Traveling by train

Has anyone traveled by Amtrak? I'm taking my first train ride soon, I tend to get motion sickness on boats, but not planes or cars (as long as I'm not reading something while traveling). I'm wondering how the motion of train will leave me feeling.

A retired conductor told me it'll be okay. The train bumps up and down a little, not rocking back and forth like a boat. I hope he is right! He said his wife gets horribly seasick, but trains don't bother her.

Train ride stories anyone?

This message was edited Apr 4, 2008 8:53 AM

The last time I took a long train ride was in the late 60's. My BF, now my DH, was stationed at Ft. Meade and about to be deployed to Viet Nam. I took the train from Chicago to DC to say goodbye. I'll never forget what I saw. There was an area in the station stacked high with plain wood coffins. They were for soldiers killed in Viet Nam. What a horrible site! My DH made it home a year later, unscathed, a little jaded, but ok.

Anyway, the train ride was soooooooo boring and long, that he bought me an airline ticket and I flew home. Crying all the way. My poor stewardess couldn't console me. Neither could the cabbie in Chicago. I was just a kid, not even 21 yet, but that train ride and what I saw is stuck in my head forever.

Diana

DW & I took the "Copper Canyon" tour in Mexico years ago - 16+ hours one way. Beautiful after the first 6 hours, and even that had some amazing sights. Then two days later, back to the middle where we stayed for 5 days. Should have been 4, but a derailment shut down all train traffic for two days, so we got an extra day at the resort.

There were over 76 tunnels, one even has a switchback in the middle of the mountain, so you come out several hundred feet lower than you entered.

Probably should do it again.

You should be fine. I'm prone to motion sickness but never had it on a train. I have had it in cars and on boats.

My mom took Amtrak several years ago to Oregon from Utah. She said it was a nice ride but she gets bored easily and couldn't find anything to do. We told her she should make friends while on the train but...

No motion sickness for her and she does get seasick.

thanks so much! Puts my mind at ease.

I am a major motion sick person!!! But riding on a train is a breeze as long as I am facing the way the train is going. I tried sitting in the seats that face backward and that was awful!! Also found that I can't spend to much time in the bathroom either....rock and roll in there!! but all in all...I love traveling on trains (make sure you bring along a ton of drinks and munchies....)

JustmeLisa--where are you going on your trip? Sounds interesting. I'm sure you'll do just fine, and if you are prone to sea sickness you could get some meds from the doc or the drug store. I think they have all kinds of patches for sea sickness.

pastime--your train ride story is so very poignant. I remember my (plane) trip to San Francisco say good bye to my DH who was being shipped out to Viet Nam (1971) and I think I would have lost it completely if I had had your experience.

That Copper River train ride sounds like an adventure! Now that's a train ride I would love to take.

I haven't been on a train (except local trains) since I took a train ride down the Nile in Egypt back in 1976. Very exciting adventure for me.

I took amtrak from kansas city to pueblo once. It's more of a surge forward and coast type motion. pull and release. You can feel the torque of the pull. you get use to it. It's similiar if you floor the gas in your car and then let off.

tabasco, I'm going home to see mom. The train leaves KY and arrives in New Orleans. The ride will be 12 hours, the same amount of time it takes me to drive the journey. It comes out to be just as cheap by rail as it is by driving. I've driven the route 3 times, but it is a long drive for one driver. I travel straight through when I drive, only stop for fuel. It is just myself and my daughter traveling, so DH likes the idea of the train much better.

I can't wait to go home for a visit! It has been a while. Crawfish season is getting kicked off over there and I know there is a sack of crawfish with my name on it....!

Oh, that sounds like a wonderful train trip and it will be so nice to see your family (and eat the crawfish!).

I love New Orleans--one of my favorite cities (and I'm not the only one, am I!?) (-:

Well, I have to say I'm not really a big fan of N.O. or any big city.

I am very much out of my element in cities..they scare me.

My final destination is 65 miles S.W. of New Orleans..in Lafourche/Terrebonne Parish, near the Gulf of Mexico. I'll have to bribe one of my friends to meet me at the train station...DOWNTOWN New Orleans. *shudder* I'll have them sign a contract to be there on time..haha.

I have been out in Lafourche bayou. Very interesting country. Here's a nice link for anyone who is interested in cyber visiting--- http://lafourche.com/area.htm The crawfish feasts look amazing!

My DH does a lot of business in NO and we have our favorite places there but love to go out into the country side for drives. We like to drive over to Mobile, too. Always someplace new for us to explore.

I hope you're not counting on the train to be on time! I know that much about train trips these days!

that is my hometown..I can smell the crawfish cooking. My heart jumps when I see pictures like that! I love living here in Kentucky, but the bayou runs deep in my blood. :)

New Orleans is a neat place, we have been several times since we live so close. Post Katrina it's much calmer but still has it's charm. Ahhh Jeez now I want bread from Leidenheimers! Oh and muffaleta from Central Grocery...

mmmm! I can smell Central Grocery and their wonderful Muffuletta sandwich (pronounced Muff-a-lotta) oh, and their olive salad..yum.
There are several small mom and pop stores in my (ex)hometown that sell 'em and do a pretty good job of it.

we have a po-boy place we love that's at the end of the canal st car ride...can't remember the name but ohhh my!

