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What it’s like to ride in an Amtrak train cross-country.

Hunting for the end of the long tail • September 15, 2024

Today in Tedium: So, I don’t have a YouTube channel with a following of hundreds of thousands of users (I have 45 followers) and despite my best attempt at tagging Bud Light on my highly infrequent Instagram posts (I don’t know how to really use it, tbh), I’ve not yet become a brand influencer. Instead, I paid for my own train ticket and took Amtrak somewhere that most Americans haven’t been: across the country (and back). This is a story about how I took a train across the US and back because I could and why you should consider it for your next trip instead of flying. — Matt @ Tedium

$1,134

The amount I paid for my round-trip cross-country Amtrak ride, a trip from San Diego to New England that takes roughly three days one way, with stops in two of the largest cities in the country.

(Daniel Lobo/Flickr)

Why I chose to take the long way to Comic-Con this year

I don’t like flying, but sometimes I fly places. In recent years I have more of a fear-of-flying than before. When I tell people I don’t like flying they ask how I came to America in the first place (I flew) but then I tell people about the six months I spent taking plane after plane, after plane. Since 2019 I’ve flown just two round-trips. Thanks to some new medication, I just flew home from the XOXO festival in Portland, OR. Turbulence seems to be getting worse on planes, I hate all the waiting around, I don’t like take-offs and landings and generally being cramped, but I took my pills, wore my Flomask and managed okay. It’s not a great experience. But this isn’t a piece telling you why flying isn’t great, this is about trains and why I think long-distance travel on a train is perhaps a uniquely American experience.

Two big events for my wife and I this summer: San Diego Comic-Con and the final XOXO festival in Portland, OR. We live on the other side of the country in New England. For the first trip, we decided I’d take the train and for the second trip we decided I’d try flying. But we’d fly into Seattle, not Portland, take the train to and from Portland and visit Donald in Seattle.

I have a little bit of personal history with reasonably long train travel. I grew up in the UK, moved to the US about 20 years ago and many of my trips back to the UK (before COVID and Brexit) involved long train travel across Europe because I could take a nicer flight. I also previously took a long distance sleeper train from Austin, TX to Toronto, but that was also a while ago now. I knew roughly what I was getting myself into, but had no experience of long distance coach seat travel.

This was going to be an adventure, and I was very excited about my trip. In June, a full month before my trip across the country, I went up the side of a mountain in New Hampshire on a steam train, aka The Cog. This led to me owning a “The Cog” hat, and this in turn led to lots of people telling me their stories about train travel and their excitement and often hesitancy about my upcoming trip. I booked my ticket, packed my various bags with stuff and headed to the station.

Nightmare fuel. (via Reddit)

The disaster that nearly ruined my trip

What is the worst thing that could happen to you, minutes before you embark on a 3-day train journey and almost two weeks away from home?

For me, having my debit card swallowed by an ATM is pretty high up there.

I thought I’d be responsible and bring some cash for my trip. Instead, I began my trip with a sense of panic. For a moment I considered changing my whole trip. I’d move my travel by a few days maybe, or maybe I’d just accept defeat and head home. Luckily, my friend Max (also a train geek) was meeting me at the station to see me off and was able to lend me a little cash. My wife, who was busy at home preparing for Comic-Con, was also able to come see me leave, so I wasn’t totally screwed by this. Cash in hand, I approached the Red Cap stand at Boston’s South Station. Mike, the Red Cap, helped me get all my stuff onto the train and soon enough I was on my way to Chicago on the first of three trains I’d take on my cross-country journey to San Diego.

Roughly, my journey looked like this:

July 21st, take a train from Boston to Chicago, via Albany. Approximate journey time: 21 hours.
July 22nd, take a train from Chicago to Los Angeles. Approximate journey time: 43 hours
July 24th, take a business class train from Los Angeles to San Diego, correctly assuming the train would be full of people heading to Comic-Con. Approximate journey trip: 3 hours.

There was a reasonable amount of time built into the trip, so I wouldn’t be madly dashing for my connection even if my train was delayed.

But aren’t American trains always delayed?

