Anyone Ever Used Amtrak ???

Heading to Hershey Park PA if not this year then next year for sure , Will leave from Aliance Ohio and go to Harrisburg PA then Cab 12 Miles to the lodge ...

Was going to drive but i think we will take a train just to do it the tickets for me the wife and boy are

$145.00 total ... With the cost of fuel this may be a good idea anyway

Just Curious if anyone has ever Traveled with Amtrak

DM

BTW This is a new Forum

 

Yeah, I made that mistake. The wife was 8 months prego with the second. She wanted to get out of town. The Doc told her flying wasn't a great idea because of pressure at altitude, etc. She didn't want to sit in the truck or car for 10 hours so I decided the train was a "neat" idea. I got the cabin with the big window with beds, etc. What a gong show. Marsha the cabin steward was already drunk when we got on. She said she would be around to help everyone with "train life" but failed to show up during the whole ride. We all eventually guessed on where the food was and then got yelled at for coming out of turn and our car was never registered by our steward for meals so technically we shouldn't even had been there for food. We did get to "eat" last. The food was a couple of notches below airline food. I never would have guessed food could've got any worse but I was wrong. All of the stops was something I never thought about. Switching cars, engines and tracks, pulling over to let other trains go by, etc. No sleep at all. We went to Seattle and dreaded every minute of having to return on the Amtrak. My wife looks at me and rolls her eyes anytime anyone mentions a train. It seems since all of the layoffs, bankruptcy, etc. the Amtrak employees just don't care anymore. None were nice and most were drunk and disorderly or just plain beligerant. Maybe that is the reason they were/are doing so poorly?

A say rent an RV or take the truck and make it a micro vacation getting there.

 

LMAO...there ya go DM...

 

I had just the opposite experiance on my only trip. I went from Illinois to California a few months back and had a great experiance. If you gonna spend any amont of time on board a single train, get a room. In my case the whole trip was on the same train. If you are pressed for time, the train is not a good option, they do run late most of the time. But in my case the train steward was very outgoing and friendly, the food was very good. With a room all meals are also included in the fare price, so order anything you want off the menu, it's all covered. Except alcohol that is. With community dining you meet new people at every meal. I thought I would hate this, I am not a social person by any stratch of the imagination, but after the first few meals I looked forward to it. When you check on ticket prices call them, they will negotiate prices on many trips in particular for the rooms.

Many of the people I met were from other countries. Come to find out that there is a large number of people from all over the world that do nothing for vacations except ride the rails. I met people from South Africa, Denmark, Germany And some where in South America. As well as a number of them from right here in the US. Most of these folks were here for nothing more then to get on the train, ride it to Sacramento and then get back on a plane and go home. Most of them make these trips often so I have to assume that their experiances must also be pleasant ones to keep coming back for more. In the end I could have had a miserable time hiding out in my room like I originaly anticipated that I would, they will bring meals to you, but instead I got out and made the most of it and am now trying to get the wife to take a trip someplace via the train.

 

staarma, the engineers and conductors weren't drunk were they?

 

Well Its nice to see both sides of this How bad and How Good It may Be Thanks Guys

 

Never saw those cats but they sure could have been. I don't imagine we have the best route up North here so they could send all of the rejects up here. I just know that we won't be taking the train anytime soon again.