Auto Train Security?

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markfribbins

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I haven't been amtrack for a good 10 years. I used to ride it all the time. I'm taking an auto train trip in a few weeks, and i have been reading that amtrack has beefed up their security. When i used to ride there was zero security. You just got on. I don't fly. The security bothers me.

So i have few questions for those that have been on the auto train lately:

1. Security. What is the security these days? Is it like at the airport now? Do you have to go thru full body scans? have your bags seached and go thru a pat down? Just want to know what to expect. From what i read it's probably just a few bomb sniffing dogs wandering around, which I have no problem with. I certainly don't want someone coming on the train with a bomb.

2. I didn't get my ticket yet. I have a reservation, and i paid for it online. When i get to the auto train, I assume i pull up and they take my car. But i won't have my ticket yet. I'll have to go inside with my reservation and get my ticket. Will this be ok? Will i have to go inside and get my tickets FIRST them i can put my car on the train?

3. They say for oversized cars to show up by 2pm. I'm planning on showing up at noon just incase there is traffic. (it's a 5 hour trip from where i am).. think i'll be ok?

I guess that's it.

If anyone has been on the auto train lately and can tell me about the experience including what security you had to go thru let me know.

Thanks.
 
Is it like at the airport now? Do you have to go thru full body scans? have your bags seached and go thru a pat down?
No.
From what i read it's probably just a few bomb sniffing dogs wandering around, which I have no problem with. I certainly don't want someone coming on the train with a bomb.
Yes.
2. I didn't get my ticket yet. I have a reservation, and i paid for it online. When i get to the auto train, I assume i pull up and they take my car. But i won't have my ticket yet. I'll have to go inside with my reservation and get my ticket. Will this be ok? Will i have to go inside and get my tickets FIRST them i can put my car on the train?
You pull up to a booth, they give you an envelope with your tickets, then you pull forward to the unloading/transfer area where you get your carryon luggage and head inside, while Amtrak (not Amtrack) takes your car.
3. They say for oversized cars to show up by 2pm. I'm planning on showing up at noon just incase there is traffic. (it's a 5 hour trip from where i am).. think i'll be ok?
Coming from that far, that's a good plan. Not a lot to do in the station area, so if you get to Lorton at noon, you may want to grab some lunch on the outside before you check in and they take your car.
 
While I'm not sure about Auto Train, the most security I have seen on Amtrak other than ICE Inspection has been an ID check when boarding and a quick sniff from a drug dog while passing through Chicago.
 
I'm posting again, since i'm now a register user and can get email responses.

Yeah i have been reading that the auto train terminals have a dog sniffing around the whole thing.. wonder what those dogs are looking for. My guess is bomb sniffing dogs. Anyone actually work for amtrak and know what they are really there for?
 
ohh well i would guess the auto train has none of that.. anyways i'm a us born citizen. don't have to worry about that.
 
Correct on the first (in practice, at least - a good portion of the Auto Train's run is in the "100 mile from the border" area that the Border Patrol can do their thing), not so much on the second if you're unlucky. They'll still wake you up and pester you if you take a train that goes near the border (the Lake Shore Limited seems to be the most popular for this little bit of shenanigans).
 
that would totally suck to get woken up on the auto train.. whole reason i'm taking it is so i can sleep. If that happen i might as well have driven down to Orlando.
 
2. I didn't get my ticket yet. I have a reservation, and i paid for it online. When i get to the auto train, I assume i pull up and they take my car. But i won't have my ticket yet. I'll have to go inside with my reservation and get my ticket. Will this be ok? Will i have to go inside and get my tickets FIRST them i can put my car on the train?
You pull up to a booth, they give you an envelope with your tickets, then you pull forward to the unloading/transfer area where you get your carryon luggage and head inside, while Amtrak (not Amtrack) takes your car.
No, they won't have the tickets in the booth, AFAIK they never did in the past, you had to go inside to get the actual tickets.

However, that's all academic now anyhow. Since the Auto Train now has eTicketing, they no longer issue tickets for the train. You just show your print out with the barcode on it and you're done.
 
that would totally suck to get woken up on the auto train.. whole reason i'm taking it is so i can sleep. If that happen i might as well have driven down to Orlando.
Well, considering as how none of us have ever heard of a report of the border patrol searching the auto train, you will probably be fine. But even if it did happen, I am sure the auto train is still more comfortable than driving to orlando.
 
In four trips on the Autotrain we saw a police officer with a bomb sniffing K-9 dog in the terminal at Lorton each time. I don't mind being sniffed by a dog. Its far more accurate detection than all the automated scanning equipment available and its nonintrusive. When we pull up to the entrance gate, they asked us both for ID and then handed us the folder with the tickets. We then dropped off the car went inside, checked in at the front desk and made dinner reservations.

As you know all trips on the Autotrain are non stop (except for the crew change at Florence SC) and so far TSA hasn't come aboard. IMO, even if you have a sleeper, the A/T is one of the harder routes to sleep on. It travels at 70 MPH most of the night and that causes a bit more side to side movement than many of the other routes. You are also riding on Norfolk Southern and CSX freight trackage that is often in rough shape. Still the ride is enjoyable and because we have our car with us,its one of our favorite routes. Don't forget to go to wine and cheese hour at 3 PM.
 
"It travels at 70 MPH most of the night and that causes a bit more side to side movement than many of the other routes." Umm.. how is this different from most routes? I can't think of any Amtrak LD routes that don't do this actually.

"You are also riding on Norfolk Southern and CSX freight trackage that is often in rough shape." Unless I'm mistaken, the Auto Train runs only on CSX track. CSX track in my experience is quite rough compared to others.
 
