Shinkansen1966
Train Attendant
- Joined
- Jan 12, 2005
- Messages
- 17
We’ve just returned from a two week holiday in the US, using the USA Rail Pass. This pass is available to us, as non-US citizens, allowing 15 days’ unlimited travel on Amtrak for $295.
We flew from London to New York City, and then took a circular rail trip via Washington DC, New Orleans, Los Angeles and Chicago, returning to NYC before flying home to England.
We had a few days in NYC. As this was our first visit there, it was great opportunity to sample the Subway. We found the system pretty confusing: some of the trains appeared to be running on different lines from the one shown on the Subway map; trains stopped at the wrong stops, and station signage was convoluted, lacking the clarity of the London Underground. I put this down to weekend construction work, as during the working week we found the service corresponded to the actual Subway map. After a few days I did get the hang of interpreting the station signage. So in the end, it actually became a lot of fun travelling on the Subway!
After three days in NYC, we took the train to Washington DC along the North East Corridor. The Acela Express had just been suspended. Although our passes were not valid on the Acela, when we lined up for the ‘Regional train 95’ to Washington DC, I overheard the conversations of several disgruntled passengers whose plans had been disrupted, and the Regional train was completely full. I’m guessing this was due to the cancelled Acela trains and the corresponding reduction in the overall numbers trains running on the NEC. The train was inexplicably delayed in NYC Penn Station for 25 minutes. Delays without explanation turned out to be a running theme of the trip. What also surprised us was that generally, none of our fellow passengers seemed that bothered!
There was a nice variety of scenery along the NEC though some of the stations appeared to us to be pretty dilapidated. We were alarmed by the occasional violent sideways jolts of the train as it travelled at speed across switches. None of the other passengers were troubled though!! The platform and track of Washington DC station were run down, but the station interior was fantastic!
We then took the Crescent to New Orleans, travelling in roomettes. These were small but adequate, though having toilets in the rooms rather than at the ends of the cars was odd. The staff were friendly, with the sleeper car attendant giving us an enthusiastic hand shake!! Looking back now, we thought the food on the Crescent was the best. During the night, the train was delayed by 5 hours, without explanation or apology. We didn’t make up the time and arrived into New Orleans at one o’clock in the morning. Still, crossing Lake Pontchrachain by night was an eerie and interesting experience. Overall, the trip was quite scenic with most of the day spent going past rural settlements and endless forests. We were quite surprised by the size of Atlanta station: there are bigger stations here in the UK serving little rural towns!
After two nights in New Orleans, we boarded the Sunset Ltd. for LA. This time we had a full-scale bedroom, which was excellent and great for the two-night trip. The dining staff seemed to run the dining car as their own little empire. There was a nice variety of scenery, and the trip across the New Mexican desert was made particularly memorable by fantastic lightning. We were surprised by the train passing within feet of the Mexican border! Our train rolled into LA 90 minutes late, which I think is pretty punctual by the standards of the Sunset!
After LA, we were off to Chicago on the South West Chief and took roomette accommodation. Again, there was a nice variety of scenery with the trip across the Raton pass being a favourite. We were disappointed with the food on board, though the dining car steward was pretty funny. We spent two hours at Albuquerque station as there was an elaborate effort to shunt the train and remove the transition sleeper and lounge car from the train consist. I couldn’t help noticing some staff were a bit concerned about the sleeping arrangements. We arrived in Chicago just over an hour late.
Finally, we travelled on the Lake Shore Limited back to NYC and decided to sample coach class. I was extremely impressed with overall comfort of these cars: there was plenty of leg room, welcome leg rests and the seats reclined a fair bit. The last few hours travelling down the Hudson Valley were very scenic.
Overall, it’s pretty obvious the Amtrak needs money: some of stations are scruffy and dilapidated and some of the rolling stock could do with being spruced up. That said, overall the staff are friendly and enthusiastic; the food wasn’t too bad at all and train is an excellent and relaxing way for us Europeans to get an idea of the size and variety of the US. There were a few surprises for us: the quality of ride was sometimes alarmingly bad; stations had grade crossings running through the middle of them, and there was a high volume of freight running on the rails.
