new to amtrak

[victoria]

There is one website which it will drop your jaws! It's in Kaemena's website.

Thanks for the info about the website. It is awesome. I do have a quesiton though. How do you know if the train you are going to take has all th ose cars, like the sighstseer lounge, etc.? Are they all the same, or do some just have the regular coach seating and nothing else. How do you make sure that you have the options you want. As you can see, I have no clue about this. But, everyone on this site has been so nice. If that is the type of people that travel on Amtrak, I'm sure I will enjoy it. Thanks,

Victoria

 

[AlanB]

There is one website which it will drop your jaws! It's in Kaemena's website.

Thanks for the info about the website. It is awesome. I do have a quesiton though. How do you know if the train you are going to take has all th ose cars, like the sighstseer lounge, etc.? Are they all the same, or do some just have the regular coach seating and nothing else. How do you make sure that you have the options you want. As you can see, I have no clue about this. But, everyone on this site has been so nice. If that is the type of people that travel on Amtrak, I'm sure I will enjoy it. Thanks,

Victoria

Victoria,

It's a little hard to know for sure, but the easiest way is to pick up an Amtrak timetable or have one mailed to you from Amtrak. You can also go to the Amtrak site and click on "Routes" and from there pick each route that you might be considering to learn what equipment services that particular route.

A general guideline however goes like this. If you are riding an Amtrak train overnight west of the Mississippi then you will see the Superliner double deck equipment pictured in Kaemena's website. East of the Mississippi only the Auto Train and the Capitol Limited between Chicago and DC use the Superliner equipment. All other overnight trains east of the Miss use single level trains that don't have Sightseer lounge cars.

Trains that don't run overnight, other than some trains in California, use only single level equipment. None of the day trains offers Sightsee Lounge cars, and with one exception, none offer a dining car. A few don't even have a cafe car.

 

[wkaemena]

I'm throwing myself into travelling on Amtrak for a few hours and I've never been on US trains before and not on a sleeper anywhere.Never been on a big foreign holiday, never been outside the UK on my own and I've decided to have 2 weeks in the US, NYC to Washington, then Washington to Chicago then Chicago to San Francisco, all on Amtrak.

I've not really got a great deal against airplanes, more the getting there, waiting around, the taking off and landing!

Just liked the idea of going by train and when I found this forum it made me even more interested in doing it.

So I'll be on Amtrak for about 77 hours! Mind you I've booked a bedroom for the WAS-CHI and CHI-EMY bits so should be ok.

I think I'll be loading large amounts of tv programmes, films and music onto my laptop for those journeys!

My first trip ever on Amtrak LD was CHI - EMY on CZ with the usual delay that was a trip of 56h and it was very pleasent never getting dull. There is a lot to see, a lot to talk with fellow travelers, a lot of time of the day you are busy with the nice food in the restaurant. It is in fact a kind of cruise tour on land and the Superliner is really comfortable and smooth running. So I am eager to make my next LD trip.

 

[victoria]

There is one website which it will drop your jaws! It's in Kaemena's website.

Thanks for the info about the website. It is awesome. I do have a quesiton though. How do you know if the train you are going to take has all th ose cars, like the sighstseer lounge, etc.? Are they all the same, or do some just have the regular coach seating and nothing else. How do you make sure that you have the options you want. As you can see, I have no clue about this. But, everyone on this site has been so nice. If that is the type of people that travel on Amtrak, I'm sure I will enjoy it. Thanks,

Victoria

Victoria,

It's a little hard to know for sure, but the easiest way is to pick up an Amtrak timetable or have one mailed to you from Amtrak. You can also go to the Amtrak site and click on "Routes" and from there pick each route that you might be considering to learn what equipment services that particular route.

A general guideline however goes like this. If you are riding an Amtrak train overnight west of the Mississippi then you will see the Superliner double deck equipment pictured in Kaemena's website. East of the Mississippi only the Auto Train and the Capitol Limited between Chicago and DC use the Superliner equipment. All other overnight trains east of the Miss use single level trains that don't have Sightseer lounge cars.

