Walking. Gossip. Travel.

Tag: Amtrak

Los Angeles – Amtrak Train to Tucson

[I originally posted this in July 2018 about a trip in January 2018, but I’ve reposted it to fix the broken image links]

My initial plan for this trip was to explore the United States for a month, being reliant on Amtrak to transport me around. I intended on going to around eight cities and would spend a couple of days in each of them. That partly happened, although there were some problems with closed routes.

So, I settled on going from Los Angeles to Tucson, from Tucson to El Paso, from El Paso to San Antonio and then flying from San Antonio to New Orleans. I then had another series of cities after that to visit, but I used plane and bus to get to them. This masterful plan was dented when Amtrak mailed me two weeks before my trip to tell me the train from El Paso to San Antonio was cancelled and they were providing no alternatives. Fortunately, Greyhound buses filled in the gap….

So, the first part of my journey was from Union Station in Los Angeles, California to Tucson Station in Arizona.

I’d been to Union Station on numerous previous occasions and taken many photographs. So this time, I limited myself to just taking a photograph of the tower since it was a warm and pleasant evening.

The departures screen in the main departures hall.

On my previous Amtrak trips I’ve just waited in the departures hall until the train is called. I felt that something seemed different about this trip though, and so I went to the customer services desk to ask if there was anything else that I needed to do. It turned out that this was a good decision of mine.

The man at the customer services desk was particularly helpful and explained that I needed to go and queue up to get a ticket. Instead of giving me directions, he decided to close the desk and escort me to where I needed to be, another helpful touch.

I then spent around thirty minutes in a queue to get a ticket, but that meant I could choose whether I got a window or aisle seat. The Americans (or at least they all seemed American) in the queue was conversational which made for a more entertaining wait. I went for a window seat so that I could look out of the window at California and Arizona, although I forgot it got dark at night and this was primarily a night train….

This was my view for most of the journey…. (not the same hill obviously, but different ones).

Around twenty minutes before departure time there was a call for passengers, so I went to wait on the platform. I hope Dylan and Leon get to see these trains soon, as they are large and slightly clunky, but I think they’re rather beautiful.

Moving the train towards the end of the track is apparently a more complex procedure than it might at first appear.

Ready to board. It looks a bit of a crowd, but the boarding was organised so that individuals could wait outside their carriage. A staff member then welcomed us individually and guided us towards our seat.

It’s hard to give an indication of seat size, but the leg space is substantial and far in excess of that I’ve experienced in any other country. Even if the person in front reclines, it makes absolutely no difference to the comfort of the person behind them.

When I was in the departures hall at Union Station a young guy came up to me and asked if he could borrow my charger. The railway station has a reputation for hawkers and people begging, and I was a little suspicious. I told him that I didn’t have the right adaptor for the plugs there, but I could charge it on my laptop, which I did. This didn’t seem risky as I currently had his phone and he had nothing of mine. All was well, he thanked me and that was that.

Anyway, it transpired that I was seated next to him on the train, which seemed rather a coincidence (the seating was allocated, so he didn’t just sit there). He was a pleasant and helpful guy, and he asked again on the train if I could charge his phone. Which I did, and that’s what is in the photo above.

The guy gave me a can of Pepsi for my help, and so I then agreed to charge his e-cigarette thing. Which promptly leaked. But he was happy 🙂

Getting nearer to Tucson in the early morning.

The train didn’t go that quickly if I’m being honest, but it was relaxing and comfortable. There were cabins on board for those who wanted them, although they’ve quite a bit more money.

Safely arrived in Tucson. The ticket cost around £28 and I thought that this was perfectly good value for money. I was slightly disappointed that there was no wi-fi on the train, but I understand that they’re actively trying to work on this across the network.

Overall, this was a very acceptable way of being transported from one city to another. The train was quiet on boards, there were plenty of toilets and numerous guards were available for any passenger who needed help. I was marginally disappointed I couldn’t get the train from Tucson to El Paso as it had been cancelled, but we arrived into Tucson on time. One final thing, I like that the guards go down the train waking any customer up who is still asleep before their stop, it’s a reassuring service….

