What if you have trouble sleeping on an Amtrak Train?

[Kbyrdleroydogg]

I've taken Amtrak a number of times and while at home I leave the radio on because it helps me fall asleep, I can't do that on the train and disturb people.
What does anyone else do to get to sleep on overnight or multi night trips? Coach or sleeper?

 

[me_little_me]

I go to the Cafe or Lounge and watch the world go by. Or just sit up and look out my window. We don't overnight in coach but it can't be much different unless you don't have a window seat- in which case, getting up and going to the Cafe or Lounge will be much less likely to disturb your seatmate.

 

[PVD]

Lightweight headphones I have a set that I can barely feel....

 

[Acela150]

So if I take train 66 to Boston I always book BC on that train. I usually have trouble sleeping so I'll watch a movie or put music on through Pandora. New York and New Haven are the worst as the stop in NYP is north of an hour and NHV is 20 long minutes. One of the last times I took 66 I got off at NYP for food at the now closed Mickey D's. New Haven I stepped off and moved around the platform a bit.

 

[Acela150]

I'll add that when I'm in a sleeping compartment I'm ok. I usually fall asleep to the train horn and noise the GE's make when they take off

 

[Dakota 400]

Sometimes, I will admit, falling asleep in any Amtrak sleeper can be an issue. But, that is an issue that I have had since my first train trip in a Section on a PRR train from Columbus to Chicago as a child. On my most recent Amtrak trips on the Silver Meteor, I have had good, restful sleeps. Why? I don't know. Maybe my consumption of the rest of the bottle of wine that I ordered in the Dining Car may have helped.

 

[Sauve850]

Lots of people have trouble sleeping on trains. Lots of people just have trouble sleeping period. On the long distance trains most everyone sleeps well the second night from being so tired. I do sleepers and sleep with ear plugs if necessary.

 

[Old MM]

The nice thing about being on the train, is that if you have trouble sleeping, at least you're not tasked with driving. Staring out of the window bleary eyed at the tracks or distant lights or even intermediate stations, eventually will lull you to sleep. If you're tired the next morning, again, at least you're not the driver! This factor has a lot to do with why the train has such a "vacation" feeling for me.

 

[user 13416]

I made the mistake of taking an overnight train (Auto Train) and trying to sleep when the rest of the train was asleep. As soon as they announced "quiet time" in the sleepers I knew I wasn't going to get a wink of sleep. I need noise - not white noise, not soft music, but actual noise - to sleep. If I ever take a multi-day LD train, I'm going to have to sleep during the day (which my body would prefer anyway) when everybody's making a lot of noise.

 

[bratkinson]

For me, the first night on a train is frequently difficult for me. However, if I had to get up unusually early to start my trip, getting to sleep the first night is much easier. Otherwise, as Michigan Mom noted, staring out the window from my roomette for an hour or so usually gets me tired enough to conk out. Another trick is I take a couple of over the counter 'sleep aid' pills which are the same stuff as Benadryl that make me drowsy in about an hour.

2nd night and thereafter are no problems falling asleep or staying asleep unless I have to use the toilet.

Note: on Train #66, there is NO 'quiet time' as the conductors(plural) repeat station stops ad nauseum about every 10 minutes and the lights are never dimmed!

 

[SarahZ]

I drink wine, take melatonin, and wear earplugs. That helps me fall asleep, but I still wake up at most station stops and/or when people talk in the hallway.

That said, it doesn't really bother me since I rarely do much the next day. I'm either still on the train, or I've arrived at my destination and don't have any pressing plans that require me to be 100% awake.

Plus, it's kind of fun to wake up, peek out the window to see where we are, and then drift back to sleep. It feels kind of magical to wake up in a different city/state every couple hours.

 

[NEPATrainTraveler]

I had trouble sleeping during my last LD trip. I think I only got like two hours of sleep. I too would look out the train window and watch the night time scenery roll by. I was awake for every station stop except for one I think. Next time I do an LD trip I’m bringing Dramamine because of the motion sickness I felt that night and a travel pillow because the seats in coach have zero neck support.

 

[SarahZ]

...a travel pillow because the seats in coach have zero neck support.

I absolutely cannot sleep in coach. I think I get about 45 minutes, tops.

I've noticed I always prop myself up on the window ledge in the roomette. I put a pillow along the metal window frame and kind of snuggle up to the wall while watching the cities pass by. It's really comfortable, and it keeps me from getting motion sickness while reading.

I don't even remember how or why I started doing it, but it's one of those little train travel quirks I really miss. (My last trip was nearly two years ago.)

 

[dogbert617]

I had trouble sleeping during my last LD trip. I think I only got like two hours of sleep. I too would look out the train window and watch the night time scenery roll by. I was awake for every station stop except for one I think. Next time I do an LD trip I’m bringing Dramamine because of the motion sickness I felt that night and a travel pillow because the seats in coach have zero neck support.

I hear you, on how tough it can be to sleep in coach on certain routes (i.e. Cap between Toledo and Pittsburgh, Lake Shore from Buffalo west to Toledo, and to a lesser extent Cardinal through KY as I oddly rewoke up at each of the station stops). Particularly due to the tracks being a little rough, in places. It helps me out that I bring an inflatable pillow when doing overnight Amtrak travel in coach, to make it a little easier for me to sleep.

