Long Distance Train Travel with Small Children - Opinions

[TurboDad]

My kids are 2 and 3 now, and my daughter - as of this point - has put over 6,000 miles on trains. I've been trying one a one-by-one basis to convince my friends to try taking train trips with their kids, but unless I get to really lay out all of the reasons for awesomeness, my American friends just get perplexed looks and say, "but doesn't it take so long?" So, I wrote the following:

http://www.scientologyparent.com/traveling-with-children-on-the-train/

...and added photos of some of my recent train trips with the kids (Coast Starlight, Silver Star, Auto Train).

I'm curious if other folks have the same experience. How have your kids taken to train travel?

 

[Ryan]

Very well written, thanks for sharing! Our experiences are very much similar - we did chicken out and we're flying from DC to Atlanta next weekend instead of taking the train, but the massive amount of crap we need to haul for the baby and the ease of getting a rental car were the two big factors there.

 

[TurboDad]

Thanks! To your point though - the amount of time you have is another big factor. Obviously, sometimes taking the train just isn't practical over long distances if you've only got a few days total for your whole trip. We still haven't found a way to do a cross-country trip (i.e. DC -> Portland or DC -> LA) as the amount of time we have always basically makes flying the only option. But given the option to drive, fly or train down to Florida, we'll almost always opt for train.

 

[AlanB]

While I don't have any kids, between my mom & I, we've convinced my younger brother & sister to take the Auto Train every time we do a whole family trip to Disney. My nieces & nephews have all loved the train, and the parents love the idea that they get to rest a bit on the way down and rest again on the way home, with all the running around that a Disney trip entails stuffed in between.

 

[greatcats]

Thanks for your nice writeup. I do take a bit of an issue with your crack about New Jersey, my native state. I live in Arizona now, but many parts of New Jersey are indeed beautiful. However, taking Amtrak on the Northeast Corridor through the state is not one of them. IMHO, the most scenic train ride within the state of New Jersey is NJ Transit's ( my former employer ) Gladstone Branch from Summit to Gladstone, which passes through some bucolic countryside.

 

[TurboDad]

Thanks for your nice writeup. I do take a bit of an issue with your crack about New Jersey, my native state. I live in Arizona now, but many parts of New Jersey are indeed beautiful. However, taking Amtrak on the Northeast Corridor through the state is not one of them. IMHO, the most scenic train ride within the state of New Jersey is NJ Transit's ( my former employer ) Gladstone Branch from Summit to Gladstone, which passes through some bucolic countryside.

I have to agree with you, and there's definitely some nice countryside in NJ. My first 10 times through NJ was on the Jersey Turnpike - which is definitely NOT scenic. But, that set of experiences definitely set me up for the shock of driving through the Delaware Water Gap and seeing how amazingly pretty that country is. And whilst I've not ridden on the Gladstone line, I've driven through the area and do agree with you on the countryside.

That said, I'll also have to say that I will stand by the statement that the Acela Express route through NJ really isn't among the more scenic routes in the Amtrak system - and is one I mostly do because there is simply no faster way to get from downtown DC to downtown NYC, unless I buy myself a personal F-16.