J
Jared
Guest
Hello all,
I will be heading from Columbus OH to the Oregon coast sometime this winter with my wife. We've never taken trains a great distance before, and I am considering going amtrak. However, I have been looking around on the internet, and accounts of people's experiences on AMTRAK seem to vary from quite satisfied to it-happened-years-ago-and-we're-still-angry. Especially given the cost of going cross-country on amtrak, and the enormous inconvenience of either having to drive or take a Greyhound to Cleveland, I wish I knew what was going on here. So, some questions for all:
1. How much does quality vary between different trains, weekday/weekend trips, different times of year, and/or different parts of the country? What might be some reasons for the extreme differences in opinions on Amtrak quality - is it a matter of chance, or are there certain consistently good/bad times, routes?
2. Can I get a very short walk-through of what an overnight trip West from Chicago might look like? NOTE: I am mainly interested in pros and cons I might not think of, not having taken a train trip before. For example, how are the restrooms? Better(or worse, though I cant imagine how) than a plane? How about the food? Choices/quality/cost? Does this also vary between routes? How is luggage accommodated? What is the chance that my luggage will be lost or damaged? Again - does this vary between routes? Are sleepers worth it? They seem to be tiny...
3. ALmost every account I've read for cross-country trips begins and ends with "we were X hours late coming/going" - and X is usually a really big number, like 4 or 8 hours. Is this something to plan for?
Anything else anyone might wish to add would be really appreciated. Thanks much - Jared
I will be heading from Columbus OH to the Oregon coast sometime this winter with my wife. We've never taken trains a great distance before, and I am considering going amtrak. However, I have been looking around on the internet, and accounts of people's experiences on AMTRAK seem to vary from quite satisfied to it-happened-years-ago-and-we're-still-angry. Especially given the cost of going cross-country on amtrak, and the enormous inconvenience of either having to drive or take a Greyhound to Cleveland, I wish I knew what was going on here. So, some questions for all:
1. How much does quality vary between different trains, weekday/weekend trips, different times of year, and/or different parts of the country? What might be some reasons for the extreme differences in opinions on Amtrak quality - is it a matter of chance, or are there certain consistently good/bad times, routes?
2. Can I get a very short walk-through of what an overnight trip West from Chicago might look like? NOTE: I am mainly interested in pros and cons I might not think of, not having taken a train trip before. For example, how are the restrooms? Better(or worse, though I cant imagine how) than a plane? How about the food? Choices/quality/cost? Does this also vary between routes? How is luggage accommodated? What is the chance that my luggage will be lost or damaged? Again - does this vary between routes? Are sleepers worth it? They seem to be tiny...
3. ALmost every account I've read for cross-country trips begins and ends with "we were X hours late coming/going" - and X is usually a really big number, like 4 or 8 hours. Is this something to plan for?
Anything else anyone might wish to add would be really appreciated. Thanks much - Jared