I went from San Fran to Chicago by train as a backpacker 13 years ago. Was a nice experience. Also got my first Macbook just before the trip and had some time to play with it. :-)
There is no reason to cross the U.S. by train, but I did it anyway
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Re: There is no reason to cross the U.S. by train, but I did it anyway
#22Note that the author took a sleeper car. In terms of price, this is a bit of a luxury. As someone who has taken the Lateshore Limited service all the way from Chicago to Boston in just a regular seat, I would strongly advise you NOT to do that. It is just miserable.
As someone has taken coach class from LA to NY, I'll add that one night aboard the Lakeshore Limited was worse than two nights aboard the Southwest Chief. Smellier, smaller bathrooms, no lounge car, and uninteresting views.
Re: There is no reason to cross the U.S. by train, but I did it anyway
#23Unreadable and bizarre article. Congrats to the author on rubbing shoulders with the hoi polloi and getting a...train.
Re: There is no reason to cross the U.S. by train, but I did it anyway
#24I'm planning to take my family on an RV across the US (The Lincoln Highway in other words) partly cos it's always been a dream of mine, and partly to get the kids introduced to real travelling rather than holidays.
I had never considered it by train - seems harder to just stop off and meet people, something I consider the point of travelling (yes landscapes are lovely but I am a Homo Sapiens Bigot)
Re: There is no reason to cross the U.S. by train, but I did it anyway
#25There are many great reasons to take a train across the U.S. When I was on sabbatical I took life at a slower pace. And riding the train was just an amazing beautiful slow experience. Sometimes we just go through life to fast, and a nice slow train does the body well
We should all remember that souls only travel at the speed of a camel, too.
Re: There is no reason to cross the U.S. by train, but I did it anyway
#26This article shows how culturally different Sweden and U.S. are. In Sweden it has become taboo to use the plane for any travel destination where you can go by train, to the level where we see the complete opposite headlines here ("There is no reason to fly when you can take the train"). You need to have a very good reason to fly at all or the pitchforks will get you. I've personally completely stopped flying.
Many people are fine with taking the train in the US when it's remotely competitive in terms of time and price. However, in practice, that mostly means a subset of the Northeast Corridor (the whole thing is about an 8-hour trip vs. a short flight) or a handful of various city pairs that are only a few hundred miles apart. But it's simply not practical for me to take the train from Boston to Chicago, much less San Francisco. People can get out pitchforks if they like but I'm essentially always going to fly.
Re: There is no reason to cross the U.S. by train, but I did it anyway
#27I really enjoyed driving across the country three times. Anyone do both, and can compare?
I've done both. I'd prefer train over car if it's possible. Being able to stretch your legs, change positions, and not focus on the road constantly is nice. Its much more relaxing than flying, however I'd rather fly and be uncomfortable for only a few hours.
Re: There is no reason to cross the U.S. by train, but I did it anyway
#28American trains are so sloooooow. I routinely take long range bullet trains in China, and am greatly grateful for the generosity of Chinese taxpayers making it real =D
Shanghai - Beijing sleeper trains are great value, and during 8 hour Guangzhou/Shenzhen - Shanghai day trips, you can work comfortably.
Re: There is no reason to cross the U.S. by train, but I did it anyway
#29I'm planning to take my family on an RV across the US (The Lincoln Highway in other words) partly cos it's always been a dream of mine, and partly to get the kids introduced to real travelling rather than holidays. I had never considered it by train - seems harder to just stop off and meet people, something I consider the point of travelling (yes landscapes are lovely but I am a Homo Sapiens Bigot)
> I had never considered it by train - seems harder to just stop off and meet people
Could you take the train, but instead of a non-stop journey just jump off when you pass through an interesting town, and then resume your journey the next day?
Re: There is no reason to cross the U.S. by train, but I did it anyway
#30> Amtrak food is on a par with the fourth-best airplane meal you could ever imagine. Well that's charitable...
I did Seattle->Chicago on Amtrak a couple of years back in a sleeper car, and the food was just fine. Certainly much better than the foil-wrapped disappointment you get in economy class on transatlantic flights.
Emirates airline food is pretty decent to be honest, and that's foil-wrapped.