View on night trips?

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buddy559

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I am curious, what the view is on the train at night?

If you are in a room, can you turn out the inside lights and see anything or is it just blackout?
 
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buddy559 said:
I am curious, what the view is on the train at night?

If you are in a room, can you turn out the inside lights and see anything or is it just blackout?
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If your room lights are off and you have the curtain closed over your door, it's very dark in the room. It's like looking out your own bedroom window at night. I like to open the window curtains at night so I can watch the towns go by, but then I close them before going to sleep so I don't wake up at station stops.

As for "blackout', it depends on where you are. If you're going across fields or through forests, it'll be like going outside at night. The only light will be from the moon and stars, and you might see a few lights reflected from open windows on the train, but it doesn't illuminate much farther than the edge of the track. It's fun to keep an eye out for farm houses and other remote villages. If you travel around Christmastime, some people decorate their backyards and fences for the Amtrak passengers. :)

In Coach, there are some ambient safety lights that give a bit of reflection on the glass, but you can still see out into the darkness. When we ride Coach on the SWC, I like to watch for the huge windmill farm in Kansas. It goes on for miles and looks like something out of "The X-Files" at night.
 
Depends on what you're looking for. I like turning out the lights and just watching the lights of backyard America and the desolation of small towns at 2 am.

Not much natural scenery unless theres a full moon.

I remember years ago watching for small towns and came across a very small main street maybe 3 blocks long and the only light was a very bright neon sign " FUNERAL HOME"

I also like being in the sightseer lounge at night just to watch the right of way, yards, towers etc.

BUT, at the same time you might see some pretty sad sights. On the CONO one trip southbound, we came to a stop. We sat there for about 30 minutes or so then crept along at like 10mph for a good ways. I could see a bright glow ahead and pressed my face to the window to see. We rolled through an accident scene where a freight ahead of us had nailed a car at the crossing. It was VERY erie as all the police/firemen/first responders all stopped and just looked as us rolling through. It was obvious that the people in the wreck had been killed. After passing through we picked up speed but that scene was was implanted in my mind, and here 30 or so years later I can still picture it like a moment from the twilight zone.
 
The curtains in our bedroom or roomette are always open...day and night. If I wake up in the middle of the night, I can take a look without having to get up and take a peek!
 
SarahZ said:
buddy559 said:
I am curious, what the view is on the train at night?

If you are in a room, can you turn out the inside lights and see anything or is it just blackout?
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If you travel around Christmastime, some people decorate their backyards and fences for the Amtrak passengers. :)
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We're traveling December 23. Can't wait!
 
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Traveling at night is one of my absolute favorite experiences on a train. I do wish they'd dim the lights in the SSL at night, though, so you could take advantage of the windows and see the stars and moon.
 
Angela1117 said:
We're traveling December 23. Can't wait!
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Depending on the train you're on, sometimes the sleeper car attendants will decorate for Christmas, and I've seen regional train conductors wearing Santa and elf hats. :)
 
buddy559 said:
the_traveler said:
If your traveling in the winter with a snow covered field and a full bright moon on a clear night, the view is beautiful from inside a nice warm train! :)
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Sounds great. I have a feeling I won't be sleeping much, and just planned to look out the window.
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I don't sleep much on the train either. It's probably due to excitement, since the train is quite relaxing and makes me feel sleepy.

I also like traveling in the summer because you can often see thunderstorms off in the distance. Everything lights up purple. It's beautiful.

The train is a lot like a rolling hotel. I love that we pass through towns while people sleep and we can enjoy the weather without leaving the comfort of our seat or bed. There's nothing like it.
 
My favorite overnight view was from the Night Owl but too bad you can no longer experience it from a sleeper.

.......laying in bed as the train climbed up over Hells Gate Bridge with the skyline of Manhattan in the distance......then the urban views as the train raced south in the NEC.

There’s also the views from the Dome on VIA’s Canadian especially after a fresh snowfall on a moonlit night....almost as bright as day. Or watching the headlight play on the steep rock faces as the train winds through the Fraser Canyon the first night out of Vancouver.
 