August 13, 2025
2022 US Trip – Day 28 (Amtrak Train Journey : Birmingham to Newark – Over 24 hours in coach)
I’d had just under 24 hours in Birmingham and I have to note that I got the impression that the Magic City felt troubled. It’s been depopulating for decades and the urban core feels quite hollowed out. Property prices are startling low, the homeless population seemed substantial and I didn’t get the impression that they got large numbers of tourists visiting the city. There were inevitable high points such as the Birmingham Museum of Art, but parts of the city felt on edge. I had visited to get an understanding of the civil rights history of the city, which was told well with information panels in the centre and I learned a lot. However, that was nearly the entire story that Birmingham seemed to be telling, as if it is still struggling for a new identity.

With that visit completed, I was going from Birmingham to Newark, which is a journey that is I suppose possible in the UK. It would though be a much quicker rail trip, the one that I was about to undertake in the United States was going to take 24 hours and 30 minutes. In coach.

The Amtrak station doesn’t open until two hours before the train departs, which is something hard to imagine in a European rail station. A security guard bounded up to me when I entered and asked what I was doing, which is again something hard to imagine at Norwich railway station. I replied that I was getting an Amtrak train and so he pointed towards the ticket counter, which I acknowledged but ignored as I already had a ticket. He seemed surprised that I had a ticket, despite that clearly being what most travellers have. It’s really not the welcome that any public transport facility should have, but it’s going back to that troubled city status I mentioned. The staff here are on edge and they’re trying to stop people coming in who might want to harm them. Just as with the bus station, they threw several people out whilst I was waiting, something dramatic has to change in Birmingham for this to stop happening.

The staff weren’t actually unfriendly and one came over to me and asked if I happened to have a cable for a phone that another passenger on the Greyhound service needed urgently. He said he understood that I wasn’t local and so it was unlikely, but by good fortune I did have the cable he needed. There were three security staff and so it was hard not to feel safe inside the Amtrak station and I felt that I did my civic duty and duly received the cable back just before I needed to depart for my train.

Then it was announced that the train would be boarding in five minutes so the doors were unlocked and we were finally allowed to go to the platforms. It felt like a hospital.

I wouldn’t have minded a sleeper service, which I’ve never gone on in the United States, only in Ukraine.

A few decades ago platforms in railway stations across the United States would have been bustling and busy. It seemed like those days were long ago, but the services are still running and passengers are still coming, but there’s a lot of work to do in the United States to improve the rail network. There are areas of the country where it does well, not least on the east coast connecting large cities together, but the coverage nationwide is poor. High speed rail services in the United States really aren’t a thing, getting planes for domestic journeys is how that’s done.

I could hear the train coming before I could see it, as they’re not subtle things, and I got my usual childlike sense of excitement that I get when Amtrak trains come charging into the station.

And here’s the beautiful lump of metal. I do adore these things.

I was at the back of the queue to board as I had been faffing about with taking photos, but it wasn’t a particularly long queue and why rush when you’ve got 24 hours on the train?

This was to be my seat for over 24 hours, or at least, the one I’m sitting in when taking the photo. The guard was nonplussed with my long journey to Newark, there were many doing similar trips including those going a little further into New York.

Laptop attached to the power, connected to the wi-fi and I was good to go. The train was the Crescent, a 2,216 kilometre (1,377 mile) long rail service which goes from New Orleans to New York and it has been in operation in some form since 1891.There are 33 stops along the route and for anyone taking the service for its full length, it takes just under 32 hours end to end.

I had acquired a two litre bottle of Fanta from Publix, I thought that I’d need it to stay hydrated.

It’s not the best photo that I’ve taken of the buffet car, but there were seats here for those wanting to dine whether that be snacks or full service meals.

