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

#261

Post by codingdave » Thu, Mar 21, 2019, 6:08 PM UTC

I take the train cross-country whenever I can. I enjoy it. I enjoy the people, I enjoy the views. All the positive aspects mentioned in the article are 100% true.

But I can't help but feel that this author wants to dislike trains. He wants everyone to understand how awful and slow it is. And they went into this story with a chip on their shoulder, and were disappointed to find that the trip had value.

But the trains aren't just about cross-country travel. They travel through small towns where people rely on them for trips to larger cities. If you live in Mount Pleasant, IA, you can take the train into Chicago just as fast, and far easier, than driving. Want to go from Salt Lake to Denver in a blizzard? Trains will take twice as long as driving but you can sit there and safely watch snow-capped peaks go by instead of worrying about driving your car off the edge of a mountainside. Pick any 2-6 hours train trip on the map, and those are the majority of passengers on Amtrak. And I have frequently run into retired people heading to Iowa to pick up RVs, because Winnebago contracts delivery of RVs out, and it is a nice part-time job to get a one-way train ticket, then drive a RV to someone's home and get paid for it all.

In short, the purposes serve by Amtrak have as much variety as reasons people get in their cars. It is a valuable service to those who need it, even if authors for the NY times aren't the 'target audience'.

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

#262

Post by Scoundreller » Thu, Mar 21, 2019, 6:18 PM UTC

munk-a wrote: post #246

kyleblarson wrote: post #238

My (now) wife and I took the Empire Builder from Seattle to Chicago about 10 years ago. We purchased a private cabin. We were 8 hours late leaving Seattle and couldn't get into our cabin until we got to Spokane because of some sort of merge of trains coming from Portland and Seattle. Got to Spokane, got our cabin, another 6 hour delay. By the time we reached the upper Midwest, they were rationing food, literally cutt…

My wife and I were (up here in Canada) looking for a nice mellow train ride with scenery, out of Vancouver you can catch a train to Jasper and on northward to Prince George but... the cost of both of us to ride and have a cabin for two is 5k, so alternative to taking a 4 day train ride is flying out to london three separate times for the weekend. Alternatively we could book a fancy hotel room in down-town for two wee…

Canada Post is doing the same thing. Probably all others too.

Their continuous response to lower revenues is to raise prices.

This just feeds ever-more innovation in the message and package delivery markets, sabotaging themselves.

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

#263

Post by war1025 » Thu, Mar 21, 2019, 6:20 PM UTC

NoNameHaveI wrote: post #219

war1025 wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've taken the train in Minneapolis from the mall to downtown several times, purely for the novelty of it. We have a lot of freight trains in Iowa. Passenger, not so much.

One Iowan to another: you didn't ride a train in Minneapolis. You rode a streetcar (tram in British). And yes, only the southeast corner of Iowa is served at all by passenger rail. Would be nice if they extended the Hawkeye Express to CR, or better yet, Amtrak service from Davenport to IC to DSM. Alas, not enough $$$ to make it worth doing.

I'd think it still counts as being a train. Obviously it's short-distance light rail, but it's still got all the main feature's of a train.

I mainly mentioned it since the parent comment was about a group of girls getting on the train purely for the experience of being on the train, and my experience seemed pretty similar.

Don't know that it terribly matters one way or the other though I guess.

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

#264

Post by Zimahl » Thu, Mar 21, 2019, 6:21 PM UTC

kyleblarson wrote: post #238

My (now) wife and I took the Empire Builder from Seattle to Chicago about 10 years ago. We purchased a private cabin. We were 8 hours late leaving Seattle and couldn't get into our cabin until we got to Spokane because of some sort of merge of trains coming from Portland and Seattle. Got to Spokane, got our cabin, another 6 hour delay. By the time we reached the upper Midwest, they were rationing food, literally cutt…

For those that don't know, the Empire Builder from Seattle stops in Spokane to hook up with a train that is coming from Portland. The combined train then goes all the way to Chicago. If either are delayed it can result in waiting for the other and long delays are apparently the norm and not the exception.