Great trip and highly recommended.
We flew from London to New York City, and then took a circular rail trip via Washington DC, New Orleans, Los Angeles and Chicago, returning to NYC before flying home to England.
We had a few days in NYC. As this was our first visit there, it was great opportunity to sample the Subway. We found the system pretty confusing: some of the trains appeared to be running on different lines from the one shown on the Subway map; trains stopped at the wrong stops, and station signage was convoluted, lacking the clarity of the London Underground. I put this down to weekend construction work, as during the working week we found the service corresponded to the actual Subway map. After a few days I did get the hang of interpreting the station signage. So in the end, it actually became a lot of fun travelling on the Subway!
After three days in NYC, we took the train to Washington DC along the North East Corridor. The Acela Express had just been suspended. Although our passes were not valid on the Acela, when we lined up for the ‘Regional train 95’ to Washington DC, I overheard the conversations of several disgruntled passengers whose plans had been disrupted, and the Regional train was completely full. I’m guessing this was due to the cancelled Acela trains and the corresponding reduction in the overall numbers trains running on the NEC. The train was inexplicably delayed in NYC Penn Station for 25 minutes. Delays without explanation turned out to be a running theme of the trip. What also surprised us was that generally, none of our fellow passengers seemed that bothered!
There was a nice variety of scenery along the NEC though some of the stations appeared to us to be pretty dilapidated. We were alarmed by the occasional violent sideways jolts of the train as it travelled at speed across switches. None of the other passengers were troubled though!! The platform and track of Washington DC station were run down, but the station interior was fantastic!
We then took the Crescent to New Orleans, travelling in roomettes. These were small but adequate, though having toilets in the rooms rather than at the ends of the cars was odd. The staff were friendly, with the sleeper car attendant giving us an enthusiastic hand shake!! Looking back now, we thought the food on the Crescent was the best. During the night, the train was delayed by 5 hours, without explanation or apology. We didn’t make up the time and arrived into New Orleans at one o’clock in the morning. Still, crossing Lake Pontchrachain by night was an eerie and interesting experience. Overall, the trip was quite scenic with most of the day spent going past rural settlements and endless forests. We were quite surprised by the size of Atlanta station: there are bigger stations here in the UK serving little rural towns!
After two nights in New Orleans, we boarded the Sunset Ltd. for LA. This time we had a full-scale bedroom, which was excellent and great for the two-night trip. The dining staff seemed to run the dining car as their own little empire. There was a nice variety of scenery, and the trip across the New Mexican desert was made particularly memorable by fantastic lightning. We were surprised by the train passing within feet of the Mexican border! Our train rolled into LA 90 minutes late, which I think is pretty punctual by the standards of the Sunset!
After LA, we were off to Chicago on the South West Chief and took roomette accommodation. Again, there was a nice variety of scenery with the trip across the Raton pass being a favourite. We were disappointed with the food on board, though the dining car steward was pretty funny. We spent two hours at Albuquerque station as there was an elaborate effort to shunt the train and remove the transition sleeper and lounge car from the train consist. I couldn’t help noticing some staff were a bit concerned about the sleeping arrangements. We arrived in Chicago just over an hour late.
Finally, we travelled on the Lake Shore Limited back to NYC and decided to sample coach class. I was extremely impressed with overall comfort of these cars: there was plenty of leg room, welcome leg rests and the seats reclined a fair bit. The last few hours travelling down the Hudson Valley were very scenic.
Overall, it’s pretty obvious the Amtrak needs money: some of stations are scruffy and dilapidated and some of the rolling stock could do with being spruced up. That said, overall the staff are friendly and enthusiastic; the food wasn’t too bad at all and train is an excellent and relaxing way for us Europeans to get an idea of the size and variety of the US. There were a few surprises for us: the quality of ride was sometimes alarmingly bad; stations had grade crossings running through the middle of them, and there was a high volume of freight running on the rails.
Great trip and highly recommended.