The prices on board, which weren’t unreasonable.

Who needs a full service meal anyway? Doritos, coke and noodles, the food of champion long distance rail passengers. The noodles are $2.50, so around £2, it’s an affordable hot option.

There’s something a little charming about returning to a location from earlier on in the trip and that was the case here in Charlotte, North Carolina. I’d got the train here a few weeks earlier on during my US trip and this was when I started to feel that the trip was coming to an end and I was coming home. It was also where I got someone sitting next to me for the first time as the train filled up, but he was marvellous company, polite and he didn’t cause me any disturbance. He was going to New York, so his journey was hardly a quick jump either.

I spent nearly the entire trip either dozing off, working on my laptop or staring out of the window. To be fair, there’s not much else to do, but I was certainly well rested by the end of it. There’s no rush when you’ve got 24 hours, everything is leisurely and I was surprised just how quickly the time went by. It also feels like an adventure, albeit a passive one where I didn’t have to do much, although there’s a lot to be said for those.

Arriving into Greensboro in North Carolina as dawn breaks. A little earlier there was some excitement on the train, which I videoed and might well upload at some point, when the police boarded the train. A male passenger had been accused of exposing himself to a female passenger (I’d better add here that I didn’t video that bit, not least as I was asleep when this whole incident started to kick off) and the Amtrak conductor was there saying he wanted the police to remove him. The passenger was keen to explain his rights and say he wasn’t leaving. The police said they weren’t taking any further action, but he was being removed from the train as that was the law when Amtrak staff made that decision. This went on for a few minutes before the guy gave up, protesting his innocence. He made a good point that what was he supposed to do in the middle of the night at a railway station in what was in relatively the middle of nowhere. The police said they didn’t mind what he did, which isn’t quite what he was asking. Worn out with all this unexpected excitement, I went to sleep again after he had been booted off.

If you travel across the United States you see a lot of trees, water, fields and settlements seemingly miles from anywhere. It’s not as barren as when I’ve travelled in more westerly parts of the United States, but it’s glorious to travel by small towns with their nineteenth century buildings and streets that look remarkably unaltered.

This looks oddly cramped, but it wasn’t, there is more than enough space to lie back and be nowhere near the seat in front.

This is Washington DC where they have to do technical things to the train (the line is only electrified between Washington DC and New York), so passengers can have twenty minutes to wander around. I didn’t intend going off to investigate things on the concourse as we were told we could, and being naturally cautious this is as far from the train as I deemed it safe to go, just in case it rushed off without me.

I’ve been to Baltimore a few times, I’d like to go back and I always slightly regret going through a city that I don’t get the chance to visit properly.

Philadelphia is another city I’d like to visit again, but it was so near, but yet so far.

This time though, that’s pretty much all that I was going to see of the city.

Some very American messaging there, diets don’t work….

And that’s that, I arrived into Newark as timetabled, 24 hours and 30 minutes after setting off from Birmingham. The journey cost me around £90 which isn’t cheap, but I felt it was very reasonable given the huge distance covered. The time had melted away, I was refreshed and felt that the seat was sufficient and I hadn’t needed a sleeper carriage. Obviously the sleeper carriage and full service meals would have been a different and more decadent experience. But, it’s not authentic to me, like being in a car it’s just shutting off from the real people and the exciting events that happen. I accept that watching a man be arrested for exposing himself isn’t really a fine example of that, but I very much liked the conversations, the excitement and the experiences.

