules are pretty much just suggestions. The times you leave and arrive might not bear much relationship with the times quoted on the schedule. For your particular trip this may not be a big issue for arrival since you are scheduled to arrive in the middle of the night. Being a few hours late and getting there in the morning might be welcomed. However you do have a transfer to make at Portland with a window of just over an hour. I’m not sure how the Coast Starlight is for OTP but be prepared- it is possible that you could miss this transfer. If you do, Amtrak will take care of you, either by busing you to catch up to the Empire Builder (possibly at Spokane since there is a layover there to combine the Portland and Seattle departures), or with a hotel in Portland and putting you on the next day’s EB. This is why experienced travellers will often just book a room at a transfer point and plan on taking the next day’s train rather than risking a missed connection.
 
Brian Battuello said:
I hope the regular crowd here will forgive me for saying once again that a room on Amtrak is a strange mix of cruise ship and camping, and you never know which you're going to get.

We love it anyway, and hope you have a great trip!
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You are more generous than I am. I call it a cross between Motel 6 and camping. 😉
 
Stremba said:
[...]If you are in a roomette, realize that you will have fairly tight quarters. Don’t try to bring too much carry on baggage with you. Just bring basically what you will need for the time you will be on the train. In a bedroom or in coach this is less of an issue.
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The roomette itself is very small, with little room for storing luggage, but there is a very large luggage rack across from the bottom of the stairs, where you can put your large bags. I usually leave my large bags there, and only take a small bag or knapsack, containing necessities and a change of clothes, to the roomette.

If you are travelling alone and intend to sleep in the lower bunk (recommended on a Superliner 2-level sleeper, such as are used on both legs of your trip, because the upper bunk in a roomette has very little vertical space), you can use the upper bunk for luggage. Pull it down, load it up, and push it back up. The mattress and linens for the lower bunk are stored up there during the day, so the Sleeping Car Attendant will need to access them when making up the bed, so don't put your stuff on top of them.

I usually use the downstairs luggage rack so I don't need to haul large bags up the narrow, winding stairs. It's been asked many times here, and I can't recall anyone ever having any problems with stolen or pilfered luggage on a long-distance train, especially in a sleeper.

There might be checked luggage from Portland to Grand Forks, but I don't know. If so, checking your larger bag or bags is free and very convenient. You also should be able to check it all the way from Sacramento. (I'm pretty sure SAC has baggage service.)

One time on the EB west-bound from Chicago, the rack was pretty crowded and the attendant said she could put it in a baggage compartment in the same car over the wheels. (The lower level of the Superliners is shorter than the upper level and there is equipment space and storage at either end above the wheels and below the upper level.) About a minute out of CUS, while the train was still moving very slowly, we stopped and the conductor announced that their was a door open and they had to close it before proceeding. From the crew's activity, it seemed to be in my car, or maybe the next one. I couldn't see what they were doing, and the SCA assured me my bag was fine, but it gnawed at me all the way to Seattle. Sure enough, when we got there, my bag hadn't fallen of the train in the first minute and was absolutely fine. Sometimes it doesn't pay to be anxiety-prone.
 
Thank you everyone for all your replies!! I’m in coach, because poor college student, lol. Will I have access to my bag to change clothes in the morning? Or should I assume not?
 
lauramcconnell76 said:
Thank you everyone for all your replies!! I’m in coach, because poor college student, lol. Will I have access to my bag to change clothes in the morning? Or should I assume not?
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If you stow your bag on the lower-level luggage rack in your car, you'll be able to get access to it when needed. You may need to wrestle other people's bags out of the way, though. You can also carry smaller bags/backpacks upstairs to keep near your seat and put anything you need en route in those.

I recommend spending some time in the Sightseer Lounge car enjoying the scenery. If you get up early the first morning, you might get a glimpse of Mount Shasta before the train crosses from California into Oregon. And then from Klamath Falls to Eugene, the train takes a wonderfully scenic ride through the Cascades of Oregon. The next morning, on the train from Portland to Grand Forks, you go through the Rockies around Glacier Park, Montana.
 
PVD said:
Since you will be in coach and on a budget, pack some food/snacks. Cafe car is limited (menu is on the website) diner may/may not be available, and could be above your budget line. Did the student discount apply in your case?
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No. I didn’t know there was a student discount. My sister paid for my ticket, though, so it probably wouldn’t have applied.
 
Bring a pillow and a blanket, ear plugs, and eye shades. You may be seated next to a stranger for none, some, or all of your trip. There is no armrest between the pairs of seats, which is great for sleeping if you have two seats to yourself but not so great if you have a stranger next to you.

I take a 10" x 18" pillow and a down throw that packs very small.

On both trains, there is interesting, mountainous scenery in the early morning and dull scenery later and in the afternoon, so don't fret if you don't sleep well--you can doze while the trains traverse the plains and not miss much.
 
And welcome again, Laura! Nothing wrong with starting out in coach, many of us took long trips on Amtrak in coach before we became old grumps that need a room. :)

I second all the advice listed above, especially the seating arrangements. I'm not sure how crowded the coaches are this early in the season. Many people get on and off at various stations, so you never know when you'll need to share a seat or not. Trains pull into busy stations in the middle of the night, so you may have someone join you at 2am. People with single seats will pile their stuff on the empty seat, get scolded for it, then do it again anyway.

There are two kinds of employees on trains. The conductor and assistant conductors are responsible for tickets and safety, but they only work 8 or so hours and then change. There is supposed to be a car attendant for each car, who has less authority but will help place people into single seats as needed. They ride the entire length of the train run. Think of it like pilots and flight attendants, except that the pilots walk through the train often and keep an eye on things. If you don't see a car attendant right away, they might be servicing more than one car, or might be on break, or running an errand for someone.

