Have you travelled long-distance by train in the USA?

[msjones]

Can anyone share their long-distance USA train-travel experiences? We're considering a cross-country trip this summer and wonder how comfortable the train is. If you've done this, did you regret it? Wish you'd flown instead? What was the best part of it? The worst?

[simka2]

We really enjoyed it! I do wish we had been able to get our own cabin, but it was enjoyable anyways!!!! I loved that we could sit in the observation car with all the kids and talk about what we were seeing or play board games!!!

[BikeBookBread]

Yes -- travelled from Everett, Washington to Minot, ND. It was a 24 hour trip, so I don't know if you consider that long-distance, but it felt like it to me! While it was fun, I was alone with a VERY cranky 2 year old and 5 month old. At the time, it was cheaper for us to have our own deluxe room with shower than to purchase 3 airplane tickets home.

 

I think it would be a lot of fun now with an almost 7 year old and almost 5 year old, though. I was just really, really stressed out, and ready to be home with my soon-to-be returned from deployment husband after spending 4 months with my parents in Seattle with a newborn.

[Truscifi]

I did as a teenager with a group from school, and we enjoyed it very much. I do wish we'd gotten better seats because it was uncomfortable sleeping in the regular seats, but I was 17 and on a budget.

[Miss Peregrine]

It's very bumpy. The dining car was an experience! LOL

[FaithManor]

Dd and my sister traveled together from Arizona to Ann Arbor, Mi. where we picked them up. They had a sleeper car and the tickets included all of there meals. This train had a full dining car and not just a "snack" area. The dining car was staffed with a full kitchen and trained chef. The food was MARVELOUS!

 

They enjoyed the ride, read, knitted, embroidered, played cards, listened to music on their headsets, and I think there were some movies offered or they watche movies on sis's lap top...don't remember which it is. It was a fine and pleasant trip...three days/two nights. It was comparably priced to plane tickets and there was some beautiful scenery to take in...at a couple of towns the lay over was long enough to get out and explore for a few hours before boarding again.

 

Sis was coming home from a year of teaching FAS and emotionally disturbed children on a reservation and really needed to relax. DD had been there volunteering in the school library to get it organized and cataloged properly (three week job) and helped get my sister packed up and the rental house cleaned. They were happy with their choice for getting home. I don't know if it would have been as much fun if either had been traveling alone.

 

Faith

[msjones]

We would get a sleeper car for sure -- it's a 60+ hour trip.

 

I'm imagining that we'd enjoy seeing lots of the country, but I'm sure there would be some long, dull stretches, too.

 

My kids are pretty self-sufficient. They read, draw, play games, love movies. I was thinking we could finally do the Star Wars movie fest they've begged for for years.

[Catwoman]

I don't have any advice for you, but I would love to take a long train trip, so I'm following this thread with great interest!

 

We used to fly everywhere, but flying has become such a nuisance, so the train idea is very appealing.

 

Cat

[milovany]

I don't have any advice for you, but I would love to take a long train trip, so I'm following this thread with great interest!

 

We used to fly everywhere, but flying has become such a nuisance, so the train idea is very appealing.

 

Cat

 

Same here! In fact, we're tentatively planning on taking the train from Seattle to Chicago this (late) summer. There are nine of us, kids ranging in age from 3 to 17 at that point. It's a 48 hour trip and we are NOT planning on getting a sleeper car. We know it will be less comfortable, but we wouldn't be able to do it any other way. Someone told us you can to to the viewing car and spread the kids out there (not sure if that's true, we'll see). I think we'll be fine! We'll sleep as much as we can over night and then nap through the day -- plus we get into Chicago at 4 p.m. so we'll go to my friends and crash for the next 15 hours. Then we'll be raring to go! :001_smile:

[Catwoman]

There are nine of us, kids ranging in age from 3 to 17 at that point. It's a 48 hour trip and we are NOT planning on getting a sleeper car.

 

Wow, you are a far braver woman than I am! There would only be the three of us (dh, ds10, and me,) and I would have to have the sleeper car. I don't think I'd make it for 48 hours without knowing I could have some privacy. I get edgy if I feel like I can't get away from people for a while. (Of course, with a family of 9, you probably don't remember what privacy is, unless you have a really strong lock on your bathroom door! ;) :D)

 

It sounds like a great trip, though -- would you be taking the train both ways? I would love to take a trip where we went to a destination one way, and came back via a different route, so we could see more of the country.

 

Cat

[milovany]

Wow, you are a far braver woman than I am! ... Of course, with a family of 9, you probably don't remember what privacy is, unless you have a really strong lock on your bathroom door! ;) :D

 

Exactly!! Privacy is overrated, lol. And bravery isn't really the issue -- it's necessity. We would not be able to take the trip the way things stand right now (financially) with buying *one* sleeper car let alone three. So for us/our kids the question becomes, "Do you want to take the trip or not? If so, we all have to work together to make it work without a sleeper car." And they'll do that -- the oldest 3 will be 17, 15, and 13 at that point and are all very willing to help.

 

It sounds like a great trip, though -- would you be taking the train both ways? I would love to take a trip where we went to a destination one way, and came back via a different route, so we could see more of the country.

 

Yes, we're planning on taking the train both ways because on the way back we'll get off in North Dakota, get a rental car, and drive four hours north to where my Gramma lives in Canada -- she'll be having her 100th birthday (Lord willing) in September! That's why I'm thinking this would be a great time to combine the two trips (we want to do Chicago both for the big city experience and because I have a girlfriend who lives there with her family, and they have a basement for company -- not having to pay for hotel lodging is also something that makes the trip possible). We'll stay up in Canada for a few days and then get back on the train for the rest of the trip to Seattle.

Edited December 8, 2010 by milovaný