This was my final expedition on Amtrak on this trip, but I hope to be back in 2024 as I want to be back there on another rail service. I have fond memories of this rail journey, it felt like I suspect a cruise would if I had experienced one. It’s watching the world go by whilst being comfortable, relaxed and productive in terms of work. I read books on my phone, listed to podcasts and was just a little bit jealous at every stop when passengers got off at towns and cities that I wouldn’t get chance to on this journey. The staff on board were relentlessly friendly, visible and it felt a safe environment. Well, other than the dodgy man who was arrested. But everything else was magical and just as I hoped it would be.
Facebook

WhatsApp

Twitter

Pinterest
December 30, 2022
2022 US Trip – Day 27 (Amtrak Train Journey : New Orleans to Birmingham)
I’m not sure that I’ll ever grow tired of these beautiful trains with all their complete lack of subtlety. The boarding process started over thirty minutes before departure which was earlier than expected, leaving me with just a little less time in the railway station building that I had expected. My first little problem was that I struggle to pronounce Birmingham in the way that the Americans pronounce their Alabama city, I keep trying to call it like the UK one. Fortunately, this didn’t overly confuse the rail staff and I just got an odd look instead which seemed a fair compromise.

Spacious seats once again, which is fortunate as the Crescent train was scheduled to depart at 09:15 from New Orleans and not get into Birmingham until 17:15 so I would be on board for some time. I have no complaints about the ticket price though which was $25.

I know that I witter on about the same thing on every Amtrak train post, but the space that they give passengers is truly admirable. The guards were personable and helpful, although once they’d checked my ticket and reminded me my stop was coming up next there wasn’t much more interaction needed. It was a quiet service as well, there was never anyone sitting next to me and many of the seats remained empty.

Leaving Lousiana. Once again, I had all that I needed from an Amtrak service, namely power and wi-fi.

I was way too excited about this, a train journey through (well, on) Lake Pontchartrain. I’ve been along a rail line in California between San Diego and Los Angeles which goes along the beach, but I’m not sure I’ve been transported over a lake like this.

An engineering triumph, I was on the Pontchartrain Bridge which at 5.8 miles long was apparently the longest rail bridge over water in the world for some time and that record has only recently been beaten.

A train service where you’re watching people fishing from their boat is definitely a little bit special.

And here’s a little video. It’s the same on the other side of the train as well, there’s not land to the side, this is right through a lake.

I’m not a train heritage expert, but this might need a little bit of work.

Arriving safely, and on time, into Birmingham, Alabama. This was also my first visit to the state and I was entirely unsure what to expect from the city. I’d note here that I didn’t take any photos of the railway station as I didn’t feel comfortable doing so for safety reasons, which tells its own story.
Facebook

WhatsApp

Twitter

Pinterest
December 29, 2022
2022 US Trip – Day 11 (Amtrak Train from Raleigh to Charlotte)
After being suitably recharged in digital and technological form at Raleigh railway station, the Amtrak train to Charlotte arrived on time.

I have to comment on the ridiculous amount of space available in coach on these Amtrak trains, with plenty of space to use a laptop and not annoy anyone who might be sitting in the next seat. I took this photo just before I disembarked, it was busier than this although there was still plenty of space and less than half filled. The power worked, the w-fi worked and so all was well with the world.

Let’s just contrast this situation with the fiasco of Northern Rail, where they have crammed five seats in a narrow carriage and have the knees of passengers hitting each other when seats face each other. There’s no point talking about moving people onto rail so they can get work done when the trains look like this, and that’s even if they’re running with the current situation with strikes.

The rather barren platforms of Charlotte railway station, which is a bit of a distance from the city centre. This station was opened in 1962, slightly further away from the centre than the previous building, and it’s showing its age now.

It’s not at modern as at Raleigh railway station, although it is the busiest in the state of North Carolina.

The exterior of Charlotte railway station, from where I was about to set off on a 4.9 mile walk to the hotel in true Dave Morgan style. I wasn’t getting the train back from here, so this was my only visit to the railway station although I did go through it en route to Newark at the end of my trip. It’s likely that I’ll never visit this railway station again, as it’s being relocated to be nearer to the city centre and this should open by late 2023 or early 2024. The replacement is Charlotte Gateway Station which will serves trams, buses, long distance coaches and rail, a very ambitious project which seems a very worthy endeavour.
Facebook

WhatsApp

Twitter

Pinterest
November 24, 2022
2022 US Trip – Day 10 (Amtrak Journey from Richmond Staple Mills to Raleigh)
For some years, this was the only station in Richmond, until the central station reopened after a period of closure. It was constructed in 1975 to temporarily replace the central station which had been damaged by floods and at the moment some Amtrak services only stop here, but there are plans to ensure trains stop at both stations. There had once been a third railway station in Richmond, from a time when people took trains, but more about Broad Street station at Wikipedia….

