There is no reason to cross the U.S. by train, but I did it anyway • Hacker News Board

Re: There is no reason to cross the U.S. by train, but I did it anyway

#131

Post by drawkbox » Thu, Mar 21, 2019, 3:25 PM UTC

CWuestefeld wrote: post #18

My wife and I did this several years back, New York to Chicago to San Francisco, and it really was a wonderful experience. But get a sleeper compartment, don't sit with the cattle. It's worth it, really. And that's even though we spent little time in our compartment almost the whole trip we were up in the observation car watching the American landscape roll by. One highlight of the trip was when storms over Helper, U…

> whole trip we were up in the observation car watching the American landscape roll by

My family went by train from Flagstaff, AZ to Trinidad, CO for a wedding and the observation car was amazing, it was part of the Southwest Chief route [1].

Even through what you'd think would be boring stretches of New Mexico not one scene wasn't awe inspiring. We got to see landscapes out of westerns and mostly away from roads/main bustle, but you'd be surprised how there is always something to see and almost always people living out there. We had to go through the Rockies in historic coal mining country Colorado and had to stop once for freight trains to go by, but the views were amazing. It is fun to lookup what you are going through on Google maps and finding lots of interesting stuff. Trinidad, CO was a nice little interesting historical town, once a border town, where Fishers Peak was a guiding landmark for settlers on the Santa Fe Trail, with Native American, pioneer and Spanish history, that has a Masonic cemetery, old limestone masonry buildings and underground tunnels for coal, once the sex change capital of the world, and today it is now a cannabis hot spot [2].

Best part of the train is the view and you can get up and walk around unlike on a plane, the rides are longer of course but more flexible to move while traveling which is nice. I brought my laptop to work but the views were too good to pass up.

If I had more time I'd love to take the train all across the US. I wish there were more trains simply to see the less busy areas and interesting viewpoints you can't see from the road.

Amtrak does leave lots to be desired in terms of technology, price, the food (dining car wasn't good) and general areas like maintenance, but the observation car was difficult not to be up there the entire time.

[1] https://www.amtrak.com/routes/southwest-chief-train.html

[2] https://www.cnn.com/2016/04/20/health/trinidad-colorado-smal...

Re: There is no reason to cross the U.S. by train, but I did it anyway

#132

Post by frosted-flakes » Thu, Mar 21, 2019, 3:26 PM UTC

seanmcdirmid wrote: post #81

rubidium wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

By sleeper car, train is luxurious and much more relaxed. By vehicle you can sleep each night in a hotel and take a shower each day. Both have + and -'s. But my ranking would be Sleeper Car train > Driving > non-sleeper car train. Trains can be much more social.

You can get lower with a greyhound bus. Sure they stop at every prison along the way, but the views are actually quite nice. The social is also there, but can be a bit scary depending on your appetite for adventure.

Does Greyhound still operate services across the US? I know in Canada they've shuttered most of their operations except for the more heavily used eastern-central routes in Ontario and Quebec because everything else is not profitable.

Re: There is no reason to cross the U.S. by train, but I did it anyway

#133

Post by dagw » Thu, Mar 21, 2019, 3:26 PM UTC

rtkwe wrote: post #129

dagw wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But you get a whole 'room' to yourself for that price or just get bunk in a room with a bunch of other people.

The sleepers are all individual rooms of some description with 1-2 beds. There are some larger up to 4 adults. There are no hostel style bunk cars on trains. You're either sleeping in seats or in a room. https://www.amtrakvacations.com/blog/3-important-things-to-k... (just googling 'amtrak sleeper' gets you this info!)

Then $1000 doesn't seem that expensive really, especially if that includes in-room shower and toilet

Re: There is no reason to cross the U.S. by train, but I did it anyway

#134

Post by chrisseaton » Thu, Mar 21, 2019, 3:27 PM UTC

mikeash wrote: post #120

chrisseaton wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But some people might want the observe the sights and not have a lot of noise around them, right? Not really sure it's fair to pollute a public space with your music when not everyone might like it, or have the confidence to say when they don't like it. Not very nice to say to people you're going to subject them to music and if they don't like it their only option is to leave. Doesn't really sound right does it?

Maybe, but having to view the scenery from your own seat instead of from the observation car is pretty far removed from “hell.”

Seems a bit selfish that you leave people the only option of moving to avoid noise.

Re: There is no reason to cross the U.S. by train, but I did it anyway

#135

Post by zackkitzmiller » Thu, Mar 21, 2019, 3:28 PM UTC

wycy wrote: post #126

zackkitzmiller wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I disagree. I often take Amtrak from NYC to Chicago (and back) and just love it. The trip is about 24 hours each way. Train riders are generally friendly. Someone always has a couple of guitars, so it's fun to play and sing along. The bar car is typically friendly and the food car is generally pretty good eats. Also, some of the stopovers in small midwest towns are a few hours long so you can get out, stretch your le…

Being in a confined space forced to listen to some amateurs play their guitars sounds like one of my rings of hell. Anyway, here's Wonderwall

Amtrak trains are very long. I've never seen anyone play a guitar or make any noise outside of the bar car. The passenger cars are quite comfortable. More room than a domestic first class flight. Also, usually the last car is the 'family' car, so babies and running kids are usually just hanging back there.

