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Post 11: The End

While it seems I could write about trains all day, the reality is that I’m back to my real life which means packing up and getting ready for the summer in New England. I can’t just sit around all day long and think about trains. Writing this blog has been fun and has served as a great way to help me process and think through the trip. And it’s given me a chance to have a lot of interesting conversations and communication with people. So if you are still reading, I thank you! Here are the final questions and answers in case you find yourself curious about train travel; and at the end my favorite video and two pictures.

Q and A Part Two

What are the train stations like?

I could do a blog about train stations. Some of the city stations are beautiful. Union Stations in both DC (opening in 1908) and Chicago (opening in 1925) are beautiful and designed by Daniel Burnham. They are iconic historical fixtures in both railroading and architecture. Both have survived some hard times and undergone many renovations. Today these stations have restaurants, retail, marvelous halls and waiting areas (including the Metropolitan Lounges for sleeper passengers.)

Washington DC Union Station

In contrast the smaller stations on both the Empire Builder and Zephyr routes provide historical portrayals of rural America and a local history of railroading. Stepping into these stations is like going back in time, reminding me of being a little girl in Pulaski getting ready to board the train to Baltimore.

Glenwood Springs, Colorado station

Where did you shower?

Yes we did shower. Let me make that clear. But this required some planning. Showers were available at the Metropolitan Lounge in Chicago. These showers are surprisingly outstanding— they resemble a spa— very large walk in. But the process itself is entertaining. When you arrive you put your name on the list. They announce your name on the loudspeaker and you report for your shower. It’s like the dirty person walk of shame. Regardless, it was a shower! We also had access to a shower when we were located in the sleeper. Now these showers were tiny and it was a bit of a trick to even stand as the train was bouncing down the tracks. Nonetheless, this too was a shower. Finally, we were in hotels for three nights, providing shower access for six days. In the end we had access to a shower on 10 out of 15 travel days— not ideal perhaps, but not bad. Meanwhile there’s always soap and hot water on the train!!!

The tiny tiny shower in sleeper car!

Were you able to sleep on the train?

Sleeping in coach isn’t easy. But it’s not impossible. It’s also nothing like an airplane. First they dim the lights at 10 PM and declare quiet hours. Also they stop announcing the stations— attendants wake up people to deboard the train. The seats are really big. They recline way back and there’s no fighting with the person behind you for reclining— there’s plenty of room. Also, there is a footstool that goes out— it’s really like a big recliner— it’s actually quite comfortable. PG and I would watch a couple episodes of Northern Exposure— with our ear phones of course— just to get sleepy. I usually then tuned into my Spotify playlists or a couple of podcasts (I’m still following those crazy Murdaugh murders) that I downloaded before the trip. And I put on an eye mask to totally block out the light. I had a light blanket (thanks to Pyper and Nicholson) to cozy up with. My Turtl pillow, specially ordered for this trip, was worthless. I managed to sleep maybe three or four hours each night, and PG did a little bit better. (that’s not really that different from a lot of nights for me!!) But toward the end of the trip I was definitely dragging.

Now sleeping in the sleeper car was a totally different experience. The roomettes are tiny. But they do provide privacy— which is a nice thing after days of overstimulation in coach. Peace and quiet is a premium. And being able to stretch out is a luxury for sure. No doubt, this is the preferred way to travel. And you get to wake up to a fresh pot of coffee right outside your room!! All in all I’m really glad we did the one 24 hour segment in a sleeper. It was worth it. And PG slept well.

What did it cost?

PG and I bought Amtrak rail passes. These are $499 for ten travel segments within a 30 day timeframe. We lucked out with a winter sale for $449! A travel segment is defined as anytime you board and then deboard the train. (It’s possible to travel Chicago to California, over 2000 miles, and never get off the train— this is one segment. Or you can go Charleston to Savannah—around 100 miles—and this is one segment.) Obviously each time you transfer to a different train you begin another segment. We used eight of our ten segments and bought one segment separate so we could experience a sleeper.

The rail pass is a great value. To put it in perspective the cost to travel this itinerary in coach without the pass would have been around $900 each. (It will probably always bother me that I had two segments I did not use!) To put the cost of a sleeper in perspective, consider that that one 24 hour segment in a sleeper cost $771 (for two)! But keep in mind this figure included the rail fare, the room, and six full service meals. Still— not exactly a bargain. But it certainly was an experience.

If we had made the entire trip in a sleeper the cost would have been around $6,000 for the two of us.

Regardless of what you plan to book you will do better by booking early. Prices go up and availability go down. If prices do drop— and the cost of our sleeper actually dropped by $71– Amtrak will refund your credit card. Of course you must track this yourself—another great tip I learned from folks on the Amtrak Facebook pages.

We found that the price of hotels at our stops were reasonable, especially considering that we were traveling in the spring— between ski and summer seasons. The hotels averaged out at $150 a night.

What are the things you did that most contributed to a positive travel experience? Are there things you would do different?

There are a few things that really helped us as we traveled:

Lots of planning— We were familiar with the routes and how things worked on the train. We also knew the hotels and even restaurants along the way that we wanted to check out. This also helped us when we had to redo and reticket the entire trip in two hours.

- Packing light— It’s great to be able to jump off the train and walk to a hotel. Even lugging stuff on and off the train can be daunting. Also babysitting tons of stuff across the country would be tiring. It’s a challenge to pack light but it’s so freeing in how you can move about.

- Enjoying nights OFF the train— The train is great but if you’re exhausted how can you even enjoy the scenary? We limited train overnights to two or three at a time. This enabled us to replenish supplies, exercise, and do laundry. This also gave us the chance to enjoy some beautiful places. While the train trip itself was our main focus, the bonus is getting to experience other places. Both Montana and Colorado were amazing.

- Taking advantage of the Amtrak Metropolitan Lounges— These turned out to be lifesavers. Not only do they offer comfortable seating and convenient snacks, but you could refill your water and ice supply, and in Chicago you could shower. In addition, Amtrak customer service folks staff the lounges and in DC were hugely instrumental in assisting us to totally rebook our trip in light of the cancelled Zephyr. They also guide you out to the train platform for early boarding— very helpful in allowing PG and I to get seats together. We were able to use Amtrak Guest Rewards miles to gain access to these lounges even when we were not booked in a sleeper.

The Metropolitan Lounge in Chicago

- Spending one travel segment in a sleeper— While the cost of first class train travel is prohibitive, we were thrilled to have one 24 hour segment in a roomette. Eating in the dining car was so nice. It was a great diversion from traveling in coach.

As we sat in the observation car coming into DC at the end of the trip we discussed what we might have done differently, and literally nothing came to mind. We mentioned that we might have enjoyed another night in both Whitefish, Montana and Glenwood Springs, Colorado. But overall, we decided we had the most amazing, epic, beautiful, fantastical train trip ever— or EVAH!!! (for my MA friends and family).

BEST OF:

-Best Video: Taken out the back window of the last car on the Capital Limited. I love this video.

-Best place to Visit: Train pulling into Glenwood Springs

-Best scenery: Outside Glacier National Park

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Pyper America dash icons

Under the cut, you’ll find FOURTEEN (14) dash icons of PYPER AMERICA. None of the pictures is mine, but I edited all of them. Please reblog/like if you enjoyed or used them!

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🧡 Pyper America icons 🧡

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