It was clean and functional inside the railway station, although it all felt a little dated and I’m not sure that the interior has much changed since the 1970s.

Mine was the 13:36 Carolinian train service which went all the way to Charlotte, where I was going later on, but today it was just to Raleigh. I was pleased to see that it was all on time.

Passengers aren’t allowed out onto the line until the train is ready and all parked up (or whatever the technical term for a train is, perhaps just stopped).

Getting ready to board, passengers are shown which carriage to sit in and then a guard comes around to check where you’re going and write that above the seat so that they can ensure you actually get off there.

The view out of the window before we set off and I was pleased to see the power and wi-fi were both working as expected.

I find it very relaxing to gaze out of the window, looking at the lakes, swamps, forests and so on. However, that is quite hard to photograph and so they don’t really come out very clearly or look anywhere near as impressive.

Out of focus, but I quite liked this photo, it felt like a low quality image from the 1950s.

My first sight of North Carolina as the train went over the state border, so my second new state of this trip, the first having been Virginia.

These crossings look more impressive from the train window than as photos.

The train interior and journeys are comfortable, these are bulky and stable bits of kit and unlike many British trains which bounce up and down on the track and where you feel every jolt.

The trains are clunky and industrial.

Things for children to play with. Or at least, they likely would if left unsupervised.

And safely into Raleigh, North Carolina, where I only had one day.
Facebook

WhatsApp

Twitter

Pinterest
October 10, 2022
2022 US Trip – Day 9 (Amtrak Train from Williamsburg Back to Richmond)
After a visit to Golden Corral and the Precarious Beer Project, it was time to get the Amtrak train back to Richmond. Williamsburg railway station, or technically the Williamsburg Transportation Center, has been here since 1873, but the current structure is from 1935 and was funded by John D. Rockefeller Jr as part of the Colonial Williamsburg project.

The platform area and I did take a video of the train coming in, but I’ll upload those all later on.

I was just relieved that the storm the previous evening hadn’t blocked the line.

Note the little yellow step, that’s the boarding stairs.

The staff member getting ready to move the boarding stairs into position. It’s not exactly an air bridge is it?

On we get using the provided boarding steps.

Better photos of the inside of Amtrak trains are coming from my other trips, but this will have to do for now. Spacious and comfortable, with access to power and plenty of seats available.

Arriving back into Richmond on schedule.

The Holocaust Museum that I had visited a few days before.

And safely back into Richmond Main Street. My plan was to spend an hour or so looking at some historic sites around the city before moving onto my hotel which was near to the other railway station in the city, Staples Mill.
Facebook

WhatsApp

Twitter

Pinterest
October 9, 2022
2022 US Trip – Day 7 (Richmond Main Street Amtrak Station and Travelling to Williamsburg)
I’d enjoyed my less than one day in Richmond, but it was time to move on to Williamsburg for the weekend.

It’s a large building and as I mentioned on my post about arriving into the city, there was a period until relatively recently when Richmond didn’t have a central railway station. The railway station was built in 1901 and by the 1920s there were 20 services a day arriving into Richmond. Also, the floor level has changed here, that is a warehouse section at the rear that once had an extra level below, but I think it was the extensive flooding from Hurricane Agnes in 1972 that changed that and required a reworking of the area. The rail service left in 1975, instead using the Staples Mill Road station a few miles outside of Richmond, with the building being badly damaged by fires in 1976 and 1983. It would have been easy to give up at this point, but repairs were made and in 2003 the city got its central railway station back.

