Getting started

I'll admit that the scale of travel intimidated me at first.  It is one thing to think solely in terms of time. You lift off from DC - after going through the airport ordeal and being herded into a pigmy sized coach seat - climb up to a height that renders everything below into abstraction, sit back for a few hours and close your eyes while feasting on peanuts and a coke; and five hours later, you touch down in LA, or San Francisco, or Seattle.

However uncomfortable you may have been, its all over in a few hours and you're touching down.  Granted this is a best case scenario, but in all my years of flying, delays have not amounted to much more than a few hours of inconvenience.  Lucky?  Maybe.....

Contrast this with the prospect of experiencing the distance on a more human scale.  A contemporary human scale, but human, nonetheless - something on the scale of driving a car.  Suddenly the vastness of the country looms large.  We're talking 16 to 17 hours just to get to Chicago - and thats barely a third of the way across! 

And if you're not planning on a stop in Chicago, that means at least one day without a shower.

On the other hand, while the crowds are more or less comparable at the Amtrak station, you can carry a lot more stuff on board, the seat pitch in coach is roughly the same as international business class on a reputable airline - even if the seats are a smidgeon harder and less reclinable - and they don't even check your ID!    And don't forget the sightseer lounge - more on that later.

These were the thoughts in my mind as I mulled over the pros and cons of train travel in America.

So...how does Amtrak ticketing work?  Well...you can buy tickets for the segments you intend to use, or you can buy a pass for a given amount of time.  Or,  you can use Amtrak points.  If you used Amtrak enough to earn points, you already know more than I do, but if not, you can convert Hilton Honors points to Amtrak points.

Be aware that conversions like this never work in your favor, but if you happen to have accumulated an abundance of points in a system that lets points expire - like Hilton does - you may find it worth your while to use them up this way.  Using a combination of Marriott, Hilton and Hertz points, the basics of my trip were essentially free.

Coach or Sleeper?  While it is obviously a lot better to stretch out in a bed and sleep, presumably lulled by the rocking of the train, conversations with fellow passengers seem to indicate that the extra money is only worth it for larger groups.  If you're traveling alone, the premium is very high, you most likely have to share a tiny space with another passenger (and may have to sit facing backwards, which I hate!), and may have to sleep in the upper berth, which someone pointed out has barely a couple of feet of room between you and the ceiling.

One more factor to consider is that Amtrak does not provide blankets in coach. I do believe they will sell you one, but I highly recommend going to Target (which is where I went), or some such Walmart-like establishment; and buying a travel blanket/pillow set.  Amtrak's pillows are no better than airline pillows.  You'd be surprised how much more comfortable you can get with a blanket over you.  Besides, Amtrak tends to crank that A/C up to ungodly levels - for my taste anyway - so I couldn't have possibly slept at all without a blanket (over my jacket!).

However, your meals are included with a Sleeper, and that is a whole nuther question.  My one visit to the dining car at breakfast left me seriously underwhelmed.  This is not to blame Amtrak per se, since it is not exactly practical to equip trains with real grills and chefs, but you have to wonder at paying 10 bucks for a nuked omelette that resembled cardboard rather remarkably.

My personal sense is that if a bed is very important to you and time is not of the essence, it is better to schedule more frequent stops and stay in a reasonably priced hotel - and you'll likely come out ahead compared to the Sleeper premium.  Plus you can get a genuine hot shower.

So..what about meals?  There's no denying that sitting at a table while watching the country go by is a great experience.  In addition, all reservations in the dining car are made community style, which means they always put four people at a table, thereby ensuring that you meet someone new.  What a great idea!

Well..you can do both without going to the dining car.  The sightseer lounge has tables just like the dining car in addition to those side facing swivel seats. 

My personal sense, again, is that you're better off - both nutritionally and financially - taking a sandwich, fruit or snacks with you.  You can take it with you to the sightseer lounge, sit at a table and chat with whoever joins you - and they WILL join you.  You can get coffee in the cafe below the sightseer lounge, along with a bunch of unhealthy food, which may entice you to break your rules as it did me - I broke down more than once for those donut holes to go with my coffee!

It is pretty easy to stop at a Subway, for example, and grab a footlong to go, get a couple of bottles of water, maybe pack some walnuts, a couple of apples, bananas....a lot of passengers seemed to do just that.  You'll save a ton of money and your stomach to boot.

Now that we're all set.....all aboard!! (sic).

More as I marshall my thoughts.  Stay tuned!