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When I hear an airplane flying over, I like to know what kind of plane it is, and where it's coming from and going to. I use FlightAware, which identifies all commercial traffic and some smaller planes. It identifies Canadian military flights, but not US military flights. The vast majority of...

There were several options considered when I started planning a fall trip, but all depended on when my job finished for the season as well as the price and availability of rooms on Amtrak and at hotels. I thought of attending the Gathering and traveling Business Class on the Coast Starlight...

I was trying to do a comparison of American Airline's Transcontinental First Class ($5K JFK-LAX) with Amtrak, but the reservation system doesn't show the most direct routing via the Southwest Chief. I don't know what those five segment routes involving buses and a 2:15 am arrival are... I...

When I first got the idea of this early November trip in June, Roomettes for one person from Seattle to St. Paul and back were $437 each way. Bedrooms were over $1,500. When I bought my tickets at the end of July, Roomettes had gone up to $602, Bedrooms were nearly $1,900, but the Family...

I am going from Seattle to St. Paul and back in November to visit my brother, and my sister has agreed to come along with me. I have read here that this can be done with an Open Sleeper ticket, and that this is an actual paper ticket. My sister has expressed a desire to get the ticket from an...

As a lifelong island boy, I do not like driving on interstate highways. I wish trains were an option for travel to Seattle from my area, but alas even if the schedules did work out they're not running due to the Canadian border closure. So it was with some trepidation that we headed out for...

This trip was meant to coincide with the 125th anniversary of the Trans-Continental Railroad, but nobody else ever caught on to that significance. It was my wife's first trip across the country by ground transportation, and my first time on Amtrak in a sleeper (I went across Canada in an open...

There is a 48-hr passenger moratorium on the tracks between Mukilteo and Edmonds due to a mudslide. Sounder service is suspended, and Amtrak passengers on the Empire Builder will be bussed to and from Everett...

I regret my memory has failed me on many points of this trip. To find out what year it was, I had to look up the Rodney King Riots (1992), because I remember descending from Maui into LA through clouds of smoke. We were on a DC-10, and then flew 767's LAX- JFK and JFK-LHR--business class all...

In April 2017, my wife decided two weeks in advance that she wanted to go to a friend's daughter's wedding in Massachusetts, then visit other friends in Virginia. I convinced her to travel by Amtrak, and she was off on an adventure! She decided to drive to Everett and catch the Empire Builder...

The Amtrak website seems to be updated. One error I noticed is that, when you click on Bedroom, the sketch shows a Viewliner Roomette.

Finally, there is a new menu. French toast is back, and there are "Pork Wings" for lunch and dinner. The vegetables are now a "medley" that appears to include broccoli. Menu...

Just a quick trip report on a quick trip from Orcas Island to Portland... I opted for as much public transportation as possible on this trip, and that was a good thing because there was some bad weather on my return. I drove from home to the Orcas Island ferry terminal and parked in the...

I thought with some recent changes, Amtrak was now selling Roomettes and Bedrooms between New York and Washington, but today was unable to find anything from WAS nor ALX for a date in March and a date in November. Only the Regional, Acela, Carolinian and Palmetto are shown. Is it impossible to...

It had been over forty years since I rode the Coast Starlight northbound from Los Angeles, and I remembered it as being very beautiful along the coast around Santa Barbara. So for this year's trip to Hawaii, we routed through Los Angeles on our return so we could ride the train to Seattle. We...

I wonder how Amtrak would fare for its drinking water? "The study's authors recommend that to be extra safe, airline passengers should never drink any water onboard that isn’t in a sealed bottle, never drink coffee or tea onboard, refrain from washing their hands in the bathroom and bring...

I don't agree with this. I would have put New York somewhere in the top five, and my limited experience with Seattle public transportation is that it is not that great. I note that one metric is percentage of vehicles which run at capacity, which might be seen as undesirable...

"...The flagger tried to stop him, but he ignored her and crossed the tracks in front of the oncoming train, where he was struck and killed...."...

This trip would be a rare foray out of the rural seclusion of Orcas Island, but would close a major gap in coverage of the Amtrak system—the Texas Eagle.  I attempted to book everything first-class, staying at nice hotels and having a Bedroom for all overnight segments. Flying from Orcas Island...

Is the SIgthseer Lounge café open for departure of the Sunset Limited / Texas Eagle from Los Angeles?