No. They are, often, as this piece from 2017 mentions. But no, they’re not always delayed. It’s a complicated thing, and it seems the surrounding rules aren’t really enforced, but there’s a lawsuit happening right now and maybe that’ll change things.

Anyway, no big delays for me, my trip went smoothly in both directions, and I’d take this trip again in a heartbeat. Everyone from my bartender friends to my wife’s dentist seems to have questions about this trip though, so we opened up questions to the Tedium account on Mastodon, Bluesky and the Tedium Ko-fi page and with some occasional boosting we got to the following set of burning questions about all things Amtrak.

The Amtrak station in Albuquerque. (Matt Lee)

Some frequently asked questions about my trip

» How did you sleep?

I slept in coach, in my seat. I was assured by various things on the Internet that this will be fine, and I brought the following suggested things with me to try to make this pleasant. Treat this like a checklist because if you’re doing any kind of long distance travel by train in the US. You’ll want these things.

A solid sleeping mask (I used a Manta mask as recommended by the YouTube channel Miles in Transit and I used his promo code POORBID to save some cash)
A travel pillow. I opted for the Manta option here too. You inflate it up on the train.
A regular pillow. Target’s finest cheap $4 pillow.
Ear plugs. I didn’t always use these and seemed to be okay but I got a pair with my face mask and otherwise had a cheap set of foam ones from any drug store.
A decent blanket. I acquired one from Amazon ahead of the trip.
Inflatable foot rest. By far the best product I picked up. You inflate it like the mask but you rest your feet on it. Good for both sitting and sleeping.
An extension cable for power. On Amtrak there are two 110 volt outlets next to the window. If you’re not sitting next to the window, you’re going to be leaning across a stranger to plug in your gadgets. An extension cable makes this way less awkward.

» Are long-haul train rides really a lot worse than they are in Europe?

Yes, in so much as the US doesn’t really feel set up for such things. In Europe, when I took a train from Amsterdam to London it didn’t feel like a huge deal because the trains are fast and traveling between countries was a lot more normal then. This was of course before Brexit and COVID-19 so I don’t have any very recent data on it. It was also before the Eurostar went to Amsterdam, so I changed trains in London and in Brussels.

Amtrak often has one train per day in each direction. Miss your train to Chicago? See you in 24 hours! Miss your train to Amsterdam? You may wait as little as two hours for the next train.

I think Europe just feels more accessible by train as a result of this. I don’t know what this looks like now post-Brexit however.

» Three days is a long time to be in enclosed spaces. How did you manage?

I tried to maintain vaguely similar hours to my usual day. I woke up, changed clothes, washed my face, brushed my teeth, and ate some breakfast. I did some stuff. I ate lunch. I did some more stuff. I ate dinner. Changed back into sleeping clothes and then I tried to relax and then I went to sleep. I also wasn’t on a train for three days straight. The longest train was a mere 43 hours, and that had a few small breaks built into it too.

The views are often the best part of an Amtrak ride. (Matt Lee)

» What did you actually do on the train?

I brought a lot of stuff with me. I wound up using very little of it and spent a lot of time looking out the window and posting about my trip. I listened to podcasts and music, took a lot of photos, watched a lot of Psych on my iPad and played a lot of Pokemon. I read some back issues of White Dwarf.

» What was the sleeping experience like?

A lot of people will lead you to believe sleeping in coach is impossible or the stuff of nightmares. I actually slept reasonably well. I’m also 6’3” tall, so definitely on the taller side for someone in those coach seats.

» See anything interesting? Any interesting interactions?

It was nice being in Chicago, even if just for a little while.

Offline devices are a good choice for an Amtrak …

» I hear the internet is bad. How did you get by?

(Oh it’s terrible. I wouldn’t believe anything I read on there!)

Amtrak’s internet access is based on Verizon hotspots. The Lake Shore Limited has one, the Southwest Chief has no internet access (or if they do it’s only for sleeper passengers) so I brought my own hotspot. I also knew this was the case in advance so I brought a USB stick full of various ebooks, copies of 2000AD and old issues of magazines so I had stuff to do. I also had a bunch of hardware with me in addition to my iPhone and Apple Watch.

