I finally get to take a ride on an Amtrak long distance train. I am taking the Southwest Chief from Los Angeles to Kansas City on the 31st (train #4) this will be my first time on Amtrak and I was wondering if any of y’all have any tips or pointers.
my Mom and I are going together and we got a roomette. the only thing i am not 100% clear on is, are the meals included? are they any good?
the one thing that really sucks is that they dont allow smoking except at the stops. maybe i can pry open a window somewhere to feed my addiction [:D]
Yes, the meals are paid for by sleepers. As to the smoking, don’t do it, if you get caught they will kick you off the train. There are smoke stops, and they usually are every few hours. The food is usually pretty good as well. Also, be prepared for the train to be late. But you should have a great time.
Brad
Yes they don’t allow smoking on the trains you have to even at 1pm go out and have a smoking brake if you want to, so you have to be alert for that one. I don’t smoke but my aunt does when I took the Cresent w/ her she kept complaing about having a smoke.
The food, the food on Amtrak is pretty good I think if you order from the dining car and not the cafe car. I paid 10 dollars for a microwaveable pizza that was worth 4, and it wasn’t that good. I think dreakfast on Amtrak is better than dinner, but that’s just my opinion. I would if I were you pack some snacks or something if your going to feel like having something to munch on since, their snacks are sky high. Their sleepers are confortable and so is the lounge. Usually, if you get a sleeper your meals are included w/ the trip but, not the snacks!!!
Well, I hope your ride on Amtrak is a momorable one, and most importantly have fun!!!
Here is one location to point your browser in order to get some tips on Amtrak travel: www.narprail.org. When you’re there, select “Resources” from the menu on the left, then select “Travel Tips.”
When you take your trip, be sure to look out the window and make some time to enjoy yourself. Another tip is to not be surprised whenever a few glitches come up. In all fairness, travelling by car and plane can have their share of headaches as well. another thing that many first-timers are unaware of is the sheer volume of traffic that is on the North American rail network. You’re travelling upon the S.W. Cheif, which travels over BNSF rails, and the BNSF RR makes a good effort to get Amtrak over the route without fuss.
You may find the roomette space a just little close for 2 in the room all day long, so be sure to head for the sightseer lounge. Great views from the upper level, tables in the lower level with the service bar. Beverage prices aren’t way out of line. If you go with coffee, you might get a refill. I concur that the food is good and as stated it is included when you have sleeper accomidations. Suggestion: Don’t forget to tip your server.
You will be traveling over Cajon and Raton passes, but eastbound those are both at night. Still plenty to see.
I am also a smoker, so I step off at the designated stops. Touch base with the attendant in your car, so you can learn if the door to your car will be open or if you need to move for any stop. You won’t be alone getting a smoke and I have found that the crews are OK with the on and off bit, as long as you step aside for people first boarding or leaving the train and don’t drag your feet to get back on. Of course don’t leave the area, because they don’t do a headcount to make sure everybody got back on. LOL. On my last trip, a guy got off the train at Albuquerque, thought he had time to go across the street to buy smokes and wound up paying a cabby over $100 to catch the train a couple of stops up the line. I figure you’re smarter than that.
I have only traveled on the Cresent in the Viewliner. With the Viewliner, the meals (including desert) are included. I personally like dinner the best. Also, you get a morning paper, unlimited coffee, and unlimited small bottles of soft drink.
Make sure you sit back and take in the sites!
In my case, when ever Amtrak changed locomotives, we lost power and were not able to take showers. I believe it was because we were changing from the AMD-103 to the electric toaster.
I know you are going on the Southwest Chief and it goes over a pretty fast railroad so this may not apply to your trip but everytime I have traveled on Amtrak, it seems like the majority of the time the trains go very slow. The Superliners seem even slower than the normal height trains because I guess when you are high up it seems slower than it actually is.