I'm a CPAP user myself, and you might want to talk to your car attendant when you board to make sure you have convenient access to a plug. It also might be a good thing to put on the seat next to you to discourage sharing, but if they need the seat they will ask you to put it in the seat pocket ahead of you, again possibly in the middle of the night.

The food in the cafe car isn't terrible, but it is pretty fast-foodish. If you're lucky they will have some decent cheese trays or cold or hot sandwiches that are a bit better than the microwave burgers. You might want to try and get a breakfast or lunch reservation for the dining car, just to see what it is like. Worth it for a nice change from the cafe. There is a fixed price for each meal in the diner, breakfast and lunch are pretty affordable, dinner isn't. Dining car reservations for coach are limited, so ask when you get on. There is no problem at all with bringing your own food, many people do. Just don't bring anything with a really strong odor!

The scenery is the reason for being there, so make use of the sightseer lounge. It should be available 24 hours. It is also a good way to get away from a seatmate for a while. Both trains are very likely to have the SSL, but there have been a few reports of trains leaving without one because of a mechanical issue. Hopefully that won't happen.

Now that we know you're in coach, let us know if you have any other questions, and feel free to ask any time, even when you are on the train. The trains don't have wifi, but you can usually get cell reception and hotspot to your phone. There will be many places in the mountains where you won't get a cell signal, so if you need to get messages in or out, do it while you are going through a town or along a busy road.

Enjoy!
 
Brian Battuello said:
And welcome again, Laura! Nothing wrong with starting out in coach, many of us took long trips on Amtrak in coach before we became old grumps that need a room. :)

I second all the advice listed above, especially the seating arrangements. I'm not sure how crowded the coaches are this early in the season. Many people get on and off at various stations, so you never know when you'll need to share a seat or not. Trains pull into busy stations in the middle of the night, so you may have someone join you at 2am. People with single seats will pile their stuff on the empty seat, get scolded for it, then do it again anyway.

There are two kinds of employees on trains. The conductor and assistant conductors are responsible for tickets and safety, but they only work 8 or so hours and then change. There is supposed to be a car attendant for each car, who has less authority but will help place people into single seats as needed. They ride the entire length of the train run. Think of it like pilots and flight attendants, except that the pilots walk through the train often and keep an eye on things. If you don't see a car attendant right away, they might be servicing more than one car, or might be on break, or running an errand for someone.

I'm a CPAP user myself, and you might want to talk to your car attendant when you board to make sure you have convenient access to a plug. It also might be a good thing to put on the seat next to you to discourage sharing, but if they need the seat they will ask you to put it in the seat pocket ahead of you, again possibly in the middle of the night.

The food in the cafe car isn't terrible, but it is pretty fast-foodish. If you're lucky they will have some decent cheese trays or cold or hot sandwiches that are a bit better than the microwave burgers. You might want to try and get a breakfast or lunch reservation for the dining car, just to see what it is like. Worth it for a nice change from the cafe. There is a fixed price for each meal in the diner, breakfast and lunch are pretty affordable, dinner isn't. Dining car reservations for coach are limited, so ask when you get on. There is no problem at all with bringing your own food, many people do. Just don't bring anything with a really strong odor!

The scenery is the reason for being there, so make use of the sightseer lounge. It should be available 24 hours. It is also a good way to get away from a seatmate for a while. Both trains are very likely to have the SSL, but there have been a few reports of trains leaving without one because of a mechanical issue. Hopefully that won't happen.

Now that we know you're in coach, let us know if you have any other questions, and feel free to ask any time, even when you are on the train. The trains don't have wifi, but you can usually get cell reception and hotspot to your phone. There will be many places in the mountains where you won't get a cell signal, so if you need to get messages in or out, do it while you are going through a town or along a busy road.

Enjoy!
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Wow, thank you so much for your reply. I did think of another question regarding reading lights. I have small reading/craft light and I tend embroider until 1 or 2 am…will they allow me to use the light after lights out?
 
lauramcconnell76 said:
Wow, thank you so much for your reply. I did think of another question regarding reading lights. I have small reading/craft light and I tend embroider until 1 or 2 am…will they allow me to use the light after lights out?
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You might want to move to the Sightseer Lounge to do that late so as not to disturb your neighbors.
 
Sightseer lounge is THE place to be if you are awake late at night. It's pretty empty after dark, even on a busy train. If you plan on being awake after nightfall, I'd recommend spending most of that time there. As an added benefit you can have a table or a chair with heaps of legroom,
 
Paniolo Man said:
Sightseer lounge is THE place to be if you are awake late at night. It's pretty empty after dark, even on a busy train. If you plan on being awake after nightfall, I'd recommend spending most of that time there. As an added benefit you can have a table or a chair with heaps of legroom,
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Or you can spend the night in there, transmognifying into a one of the dreaded Lounge Lizards 😁
 
I traveled ten days in coach recently and spent all my waking hours in the observation car. I always invited others to share my table that seats four which gave me some control over who I spent hours with. My suitcases stayed on the luggage rack on the first level, my pillows, blanket, and tote bag with stuff I wanted easy access to on the overhead rack above my seat, and I wore a really small cross body bag 24/7 with ID, cards, cash, and phone. Definitely need pillow/s, neck pillow, eyeshade, earplugs for sleep. I found it easier in the window seat where I could lean against the wall. Then I could control the window curtain. Some people kept the curtains closed day and night which is why the view was better in the dome car. I brought a short extension cord for when I was in the aisle seat; the outlet is on the wall. Then I didn't have to reach across or ask to plug stuff in. Have a great trip!
 

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