Apple iPad 7th ed
Apple iPod Classic
Nintendo New 2DS XL with Pokemon Omega Ruby
Playdate
My old GoPro 3+
Analogue Pocket
Logitech Bluetooth Keyboard
Apple AirPods Pro
Bose Noise Cancellation Headphones
Various cables, a 23,000Mwh battery pack, my Anker USB 100W charger

https://images.tedium.co/uploads/hotspot.jpg

… however, if you need a hotspot, you can always bring your own.

Aside from checking in with people, I had no need for Internet access. I didn’t bring a laptop. I also barely used the Logitech keyboard I brought along. I mostly used it as a place to hold my iPad.

If there was one thing about passenger train travel I could fix, I would …

Improve Amtrak’s website. It’s not good, it’s slow and it doesn’t work well. It also needs to be much clearer about how things will work on YOUR trip. How will boarding work for me on this trip I’m buying? Can I check bags? Will there be Red Cap service at my starting station? How about at my destination?

A sampling of some of the food. (Matt Lee)

A few of the many questions I got about riding an Amtrak for days on end

» Do you feel you were able to move around enough or did you start to feel cramped?

(Ben Cotton, Mastodon)

The Lake Shore Limited felt a bit cramped at times, but the Southwest Chief didn’t feel cramped at all. I had nobody next to me for virtually the entire ride. There’s a cafe with seating, an observation car and a dining car for sleeper passengers.

» How does food work? Booze?

(Multiple people)

You can bring your own food and drinks on board. You can’t bring your own alcoholic beverages on board unless you’re in a sleeper car. I had a small cooler bag with ice packs in it and brought some fresh food on the way out as well as a bunch of snacks (Clif bars, Luna bars, trail mix).

You can also buy food, drinks and booze in the cafe car. Consume them wherever you like on board—at your seat or in the cafe car. If it’s not too busy down there, you’re welcome to sit and stay as long as you like. Pay with cash, card or with your phone. I paid in cash due to the earlier card debacle and be sure to tip well. You’ll have the same person working in the cafe car for most of the 43 hours you’re on the Southwest Chief.

There’s also the dining car! On the Southwest Chief they also let coach customers eat in the dining car, so I did that on both nights on the way to California and had lunch both days on the way home. As of September 2024, Dining Car Breakfast is $20, Lunch is $25 per person and dinner is $40 per person. Dinner includes an alcoholic beverage (gin and tonic, in my case).

Always bring stuff you can eat in a pinch but don’t be afraid to grab something in the cafe car too. It’s a little expensive, but not overtly so. And if you can afford the dining car at least once on your trip you should try it.

Another thing to consider: As you’re sitting down a lot of the journey and aren’t really doing very much, you’ll probably wind up eating less too.

» How’s the stress factor riding a train vs flying?

(@jonathan@social.jondev.lol)

Much less stressful if you ignore the initial stress of my debit card.

You have much more space, you can bring more things with you and you can walk around the train. Bring things with you that you find to help you with stress.

Also much less tiring. I got off the train in Los Angeles and wasn’t jet lagged. I had a breakfast burrito at Cilantro fresh Mexican grill in the station and took my train down to San Diego with ease, just like taking a local train in Boston.

As I was going to/from San Diego Comic-Con, I booked a business class seat for a few dollars more to San Diego. This was worth it because it meant I had a guaranteed seat on an otherwise very full train. I also got a snack box and a drink.

Don’t want to hit the cafe car every couple of hours? Bring a stash with you.

» How much was it delayed?

Boston to Chicago: no significant delay
Chicago to Los Angeles: no significant delay
Los Angeles to San Diego: slightly ahead of schedule
San Diego to Fullerton (one stop outside of LA): no significant delays
Fullerton to Chicago: 2 hour delay quite early in the trip and we never made it up.
Chicago to Boston: no significant delays

I had plans to meet up with someone in Chicago, the delay meant this didn’t happen. I wound up changing my plans to travel the next day. I got a hotel in Chicago for the night.

When I was waiting in Chicago to go to Boston, I found I could get a sleeper for the leg to Albany, NY where the train splits. I chose to try this (not cheap) so I could see what it was like, vs. sleeping in coach.

On my Portland<>Seattle trips the trains were both on-time with no significant delays.

