Death by a thousand paper cuts. I've had enough. I cashed in all my points for a cross-country trip this summer, which unfortunately will probably be my last trip on Amtrak.
I think you'd see more support on the political right for rail infrastructure if Amtrak were privately operated. I suspect they'd be much more willing to support the tracks and infrastructure just as they do for airports/air traffic control or interstate highways. The difference is that the...
One other inconvenience on the drive would be the I-25 construction project. If the #6 is delayed for several hours you also face potential lane closures between Castle Rock and Monument, making a late night even later. See https://www.codot.gov/projects/i25-south-gap/traffic-alerts
Ah, the memories. Took my first train ride on the C&NW from Woodruff to Rhinelander. I was just a kid and my parents took us on one of the last runs before they shut down the line in 1971.
No wonder why Amtrak's on-time performance is so poor. Can you imagine an airline turning around after takeoff to drop off someone who got on the wrong plane?
Unfortunately, I've also been on a (already-late) train that waited at a stop for 10 min while looking for someone in the dining car...
My current long trip is:
- Denver to Chicago on the California Zephyr (coach)
- Chicago to Pittsburgh on the Capitol Limited (sleeper)
- Pittsburgh to Philadelphia on the Pennsylvanian (overnight in Philadelphia)
- Philadelphia to D.C. on the Northeast Regional
- D.C to Chicago on the Capitol...
I've been in the transdorm a couple of times, but personally I prefer a normal sleeper. As mentioned earlier, the attendant is pretty scarce and the dining car attendant forgot about us when taking dinner reservations. The train whistle is noticeably louder as well.