New Year's Eve/Day (or other holiday) on an Amtrak Train

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Happy New Year!

I was thinking last night about places to go/things to do on New Year's Eve. I am absolutely not a night person and worry if driving home I'm sharing the road with a lot of drunk people. I'd like to go to Times Square except it's outside in January at night and I'd assume you'd have to arrive well before midnight to have any view better than what you'd see on TV. Then I thought what would it be like to spend New Year's Eve/Day on an overnight Amtrak train? It does sound like a cool one time experience. The northbound Night Owl unfortunately leaves Philly after midnight. I guess I can travel down to WAS and come back and then get off a little after midnight but then you do risk sharing the road with the drunks again. Ideally I'd take a train like the LSL or CL or a Florida train/Crescent and the train doesn't get into a desired destination until the next morning (Night Owl from BOS gets in at 4:27am, I'm sure the drunks are gone but a bit early for me).

Another holiday I thought it might be cool on a train would be the 4th of July to see fireworks from a train (pray you're not in some remote area that doesn't do fireworks though). I believe quite a few big cities shoot off fireworks at midnight (Philly does) so maybe you can see fireworks outside at the stroke of midnight if you're in or close to a big city.

I would probably not want to spend Thanksgiving night or Christmas morning on a train, especially if I had a spouse/kids (which I don't).

Have you had any holiday experiences on a train and what were they like?
 
I haven't ridden on a holiday but I have ridden on the 23rd of December so that can kinda counts. But my favorite part of this trips is riding thru small town America after dark. You see all of the Christmas lights, and all the little downtowns decorated. And it's beautiful. Plus the tearful reunions on the platform are amazing to watch too. If you take 91 just after Raleigh in Sanford they decorate the towns steam engine with lights so it appears to be moving. It's visible from the train right side going south.
 
Happy New Year!

I was thinking last night about places to go/things to do on New Year's Eve. I am absolutely not a night person and worry if driving home I'm sharing the road with a lot of drunk people. I'd like to go to Times Square except it's outside in January at night and I'd assume you'd have to arrive well before midnight to have any view better than what you'd see on TV. Then I thought what would it be like to spend New Year's Eve/Day on an overnight Amtrak train? It does sound like a cool one time experience.
Sometimes it's super empty. Sometimes it's super crowded. That's all I can really say... it's certainly unique.
 
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You may meet interesting and festive people. You may possibly see gorillas being transported in the baggage car.

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A few years ago, I was headed to my former home in Wisconsin on the Empire Builder. Usually when I did that, I'd sit in the disabled/elderly section of the coach lounge but not on New Years Eve. A group would charter the 1:05 Hiawatha to Milwaukee for the purpose of a mystery train. I tried sitting in that area but got kicked out by members of that group quite aggressively. Some of them seemed like they had a few too many adult beverages and boldly claimed that the area was exclusively theirs and unless I was an Amtrak personnel, I was to leave. This happened two years in a row until I learned my lesson not to ride on December 31.
 
I've been on LD Trains several times on Thanksgiving,Christmas and New Years.

On the actual Holiday the passenger load was usually very light (Coach and Sleeper).

Most of the times the Crew would have the cars decorated, the Diner would have a Special Holiday Menu ( usually Turkey and all the Trimmings) and the Trains would run on time or Early due to light Freight traffic.

Sadly the only one of those positives that seems to still be with us is the good OTPs due to Light Freight traffic.
 
I haven't ridden on a holiday but I have ridden on the 23rd of December so that can kinda counts. But my favorite part of this trips is riding thru small town America after dark. You see all of the Christmas lights, and all the little downtowns decorated. And it's beautiful. Plus the tearful reunions on the platform are amazing to watch too. If you take 91 just after Raleigh in Sanford they decorate the towns steam engine with lights so it appears to be moving. It's visible from the train right side going south.
Nice post!

One of the very few things I like about SAS is the lights they put at Christmastime all over the steam engine about half a block down the platform.
 
In the years just prior to Amtrak starting, I tried to ride as many trains as I could because no one was sure what trans would still be running after Amtrak started. On New Years Eve, 1970, I boarded the Penn Central (former NYC) train from Columbus, OH to Cleveland and then the former NYC train from Cleveland to Boston via Albany. I had a room in a PC slumber-coach from Cleveland to Albany. There was a lot on snow through upstate New York, but New Year's eve fire works was visible from my cozy room, I was sort of following the snow so saw lots of snow from Albany to Boston. The next day I took the Colonial from Boston to New York. Trains were crowded for the Holidays and Amtrak was starting in 5 months.
 
I rode the Coast Starlight departing New Year's Eve 1977 from Eugene, OR arriving Oakland, CA, New Year's Day 1978. The train was completely packed. I rode the whole way under the dome, but didn't see any fireworks.
 
Maybe not on Amtrak, but the first time I ever remember riding on heavy rail was one Christmas Day when my dad took me on Caltrain. It was purely for the ride, as there was nothing open that day.
 
A few years ago, hubby and I spent New Years Eve in the Parlour Car on the Coast Starlight. It was the best NYE we have ever had. We rode the CS up to Portland on the 30th, spent the night in a nice hotel, and headed back home the following day. We rang in the new year somewhere between Klamath Falls and Dunsmuir.

The PC attendant went off duty at 11:00, but before she left made sure we had plenty of beverages to ring in the new. There were some sweet college age girls dressed up fancy for the party, a cute little girl who was in charge of timekeeping, and a mix of young and old. After the toasts and the "Happy New Year" shouts, we all sang Auld Lang Syne. Some knew the words and some didn't, but it sounded great anyway.

It was pretty low key, but enormously fun. I'd love to do it again sometime.
 
...Another holiday I thought it might be cool on a train would be the 4th of July to see fireworks from a train (pray you're not in some remote area that doesn't do fireworks though). I believe quite a few big cities shoot off fireworks at midnight (Philly does) so maybe you can see fireworks outside at the stroke of midnight if you're in or close to a big city. ...

Have you had any holiday experiences on a train and what were they like?

In 1976, the 4th of July during the Bicentennial Year ... I was on the westbound San Francisco Zephyr in the dome car. Every little town we went through in Illinois/Iowa had fireworks. We may have been treated to more towns' fireworks, at least those you can see on the ground (vs. air), than anyone ever has. Very memorable, and we were lucky to get seats in the dome.
 
I've had the pleasure of taking a leisurely trip across the Hell Gate Bridge during the Macy's fireworks display a few times. It's even better with the HEP down so you have a nice clear view. The dispatcher would usually tell you when you needed to pick up the pace.
 
I routinely travel during Thanksgiving between Klamath Falls and Portland, but sometimes I continue on to Vancouver WA or cut it short at Salem OR. I have ridden the train from Portland to Klamath Falls on New Year's Day, 2016. I have traveled on the Hoosier state the day after Christmas from Chicago to Indianapolis, and I rode the Southwest Chief from Chicago to LA the day after New Year's Day 2017. As for other holidays, I have ridden between Klamath Falls and Sacramento during Labor Day weekend last year, and plan to do so again for the upcoming MLK weekend and Memorial Day weekend. The trains were always full during my Thanksgiving trip, and it was also full during my trip on New Year's Day last year, but they were not quite full when I took it during the Labor Day weekend, and there were some vacancies on my Southwest Chief train.
 
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