» Did you find it troublesome to shower / get ready in the morning on a moving train?

(@petes_bread_eqn_xls@mastodo.neoliber.al)

So, there are no showers in coach on Amtrak trains. There is a shower in Chicago Union Station and you can use this if you have access to the lounge. I had a lounge pass from Amtrak so I was able to use it.

When I didn’t have access to a shower I used a product called “Whole Body Deodorant” and I changed my clothes daily. I changed and washed in the bathroom on the train. There’s a folding table to change a child but I was able to use it without issue. There’s also a room that has access to a bench and a larger mirror on each train. This didn’t have a lock on my train however.

And if you’re sick of snack food, you can always do fine dining.

» Did they, at any time, let him pull the thing that makes the train go “choo choooo”

(@neurovagrant@masto.deoan.org)

They did not, however they did let some children who were traveling to announce “All aboard”

» I’d want info about the distribution of his experiences. I’ve taken two Amtrak trips. One was the best travel experience I’ve ever had. The other was one of the worst.

(@fogoplayer@mastodon.world)

I enjoyed all of my trips. Coming from Portland to Seattle was the worst experience of the lot as there was a small child constantly bumping the tray table onto the seat behind me. But this wasn’t a big deal.

» What’s the wifi like? Can I get work done?

You can absolutely get some work done. There’s no wifi on much of this route, but if you have a hotspot or you’re able to tether your phone you should have no issue sending/receiving email, etc. You can’t do a Zoom call on the train, but also you really can’t do that easily in coach.

As someone who is perpetually online, I was aware of just how bad Amtrak’s wifi offering can be. I was also aware that on the Southwest Chief Amtrak doesn’t even provide wifi if you’re not in a sleeper room. Amtrak’s wifi, as it turns out, is just a Verizon hotspot anyway. I don’t have a Verizon hotspot, but I did get a T-Mobile hotspot from the fascinating Calyx Institute, a non-profit with deep ties to the privacy and security communities with their own Android variant, CalyxOS.

» Do the cross-countries have the new bedding? They upgraded things on the auto train and it’s swell.

(@rstevens.bsky.social)

My brief foray into a sleeper revealed the same bedding on my 2016 trip.

» My biggest concern when I think about taking long train trips is being comfortable without shelling out for a sleeper car

(@deadkeywonders.bsky.social‬)

I was perfectly comfortable with a nice, large seat, easy access to pretty decent food, cold drinks, beautiful scenery, episodes of Psych, my cooler bag snacks, a ten-year old Pokemon game and some podcasts.

» Were the transfers easy, and what was the longest you spent on a train this trip?

(My friend Michelle, via Signal)

Transfers all super easy. The closest one was about an hour in L.A. ahead of my trip to San Diego. I had time to get and eat a breakfast burrito and was still the first person on the platform for the train.

» What’s the nicest thing you saw someone do while on the trips?

(@johns@librem.one)

I didn’t see it, but there was an announcement that one of the scouts riding the train had helped someone back to their seat when the train was a little bumpy in New Mexico. This led to a further announcement from the Cafe Car awarding the scout with some candy and soda and a round of applause.

The Raton Pass was a highlight. (Matt Lee)

» Which stretch of the US looks best from a train window?

New Mexico. The Raton pass. Here’s a video of the view.

» Do you buy one ticket for the whole trip?

I did. You get 3 QR codes (one per train) via their app but you also get a printable PDF. You can also add the tickets to Apple Wallet.

Thanks to everyone who asked me about this long, winding trip I took. Hopefully it inspired you to maybe try it yourself sometime.

Would I do it again? Absolutely. I’m already planning to take the California Zephyr next summer if I can. Since this trip I’ve already been planning a few more trips via Amtrak too. I’m overdue for a visit to Maine and Thanksgiving in Ohio.

Should you do it? I think so. If you have the time to add a few extra days on your next travel through the US, give it a go. Sleeping in coach is not only possible but on a train with a leg rest and surprisingly comfortable. And maybe a future career in train influencer sponsorships if you can find your audience.

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Find this one an interesting read? Share it with a pal! And thanks to Matt for sharing his insights from his many recent travels.

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