When I went out west on the Empire Builder in June, there were borderline severe thunderstorms in Minnesota and North Dakota with a vivid lightning show, around 1 or 2 AM.
 
tim54449 said:
When I went out west on the Empire Builder in June, there were borderline severe thunderstorms in Minnesota and North Dakota with a vivid lightning show, around 1 or 2 AM.
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If it was in June, those very well may have been full-blown severe storms. There were a couple of severe storm tracks through that territory in Minnesota in June.
 
I love riding on the train at night, particularly when I am in sleeper... but next to a window in coach, or in the cafe car or sightseer lounge can also be really cool. I don't sleep much on the train either, so I enjoy the night.

As mentioned, when going thru extremely rural areas, it can remain dark for a cinsiderable time. But in suburban and urban areas, there is all kinds of infrasturcture that's well it; as mentioned there are some cool neon signs and places that are deserted at night but still well lit.

Enjoy...
 
I also love the view of abandoned/industrial areas that can only be seen from a train.
 
Sitting in my dark room on the Southwest Chief, looking across the gray moonlit plains as hundreds of cattle run alongside the train, kept away only by the ranchers' fences....and on a VIA Canada train though Nova Scotia, riding through fog, with periodic breaks with views of the moonlit countryside...and my earliest railroad memory, the amazing night view of being on the "wrong side" of railroad crossings...why are all those cars sitting there behind those white fences with the flashing light??----looking out the train windows at night is wondrous!
 
jebr said:
tim54449 said:
When I went out west on the Empire Builder in June, there were borderline severe thunderstorms in Minnesota and North Dakota with a vivid lightning show, around 1 or 2 AM.
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If it was in June, those very well may have been full-blown severe storms. There were a couple of severe storm tracks through that territory in Minnesota in June.
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I looked it up on the NOAA site shortly after I arrived at my destination in PDX and the NWS did not determine they were severe. It still was magnificent nevertheless. My mom and I got a repeat show during the following day. I even told her we should have gotten pictures, but we were so mesmerized by the repeated cloud to ground lightning that it didn't cross our minds. I've never seen such a sight from a train before and I've logged over 20,000 miles on Amtrak.
 
My most memorable was southbound on the Coast Starlight. Woke up and got out of bed and sat by the window. There, under the light of a nearly full moon, was snow-capped Mount Shasta.

If you look online, you can find out the phase of the moon as well as moon rise and set times for any date.
 
Moon will be waning, but still over half illuminated on December 23. Rise and set times will depend on what party of the country you will be traversing.
 
Traveling at night depends on how much lights are around and how fast the train is going. If you are going fast, it is hard to focus on what your passing. In urban areas when you are going slow, it is quite interesting. Industrial sites are quite interesting at night because many times they are lit up pretty good. Unfortunately, the abandoned or run down buildings usually don't have a lot of light to really look at at night.

Last year leaving Chicago on the CL, there was a line of storms that we were pretty much traveling through the entire distance to Pittsburgh. The light show of the lightning was very pretty.

I never thought about the Christmas lights. We will be on the Crescent in December so I am looking forward to that.

My favorite time to look out is in the early morning hours when it starts to get light but people are not out and about. Going through sleepy areas is at this time, in my opinion, is one of the most interesting times.
 
I took the TE to STL around Christmas a few years back. It was beautiful, small town downtowns were decorated, many rural homes were too.....and of course Little Rock was decorated......Watching at night is great.
 
SarahZ said:
It's fun to keep an eye out for farm houses and other remote villages. If you travel around Christmastime, some people decorate their backyards and fences for the Amtrak passengers. :)
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the Other Mike said:
I like turning out the lights and just watching the lights of backyard America and the desolation of small towns at 2 am.
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SarahZ said:
I also love the view of abandoned/industrial areas that can only be seen from a train.
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These all help to remind me of the "natural" entertainment, just outside your train's window. It unfolds both in the day, and in the night.

IMHO, people's backyards, the side mostly visible from a train, tells a more truthful story of who the owners are, than their front yard façades.
 
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