A few years ago I sat beside an elderly lady on the Lake Shore Limited who could barely walk. She had just come from California on the Southwest Chief and was complaining that she could have gotten out and walked faster than the train at times (I assume she was referring to the mountain passes).
thanks for the tips! I plan on spending all my time in the lounge/dome, taking all the pictures that my camera can hold. I drive a truck so i have seen just about every part of the BNSF transcon that runs along I-40. it will be pretty cool to see the places that i cant see from the road. maybe we’ll get lucky and get some of Raton during the daylight. the train leaves LA at 6:45PM on the 31st and gets into KC at 7:15AM on the 2nd, so it looks like all the good spots will be in the dark.
hopefully i will have some good pictures to show off when i get back![:D] if any of y’all need some detail shots of Amtrak equipment, just let me know and i’ll try to take them.
rode back Whitefish, Montana to Chicago
11/03. they had a bottom level of a
car reserved for smokers., [that was then…],
i recall seeing a notice on the wall that
if the car wasn’t kept clean, Amtrak would
discontinue it’s “privelage for you to smoke
on the train”… had a pretty good group
using it until we departed Minneapolis,
then, it seemed those passengers
could not read … was pretty trashed out
by the time we made Chicago. was cool
to do once, but entire trip consisted of
just short of 36 hours. so i was extremely
lucky smoke car was available. unsure i’d
do it again. trip can be made by 4 wheels
in 23 hours , from my S.E. Iowa home to
western Montana. good advice to take snacks,
a small cooler, anything to avoid their ‘thievin’ prices.
one other thing, there was one of the automatic
doors in dire need of lubrication, i just about
used some of the Mrs’ hand lotion on the dang rollers !!!
Amtrak stops in my town twice daily, and it’s nice
to hear the horns, on time, or otherwise.
was something i’m glad i did, tho.
we live in a beautiful, awesome country.
enjoy
driver8
on the BNSF mainline
IOWA, USA
Dear NightCrawler,
I have ridden the Southwest Chief from LA to Albuquerque many times. Amazingly, I have never been late into Albuquerque.
Being a railfan, I presume you know of the “overpowering emotional experience” which being next to a powerful train can cause. The view out of the dome (club) car can produce similar effects.
Other than that, I have a few suggestions:
1.) Breakfast and dinner (I have not had the opportunity to eat lunch aboard) are both fine meals. My guidelines are as follows: At dinner, always order the chicken dish. At breakfast, always order the French toast.
2.) Always order dessert at dinner.
3.) Go to the dome (club) car and have your scanner with you and on. Not only is it fascinating to listen to, but it also identifies you as a railfan, and is an incredibly convenient way to strike up a pleasant conversation.
4.) Don’t procrastinate on going to the diner when the seating is called. Doing so will make you wait longer for a table. Always tip your server, and your car attendant (porter) at the end of the trip. Also, a common mistake is to fill out your own meal card in the diner. The server will do this for you, you only have to fill in your room number and sign it (before the server comes).
5.) On the day after you board, get up as soon as you wake up and go to the dome (club) car. I would reccomend getting Altamont Press Railfan Timetables, and Steam Powered Video railroad atlases, for the areas you will be traveling through. The timetables give operating locations and radio frequencies, and the atlases give a better understanding of where you are, and help in identifying abandoned lines.
6.) Have fun.
Here are a few of the scenic highlights:
Los Angeles Union Station
As you leave LA Union Station, after a few minutes you will see a roundhouse to your right. This is Redondo Junction, and often you can see operational 4-8-4 ATSF 3751 there from the tra
You’ll have to survive not smoking until a smoking stop is announced… Figure on lasting up to three hours without a smoke… Be aware of the smoking stops before heading for the diner… If you are in the diner when a smoking stop occurs, you’ll have to go to a sleeper car to get off to smoke… Its better to wait to eat and get the smoke in first, or if there is time to eat, plan on an hour, eat and then later smoke…
I have switched to cruising now that Amtrak has implemented this stupid and silly smoking policy… Its one thing to go a few hours without smoking such as in a theater when one can smoke a few before a movie and after a movie to settle your nerves, its another thing to go a few hours without a smoke, have one smoke, and go another few hours without a smoke… all day long… When you are used to smoking a pack a day, having 10 cigs or less isn’t enough…
In Europe one car is reserved for smokers, and it should be that way in America too… or at least have a smoking room in one of the cars as Amtrak had done previously… At least on cruise ships, one can easily head outside to smoke either on the Promenade deck or up on the Lido deck… not to mention most cruise ships allow smoking in the casino and have smoking areas in their lounges… not to mention your cabin…
I’ve been on the SW Chief several times and it’s a great trip and would agree with all the above comments (I take exception to the die-hard smoker tho who now prefers cruising).
