Transport reflections from a recent trip to the USA

[Redrient]

I've just returned from the USA and went out of my way to try some long distance trains with Amtrak and try out some public transport in a few places I visited, and thought I would share my experiences.

Reviews of transport in the USA - Amtrak long distance, Seattle '1' line light rail, Las Vegas (NV) buses and Chicago Metra
Amtrak Long Distance services - Empire Builder (Seattle - Columbus WI) and Southwest Chief (Chicago - Los Angeles)
Some overall observations:

Amtrak is not an efficiently run organisation. Organisation for dining times was a bit of a shambles, and the carriage attendants for the sleeper cars were either virtually non-existent (or at least not present or providing service), or somewhat surly or dismissive in performing their tasks. There appears to be a staff shortage at the moment, and both dining cars were short-staffed on our journeys, so I can be a bit forgiving for dining to be a bit more shambolic. Dining car staff generally tried hard with a smile, but they were definitely worked very hard.

The food is perfectly serviceable, but hardly fine dining. The way Americans prepare bacon and scrambled eggs is pretty poor, and they try to dress up oyster blade steak ('flat iron steak' in American) as an Amtrak 'signature' dish. It's definitely inferior to dining car offerings on the Spirit of the Outback, as a point of comparison.

Some passengers were rather indignant at the service (or lack thereof) they were receiving. I can understand being people privately being disappointed - I was also to an extent - but I would never be rude about it to the staff. On one train, the attendant never showed up to make the beds, so I took care of it. Since I received no service, I did not give any tips. I think with the surge of card payments and decline of cash being used, which I saw firsthand, the staff are no longer getting tips which they might previously have expected or routinely received (seeing as sleeper compartments are 'all inclusive' and there is no need to actually pay for anything except additional alcohol or items from the café car), which might be contributing to their sometimes less-than-accommodating attitude.

The facilities like toilets and showers are dated in the ageing Superliner carriages, but the Roomette seats are comfortable in day mode. The upper bunk which folds down at night is narrow, and depending on the quality of track being traversed, could, quite frankly, be downright dangerous as a person could absolutely be thrown from the bunk under the right circumstances. Provisioning for facilities is inconsistent. Sometimes you get soap and shampoo for the showers, sometimes soap only (for example). It seems that regional hubs, like Seattle, are not able to fully provision their trains for the journey, so if some items are consumed out of Chicago (the main hub), that's too bad for the return working.

Sleeper car accommodations are quite expensive - even for the basic 'Roomette' accommodation, which is basically the size of a bunk bed for the whole room. The poor AUD/USD exchange rate probably contributed to the overall impression of the cost, but depending on when you book, the Roomette could be up to 4-8x the cost of a Coach seat for a 46 hour journey (as low as $220 USD for 2 people in Coach (Yes, $110 US per person), versus $1,100-$1,600 USD for a Roomette), with a 'Bedroom' (2x the surface area of a Roomette, with private toilet) being 1.6-2x that cost again. As previously mentioned, meals are included in that sleeper accommodation cost, which Amtrak budgets at $90 USD per passenger per day (but it most assuredly is not $90 USD worth of meals based on quality of the food). A run on Empire Builder, for example, gets you 2 days' worth of breakfast, lunch and dinners.

The Empire Builder - Seattle to Columbus (Wisconsin)
I was travelling most of the way along the route, disembarking in Columbus as I was heading north to Oshkosh for the EAA Airventure Air Show for a few days, and Columbus is the nearest station. The train traverses the BNSF Northern Transcon across Washington, Idaho, Montana, North Dakota and western Minnesota before running through some Canadian Pacific track from around Minneapolis/St Paul on the run in to Chicago (as well as some Chicago Metra track on the final approach). The best parts of the journey are through the scenic Glacier National Park region, from around Libby to East Glacier - all in Montana. It was the middle of summer and only the highest peaks were snow-capped, but the scenery was still incredible - but would be even better in winter.

