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Want airline food? Take Amtrak

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Re: Want airline food? Take Amtrak

#101

Post by chx »

niftich wrote: post #41
enos wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

American rail is built for cargo, so there are no sections as fast as a freeway. Also there are several sections that are particularly slow. The track through the Rockies is the original 1869 route, with original curvy single track and original tunnels. Speed there is around 20mph. Sometimes you come close to I-70, where cars are going 60-80mph. The Sierras also have slow sections. That said, those were my favorite p…

This is mostly true, but in fact the route currently used by the California Zephyr through the Rockies (Salt Lake City - Soldier Summit - Moffat Tunnel - Denver) was built by the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad or its predecessors [1]; the section in question was completed no earlier than 1883. The more famous railroad finished in 1869 takes a more northerly route, through Ogden instead of Provo, and through R…

Stating the obvious here, I know, but Chicago-Denver has so many flights it's not even funny, United, American, Spirit, Southwest, Frontier, well over twenty flights any day.

Re: Want airline food? Take Amtrak

#102

Post by scyclow »

starpilot wrote: post #92
scyclow wrote: post #61

I took the Empire Builder a couple weeks ago, and the Lakeshore Limited + California Zephyr last year. As much as I enjoyed the trips, I have to admit that they longer lines are incredibly impractical. Amtrak is operating at a huge loss per passenger ($32 on average)[1], and the prices aren't even that much cheaper than flying. It's viable for people with more time than money, but most of the passengers are just weir…

> I definitely met a bunch of people I wouldn't have otherwise had a chance to talk to. To elaborate on this, Amtrak staff will seat you with strangers to fill up tables. Kind of excruciating for an introvert, but looking back I had some good conversations.

On the first night of my last trip I was really bummed out that they didn't sit me next to the group of Amish folks. Instead I had to eat dinner with a family from New Jersey :P

Re: Want airline food? Take Amtrak

#103

Post by Kalium »

solotronics wrote: post #94
jMyles wrote: post #82

I have traveled Amtrak quite a lot - across the country on the Empire Builder, Southwest Chief, and California Zephyr. And many other routes. I think the food is usually decent - the veggie burger is reliably edible. What I can say is terrible - and what has caused me to cease using Amtrak - is the presence of the DEA. In case you haven't experienced this, the DEA sometimes raids specific sleeper cars at a station, d…

wow I am really surprised this was triggered by cryptocurrency. this is terribly authoritarian and disappointing. if you don't mind me asking are you a US citizen? if so contact your local congressperson and file a complaint with the DEA office. has your friend ever had anything similar happen traveling by air?

> wow I am really surprised this was triggered by cryptocurrency. this is terribly authoritarian and disappointing.

It is authoritarian and disappointing, but to me unsurprising. The cryptocurrency world associates pretty hard with drug trafficking. Coupling that with someone choosing a train over what might be an easier flight could be read as avoiding TSA.

The low security of Amtrak likely makes it a common smuggling route.

Re: Want airline food? Take Amtrak

#104

Post by mobilefriendly »

op00to wrote: post #74
scyclow wrote: post #61

I took the Empire Builder a couple weeks ago, and the Lakeshore Limited + California Zephyr last year. As much as I enjoyed the trips, I have to admit that they longer lines are incredibly impractical. Amtrak is operating at a huge loss per passenger ($32 on average)[1], and the prices aren't even that much cheaper than flying. It's viable for people with more time than money, but most of the passengers are just weir…

How much does the US subsidize air travel via FAA, airport subsidies, etc? What about road subsidies? It’s like somehow rail has to be profitable on its own, but not bus or air.

For other modes of transportation, the government subsidizes the infrastructure but private operators compete on it. For passenger rail the government nationalized most of the system and operates a money-losing monopoly service. Major difference.

Re: Want airline food? Take Amtrak

#105

Post by Fins »

objectivetruth wrote: post #16
ng12 wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Google say it takes 31h to drive between the two -- any idea why the Amtrak takes twice that time?

A few reasons: the train has to slow down and then get back up to speed for each stop; there are stops in a few cities for refueling / shift change / restocking onboard supplies. These stops take a lot longer than just filling up your gas tank on a road trip, anywhere from 1 to 3 hours. And the article points out that Amtrak is lower priority than freight when track conflicts occur, so you will spend some time sittin…

With that much caffeine you'd be making a lot of pit stops.

I did do it in 40 hours and some change, but with one speeding ticket in Utah, and by the time I got home I knew I ain't doing that on "google schedule" again.

