OK, I did a test booking for August 15. BAL - EMY (Coach in Northeast regional to Washington, Roomettes on the Capitol Limited and Zephyr) for 2 people. Fare quoted was $1,801. I also checked Southwest Airlines, full flexible fares BWI - OAK (Oakland) range from $400 a person ($800 for 2) to $715 ($1,430 for 2). The nonrefundable "Wannagetway" fares were about $100 a person cheaper, but there were only a few left, and some flights are already sold out. No nonstop flights.
Obviously, these are different products, as one can fly the distance, however uncomfortably, in 7-8 hours, plus 3 or so hours dealing with check-in and clearing the airport upon arrival, whereas the train takes 3 nights and part of 4 days. On the other hand, all you get on the plane is a bag of pretzels and a soft drink, and not even that if there's enough turbulence, whereas on the train you get 3 dinners, 3 breakfasts and 2 lunches, even if a dinner and breakfast are Flex meals, that's better than the last breakfast I had flying Southwest airlines, which was a hard-boiled egg and a Kind bar I bought at the airport newsstand.
The other alternative is driving. Baltimore to Oakland is a 2,800 Mile drive that my mapping software says can be done in 39 hours, 40 minutes. Let's say 40 hours just to be realistic. Actually, no. that's an average speed of 70 mph. I never average 70 mph, even on roads with 75 mph speed limits. The best I can do is 55-60 mph. At 55 mph average speed, those 2800 miles will take 50 hours. Driving 10 hours a day (which is about my limit), means this is a 5 day trip. Five days, one after the other driving 10 hours a day. By the end of the 5th day, I'd roll into Oakland pretty ragged out, and having to deal with Bay Area rush-hour traffic. As to cost, the IRS gives an allowance for operating costs of an automobile at 58.5 cents per mile, so it costs $1,638 to drive the 2,800miles (that includes gas, but maybe not at current gas prices). In addition, there are 4 nights of hotels, plus meals to consider. All of a sudden, that $1,800 train fare doesn't look so expensive. If anything, from a policy perspective, airline fares are too cheap, although I can't see any politically viable way of increasing them, such as a carbon tax.
Buses would be the other alternative. A through express bus that makes its intermediate stops along the highways and doesn't go into all the cities would probably be a lot faster than the train, and if it was configured with roomy 2x1 seating might be reasonably comfortable, although one would have to be willing to sleep in a recliner, not a bed. But nobody seems to run through long-distance buses anymore, so at the current time, a coast-to-coast trip involves changing a lot of buses at inconvenient times, and long-distance buses just aren't an alternative anymore.
