Amtrak Beginners Guide | Everything You Need To Know To Ride The Train

Just an extra tip if you don't mind to add to all your wonderful information. When it comes to people asking about whether they can warm their food on the train... If you are traveling in a group of two or more; so that you are not carrying all your stuff by yourself; Amazon sells portable food warmers that you can use to heat up any food... some only come with a car type power plug, so you would need an adapter for it, but others come with both that and a regular plug type power cord. You can use it to heat anything from soup to sandwiches to fried chicken... burger and fries....etc....

The both of you do a great job!! Would the two of you ever do a hints video of hints suggested by viewers? Here is a little tip I use for sleeping on Amtrak. For a month before my Amtrak Adventure, I train my sleep pattern using "Ambient Sounds of Amtrak" for 6-10 hours in length as found on "YouTube ". This allows for less stress when you try to sleep on the train and mentally prepares you for rest.

So glad I found your channel. You guys are doing amazing explaining details. As a retired engineer and conductor for UPRR and working Amtrak 21 & 22, delays are to be expected like you mentioned. Amtrak will operate on rails with freight trains. Dispatchers are good at placing freights in a siding well ahead of Amtrak, but when these trains don’t fit in the siding, or they go into emergency because of broken air hoses, hot wheels meaning brakes or journals are stuck. Trains will slow or stop for the repair. Amtrak will get stuck behind these trains. Lastly. If there is a train vs car collision, expect to be taken off the train if it’s a bad situation or if its ahead of you, could be hours and I mean hours for the area to get clear depending on severity ! I can’t stress enough, traveling by rail IS NOT air travel. These attendants and conductors, are overworked and are just as stressed as you when issues happen. Plan for it, prepare for it, and expect it !!

Happy 51st birthday Rob! Allie, I hope you had a very special day yesterday!

I love Amtrak it’s easy to take especially if you’re in a wheelchair. whereas the airline test to lose everything and break wheelchairs whereas Amtrak, let you bring your wheelchair on as long as you let them know you have a wheelchair the conductors and employees at the station are very professional, and they won’t break your power wheelchair or lose your luggage like the airlines do

If you're getting off at a station where the train isn't scheduled to stop for a "smoke break", be sure to get out of your seat and gather up your bags well beforehand. Not only will they leave you on a platform if you're not on the train when it's ready to leave, if you're not OFF the train when it's ready to continue (which at smaller stations could be 45-60 seconds after it stops), then you're going to stay on the train until at least the next stop. This almost happened to my wife a couple of years ago.

I'M A TRAVEL ADVISOR AND I CAME ACROSS YOUR CHANNEL ABOUT TWO YEARS AGO AND HAVE WATCHED AND POSTED YOUR INFO ON MY EVENT PAGE & WEBSITE. I'M LOOKING FORWARD TO TAKING MY SMALL GROUP FROM NY TO THE GRAND CANYON! I APPRECIATE THE INFO, SUGGESTIONS AND VIDEOS TOO! THANKS...

You always pointed out having a roomette / sleeper.. how about take the challenge by traveling coach on these long amtrak rides. Not everyone might have the luxury of spending so much cash on a sleeper room. Just a thought to consider. ;)

One thing people should learn how to do is 'how to pack.' I always see people getting on trains and airplanes loaded down with bags. I never check bags; I learned my lesson. I have traveled to different countries, 43 states, 3 Canadian provinces. One carry-on. For families it's a bit different but I still will guess that those loads can be lessened. It's a lot less headache.

Such valuable information. You guys are great!

In regards to the train being late - if you at a station where the train originates, ( not in the middle of the route) usually they will be on time because that is where the train set starts the trip. If you plan to get on the train in the middle of the route, the train can be late because of issues " upstream ". Also if you getting on the train where it starts the route the time of departure is when the train starts to move, not when the boarding process starts. From my experiences the boarding process starts about 20 minutes before the scheduled departure time. When booking a ticket , do that as soon as you know you are going to travel. The cheapest tickets do not allow you to change tickets and charge 25% of the ticket if you cancel. For a small amount extra one can get a ticket that you can cancel or change for no charge. About $4.00 more on my trips to NYC or about $$39.00 vs $ 35.00 . Well worth it for peace of mind and last minute changes.

