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Last year I drove my car round trip San Francisco to Chicago, this year I'm taking the Amtrak Zephyr instead (fortunately I don't need a car at my destination).

Last year I drove my car round trip San Francisco to Chicago, this year I'm taking the Amtrak Zephyr instead (fortunately I don't need a car at my destination). When I hitched around Europe after college I took multiple overnight trips on trains (and boats) but this will be the first time I have dedicated sleeping accomodations on a moving transport. While I am looking forward to the trip I think there are some minor perils that should be noted (I haven't finished reading the linked article yet). Tracks are shared with freight trains, sometimes there are unplanned delays of hours. Bad weather, fires, or other incidents can also cause delays, a half day or more is not unheard of. Because of Covid, it seems that for now, coach passengers are not allowed in the dining car, only those with roomettes (not 100% sure about this). I've read blog posts that on some Amtrak trips, meals were only served in the roomettes, so the dining car not in use (easier to keep clean, I guess?) Wifi is not available on all trains. The following discussion forum for Passenger Trains has daily commentary on various Amtrak comings and goings, photos etc. The first page is free to view, to see more requires a 3-month or full year membership (disclaimer: not affiliated with this site). https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/list.php?4 https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/list.php?4

CaliforniaKarl 4y ago
> Because of Covid, it seems that for now, coach passengers are not allowed in the dining car, only those with roomettes (not 100% sure about this). I've read blog posts that on some Amtrak trips, meals were only served in the roomettes, so the dining car not in use (easier to keep clean, I guess?) Check out https://www.amtrak.com/onboard/meals-dining/dining-car.html https://www.amtrak.com/onboard/meals-dining/dining-car.html to see which services have traditional dining available. I've used Amtrak in California & Ohio, and I don't remember the dining car ever being available to passengers traveling in Coach class. The closest thing I can think of is this: On the Coast Starlight (Los Angeles to Seattle), the Dining Car was available to passengers traveling in Business Class.
- db48x 4y ago
  It is available to Coach passengers, but they have to pay for the meal. Sleeper passengers just write their room number on the check, because the meal price is included in their ticket.

CaliforniaKarl 4y ago

> Because of Covid, it seems that for now, coach passengers are not allowed in the dining car, only those with roomettes (not 100% sure about this). I've read blog posts that on some Amtrak trips, meals were only served in the roomettes, so the dining car not in use (easier to keep clean, I guess?) Check out https://www.amtrak.com/onboard/meals-dining/dining-car.html https://www.amtrak.com/onboard/meals-dining/dining-car.html to see which services have traditional dining available. I've used Amtrak in California & Ohio, and I don't remember the dining car ever being available to passengers traveling in Coach class. The closest thing I can think of is this: On the Coast Starlight (Los Angeles to Seattle), the Dining Car was available to passengers traveling in Business Class.

db48x 4y ago
It is available to Coach passengers, but they have to pay for the meal. Sleeper passengers just write their room number on the check, because the meal price is included in their ticket.