My wife and her grandfather took the train from Portland to Minnesota in the fall of last year. There were a number of issues with the service on the train that make it bad enough, but the speed of the train is a major problem of why these trains are somewhat worthless for travel. Freight trains get priority on the rail lines so many times the train was stopped for possibly hours waiting for freight trains to pass.

On my wife's trip the refrigeration went out at some point so cold food was no longer available, nor was food that required refrigeration before it was cooked. Fortunately they disembarked soon after that happened. The rest of the train was still a day or so from Chicago and those passengers were stuck with god knows what to eat.

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

#265

Post by jfim » Thu, Mar 21, 2019, 6:21 PM UTC

saalweachter wrote: post #121

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'd indeed say it costs more than most people are willing to pay. That said, a sleeper car on Amtrak gets you: a flat surface to lie down on, your own toilet (note the toilet is just there in the roomette, next to the bunk, prison style), access to a shower (your own shower in the rooms, one per car for the roomettes), access to the first class lounges, and includes meals in the dining car. Rooms have a slightly wide…

> Or, if you're on this site, it's a great excuse to sit in a small room with a view and not talk to anyone for several days, just read, write and program.

With spotty cellphone reception, so if you want to disconnect from constant connectivity that's also an interesting way.

It's a great experience, but if you're thinking of just sitting in there and programming in a room with a view, keep in mind that the scenery changes and is pretty amazing, which might distract you from programming.

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

#266

Post by godot » Thu, Mar 21, 2019, 6:23 PM UTC

kyleblarson wrote: post #238

My (now) wife and I took the Empire Builder from Seattle to Chicago about 10 years ago. We purchased a private cabin. We were 8 hours late leaving Seattle and couldn't get into our cabin until we got to Spokane because of some sort of merge of trains coming from Portland and Seattle. Got to Spokane, got our cabin, another 6 hour delay. By the time we reached the upper Midwest, they were rationing food, literally cutt…

I took the Coast Starlight (connects SF and LA) a couple of times in the past 10 years, and I have had a pleasant experience each time. Food was good and while the train wasn't sparkling clean, at least in the areas I cared about (my seat and car) it was fine. Just the bathrooms weren't great. Admittedly this is a shorter trip than yours; this one is only an 8~10 hours ride.

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

#267

Post by omosubi » Thu, Mar 21, 2019, 6:24 PM UTC

afarrell wrote: post #6

Note 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 who has taken a 4.5 day trip from vancouver to toronto in coach, I would advise the same . I love trains, but that was too much.

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

#268

Post by cycrutchfield » Thu, Mar 21, 2019, 6:26 PM UTC

kibwen wrote: post #210

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…

I'll take economic umbrage at "don't sit with the cattle". When I traveled from Chicago to SF on the California Zephyr (40-ish hours), a seat was $100 and a sleeper car was over $1,000; for reference, a flight between the two is about $200. Being able to afford such a sleeper car is the sort of luxurious expense that most vacationers will likely prefer to spend on going to a more exotic destination by plane. (I do re…

If you're buying a sleeper car ticket, you should be comparing it to an international business class flight with a lie-flat seat. Not a domestic flight in economy.

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

#269

Post by otachack » Thu, Mar 21, 2019, 6:26 PM UTC

kyleblarson wrote: post #238

My (now) wife and I took the Empire Builder from Seattle to Chicago about 10 years ago. We purchased a private cabin. We were 8 hours late leaving Seattle and couldn't get into our cabin until we got to Spokane because of some sort of merge of trains coming from Portland and Seattle. Got to Spokane, got our cabin, another 6 hour delay. By the time we reached the upper Midwest, they were rationing food, literally cutt…

I believe the reason is because freight gets higher priority on the rails than travelers in the U.S.

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

#270

Post by omosubi » Thu, Mar 21, 2019, 6:26 PM UTC

lukeschlather wrote: post #160

afarrell wrote: post #6

Note 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.

I've taken the empire builder from Seattle to Chicago a couple times in coach, which I was pretty happy with. I can sleep okay in coach on airplanes though, so sleeping in coach on a train is positively luxurious by comparison.

When I was a smaller human being I could find an empty row on a train and stretch out fully diagonally under the seats. no way could I do that now but it was nice while it lasted. took the south west chief a few times, the empire builder, the capitol limited and lakeshore limited. trains are great