I still find it odd to see “no firearms” signs, I’m used to taking that as read in the UK.

This looks peaceful, but there was a large wedding party going on in the other part of the room. Just behind me the groom and his party were being introduced to the cheering masses that I couldn’t see and it was all a bit raucous for me. It was actually an odd sight, a combination of tired looking rail passengers waiting to board effectively in the middle of a wedding reception. We also weren’t allowed to wait outside, the doors here are locked until just before the train arrives.

I had got talking to a local person who was really knowledgeable about British politics and we ended up in conversation until I got off in Williamsburg. His politics were obvious as he was wearing a “I am a Democrat” badge, but he had travelled extensively, he was engaged about European politics and it was interesting finding out more about American politics, which I’ve been trying to understand recently ahead of the mid-terms. That meant the time went by quickly and not only was I pleased for the chat about global affairs, it also meant he was able to ensure I was in the right place at the right time to get the train. I’m not saying I would have got muddled up and accidentally joined the wedding party instead, but it’s nice to have local knowledge.

Finally allowed out onto the platform.

Here it comes, the Amtrak train and I’m pleased to see the huge level of investment that is being put into this New York to Richmond line, with more on this at https://www.washingtonpost.com/transportation/2021/09/27/amtrak-trains-virginia-richmond/. The train I was boarding was the continuation of the one that I had been on the day before, with the entire route being the Amtrak North East Regional train service from Boston to Newport News (including New York, Baltimore, Washington, Richmond and WIlliamsburg).

Staff check tickets before boarding and then send people to the appropriate carriage, although they seemed less concerned this far into the journey and I imagine it didn’t matter much as this was one of the last few stops.

And disembarking, safely in Williamsburg. I didn’t get any photos of inside the train as I was merrily chatting to my new politics friend, but there are many more Amtrak train reports to come…..
Facebook

WhatsApp

Twitter

Pinterest
October 7, 2022
2022 US Trip – Day 6 (Amtrak Train from Penn Station to Richmond, Virginia)

I’ve already mentioned how much I liked the new Amtrak station at Penn in New York and I left that post as the announcement to board was made.

This is the queue for the train, which wraps around in front of the 13/14 gate sign before then going around it and then down the escalator. It was just as long behind me and it’s the most organised queue that I’ve seen at a railway station. Staff were ensuring people were waiting in the correct line and double checking that they were boarding the appropriate train. In the UK there would be a mad dash for the train, but perhaps the United States just know how to queue better.

This photo is taken from the opposite direction to the previous one and shows how long the queue still is.

Blurry unfortunately, but there’s the train.

The train was only busy for the first section of its journey between New York and cities such as Baltimore and Washington DC. On nearly all Amtrak trains I haven’t got anyone sitting next to me, but for the first half of this one I was sitting next to a lovely lady. She kept giving me grapes which was kind of her.

The space available on these trains puts the UK ones to shame. I can use my laptop because of the drop-down table that comes down and have plenty of legroom.

I didn’t order anything as I had acquired packs of Cheetos for my journey in advance, but here’s the menu for the buffet car.

That’s what it looked like later on during the journey, very peaceful and quite industrial.

One of the most delightful elements of Amtrak travel is seeing so much of the United States. Much of this doesn’t look as impressive in photos as in real life, or the exciting views passed before I had time to take a photo of them, but my 6.5 hour journey went by so quickly. I’m not sure that I’ve ever said that about travelling on UK trains, but this is a very stress-free way of getting about the United States. I had purchased these tickets some way in advance when the exchange rate was better, this trip cost around £25 which I thought was quite reasonable. Amtrak trains go relatively slowly and so it would have been quicker to get the bus, which I think was around five hours, but this is just a more decadent way to travel.

Disembarking at the Amtrak railway station in Richmond, my first time in Virginia. One of the joys about rail travel, as opposed to bus travel, is that you can actually see the countryside rather than just seeing endless roads, and I got off feeling more refreshed than when I got on. Amtrak should use that as a marketing slogan.