I flew up from Las Vegas early that morning, so had most of the day in Seattle for a walk around. The Builder was 2 hours late arriving, which was to be the beginning of our issues. As it turns out, it takes the entire 5 hours between the scheduled arrival and departure times to turn and re-provision the train, so we were also 2 hours late departing. Seattle station was a complete shambles, as the staff could not override the automatically scheduled announcements locally, so boarding was called and crowds queued (being near the head of the line in Coach is extremely valuable as seats are essentially unreserved), only to be shouted at to sit down, as the single boarding point was needed for trains bound for Vancouver and Portland ahead of our late-starting train. Provisioning was a shemozzle in the sleeper carriage. It looked like towels, soap etc. had been thrown in hurriedly with little regard for how passengers would use the amenities. We essentially never saw our carriage attendant, save for when he opened the door at stations.

Dinner was served on the run-up Puget Sound before we turned east for the Cascades, with last light around 9pm. The next morning, I awoke as we approached Libby, Montana around 05:30. We had caught up about an hour of lateness overnight. The timing was good, as we were getting into Glacier National Park - the scenic part of the journey. We passed through Whitefish (which has a unique station building) and West Glacier on the run through the mountains, before eventually exiting into 'big sky' country a little after 09:00am. From here, it was much flatter country across the top of the US (typically within 100 miles of the Canadian border) as we spent the day running east through Montana, before crossing into North Dakota. It was on the run into Minot we were told there was a derailment ahead that was in the last phase of being cleared, and given the delay, we'd be taking a mandatory 3-hour crew rest stop here. Unfortunately, it was already 10pm and everything was closed around town, so I went to bed. The next morning, we were indeed running around 4.5 hours behind schedule.

The train that had derailed was carrying Amazon consumer goods between distribution centres. As an aside to discussing the Builder, I think it's worth noting how much freight they transport by rail in the US. I wish we could get a market share even remotely close. It's a wonder to behold with passing loops and rail yards often full of loaded trains. They move A LOT of containerised freight in addition to the usual things you might expect like wheat, oil, coal etc.

We never caught up this lateness from this point, as we moved into the more heavily populated states of Minnesota and Wisconsin (and of course Illinois if I had travelled that far). There's a lot more marshy terrain up in this part of the Northern US than I expected, but it seems to be good corn growing country as when it wasn't marshland, it was pretty much endless corn from here on in (except the population centres of course).
Overall, a good journey with some good scenery, lots of people to meet and talk to, and plenty of time to sit around relax. You'd have to be crazy with Amtrak to think you won't be at least 2 hours late for pretty much any of the 'grand journeys' between Chicago and the west, so the lateness was not something that really worried me.

To put some numbers on it:
Journey and scenery: 7/10 – Glacier National Park is a stand-out. You get the Montana 'big sky' experience too. Would be better in winter.
Rollingstock: 5/10 – Superliner stock are showing their age. 8/10 in sitting mode but the upper bunk is not particularly comfortable, even on the relatively smooth railways used by the Builder.
Staff: Carriage attendant 2/10; Dining Car staff 8/10. I have to split this ranking up. 2/10 is generous really for an attendant who was barely seen and did not provide any service. Dining car staff tried hard under difficult and understaffed circumstances. Bonus points for effort.
Meals: 6/10. Perfectly serviceable. The steak and chicken dinners were fine. The burger and sandwich lunches were quite good. Americans seemingly don't know how to make scrambled eggs or cook bacon very well (this goes beyond just Amtrak though). The Railroad French toast was a standout breakfast.

The Southwest Chief – Chicago to Los Angeles
I did the full trip from Chicago to Los Angeles, across Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, southern Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona and California. The journey runs primarily on BNSF lines, some of which are the most heavily utilised in the country, including from Chicago to Kansas City, and Albuquerque to San Bernadino; but also the old and now infrequently used Santa Fe route through Dodge City and the Raton Subdivision.

Maintenance is sorely lacking or inadequate for the level of traffic for a lot of the route, as the old route between Kansas City and Albuquerque has been largely superceded by a flatter route through Wichita and NW Texas. It also seems that maintenance is not keeping up with the other more frequented sections track, as similar problems persisted throughout a lot of the journey. The track is clearly unsuitable for operations above about 80kph, but rest assured that passenger comfort and safety is not foremost on Amtrak's mind, as they belt through the route at up to 88mph instead, as if driven by an insatiable need to activate the flux capacitor and break the space-time continuum. Unfortunately, for passengers on board, time travel is not on the menu, but rather being thrown from side to side uncontrollably; sometimes into your neighbour's cabin, sometimes clear out the shower door into the changing space; and possibly even clear of the top bunk bed in your room, if not for the web of straps designed to prevent your untimely demise when it inevitably occurs. I felt like a human pinball at times, trapped within the pinball machine, bouncing around to the rhythm of the machine.