Heads up. Sunset limited east now only serving breakfast, lunch, dinner, break, lunch. Westbound lunch, dinner, break, lunch, dinner. Did roundtrip last year and got dinner before arrival in new orleans at 9:40. Also got breakfast 1st morning back to l.a. They cut 2 meals out of trip but charge same. Confirmed on phone. Guess whole train going to need to grab a sandwich in houston and eat breakfast before boarding heading back west! Seems silly we would all be foodless for the evening.

Just wanted to thank you for the chance meeting the other night. You are both as genuine in person as you are on the channel. Although an Amtrak excursion will have to wait because of my current geography, I will share this with my mother who has become an Amtrak fan in recent years. Merry Christmas 🎄 and Happy New Year 🎊

I saw one video on here with a very novice couple. They were in the big beautiful NYC Moynihan train hall and saw a check baggage drop off and stood in line to be told their train didn’t have it checked baggage. I think they were on a north east regional to Boston. 😂 videos like these are good for the novice Amtrak traveler!

Very helpful thank you!

As usual. Great advice!

Great video. Thanks very much much!

My wife and I can’t thank you both enough for your help with our anniversary trip! We took Amtrak from Cleveland to Las Vegas! The trip was visually amazing and exactly what we wanted…being able to see the scenery together! We used many of your tips, (charger power cords, snacks, packing light, etc.). I was rather surprised that my 6’3” frame fit comfortably on the bed in the room with no issues…roomette appeared tight, so we went with a full room! Also, I sleep with a CPAP, so the room was the best option. Thanks again for the information you put out there! 👍🏻😁😁

You two are travel goals 😊I wish I could afford to travel around the world on Amtrak. Maybe in the future I will try to take one trip a year.🙌🏽👍🏽

We went in October for our first trip on Amtrak. Elyria OH to Chicago then the CZ to Emeryville. Stayed overnight there, the next morning the San Juaquins to Bakersfield. Rented a car to drive to SD. Stayed in SD for a week. On the way home SD to LA, SW Chief to Chicago and back home to Elyria. Our only section with no real extra buffer was the first leg. We were supposed to have 3 hours in Chicago. Ended up with 20 minutes. Not sure what the heck was happening in that last stretch near the Indiana Dunes area into Chicago but I could’ve jogged faster (but without my luggage). The other 5 trains on our journey were on time or even early. Like one of the earlier post the cost would have prohibitive even in roomettes on the trip. We went 3/4 across the country and back for $900. I priced it out, with rooms or roomettes it would’ve been $3500-$6000. Big difference. Huge difference. Would it have been nice to have the meals? Yes. Lounge access on our long LA and eastbound CHI layovers? Yes. But in talking to other passengers who were in a roomette they didn’t sleep all that well either and were leery of the shower. We figured out a pretty good system for the bathroom. Tip, go change clothes for the night/day, wash up etc during a fresh air break. Easier to stand and get the work done without the motion. Heck I even washed my hair in the sink basin. The only food we bought was our “entrees”. The hot sandwiches. We packed Crystal Light type packets, brought a couple of water bottles, granola and breakfast bars, chips and pretzels. The south view that we “had to have” on the CZ heading west was just okay. The sun in October is in the south sky so being a sunny day for a lot of it we were blinded. Conductor Brad on that stretch was a bit of a jerk. Kept lambasting people for hogging the observation car. But nothing had been said to the people who were on tables in there the ENTIRE day prior from Chicago to bedtime. We did not budge. Overheard others in the car saying it was there 5th time on the CZ. Etc etc. This most likely would be our only time. Some got up after his repeated lambasting but tables and chairs then remained empty so we did not feel too bad but when he would walk through I felt we were given the stink eye. For our first time we did appreciate how slow the train went on curves, bridges and trestles. I’m surprised we did not get motion sickness at all. My wife was however more comfortable at the tables in the OC that faced backwards. I watched as many as Allie’s and Rob’s videos I could that applied to our trip. So much that my coworker friends and wife were probably equally sick of hearing about their latest upload. I want to thank them for their help, inspiration and honesty (although the elevator from the station to the hotel in Emeryville was nothing). Way way worse here in our part of NE Ohio if you ride our local transit. Or even the high end outdoor shopping mall that has the Apple and Nike type stores has parking garage elevators that are more sketchy. But again Allie and Rob, thanks for your help.