Trains that don't run overnight, other than some trains in California, use only single level equipment. None of the day trains offers Sightsee Lounge cars, and with one exception, none offer a dining car. A few don't even have a cafe car.

Thanks so much,

this type of info is exactly what I was looking for. I live in North Carolina, I would most certainly be travelling east of the Mississippi. So can you tell me what are the best types of accomodations to look for? I am kind of disappointed, because what I saw that excited me the most was the sightseer cars. I would probably make trips from: Raleigh /DC Raleigh/NYC and when I get really brave, Raleigh to Chicago. I would also like to take the "Journey" advertised by Amtrak as the Heritage tour that goes to NYC/Boston/Philly. No one has responded yet as to whether they have taken any of these prearranged trips. What I thought that would Make the trips bearable for me was the ability to get up and move around ie dining car, lounge. etc. If these are not available, then I may not enjoy train travel... oh well. Thank you again!

Victoria

 

[AlanB]

Thanks so much,
this type of info is exactly what I was looking for. I live in North Carolina, I would most certainly be travelling east of the Mississippi. So can you tell me what are the best types of accomodations to look for? I am kind of disappointed, because what I saw that excited me the most was the sightseer cars. I would probably make trips from: Raleigh /DC Raleigh/NYC and when I get really brave, Raleigh to Chicago. I would also like to take the "Journey" advertised by Amtrak as the Heritage tour that goes to NYC/Boston/Philly. No one has responded yet as to whether they have taken any of these prearranged trips. What I thought that would Make the trips bearable for me was the ability to get up and move around ie dining car, lounge. etc. If these are not available, then I may not enjoy train travel... oh well. Thank you again!

Victoria

Victoria,

Well again almost every train has a cafe/lounge car, even if it's not the really nice Sightseer lounge car with the big windows. And you are always free to get up and walk around the coaches and if you are in a sleeper, then the sleepers also.

Now living in North Carolina, depending on just where you live and board you would most likely have the option of a day train between NC and NY, as well as an overnight train. The day train will only have coaches and a cafe car. The overnight trains also add sleeping cars and a dining car.

Now turning towards a trip to Chicago, there you would start out on single level equipment, but the train from DC to Chicago does use the double deck Superliner equipment, which includes the Sightseer lounge car.

 

[BobWeaver]

Thanks so much,
this type of info is exactly what I was looking for. I live in North Carolina, I would most certainly be travelling east of the Mississippi. So can you tell me what are the best types of accomodations to look for? I am kind of disappointed, because what I saw that excited me the most was the sightseer cars. I would probably make trips from: Raleigh /DC Raleigh/NYC and when I get really brave, Raleigh to Chicago. I would also like to take the "Journey" advertised by Amtrak as the Heritage tour that goes to NYC/Boston/Philly. No one has responded yet as to whether they have taken any of these prearranged trips. What I thought that would Make the trips bearable for me was the ability to get up and move around ie dining car, lounge. etc. If these are not available, then I may not enjoy train travel... oh well. Thank you again!

Victoria

Now living in North Carolina, depending on just where you live and board you would most likely have the option of a day train between NC and NY, as well as an overnight train. The day train will only have coaches and a cafe car. The overnight trains also add sleeping cars and a dining car.

I'd like to add that you will have the option of a business class upgrade on trains 79/80 and 89/90, the Carolinian and Palmetto respectively. I highly recommend the business class upgrade on the Carolinian. It's not really too much more money added onto your fare. There are less people coming and going, less noise from boarding and alighting passengers, a personal car attendant, and a lot more space than coach class. Palmetto's coach class is identical to Carolinian's Business Class (minus the car attendant) space wise, but the business class on Palmetto, while a little pricier, is 2x1 leather seating, so it may be something to think about for long distances.