September 30, 2022
Amtrak Pacific Surfliner (Los Angeles to San Juan Capistrano)

I’ve taken the route of the Pacific Surfliner before and the section between San Diego and San Juan Capistrano is perhaps one of the most beautiful in the world as the train glides along by the beach. The section between Los Angeles and San Juan Capistrano is still intriguing, although rather less so in the dark….

I only just caught this train as I was fortunate that the Megabus arrived in just a little early into Los Angeles. The Amtrak ticket desk also fortunately had a short queue and then so with a few minutes to spare I was able to take a seat on board. It’s a double decker (Dylan would like that) and as spacious as the other Amtrak services that I’ve taken. There’s a cafe car and there were no shortage of seats on the journey, although it was still relatively busy.

I did wonder whether customers are allowed to buy tickets on board, but I decided against risking that. However, I found out the answer as the passenger in front of me hadn’t purchased one, and apparently the answer is that these tickets are twice the usual cash price. The conductor phoned Amtrak customer service to discuss something about the ticket price, although I unfortunately couldn’t hear enough to work out the solution.

The one downside is that the train’s wi-fi wasn’t functioning, it would connect but not actually let me reach the log-in screen. Fortunately I discovered that there is some public wi-fi in Irvine which I could connect to for a few minutes, but otherwise I was unlucky with the access to the Internet today, given this and the Megabus technical issues.

The Amtrak train pulled into San Juan Capistrano on time with its horns blaring out as usual as it goes over a crossing which cars and pedestrians use. The town was much busier than I’ve seen it before, it felt like a friendly Prince of Wales Road at night….

May 4, 2019
Amtrak California Zephyr (Chicago to Omaha)

The Amtrak California Zephyr rail service runs daily from Chicago in Illinois to Oakland in California, a journey which takes just under 52 hours. It’s also one of the most beautiful rail routes in the world, although I was only travelling the Chicago to Omaha section which isn’t the most spectacular in terms of the scenery.

I’ve taken Amtrak services from Chicago Union station before and I like how they call them from the Great Hall, it’s all very organised. Everyone is then escorted to the train and then seated on the appropriate part of the train for their destination. This has the advantage that the train crew will wake passengers up if necessary as they know where they’re getting off.

It’s not a great photo, but it shows the amount of room between each row of seats. Even if the passenger in front reclines, the seat is nowhere near the passenger behind, so it’s all spacious and comfortable. There’s also power and large tray tables for those who want them. The service wasn’t particularly busy on my journey so the crew member told everyone they could take up both seats if they wanted.

The crew, like with the majority of Amtrak services I’ve taken in the past, were friendly, helpful and didn’t take life too seriously. The announcements had a touch of humour to them and everything seemed organised, well managed and safe.

There is a full service dining car on board, which I’ve never got round to eating in, I always go to the cafe bar. That’s primarily because I like the chicken noodle soup and Pepsi, it’s not classy, but it meets my basic requirements. And it’s cheap.

There’s an observation car on the train for those who want to watch the scenery go by. I didn’t spend much time in here on this journey, but I have done before. The main reason why I usually spend so much time staring at the scenery is that many Amtrak trains don’t have wi-fi. I was delighted though to discover that the California Zephyr now has wi-fi (or at least this particular train does), so I managed to get numerous things done, ideal given that the journey time was nearly nine hours.

Photos of the scenery. The bottom one is the Mississippi River, the fourth longest river in the world.

The train arrived in Omaha and this is now my first visit to Nebraska. The train journey cost around £40 in coach, although there are rooms available for those who want more luxury. The train also arrived into Omaha on time, despite being around 20 minutes behind schedule at one point.

It’s quicker to fly I know, but Amtrak make play that’s not just about arriving at the destination, it’s also about the journey. And there’s something about trains which I just prefer to flying, especially given how comfortable they are.

April 27, 2019