I am so food deprived up here..I can't wait for my visit with food..errr, I mean Mom..

Hi Lisa!

It's been since the 1960's since I've been on a train (I was but a wee young girl), but I have always had a "glass stomach" and always got sick in the car if I couldn't see the road. But I had no problem riding in a train. If you set facing the front and next to the window where you can see the landscape, I think you'll do fine. I remember my train ride was a really cool experience. My Mom, sister, and I went from Detroit to Ashland, Kentucky, where my aunt picked us up at the station and drove us home to Johnson County. I fondly remember liking the little Chessie System kitten that was on everything. http://www.allcatsarelegends.com/Chessie%20Sleep%20Like%20a%20Kitten%20from%20orginal%20print.jpg If I remember right, I think their slogan was "Chessie Sleep Like a Kitten". One of my fondest mental pictures that I remember from that trip was shortly after sunset, as dusk covered the countryside, I saw thousands and thousands of lightening bug/fireflies out in the farmers' fields. That was something I never got to see living in the city - metro Detroit.

....Don't worry, you and Sally will have a blast on the train! Hey, what's Jesse going to do while you're gone?? Make sure you leave him a looooooong "Honey-Do" list. ;) lol

Blessings,
Glenda

ha! Yep, he does have a honey do list!! He is working on critter pens.

Thanks for the story and I remember the little Chessie kitten too! I grew up 2 houses from the RR tracks, I always wondered how it would be to ride a train..If someone would have told me way back when that I would be riding for 12 hours, I would have never believed it!
Our train ride will be 12 hours long. So, I hoping (praying actually) that no sickness will ruin my trip. I can't wait to see Mom.

I taking the City of New Orleans...Arlowe Gunthrie's (sp?) song keeps playing in my mind..

i don't think you will get sick lisa. and the nice thing is is that they have dining cars and you can move around a little. they are a lot more spacious than a plane.

Some day... I want to take a train trip where I get to sleep in one of the sleeper cars. ....Doesn't that sound like blast?

A few years ago, one of our friends took the train out to California. He was out west somewhere, in one of the cars that have the semi-glass ceilings for sightseeing the countryside. Anyways, believe it or not, the train got held up by train robbers on horses!!! They only robbed the engineer and his co-workers, but it was a train robbery just the same. I thought that all ended with the Wild, Wild West! .....Lisa, I'm sure you won't have a problem with train robbers on horses on your way to "Nawlens". lol
:) Glenda

Wow! that's amazing! I thought train robbing only happened in movies!

I took Amtrak from Seattle to Oceanside. Had a"sleeper", the mini one, for the 35 hour ride. I would never do it again. Uncomfortable, noisy, food is barely fair and way overpriced, it was late almost all the way there, missed the "open window" for going through some construction and had to bus it from Santa Barbara to Oceanside. Was set off the bus at 3:00 am over three hours late with no phone or place to stay and my hosts had gone back home. I sincerely hope your trip is pleasant, and being only a third as long it should be. Actually the motion sickness aspect wasn't a problem.

wow, almost as bad as flying!lol

ha, isn't that the truth!
Thanks for all the stories, hopefully I'll have a good one to tell..

I just took Amtrak to Fla......16 hour ride.....got a sleepette...all meals included.....I was amazed at how smooth it was . a little jerking now & then felt like we were running over something...LOL......but the starts & stops were so smooth you couldn't tell by the water in the glass at the bedside when it happened. I am a poor sleeper usually & I slept like a rock.....since Florida is fairly ugly beside the train tracks I closed the curtains & read most of the way...good lights & plenty of pillows. It was fairly quiet....the noise level at about the level of a refrigerator running....no clack clack clack....the stops were amazingly brief.

the lunch & breakfast were fair, but dinner was great!....the coffee was the best i ever had....the attendant took wonderful care of me, I am aged & in ill health & he brought me my meals on a tray.....the little bedside potty & the sink were very handy. I couldn't say what the coach accommodations were like.

We were precisely on time. The train arrived within 2 minutes of posted time both ways & arrived within 5 minutes both ways. I think it depends on which route you take. I'd check the website & it will tell you when its on time or late & I'd watch it for a few days or so to see if that route is always on time.

A very pleasant experience.


This message was edited Apr 10, 2008 12:14 PM

foggywalk, your trip sounded very nice--do you travel by train often?

tabasco, my family treated me to a trip to see my older brother.....first vacation in over 20 years! i needed a really cushy, stress free way to go.

If I could afford it, I'd be traveling ALL the time....it was very nice, indeed.

Foggy

What a delightful gift! Hope you enjoyed your visit a lot!

I wish I'd get lucky like that!