anyone ever traveled across the US by train?

[mnewsham]

If you are doing the US I would do it with a roomette or a full bedroom, I have done it, I enjoy it, not everyone will like it.

If it is longer than 12 hours and you have to mingle with coach, you are gonna have a bad time.

 

[mnewsham]

Denali has road access. I have driven there but I have taken the train from Anchorage to Denali as well think we stopped of at Telketna (sic?) where there was a blue grass fesitval going on.

Also took the train from DC to just past Cleveland. I would do it again epescialy out west with one of the dome cars.

I assume you took the Capitol limited, the superliners are nice, sadly between DC and Boston it is all the older smaller cars because the superliners are too big for most of the older style tunnels (Baltimore, DC, New York). Still I enjoy the superliners when I can 😛

 

[K1052]

Fly. It's better in every way. If you want to take a train ride do it in another part of the world where the train is actually faster than driving or has more to see.

Long distance trains in the US are basically cruises on wheels. You generally aren't going to get from point A to point B as efficiently as possible.

 

[Ausm]

 

[HardcoreRobot]

i did newark->DC on NYE one year because they cancelled all the flights. more spacious, power outlets, wifi, and you arent treated like a terrorist.

however its slow, and in some cases not substantially cheaper so its not a preferred method of mine

 

[JamesV]

Not a train, but I took a bus from San Francisco to Cleveland... took nearly 3 days and was like 4,400 some miles (went up and down the US, all the way across).

In Oakland, 3 guys thought it would be a good idea to get drunk really quick on a layover and then start yelling '******'... two came back with missing teeth and lots of blood - were removed from the bus.

In AZ, the AC died when it was over 100 degrees out, and there were kids crying up a storm during that.

Almost left me and this girl I met on the bus in IN, after we got off to get some food on a layover that was supposed to be 15 minutes, but the driver wanted to get going... we literally had to run down the road yelling to get back on.

Never again.

For trains though, In Cuyahoga National Valley, you can bike down the long trail, and then get on a train to go back to your car for only $3. Even walking it's only like $8, and I reccomend it to everyone.

 

[Childs]

-For those four days, I had three choices. Go to the scenery car. Go to the informal Dining car (which was incredibly expensive) or go to the smoking car. After four days, I had a bit of cabin fever.

This must have been a long time ago. I took my trip over 10 years ago, and there was no smoking car. I had to run out at each stop for my smoke breaks.

 

[manimal]

I sat next to a really annoying woman who lip synced to a train album once.

 

[K1052]

i did newark->DC on NYE one year because they cancelled all the flights. more spacious, power outlets, wifi, and you arent treated like a terrorist.

however its slow, and in some cases not substantially cheaper so its not a preferred method of mine

NE Regional service takes about 3 hours from Newark to DC, Acelea Express about 2.5. I don't see how flying from EWR to DCA would take much less time than that. Last time I looked at doing that trip United wanted $300 for the privilege...one way.

 

[vailr]

The longest continuous "cross country" (with connections & staying within the U.S. only) train trip would probably be: San Diego, CA > Los Angeles > New Orleans > New York City > Boston > Brunswick, Maine.
Alternative: Miami, FL > Washington, D.C. > Chicago > Seattle, WA.
Before Hurricane Katrina messed up the tracks, Amtrak's "Sunset Limited" traveled between Orlando, FL > Los Angeles, CA. Now it only goes between New Orleans > Los Angeles.

 

[Saint Nick]

Rode the Cali Zephyr from Omaha to Chicago once. It wasn't bad, but if I had to be on there any longer I was going to lose it. It was a nine hour trip.

 

[TurtleCrusher]

I don't get it why people get cabin fever. When you realize that you're traveling 1100 miles a day, why even complain? Our ancestors would literally punch you IN THE FACE if they heard that you had a hard time sitting on your ass and traveling across the country.

I would have paid Amtrak (or Union Pacific) $800 if they would have just let me load my car on the train and I would have just sat in that. Driving from Chicago>Lincoln NE>Cheyenne WY>SLC> Boise>Portland> Seattle in two and a half days was hell, especially after being on active duty military for a year.