# Seating on the Auto Train



## Randy Stone (Jan 2, 2008)

While the wife and I have ridden several tourist trains around the country, we’ve never rode on Amtrak or the Auto Train.

So, the wife and I are contemplating, taking the Auto Train to Lorton Va.

With the Superliner bedroom costing $830.00 extra each way we’re wondering what 17 hours in the upper level reserved coach seats would be like. 
Plus the beds are very narrow.


Being the wife and I are on the heavy side, seating like you get in airplanes is definitely a no no.

So, what’s your take on sleeping in coach?

The train leaves at 4pm and arrives in Va at 9:30am

Sadly it’s not the best time schedule for sight seeing.


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## Brandon (Jul 6, 2011)

For me to answer, I'd probably first ask what type of hotels you stay at and if you've ever flown first class, or enjoy camping. Also I'm sure my thoughts will be different than others, everyone has their own thoughts.

I took the Amtrak Starlight about 2 years ago from Seattle to LA. Coach was a much cheaper option and we (My parents and I) wanted to try a scenic train and gave the day and a half ride a shot. I think it was near or even more expensive than flying. My mother will never get on a train again, I won't go on anything longer than 4-8 hours at most, and my father, who loves taking trains through Europe will probably never do a train again either.

In my experience, I consider coach okay for 4-8 hour trips at most. The coach restrooms on the Starlight were disgusting at best. It was national train day and coach was very busy but there are no flush toilets on amtrak, they're port-a-potty like and I've seen port-a-potties that were more maintained than the ones for coach on this particular trip. 

The trip was very fun and very beautiful from Seattle into Oregon, I'd take that segment again in a heartbeat but that's 2-4 hours. When night comes that's when I think if you're going on a train, having a sleeper is worth its weight in gold. Beds may be small but having dozens of other people around who may be loud, are restless, moving around, and so on wouldn't be something I'd recommend for anyone who isn't a fan of taking sleeping pills. It's stuffy and I'd rather sleep on a plane (which is more confined) than in coach ever again. The next day you're now with people who may not have showered for a day or two now and you feel a real lack of personal space. You can go to the observation cars and such but it's not a whole lot different. Amtrak claimed to have wifi for coach online but you couldn't even get a stable signal while in the dining car, and the man staffing it said you really needed to be in the sleeper areas to get a decent signal. 

The food also was okay, not anything great but it could have been worse. I'd bring my own the next time.

So just my $.02, if you're going for a fun excursion realise it's not about comfort and about the experience and then decide if you enjoy sleeping on a packed, stuffy bus or might want to lie flat once in a while to stretch out and get a sleeper. We would have paid twice the cost to upgrade to a sleeper if one was available, just being able to lie flat for even a short amount of time, or had our own lavatory would have been absolutely worth it.

We also had a couple guys who were overaged bullies and used profanity in every sentence and joked about killing people on board and throwing them over the cliffs and bridges along the track and they'd never be found. They were reported, staff came and questioned them and it fizzled out for an hour or so and then it came back. Several men of families told them to go elsewhere when they'd finally had enough around 6pm, and they went to the obs car. About 2 hours later staff came back and told the cabin that they two men shouldn't be "harassed" and told to leave the coach car as they had a right to their seats there. People of course made their thoughts known but there was no win-win solution and the men returned but kept a softer voice and didn't talk much after this but "quiet time" was pretty soon and their stop was early in morning the next day. 

One option if cost is important and being on the train for a scenic ride, check into flying or driving to the scenic part of the ride, stay a nice hotel, and only take the train during the day from one stop to another. Being on a train after it's dark isn't scenic or fun imho. Maybe look at taking the train part way during daylight hours, stay at a hotel half way through, then catch the train coming back during the day. Daylight hours in scenic areas of the routes, even in coach, are very enjoyable. Also be aware of how often the train is late through that segment. Certain routes can routinely run hours late. I know one local run through Ogden Station in Utah is often 7 hours late, ouch. Also there's unpredictable events as on our trip we were to board another train for a shorter 2 hour transfer from LA to Anaheim. Although that train was on the same tracks (running directly behind us by 15 minutes for the previous hour) someone decided to step infront of it about 10 minutes outside of the station. Sad ending and not to take away from the persons passing, but it did leave us in a bit of a bind as we waited 4 hours until we finally heard the train was cancelled and we had to rent a car at 2am to get to our final destination.


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## Randy Stone (Jan 2, 2008)

Well, we like staying at Comfort Inn Suites. 

They typically have pillow top beds but we don't expect the train to have similar acomodations. 