Re: Want airline food? Take Amtrak

#106

Post by seltzered_ »

One thing I remember about the dining car is that if you’re traveling alone you sit with other people in a 4-person booth. It’s been at least one way to get away from staring at a screen/window alone and talk with people you may not normally encounter.

This said, maybe Amtrak is trying to optimize for the people that ride it - from my west coast anecdata it usually skewed to lower-income people needing to get somewhere on short notice (where air prices got too much), or worked for the govt in a way that it the price was discounted. (And to a smaller extent thieves, adventurers, photographers, and people afraid of flying)

Thinking aloud, it’d be interesting if Amtrak could pair with a food delivery app so folks doing a long distance trip could order something from a midway stop.

Re: Want airline food? Take Amtrak

#107

Post by jessriedel »

op00to wrote: post #74
scyclow wrote: post #61

I took the Empire Builder a couple weeks ago, and the Lakeshore Limited + California Zephyr last year. As much as I enjoyed the trips, I have to admit that they longer lines are incredibly impractical. Amtrak is operating at a huge loss per passenger ($32 on average)[1], and the prices aren't even that much cheaper than flying. It's viable for people with more time than money, but most of the passengers are just weir…

How much does the US subsidize air travel via FAA, airport subsidies, etc? What about road subsidies? It’s like somehow rail has to be profitable on its own, but not bus or air.

> How much does the US subsidize air travel via FAA, airport subsidies, etc?

My plane ticket receipt contains fees for half a dozen various government costs, including airport fees and a general US transportation tax. The FAA is pretty trivial, having a budget of just under $10B out of total American spending on domestic air travel of more than $800B.

https://www.transportation.gov/sites/dot.gov/files/docs/miss...

https://www.statista.com/statistics/207075/domestic-travel-s...

For all I know air travel may very well be subsidized, but you'll need to point to some serious numbers for it to be anything like the money that Amtrak hemorrhages as a fraction of its revenue.

Re: Want airline food? Take Amtrak

#108

Post by electricEmu »

seltzered_ wrote: post #106

One thing I remember about the dining car is that if you’re traveling alone you sit with other people in a 4-person booth. It’s been at least one way to get away from staring at a screen/window alone and talk with people you may not normally encounter. This said, maybe Amtrak is trying to optimize for the people that ride it - from my west coast anecdata it usually skewed to lower-income people needing to get somewhe…

I'm a West Coast, medium-income, short and overnight traveler, who doesn't work for the government, isn't an adventurer/photographer, and doesn't fear of flying.

I ride Amtrak frequently (more than fly). I rather like the Amtrak steak. I think your model is wrong.

Re: Want airline food? Take Amtrak

#109

Post by jMyles »

solotronics wrote: post #94
jMyles wrote: post #82

I have traveled Amtrak quite a lot - across the country on the Empire Builder, Southwest Chief, and California Zephyr. And many other routes. I think the food is usually decent - the veggie burger is reliably edible. What I can say is terrible - and what has caused me to cease using Amtrak - is the presence of the DEA. In case you haven't experienced this, the DEA sometimes raids specific sleeper cars at a station, d…

wow I am really surprised this was triggered by cryptocurrency. this is terribly authoritarian and disappointing. if you don't mind me asking are you a US citizen? if so contact your local congressperson and file a complaint with the DEA office. has your friend ever had anything similar happen traveling by air?

I need to do that. Life hasn't slowed down long enough to get the legal / political stuff figured out.

No, neither of us have had problems traveling by air (and we do it fairly frequently).

Re: Want airline food? Take Amtrak

#110

Post by jMyles »

Kalium wrote: post #103
solotronics wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

wow I am really surprised this was triggered by cryptocurrency. this is terribly authoritarian and disappointing. if you don't mind me asking are you a US citizen? if so contact your local congressperson and file a complaint with the DEA office. has your friend ever had anything similar happen traveling by air?

> wow I am really surprised this was triggered by cryptocurrency. this is terribly authoritarian and disappointing. It is authoritarian and disappointing, but to me unsurprising. The cryptocurrency world associates pretty hard with drug trafficking. Coupling that with someone choosing a train over what might be an easier flight could be read as avoiding TSA. The low security of Amtrak likely makes it a common smuggli…

I surmise that it has less to do with trafficking and more to do with simply whom they think will have money to steal. Perhaps that's the cynic in me talking, but to read the available coverage of this phenomenon, it certainly seems to be more about highway robbery than anything to do with drugs or weapons.
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