+ TRAINS CAN BE A PAIN IN THE ASS

DELAYS Depending on the route, you might be sharing the tracks with freight trains who actually own them and lease them to Amtrak. Part of that arrangement is that the freight trains get priority, meaning that the Amtrak train will pull over and wait for a passing load of grains, coal, etc. This means that on those routes, delays are common, and are often multiple hours total. Other routes in places like New England, where Amtrak has priority, don’t have that problem.

FOOD A second issue is the food situation. Most routes will have a dining car - if you get a sleeper car, for example, the meals come with your ticket. The choices are somewhat limited, however, and the food is not particularly fresh, so passengers with dietary restrictions or very high standards may want to bring their own food. The dining cars also have limited beer and wine, with west coast lines actually having pretty good beers, sometimes.

EMPLOYEES Amtrak employees are union, and some of them are wonderful, helpful people. Some of them, however, are punching a clock and tolerating you as a means to a paycheck and eventual retirement. The downside to job security is that people who really ought not be anywhere near a customer service role can continue to keep those jobs long after giving up any pretense of caring. And as with so many things in life, it only takes one to ruin your day. If we had to make sweeping generalizations, we would say that the sleeper car conductors tend to be absolutely excellent, the main seating car conductors are average, and the dining car tends to attract bitter lifers with 6 more months to retirement. Thus, the less you need to interact with them, the happier you may well be. Similarly, some conductors still recall the days when “no bikes” meant “no bikes,” even though folding bikes are now allowed to be stashed just like any other luggage (much of which is a lot bigger than a folded bike, by the by). There are stories of lone wolf train employees who don’t know their own policies making trouble for folding bike owners, so if you have a cover for your folder, it might be a good idea to cover the bike, and to keep a close eye on it.

LIMITED SCHEDULES Many lines leave once a day, which is just the nature of limited demand, but it will force you to conform to a rigid timeline on departure. Nobody beats the car in this respect, where you get to leave the second you feel good and ready.

THE MAZE-LIKE STATIONS Some newer stations are honestly laid out terribly. Penn Station in particular is a stunning example of how to confuse and anger the common traveler wth design choices. If you are going to have to get on or off the train at one of these stations, you need to plan on having extra time to search for maps, then try to decipher any maps you get lucky enough to find, and then, of course, ask a string of people for directions. Old stations and smaller stations tend to be easy, but the bigger new ones can be a serious challenge to get through for the first time on a tight schedule.