As for camping, my idea of camping is staying at Holiday Inn Express. LOL 

I'm sure the restroom being public isn't going to be the cleanist, maybe we can bring along a can of raid and a can of lysol.


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## Pete Thornton (Jan 2, 2008)

taking the Auto Train to Lorton Va. 

I've done it both ways, and I used my wife's Amtrak points to get one of the smallest bedrooms. No bath, but 2 big seats that convert to a bed and then another bed folds down pullman style over it. Plenty of headroom - I think - I only travelled alone. 
If you can sleep on a moving train, it seems like it would work for you? 

Autotrain isn't a sight-seeing operation. You might see a few hours of scenery at the beginning and end, but it is really a "red-eye" to beat the driving and I-95.


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## San Juan (Jan 3, 2008)

I've traveled a lot on Amtrak long distance (Southwest Chief, Coast Starlight, Sunset Limited, Empire Builder, and the former Desert Wind). If you plan on being on board for more then a day or during evening hours, a sleeping car room is the only way to go.

In addition to a private room, all meals are included with the fare. When in coach you have to pay for any meals you'd like and if the train is full, sleeper meal reservations are honored first. So it is possible if you are a coach passenger to not get any meals in the dining car or be eating at unusual hours. They typically suggest getting "snacks" in the lounge car. And I don't know what it is but I feel the dining car crew treats coach and sleeper passengers differently.

That being said, the bedroom (used to be called deluxe) is very expensive. Partly because you get your own restroom and partly due to the fewer amount per sleeping car. Although the Auto Train is the only Amtrak train with a full bedroom sleeper...meaning all the rooms are bedrooms (deluxe rooms) upstairs. There are only 5 or so of these cars in existence. It might still be called a deluxe sleeper as back when built the bedrooms were still called deluxe rooms. And although you get your own restroom, I'm not a fan of it. The shower and toilet are in the same cramped little space. It used to be possible to push the shower button instead of flush. You know what that means...you're all wet while sitting on the toilet. This was fixed early on so I think you have to pull out on the shower button now. The sink is out in the middle of the room. And it tends to splash all over the place.

I like to travel by roomette (used to be called economy). You don't get your own restroom, but each Superliner sleeper has several restrooms. I think 4 downstairs and one upstairs. There is also a shower downstairs. One big plus is they tend to stay cleaner then the coach restrooms, which tend to get trashed early on in the trip.

In a roomette you get two seats that face each other. Seems to be as much, if not more room when compared to the coach seats. The seats fold down and turn into the lower bed while the upper bed comes down from the ceiling.


But I'm not heavy or tall (140 5'7"), so the smaller roomette is nothing for me. 

There is also a family room downstairs, but avoid it. Only one per Superliner sleeper and it is way overpriced for what you get...in my opinion. Half a window and no restroom although you get the full car width for a room. More beds, but the half window always bugged me. They also have a handicapped (accessible) room on the other side downstairs (one per Superliner sleeper). I think there is a toilet but it is open to allow easy wheel chair access. Open meaning no partition wall in the handicapped room to separate the toilet from the rest of the room. There is a hospital like curtain. But never having traveled in it I don't know much more about it other then the floor plans I have of Superliners.

So of all my many Amtrak trips I'd recommend the roomette. 

I hope you get some info out of this as reading back it seems a bit rambling.

Oh almost forgot, my sister uploaded a brief video clip of a trip we took on the Southwest Chief. It shows the train entering the station and then she films walking into the car and then shows the roomette room. So it might give you a sense of the space available in the roomette.

Southwest Chief Video clip :


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## San Juan (Jan 3, 2008)

Posted By Brandon on 01 Oct 2012 02:59 PM but there are no flush toilets on amtrak, they're port-a-potty like and I've seen port-a-potties that were more maintained than the ones for coach on this particular trip. 
Some minor corrections,

The toilets flush. They just go to a retention tank on board. However the vacuum system on Superliners is notorious for breaking down. More so on unrefurbished Superliner II cars. All you need is one stupid person (and there are usually a few who travel on Amtrak) to put something not intended to flush into the toilet and the entire car's system is messed up for the rest of the trip.

Posted By Brandon on 01 Oct 2012 02:59 PM....Amtrak claimed to have wifi for coach online but you couldn't even get a stable signal while in the dining car, and the man staffing it said you really needed to be in the sleeper areas to get a decent signal. 
There is only one car on the Coast Starlight that can get internet signals (other the the locomotives GPS system







). It is the special first class lounge car (Pacific Parlor Car) that is only available to sleeping car passengers. So the only way to get a signal is to be in this particular lounge car. 

