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Amtrak is great when you aren't on a schedule. I love the railroad travel experience. Waiting patiently for that high speed rail between St. Louis and Chicago..

Amtrak is great when you aren't on a schedule. I love the railroad travel experience. Waiting patiently for that high speed rail between St. Louis and Chicago... I will admit, I did check the prices for a 45-day pass after reading this. Sometimes I wish I could go effectively homeless and work on personal programming projects for months at a time.

TwiztidK 12y ago
I feel the same way. Unfortunately, my employer wouldn't take kindly to me taking a multi-month vacation. Maybe someday...
- kendallpark 12y ago
  It's the thing I miss most about school: long breaks. Even though I was working most summers, it was ten weeks to recharge, not worry about homework, studying, school drama... I was always very refreshed and eager to start school by the time September rolled around. I feel like my regular work would benefit if I could take a multi-month unpaid vacation.
timdiggerm 12y ago
I assume this would be exclusively for people going to Chicago and returning home, as there's little reason to travel in the other direction.
- dionidium 12y ago
  I realize it's fashionable to dump on the rust belt, but, at risk of sounding defensive, there are 2.8 million people and a whole bunch of big companies [0] in the St. Louis metro area. There's basically no way to construct a narrative that supports your claim that there's little reason to travel there. [0] http://www.gislounge.com/fortune-1000-companies-by-state/#missouri http://www.gislounge.com/fortune-1000-companies-by-state/#mi...
Scuds 12y ago
> Amtrak is great when you aren't on a schedule. Not on a schedule - or - for shorter trips the overhead of flying is just too much. Airports are far away from a city center, and there's always lines for security. I rode Amtrak Cascades[1] from Seattle to Portland a few weeks back and the train station is only a few blocks from the city center. Leg room resembles first class on a plane, and being able to walk around and sit in an observation/dining car is better than anything. Four hours, $50. I'd have spent more on gas just by itself if I drove. [1] - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amtrak_Cascades http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amtrak_Cascades > Sometimes I wish I could go effectively homeless and work on personal programming projects for months at a time. or remote on full salary :D
- delecti 12y ago
  The trains on the Seattle/Portland route are really exceptionally nice too. I rode Rochester/NYC a few times, and while still nice it wasn't quite as nice.
205guy 12y ago
I once did a weekend trip from the Bay Area to Reno (on Saturday and back on Sunday), which was my first Amtrak experience. The schedule works out so you can take the California Zephyr both ways in the daylight. I figured I didn't want to ride for more than a day at a time, didn't want to deal with sleeping on the train, and I still got to see some of the most scenic train routes in the US. It was really cool, some of the highlights include: leaving the Bay Area right along the shore of the bay, including the lesser known "upper bay" (Carquinez straits), a huge (miles long) switching yard in Roseville, passing the Donner summit and the spectacular curves to come down from it, and the canyon of the Truckee river from along the river. On board, you get to meet and chat with a lot of interesting travelers, including lots of foreign rail buffs. You get a seat assigned in the seating car, but you really want to make your way to the observation car and claim a seat with a better view. One disappointment was the lack of grandiose views of the Sierra Nevada. I'm used to driving and hiking there, and the train doesn't go through the most scenic parts (thankfully, I guess). There are some views of the American river valley, and the mountains a bit higher up, but not much of the high peaks around the Donner summit. Frankly, you get better views and get there faster on the highway (I-80), but I've done that so many times, it was neat to get different views for once. Except for one hour of 70mph on the way to Sacramento, he train felt lumbering and slow, and we did have delays here and there. The return train was 2 hours late, but I guess that is fairly good on a route all the way from Chicago (by American rail standards). Reservations were easy online, I think it was about $60-70 each way. You can take AC transit from the transbay terminal across to Emeryville and a short walk to the Amtrak station (amtrak also runs their own busses from various locations, but you have to leave an hour earlier). In Reno, it was real easy to get a room within walking distance of the station downtown (at a casino or motel). I even had time to enjoy their river walk. All in all, it was a fun weekend, I'm glad I did it and I recommend it if you want to try the train in the US west.

TwiztidK 12y ago

I feel the same way. Unfortunately, my employer wouldn't take kindly to me taking a multi-month vacation. Maybe someday...

kendallpark 12y ago
It's the thing I miss most about school: long breaks. Even though I was working most summers, it was ten weeks to recharge, not worry about homework, studying, school drama... I was always very refreshed and eager to start school by the time September rolled around. I feel like my regular work would benefit if I could take a multi-month unpaid vacation.

timdiggerm 12y ago

I assume this would be exclusively for people going to Chicago and returning home, as there's little reason to travel in the other direction.

dionidium 12y ago
I realize it's fashionable to dump on the rust belt, but, at risk of sounding defensive, there are 2.8 million people and a whole bunch of big companies [0] in the St. Louis metro area. There's basically no way to construct a narrative that supports your claim that there's little reason to travel there. [0] http://www.gislounge.com/fortune-1000-companies-by-state/#missouri http://www.gislounge.com/fortune-1000-companies-by-state/#mi...

Scuds 12y ago

> Amtrak is great when you aren't on a schedule. Not on a schedule - or - for shorter trips the overhead of flying is just too much. Airports are far away from a city center, and there's always lines for security. I rode Amtrak Cascades[1] from Seattle to Portland a few weeks back and the train station is only a few blocks from the city center. Leg room resembles first class on a plane, and being able to walk around and sit in an observation/dining car is better than anything. Four hours, $50. I'd have spent more on gas just by itself if I drove. [1] - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amtrak_Cascades http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amtrak_Cascades > Sometimes I wish I could go effectively homeless and work on personal programming projects for months at a time. or remote on full salary :D

delecti 12y ago
The trains on the Seattle/Portland route are really exceptionally nice too. I rode Rochester/NYC a few times, and while still nice it wasn't quite as nice.

205guy 12y ago

I once did a weekend trip from the Bay Area to Reno (on Saturday and back on Sunday), which was my first Amtrak experience. The schedule works out so you can take the California Zephyr both ways in the daylight. I figured I didn't want to ride for more than a day at a time, didn't want to deal with sleeping on the train, and I still got to see some of the most scenic train routes in the US. It was really cool, some of the highlights include: leaving the Bay Area right along the shore of the bay, including the lesser known "upper bay" (Carquinez straits), a huge (miles long) switching yard in Roseville, passing the Donner summit and the spectacular curves to come down from it, and the canyon of the Truckee river from along the river. On board, you get to meet and chat with a lot of interesting travelers, including lots of foreign rail buffs. You get a seat assigned in the seating car, but you really want to make your way to the observation car and claim a seat with a better view. One disappointment was the lack of grandiose views of the Sierra Nevada. I'm used to driving and hiking there, and the train doesn't go through the most scenic parts (thankfully, I guess). There are some views of the American river valley, and the mountains a bit higher up, but not much of the high peaks around the Donner summit. Frankly, you get better views and get there faster on the highway (I-80), but I've done that so many times, it was neat to get different views for once. Except for one hour of 70mph on the way to Sacramento, he train felt lumbering and slow, and we did have delays here and there. The return train was 2 hours late, but I guess that is fairly good on a route all the way from Chicago (by American rail standards). Reservations were easy online, I think it was about $60-70 each way. You can take AC transit from the transbay terminal across to Emeryville and a short walk to the Amtrak station (amtrak also runs their own busses from various locations, but you have to leave an hour earlier). In Reno, it was real easy to get a room within walking distance of the station downtown (at a casino or motel). I even had time to enjoy their river walk. All in all, it was a fun weekend, I'm glad I did it and I recommend it if you want to try the train in the US west.