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IMO, even if you have a sleeper, the A/T is one of the harder routes to sleep on. It travels at 70 MPH most of the night and that causes a bit more side to side movement than many of the other routes. You are also riding on Norfolk Southern and CSX freight trackage that is often in rough shape. Still the ride is enjoyable and because we have our car with us,its one of our favorite routes. Don't forget to go to wine and cheese hour at 3 PM.
How does the fact that 52/53 operate nonstop correlate to more sideways sway in the cars? It wouldn't be any different than riding on any of the Silver Service trains. If anything, a nonstop trip would be easier to sleep on because there would be no jolts from station stops I would think.

Auto Train operates exclusively on CSX trackage.
 
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2. I didn't get my ticket yet. I have a reservation, and i paid for it online. When i get to the auto train, I assume i pull up and they take my car. But i won't have my ticket yet. I'll have to go inside with my reservation and get my ticket. Will this be ok? Will i have to go inside and get my tickets FIRST them i can put my car on the train?
You pull up to a booth, they give you an envelope with your tickets, then you pull forward to the unloading/transfer area where you get your carryon luggage and head inside, while Amtrak (not Amtrack) takes your car.
No, they won't have the tickets in the booth, AFAIK they never did in the past, you had to go inside to get the actual tickets.

However, that's all academic now anyhow. Since the Auto Train now has eTicketing, they no longer issue tickets for the train. You just show your print out with the barcode on it and you're done.
I didn't even have that, just told them my name, showed my ID, and they gave me the tix. Now I "had" the email confirmations on my PC, but I would have had to boot the bugger up, if there was a problem.
 
2. I didn't get my ticket yet. I have a reservation, and i paid for it online. When i get to the auto train, I assume i pull up and they take my car. But i won't have my ticket yet. I'll have to go inside with my reservation and get my ticket. Will this be ok? Will i have to go inside and get my tickets FIRST them i can put my car on the train?
You pull up to a booth, they give you an envelope with your tickets, then you pull forward to the unloading/transfer area where you get your carryon luggage and head inside, while Amtrak (not Amtrack) takes your car.
No, they won't have the tickets in the booth, AFAIK they never did in the past, you had to go inside to get the actual tickets.

However, that's all academic now anyhow. Since the Auto Train now has eTicketing, they no longer issue tickets for the train. You just show your print out with the barcode on it and you're done.
I didn't even have that, just told them my name, showed my ID, and they gave me the tix. Now I "had" the email confirmations on my PC, but I would have had to boot the bugger up, if there was a problem.
They're not supposed to be handing out tickets anymore for the Auto Train. Those with tickets that were printed before the conversion to eTicketing must bring them to the station. But any bookings with tickets that weren't printed are supposed to be eTicketing only from here on out.
 
2. I didn't get my ticket yet. I have a reservation, and i paid for it online. When i get to the auto train, I assume i pull up and they take my car. But i won't have my ticket yet. I'll have to go inside with my reservation and get my ticket. Will this be ok? Will i have to go inside and get my tickets FIRST them i can put my car on the train?
You pull up to a booth, they give you an envelope with your tickets, then you pull forward to the unloading/transfer area where you get your carryon luggage and head inside, while Amtrak (not Amtrack) takes your car.
No, they won't have the tickets in the booth, AFAIK they never did in the past, you had to go inside to get the actual tickets.

However, that's all academic now anyhow. Since the Auto Train now has eTicketing, they no longer issue tickets for the train. You just show your print out with the barcode on it and you're done.
I didn't even have that, just told them my name, showed my ID, and they gave me the tix. Now I "had" the email confirmations on my PC, but I would have had to boot the bugger up, if there was a problem.
They're not supposed to be handing out tickets anymore for the Auto Train. Those with tickets that were printed before the conversion to eTicketing must bring them to the station. But any bookings with tickets that weren't printed are supposed to be eTicketing only from here on out.
My bad, I mis-typed, they gave me my "Boarding Pass" upon seeing my ID............
 
"It travels at 70 MPH most of the night and that causes a bit more side to side movement than many of the other routes." Umm.. how is this different from most routes? I can't think of any Amtrak LD routes that don't do this actually.

"You are also riding on Norfolk Southern and CSX freight trackage that is often in rough shape." Unless I'm mistaken, the Auto Train runs only on CSX track. CSX track in my experience is quite rough compared to others.
They don't call it CrashSmasheXplode for nothing!
 
IMO, even if you have a sleeper, the A/T is one of the harder routes to sleep on. It travels at 70 MPH most of the night and that causes a bit more side to side movement than many of the other routes. You are also riding on Norfolk Southern and CSX freight trackage that is often in rough shape. Still the ride is enjoyable and because we have our car with us,its one of our favorite routes. Don't forget to go to wine and cheese hour at 3 PM.
How does the fact that 52/53 operate nonstop correlate to more sideways sway in the cars? It wouldn't be any different than riding on any of the Silver Service trains. If anything, a nonstop trip would be easier to sleep on because there would be no jolts from station stops I would think.

Auto Train operates exclusively on CSX trackage.
Actually I think I figured out what dlagrua was talking about.. the auto train is the only train that operates superliners over CSX track overnight. The Capitol runs on CSX, but mostly in the day, and that run is mostly slower (30-40mph) running if i recall. So perhaps there is a notable difference in the amount of sway you feel on the auto train compared to other overnight superliner runs.
 
The point that I was making is that the Autotrain runs at a consistent 70mph on much of a non-stop run. Other Eastern routes do have slower stretches AND station stops. In comparison our trip to Chicago on the CL last June was far smoother than on the Autotrain. The trackage on the A/T route is some of the roughest that we've experienced. I know that the A/T runs on CSX trackage but I though that the section through the Folkson Funnel was owned by NS.
 
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