And wow what a waste of a trip if you miss out on this parlor car. I'd never ever travel on coach on the Coast Starlight. You get wine tasting and so many other perks in that Pacific Parlor car that the extra fare for sleeper justifies itself on the Coast Starlight. But of course this is only available on the Coast Starlight. The Pacific Parlor cars are former Santa Fe Hi-Level lounge cars.


Back to Randy, the Auto Train is the only other long distance Amtrak train with a special sleeping car passengers lounge car. They were built from former dining cars. So they are not as nice as the Pacific Parlor cars which are dome lounges. And never having traveled on the Auto Train I can't tell you much about these diner/lounge cars, other then being only available to sleeping car passengers.


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## jfrank (Jan 2, 2008)

I rode coach on long distance trains years ago when the railroads ran them and it was just fine. Now days of course things have changed a lot. I have ridden a number of Amtrak long distance trains and there are very few on which I would ride coach. Particularly the Coast Starlight. I rode that one a few years back, in sleeper of course, and walked up through coach. It was a zoo. I never ventured up there again and I did not even go to the lounge car as sleeping car passengers have the Pacific Parlor car to themselves. Here are some pics of the 'wildlife' on that train. http://www.flickr.com/photos/jfrank...608459463/

Here are pics of the train trip itself: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jfrank...732833694/

As for the Auto Train. That is Amtraks premier train over all and has luxury accomodations. It is also superliner equiped. The seats in a superliner are very relaxing with lots of leg room and leg and foot rests. They recline quite a bit, but do not lay flat. People that ride it have paid a lot of money to be there as they have their car with them so I doubt if you would run into the clientle you would find on other trains. They will of course have children with them as it's a family type train. Take along something for a head rest for sleeping and perhaps ear plugs and a blanket and you will be just fine. The Auto train is a very long train with at least two diners, two lounge cars, six sleepers and four or more coaches plus all the auto rack cars for the automobiles. It's a long train and makes no stops. You must have a car to board it. You did know that.........right?


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## W3NZL (Jan 2, 2008)

Having ridden that thing both ways, it SUCKS... Its certainly not like the trains of the 40s & 50s that I remember... There is only one 
reason to do it that I can see, an thats if Ur going for a long period of time and need a car, U'll save money on the car rental fees..
After that experience we flew and rented the wheels... The other bad thing is that it dumps U in the middle of nowhere, at both ends, 
an U still have to drive a good distance...
Paul R...


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## Randy Stone (Jan 2, 2008)

Paul, you didn't say what you felt was so bad about the trip. 

As for dropping you off in the middle of nowhere, Lorton Va may be in the middle of no where but Sanford Fl is right off I-4 and I-417. For me Sanford is only 15 miles from my house. 

Most of the negativity so far has been related to Amtrak trains, not the auto Train. 

One reason I consider the Auto train is getting the trains I hope to purchase at York back to Florida. 

Flying and renting a car is not an option as I don't want to buy trains and have to ship them home.


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## Dr Rivet (Jan 5, 2008)

Randy 

Many years ago we took the Auto Train to Florida with our son and a friend. Big reasons: Did not have to spend 12 hours in the car with two teenaged boys, did not have to rent a car, and had room to haul all their newly acquired "stuff" from FL back home, 5% of which could not fit in the luggage on the plane. You can just leave all the big purchases in the vehicle for the trip home. 

Lorton may have been in the sticks 25 years ago, but it is now just another VA suburb of Washington DC. The station is right next to the Lorton Rd exit on I-95. It is about 115 miles to the York fairgrounds where the ECLSTS is held. Travel time about 2 1/2 hours.


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## JackM (Jul 29, 2008)

I have quite a few Amtrak miles under my belt (multiple times on the Lakeshore Limited, City of N.O., Southwest Chief, Texas Eagle; was ticketed for the Empire Builder and Coast Starlight this week but had to postpone). To me, it's the only way to travel. But then, I'm in no hurry. If you're in a hurry, go to the airport and suffer the consequences.


My rule is - if it's over 18 hours, get a roomette, otherwise go coach. Previous postings have described the different room sizes well. You''ll find full info at amtrak.com. Roomettes are definitely "cozy" - prepare accordingly (one small suitcase). If you have to carry more stuff, put it in a second suitcase that can be stowed in the racks (easy to access) on the lower level of bi-level cars. Make this an adventure. Have fun. Don't expect the comforts you have at home.