Re: There is no reason to cross the U.S. by train, but I did it anyway

#136

Post by zackkitzmiller » Thu, Mar 21, 2019, 3:28 PM UTC

volkl48 wrote: post #51

nickjj wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah that's a big difference. The regular seats are a much different story. I've never done it but I read about how it's basically 3 days of sitting shoulder to shoulder with someone and there's no showers. Can't imagine what that would be like in a car filled with 50+ people. I did take the Amtrak from CT To Boston once and it wasn't too bad, but that was a few hour trip. Much different than a few days.

My understanding is that most people are not actually traveling coast to coast, but on shorter segments of the overall route. I don't think you're likely to be next to the someone for 3 days.

This is very correct.

Re: There is no reason to cross the U.S. by train, but I did it anyway

#137

Post by [deleted] » Thu, Mar 21, 2019, 3:30 PM UTC

dagw wrote: post #119

frosted-flakes wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Coach/economy/steerage means you spend the night in your seat. Sleeper means you get to sleep (in a bed).

But you get a whole 'room' to yourself for that price or just get bunk in a room with a bunch of other people.

[deleted]

Re: There is no reason to cross the U.S. by train, but I did it anyway

#138

Post by kingaillas » Thu, Mar 21, 2019, 3:31 PM UTC

I had a very good experience taking the train from the Orlando, FL area to the Washington, DC area when I moved many years ago. That is Amtrak's auto line, so I also moved my car that way. As I recall, it was about $200 for my ticket and $200 for my car. I could have gotten a bit less buying earlier than I did. My other option was to drive myself, but that would have taken longer and been more expensive considering gas and lodging.

The trip was about ~16 hours total, including some time arriving early enough to line up to load my car, and time waiting for car unload.

Each carriage had an upper and lower half, and the lower half was further divided into restrooms and sleeper bunks on one half, and general seating on the other half. I just got a regular general seating ticket, which was fine because my trip was only one overnight - seats were spacious, reclined fairly far, had electric plugs and so on, and had a key advantage: the lower general seating compartment was a dead end. Only people sitting there had reason to come in, so it was quiet.

The upper half of each carriage linked to the other carriages, and was how everyone moved back and forth and got to the dining carriage. There was another carriage (top half) set aside as an entertainment space, with TVs and tables, reading area, decks of cards, bar, etc. People sitting in the top area had the less pleasant situation of sitting along the path everyone had to use to move around the train.

I thought the food was just fine. Yeah it isn't fine cuisine but it was tasty and included in the ticket.

Anyway, I'd like to try a longer train ride sometime, I know some folks who really enjoyed a Trans-Canada train vacation that included one or two overnights off the train. It sounds kinda fun, I'd spend my time reading, bring along some compact boardgames and a portable console to play.

Re: There is no reason to cross the U.S. by train, but I did it anyway

#139

Post by moosey » Thu, Mar 21, 2019, 3:32 PM UTC

I've used a number of carbon output calculators, and one of my major carbon outputs are two flights from the Inland Northwest to the Northeast part of the country each year (work related). It seems that in the case of my travel, my lowest carbon option (according to at least one calculator I've used) is actually an economy ticket on an aircraft. It also clarified that for shorter trips, the greyhound bus is without equal.

I haven't been able to discover if this is something that is specific to the United States, or how that calculation is made. However, I am of the opinion that there is always a good reason to ride trains, particularly in the US: increased demand for train travel.

Other than those two flights, I have abandoned all long distance travel for the rest of my life, or until largely carbon neutral and safe travel exists. I believe that such technologies will be produced in the medium term.

Re: There is no reason to cross the U.S. by train, but I did it anyway

#140

Post by billfruit » Thu, Mar 21, 2019, 3:33 PM UTC

CaptainZapp wrote: post #83

magduf wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

An absolute fortune. I've looked into this, and it isn't economical in any way, shape, or form. Flying across the continent is MUCH cheaper, and with your number of vacation days usually being limited, gives you a lot more time at your destination. The only reason to do this is because you really want to spend your vacation time sitting in a train watching rural American scenery go by in states like Montana. It's sor…

I just looked it up. A sleeper for one is ~1'800$. About 300 more if you're two. That's about half of a yearly train pass for Switzerland (2nd class). The pass allowes you to travel in virtually any mode of transportation without restrictions. Except for taxis, some boats and some mountain railways. So yeah, that's pretty steep.

A similar cross country sleeper trip could be around 50$ in India, though by Indian speeds it may take the train several days, it is common for train rides India to last more than 2 full days. The longest distance passenger train on the Indian network takes close to 80 hours one way.