The amount of love (or lack thereof) for railway stations varied greatly by state. Chicago is obviously the hub of Amtrak and is well taken-care of. But Amtrak's boarding procedures, like I experienced at Seattle, are a total mess. Criss-crossing queues for different services, staff not knowing what platforms for trains, broken doors, the lot. Stations in Missouri and Kansas are questionable at best – for example, the stairs at Kansas City station are boarded off because the weight of a human would likely cause them to collapse. Only the elevator is serviceable, so when 100 people get off the train there, it takes a very, very long time for everyone to actually make it to the concourse. I didn't see much of the stations in the state of Kansas, but you get the sense a similarly minimal budget is allocated to keep these stations going. Albuquerque is a well-loved and taken care of station, and those in California I saw (Barstow, Victorville and those in the greater LA area) are also well taken care of.

We were, of course, running 2 hours late by the time we got to Albuquerque. The beautiful mesa scenery really comes on west of here, and as we were late, we had the setting sun as we cruised through the coloured mountains of New Mexico – great in person but photographs don't do it justice. The late running meant the sun was gone as we crossed into Arizona, so the climb up to Flagstaff at 7,000ft above sea level was in the dark. Like the Builder, the great scenery is concentrated to really one section of the trip, and it's pretty much everything from Albuquerque west, including; the descent into San Bernadino; but the run in from Trinidad (Colorado) into New Mexico along the old Santa Fe route is pretty special if US rail history is your thing.

Nothing new to note about the menu – it was the same as on the Builder. I had the fish one night – also perfectly serviceable – and gave the steak a victory lap. Americans still don't know how to make bacon and eggs. The eggs might have been powdered... everything about them was not quite right... Bonus points to our dining car attendant who decided the train had to much gin on board, because the one complementary alcoholic beverage with dinner tasted like the glass had been filled with gin, and the tonic levels were trivial at best.

The carriage attendant was actually present this time and seemed keen to earn some tips. Too keen actually, as he was making beds before people wanting them made and getting quite surly when people complained. I never had any problems with him, he did his job but I would hardly describe it as service with a smile. Some of my fellow travellers also seemed to not have all their faculties about them, as on more than one occasion someone(s) had seemingly decided the best place for all your toileting needs is the floor, all there and ready for the next unwitting victim to walk in on. I also experienced passengers refusing to stand to one side of the hallway to allow the attendant to open the door at stations, because 'we wuz in line first to get off', whilst the fact the attendant has the key for the door and therefore no one will be getting off if they don't move was seemingly lost on them.

Overall, an interesting journey. Absolutely recommend Albuquerque to LA – wonderful mesa scenery, just be ready for the bumps. Maybe jump off at Flagstaff and combine with the Grand Canyon Railway (bus connection to Kingman required) for an even better trip. Somewhat concerning that being a human pinball is acceptable practice on the bad parts of the track. Someone will get seriously hurt one day if they belt those trains along at 80mph on clearly unsuitable track.

An unexpected bonus is you can use Amtrak lounges on arrival if you're in sleeper accommodation, so we could hang out there in LA before heading to the airport. It was particularly useful because there's nothing useful around LA Union station, I have now learned.

To put some numbers on it:
Journey and scenery: Albuquerque to Los Angeles 8/10; Chicago to Albuquerque 3/10 – Self-explanatory. Illinois, Missouri and Kansas have nothing special. The coloured mesas are highly recommended.
Rollingstock: 5/10 – Same stock as on the Builder. Lesson here is they are unsuitable and unsafe for games of human pinball. When this baby gets up to 88, you're gonna see some serious sh*t.
Staff: Carriage attendant 4/10; Dining Car staff 7/10. Like on the Builder, I have to split this ranking up. Attendant actually did things, which beats the previous benchmark, despite the attitude. Dining car staff were a little restrictive on dining times as the train was very full but had a good attitude. Bonus points for generous gin supplies.
Meals: 6/10. Same as the Builder. The lack of basic bacon and egg cooking skills appears universal in this country.