If it wasn't for the cost of a sleeper in many cases, I'd upgrade to that a lot more often.

 

[troo troo tcrane]

But it's dark outside. Can you see anything outside the window?

 

[dogbert617]

But it's dark outside. Can you see anything outside the wibdow?

Sometimes you can, if you're going through a major metropolitan area or one with somewhat of a population ad a few nearby suburbs (i.e. Twin Cities/St. Paul/Minneapolis, Fargo/Moorhead, etc). But yeah if you're going through small towns and rural areas, you sadly probably won't see much.

 

[SarahZ]

Sometimes you can, if you're going through a major metropolitan area or one with somewhat of a population ad a few nearby suburbs (i.e. Twin Cities/St. Paul/Minneapolis, Fargo/Moorhead, etc). But yeah if you're going through small towns and rural areas, you sadly probably won't see much.

I also love looking at the wind farms in Kansas. It's completely dark, and then suddenly you see rows and rows of blinking red lights. They go on for MILES.

The first time I saw the huge farm near Cimarron, it looked like something out of "The X-Files". I still think it looks cool.

 

[JayPea]

I also love looking at the wind farms in Kansas. It's completely dark, and then suddenly you see rows and rows of blinking red lights. They go on for MILES.

The first time I saw the huge farm near Cimarron, it looked like something out of "The X-Files". I still think it looks cool.

The first time I saw those same windmills at night, the theme from "The X-Files" immediately went through my mind. I sleep like a baby the first night I'm on a train...I'm up every hour. But after that, I sleep soundly....better than I do at home.

 

[jimmrl]

As others have said, my first night in a roomette I always have a problem sleeping, but the second night I get a great nights sleep.

 

[Old MM]

Certain landscapes look really cool to me at night. Ohio, for example, seems more compelling in the dark with all the random lighted structures, like a painting with no people in it.

 

[thully]

I have trouble sleeping on long distance trains sometimes, even in sleeper. One thing I've done is use earplugs and a sleeping mask to block out light and noise, but the bumpy track (and sometimes heat/cold) will still keep me awake sometimes. If I'm getting off early in the morning (such as in Toledo on the LSL/CL westbound) fear of missing my stop also doesn't help. Of course, my last few LD overnight trips were only one night - I may have slept better the next night had I stayed on the train...

 

[mitako]

I don't take them at home, but when I'm traveling, I have prescription sleep/anxiety pills that conk me out pretty effectively. I tend to be a nervous traveler, even though I really enjoy the trip, and I'd barely sleep otherwise.

 

[bratkinson]

The first time I saw those same windmills at night, the theme from "The X-Files" immediately went through my mind. I sleep like a baby the first night I'm on a train...I'm up every hour. But after that, I sleep soundly....better than I do at home.

About 2 years ago, I rode the eastbound Cardinal for the first time in a couple of years. Looking out from my darkened roomette about 10 PM, I noticed what I thought was some kind of top secret radio antenna array in the middle of nowhere, Indiana. It must have been perhaps 2 miles x 1 mile 'sea' of perfectly aligned towers with a single flashing light at the top of each one. Maybe it was an X-Files site... I was having all sorts of thoughts about mega-dose EMF radio waves from a million microwave transmitters or whatever as it was about 1/4 mile from the tracks.

But after finding where I was using the GPS on my cellphone, then finding a topo map for the area, I discovered it was a giant windmill farm which I confirmed on a westbound trip 6-8 months later. Now I can sleep on the Cardinal without a worried mind!

 

[dogbert617]

I also love looking at the wind farms in Kansas. It's completely dark, and then suddenly you see rows and rows of blinking red lights. They go on for MILES.

The first time I saw the huge farm near Cimarron, it looked like something out of "The X-Files". I still think it looks cool.

Do you remember where(cities/towns) in Kansas, you saw those wind farms? If you're talking about Cimarron (between Dodge City and Garden City), I'll remember to pay attention and look for those turbines, when I ride the SW Chief through there down the road.

Speaking of a similar wind farm/turbine note, you can see all of these that have been built along the Cardinal's route between Rensselaer, IN, and Lafayette. It's a welcome thing to suddenly notice all the turbines for several miles, since nothing stands out much through there except the small Indiana towns(Monon, Reynolds, etc) you briefly pass through.

Certain landscapes look really cool to me at night. Ohio, for example, seems more compelling in the dark with all the random lighted structures, like a painting with no people in it.

I guess you mean all the factory(or ex-factory) buildings you see passing through Ohio, and Pennsylvania? It is better than pitch blackness you notice mostly in the dark through places like North Dakota and Minnesota, that's for sure. Aside from the few interesting towns and cities the EB passes through aside, i.e. Saint Cloud, Devils Lake, ND. For the latter it annoys me I barely didn't wake up in time at sunrise to see that town going west, since both on google street view and as the last town I saw going east, Devils Lake seems like it has an interesting downtown.

 

[SarahZ]

Yes, the large wind farm is near Cimarron, KS. You’ll want to be on the north-facing side of the train.