Here's the difference in coach travel. The long-distance trains give you a lot more legroom; seats have leg supports and foot rests so you can stretch out. Of course you'll hope it's not so busy that you have a seatmate. More room so you can stretch out diagonally. Spend a few bucks at the drug store for a pair of blindfolds. (Since the coach lights have to be on at night, I need 'em to sleep reasonably well. In a roomette, I sleep like a baby - possibly because I had a bit too much wine in the obs. car talking to the most interesting strangers I've ever met.) Coach restrooms can be a problem. The "locals" are usually where the problems happen because it's a cheaper train, with cheaper customers who either have no brains or are real slobs. If the restroom in your car is unpleasant, walk a few steps further and try the next car. You _are_ allowed to walk around in the train. Restrooms are usually pretty good in the sleepers, but they're reserved for the folks who paid the big bucks that give you a car attendant who actually does a good job of keeping things nice. The Superliners have one restroom upstairs and three downstairs, plus the shower, for the folks in roomettes. Take advantage of the showers. They give you good, fluffy towels, your own soap, and they're not busy. (I'm up at sunrise and rarely have to wait.)


Wi-Fi???? I simply don't understand why anyone would spend the money to take a ride thru the amazing scenic wonders of this country and watch movies on a laptop, email friends, read, play cards, etc. when you could be looking out the window. If you're going to do that, why not fly and leave more room for those of us who already know what clouds look like?


Dining car is an unforrtunate part of the picture.It's a political football with some powerful folks insisting that we be the only country in the civilized world to expect passenger trains to be totally self-supporting, while they have no problem funding another lane, another runway. Don't get me started. Join NARP instead.


Oh yeah, dining car is an unfortunate part of the picture. Amtrak provides reasonably decent meals in the dining cars for somewhat high prices. You can't go wrong with the burgers, but I almost never take the steak. Even though meals are included with room fares, I have found the outrageously priced steak (about $25)to be anywhere from pretty good to just awful. I'll take the vegetarian pasta dish. I've found rice dishes to be iffy. These are "pre-plated" meals and rhe rice often ends up watery - even (no, especially) on the City of NO. And don't forget to tip your waiter. Gratuities aren't included in your fare. (Disclaimer: I have run into one or two dining car staffs that were just plain rude, nasty and angry. I still leave them something - it's probably not their fault.) Talk to your Congressperson about proper funding for Amtrak.


Which brings me to the Auto-train. I've never been on it, but I've heard less-than-kindly things. Let's not throw out the baby with the bath water. Take a few other Amtrak trains first.


Seriously, as Duke Ellington said (or was it Lawrence Welk?), take a train. Years from now you'll be telling stories about the people you met.\


JackM


Pssst. You didn't hear this from me. Get your tickets as much as six months early and you'll save a ton on the fares. You can use the Amtrak website to check different days and find huge price differences. Or save a lot of time by taking advantage of amsnag.net. But you didn't hear it from me.


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## jfrank (Jan 2, 2008)

If you want to get some different and more relevant views on Auto Train, go here and ask the question.

http://discuss.amtraktrains.com/ind...96b3a4d2e2&


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## jfrank (Jan 2, 2008)

Here are some recent trip reports at the Amtrakunlimited site:

http://discuss.amtraktrains.com/ind...ntry378816

http://discuss.amtraktrains.com/ind...ntry327446

http://discuss.amtraktrains.com/ind...ntry293179


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## JackM (Jul 29, 2008)

Thanks for posting those links. Now I can say the Auto-Train is as good as the rest of the system.

JackM


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## Bob in Kalamazoo (Apr 2, 2009)

My wife and I took the California Zephyr from Chicago to San Francisco last Christmas to visit our Daughter. We had a roomette and loved it. I would do it again and probably will. 100% better than flying as long as you have the time. And we're both retired so we have the time. We met some great people and a few weird people and saw some great scenery. We even met some women from England who were trailing from SF to NY by coach. They were about our age (60's) and seemed to think it was fine. I don't think I would have liked traveling by coach that far. 
Bob


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## Tom Parkins (Jan 2, 2008)

I rode about 3500 Amtrak miles in coach this summer with lots of good sleeping in the coach seat. Comparing coach seats to an airplane I say that they are most like business class seats on an airplane. Certainly a whole lot more room than airline economy. I had no issues with the dining cars as a coach customer. Meals were very good and no problem getting service. For what they charge for a bedroom, they better throw in a free meal. My personal Auto Train experience was an A or A+. I like dropping off my car in the afternoon, enjoy a good meal, ride overnight and driving off in the morning. I think for travel to ECLSTS that is a terrific option and probably close to cost effective if you stick with coach. 

Sleeping in coach on Auto Train is a little easier than on a conventional Superliner train because there are no station stops. You don't have doors banging and people coming and going in the middle of the night. If you travel with your honey you won't have to worry about your seat mate. Save the bedroom money and buy some more G gauge trains. 

Tom P


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