Bonus one paragraph reviews: Public transport in Las Vegas, Seattle and Chicago (Metra only)
Las Vegas
You might expect public transport to be non-existent in a city like this, but they were surprisingly competent. There is a 15 minute, 24 hour service that runs up the Vegas strip between Fremont (the old hub) and the shopping malls south of the airport, through the modern centre of the city. Definitely doesn't show up at 15 minute intervals because of all the traffic, but will get you where you want to go, and never a wait of more than 30 minutes. Other bus routes generally run north-south or east-west along major roads as the city is laid out in a grid. They seem mostly designed to allow residents to get to work in all the various Vegas hotels and casinos, but are competently run at typically 30 minute intervals for up to 18 hours a day. $8 gets you a 24 hour pass, and that's great value as you could probably barely get to the end of the block in a taxi for $8 with all that traffic.

Didn't try Elon Musk's Tesla tunnel; I think it's an absurd concept. Also didn't try the Monorail. Costs more than the bus and goes a hell of a lot less places.

Seattle '1' Line
Is it a light rail or a heavy rail? The vehicles have a very light rail feel, but the units run on fast, mostly grade separated track. American transit systems have a habit it seems of not allowing you to move between carriages in a trainset – each carriage was sealed. Seattle Airport is quite a distance from the city centre, but it's a comfortable ride.

Chicago Metra UP-NW Line (Union Pacific North West)
Service at approximately hourly intervals on weekends when I caught it. Trainsets are interesting bilevel because there's a big gap down the centre of the upper level. I've never seen anything like it. Run competently enough. Trains seem short for servicing an urban area the size of Chicago – assume they're bigger on weekdays. US $5 to get to the city from Mt Prospect, so price tag is pretty hefty.

[ozbob]

^ thanks!   

Very interesting to read. I have noticed a lot of freight is moved by rail in the USA, hopefully we can improve this overall as well.

[timh]

Great read! Was particularly interested to learn about the pricing. Very expensive to take Amtrak by the sounds of it, especially considering the service you're getting.

[SurfRail]

I'll be on train 89 (The Palmetto) from DC to Charleston in late December so it will be interesting to compare notes.

[Redrient]

Great read! Was particularly interested to learn about the pricing. Very expensive to take Amtrak by the sounds of it, especially considering the service you're getting.

If you're willing to book early and travel in coach, I think there are some great deals to be had for travelling very long distances across the USA. There's also a segment-based rail pass for coach class. For east coast services which are all a maximum of 1 night, I would happily sit in the coach seats - they're quite comfortable and the leg room is very generous. For the 2 night ones (most of the 'grand journeys' west of Chicago), 2 nights in a chair would be pushing it. On the whole, sleepers are not great value - they know you will want a bed and will hold it to ransom.

$1,500USD could probably get you a long way with a rental car and some medium-tier motels over 4-5 days, with cash to spare. My travelling companions and I did the almost 600 mile journey from Oshkosh, Wisconsin to central Ohio in a day, so the 2,200 mile journey of Empire Builder would be drivable in 4-5 days. I enjoyed the trains for the experience, but it left me with a desire to get out and actually explore the some of the great national parks of the country, which wasn't possible with my time constraints and the looming spectre of more sleeper room costs if I got off the train (they appear only partially distance based - the 'base fare' is distance based but its a flat charge for a room, regardless of how far you go (with adjustment for number of allocated meals)).

[Redrient]

I'll be on train 89 (The Palmetto) from DC to Charleston in late December so it will be interesting to compare notes.

One key difference is the consist will be exclusively single-decker, as double decker carriages cannot go to New York City. If you pay for a room for your short jump, pray for a Viewliner-II series carriage. Viewliner-I carriages put a toilet bowl in the roomette right next to your seat with no partition. They say you can't escape the odour of a 30+ year old toilet right next to your head. I don't know what insanity inspired them to think that design was a good idea.