Laptop usage?

[abj]

Hi folks,

I'm going to be travelling on Amtrak for the first time.

My itinerary is as follows:

29 Capitol Limited

Pittsburgh, PA to Chicago, IL 30-DEC-04

421 Texas Eagle

Chicago, IL to Tucson, AZ 30-DEC-04

The ride from Chicago to Tucson is 55 hours and I was hoping to be able to use my laptop. The question I had was if each seat had it's own AC outlet? If not, do I have any other options? I'm not sure if reading a book will keep me entertained for that long!

 

[Trogdor]

If you are traveling in coach, odds are that each seat will not have its own electrical outlet. A few (and I mean *few*) Superliner coaches have been modified to include outlets at each seat, but those seem to stay on the west coast (I've only seen one on the California Zephyr, and two on a Coast Starlight train).

However, each coach does have two upper-level plugs that provide cleaning crews with access to electricity to power their vacuums. On the upper level, these are at seats 19 and 55 (may be slightly different if the seats are facing the other direction). Boarding in Pittsburgh may mean that you won't be able to find them on the Capitol Limited (the seats may already be taken). Boarding in Chicago on the Eagle could give you first dibs on seats, but all through passengers (train 421 past San Antonio) are limited to one coach, so you'd really have to be early in boarding to get one of those two seats.

If you are traveling in a sleeping car, each room has a plug for you to use.

Also, you should note that the Texas Eagle combines with the Sunset Limited in San Antonio, and the Sunset Limited is subject to severe delays (several hours). This is mainly due to massive freight congestion and lack of railroad capacity along the Union Pacific route west of San Antonio (and, well, east of there also). Just be prepared for this, because it's possible that you could be many hours late. However, you are traveling during the New Year's period, and the delays may not be so bad, as freight traffic tends to die down during that period.

 

[abj]

rmadisonwi, thanks for all that useful information. I'll be travelling in coach, though I'm not sure what the difference between upper & lower level is. Do you need different tickets for each? My reservation just says 1 reserved coach seat. From your post, i'm assuming that you can sit anywhere on a first come first serve basis. That should be good, because I have a 5 hour stop in Chicago, which means I should be able to get a seat near an outlet. How long before departure are you allowed to board? Thanks again.

 

[Trogdor]

Passengers usually must specifically book a lower-level coach seat (generally those with disabilities for whom climbing steps would be a problem).

Seats aren't usually assigned, but sometimes crews can do so to maximize the use of space (and speed boarding down the line).

Boarding tends to start about a half hour before departure (give or take), starting with preboarding seniors/families, etc. After that, it's a first-come-first-served deal. Just camp out in the boarding lounge and try and sit near the gate (and guess which gate will be used). It's hard to say the best strategy. Then again, if all else fails, you can try and negotiate with whoever picks the seat with the plug (if they don't need the plug, they probably won't mind moving). Bring a small extension cord, and you can sit in the row ahead/behind the plug, too.

The lounge car has some plugs (top of the stairs, in the little service area that's never used for anything). You can recharge your battery there, then head back to your seat if need be.

 

[Amtrak Watcher]

Since the AC power on the train can be a bit "rough," bring a small surge protector. Radio Shack sells one that is about the size of an adult's fist.

 

[Guest_abj]

Thanks for the tips guys.

 

[Trogdor]

One important thing to note, though, is that if you are traveling in coach, the plugs are often in inconvenient places next to seats 19 and 55. If your plug is too big (such as an AC adaptor), it won't fit in the tiny space. This is something I learned the hard way. I'd recommend bringing a small extension cord anyway, and plugging any necessary devices/surge protectors into that.

 

[GG-1]

Aloha

APC makes a small UPS which I took with me last trip, it was very helpfull.

 

[tp49]

Giving credit where credit is due b-51 always espoused the use of surge protectors on trains, eventually I bought one and was very glad I did as there was a surge in the HEP on a train I was on that blew out my surge protector but left my computer undamaged. I always use a surge because of that APC does make one for laptops that is very small and costs around $30, which for me was $30 well spent.