When taking pictures through the windows of the train does one need a special filter on the camera to compensate for the tinted windows. I remember years ago traveling on the CP Canadian I had to use a special filter ???
When traveling on Amtrak I always take along my book “RAIL VENTURES”.
The edition I have is the sixth edition. It used to be issued every two years or so. but apparently my 1994 copy was their last addition. This book lists all the sights along the routes of Canadian, American and Mexico train routes.
I have never rode Amtrak before and I wi***hat I could too,I would love to take a round trip from Omaha to Chicago & back.
And a trip from Omaha to Denver & back.I don’t even know how much it would cost eather.
Oh god I would just love to take the TRAIN.
Oh one more thing…Take a Scanner Radio!
The SW Chief stops at Aluquerque for quite a while
and indians will be selling their wares on the platform.
Your mom will probly interested in doing a bit of shopping.
My wife bought a beautiful set of earrings but didn’t buy
the matching brooch and always reqrets it. Some of
the prices are a bit high but their jewelery is beautiful.
We found that most of the indians wouldn’t come down on
their firm prices, which disappointed my wife who likes to
haggle at flea markets. When we were there several
years ago there was a converted bus with the sellers
selling mainly articles made in China, and other cheap
trinkets.
You should have a good time on your trip. You will probably spend little time in your roomette, spending as much time as possible in the lounge or diner. The first item you should have is a timetable. Look on it for extended station stops of an hour or more. You can ask if the train gets some service there for fuel/water, crew change, whatever. There you can get off, get a newspaper, take some breaks before continuing your journey. Amtrak should provide a route guide to point out particular points of interest, even if it’s the middle of the night when you get there. This will also help you determine how close the train is to the advertised.
The lounge car should have movies, similar to airline films on TV/DVD. It will help pass the time. you can get some good shots thru the big windows, but you will need a quick shutter.
With 2 of you travelling, don’t be afraid to get a table for 4. The dining crew are experts at getting tablemates. The meals should be a mix of fresh prepared & prepackaged items. I hope you don’t get any paper plates!
We will be curious on how you liked your trip. Please get back to the Forum whan you can.
We recently returned from a trip to the US. We went on Amtrak from Boston to Chicago, then on the California Zephyr from Chicago to Denver where we broke the journey. We rejoined the Zephyr the day after and went onto Emeryville and caught a bus to San Fransisco.
I found the trains to be comforatable compared to ours in the UK. The much more generous loading gauge gives that extra space. The seats in standard coaches are spaced out more than our “package airline” seats.
For the overnight sections we stopped in the Standard compartments which were fine for the job in hand. Its a bit hard for two to get ready for bed once the beds are put down. However its still an enjoyable experience. The only slight problem I would say is the pillows are a bit thin and I tend to have 2-3 at home. When we asked for them we were told there were non available.
Compared to the UK the trains are more comfortable but travel much slower. This was not a problem as we were aware of this before the trip and of course you want to take the scenery in, whereby its hard at 125mph in the UK. (of course not all trains go that fast). I found the ride characteristics to be slightly more bumpy and jerky than I have been used to but then if you have ridden on a class 142 in the UK you can survive anything.
As suggested in earlier posts get about the train, go to the Observation Car or Cafe to meet people. I heard some great Railroad stories whilst on the train. Breakfast, lunch and dinner are included and the food is very good. I found the staff to be very helpful and you do get put with people in the Diner from all walks of life which makes the whole trip more exciting.
The seats in the Standard compartments are fine for viewing but if the person in the opposite car closes their curtains during the day you can only see the view on one side, hence moving through the train.
The announcements are much better than ours in the UK. The best scenic points are pointed out and