New to Amtrak - travel with young children

[JayPea]

..ain't gonna happen.

Then be prepared for a discussion with the conductor as to the virtues and vices of waking up and irritating people who happen to think you should be put off the train and have the desire to get up and politely tell the conductor so. Such as me.

Depends on the nature of the call. A middle of the night talk with overseas husband is understandable. It is the inane mindless conversations that have me climbing the wall. Last overseas flight was a prime example. (Plane depatureat 11:30pm) For the first two HOURS female two rows in front of me carried on a long conversation loudly and about next to nothing. Heard very few words out of her seatmate that was on the listening end. After a while I started counting word repetitions. She actually managed to use the word "actually" an average of about 2.5 times per sentence with an actually heard 4 maximum in a couple of sentences. Really, could she not have found an actual synonym to "actually" at least a few times?

Actually, I agree. Really. :lol:

 

[Guest]

"prepared for a discussion with the conductor "

As I said, I was near the doors, the attendant DID come by, I explained briefly the situation. He grasped the uniqueness and left me alone for the conversation. Didn't move that time....won't move next time...say something to me and I would have come alive in a very harsh way against you...don't like it..go put on a uniform and experience the extremely unique challenges that service members go through. So sorry if you don't like my opinion... that's just the way it is. I WILL argue with you till the cows come home on this forum about this situation.

 

[Green Maned Lion]

I don't think you shouldn't talk to your husband, Guest. I wouldn't want to deprive you of that at all. But please, move to a place where you aren't keeping me awake. If you were in an airplane or on a bus where you have nowhere to go, I'd fully understand. But on a train, I think what you are doing is being rude. There are several places for you to go where you won't disturb your fellow passengers.

 

[mercedeslove]

I don't think you shouldn't talk to your husband, Guest. I wouldn't want to deprive you of that at all. But please, move to a place where you aren't keeping me awake. If you were in an airplane or on a bus where you have nowhere to go, I'd fully understand. But on a train, I think what you are doing is being rude. There are several places for you to go where you won't disturb your fellow passengers.

you can't reason with ignorance Green...

 

[amtrakwolverine]

"prepared for a discussion with the conductor "
As I said, I was near the doors, the attendant DID come by, I explained briefly the situation. He grasped the uniqueness and left me alone for the conversation. Didn't move that time....won't move next time...say something to me and I would have come alive in a very harsh way against you...don't like it..go put on a uniform and experience the extremely unique challenges that service members go through. So sorry if you don't like my opinion... that's just the way it is. I WILL argue with you till the cows come home on this forum about this situation.

then lets argue if your talking in a normal quit inside voice fine. but if your TALKING as loud as you can then your asking to get tossed off the train. conductors have the power to remove someone from the train if there harassing others. it says on the website BE CONSIDERATE OF OTHERS IS THAT TO HARD TO UNDER STAND BUDDY.

 

[caravanman]

I feel rather ashamed of the way a member of the public asks members for advice about their first train trip, and this posting degenerates into one about behaviour.

I would like to offer my sympathies to anyone with children reading this, and to say that my 30,000+ Amtrak miles have only been improved by having families aboard train, as well as the cage fighters, drunks, ex cons, that I have happily sat next to aboard Amtrak trains..

Ed B)

 

[George Harris]

Mercedeslove, my love, and the GML, I think the ignorance and lack of consideration in this situation is on your part. Remember, we are talking a 14 minute conversation that is not suject to relocation to a more convenient time and place. When there are multiple time zones involved, NORMALLY at least one end of the conversation will be at an awkward time. It is way past time you had some consideration for HER situation. Maybe you just need to have the experience to understand. Personally, if I were the conductor and you came with some rant about a woman talking to her husband who is in service in the mideast for a brief time, you would be the one I would think about asking to depart at the next station.

 

[amtrakwolverine]

Mercedeslove, my love, and the GML, I think the ignorance and lack of consideration in this situation is on your part. Remember, we are talking a 14 minute conversation that is not suject to relocation to a more convenient time and place. When there are multiple time zones involved, NORMALLY at least one end of the conversation will be at an awkward time. It is way past time you had some consideration for HER situation. Maybe you just need to have the experience to understand. Personally, if I were the conductor and you came with some rant about a woman talking to her husband who is in service in the mideast for a brief time, you would be the one I would think about asking to depart at the next station.

were not talking about that lady were talking about people who have no business being on the phone at 3am and talk as loud as possible and cuss and everything and laugh there heads off as loud as possible. those are the people were talking about.if they talk quite fine but if they talk has aloud as possible then theres going to be some issues

 

[Green Maned Lion]

I'm not saying she shouldn't talk to him! I'm not even IMPLYING that. I'm merely suggesting that she should relocate herself to a place away from sleeping pax. Thats it. If we were in a situation where moving would be dificult, such as on a plane, I'd not even argue! She said herself she was near the door. Is it too much to ask that she lift herself off the seat and go through said door? It is nothing I wouldn't do myself!

 

[D.P. Roberts]

I have to agree with GML on this one. By all means, continue the conversation. As you're talking, stand up, walk the 40 feet (or less) to the stairs, & talk downstairs where you can speak at a normal volume without bothering anybody. Unless you're mobility-impaired, I really don't see why this small effort shouldn't be encouraged.

And yes, this thread has digressed from its original topic. However, I don't see why these common courtesies shouldn't extend to people traveling with small children. If you're traveling with a baby who wakes up crying in the middle of the night, by all means carry the baby downstairs in your attempts to soothe him/her back to sleep. If you need to discipline your child, deal with an unruly one, etc., the same rules should apply. I see people doing these same things in public every day & don't see why the same rules wouldn't apply on a train. Conversely, I see people NOT following these rules of common courtesy every day, for no apparent reason other than the idea that they have a "right" to act in any matter that suits them.

I'm not sure getting the conductor involved, or even saying anything to the "offending" passengers is really the point. I just think such common courtesies should be encouraged whenever possible.

 

[mercedeslove]

when I was on my trip and had to make a call or got one. I'd go into the sight seeing car, or downstairs. I only once talked in couch, because it was on charger. I had one of the cars with the outlets at every seat.

 

[Joel N. Weber II]

[...] who felt a need to carry on a cell phone conversation after midnight in some location other than a vestibule or lavatory.

I'm confused. Weren't you complaining somewhere else that riding in the vestibule isn't tolerated by the train crew?

I also get the impression that the vesitbule is not exactly the quietest part of a car, and I've found while talking on a phone in a seat on the NEC that it seemed like if I talked softly, the person on the other end of the phone couldn't hear me; perhaps the phone was picking up background noise from the train.

And I've been on an NEC train where I had to walk to another car to find a usable lavatory. That limited supply doesn't really make me wish people would use lavatories as phone booths.

And when Amtrak mentions the concept of a ``quiet car'', that might leave one with the impression that there's an expectation that people in cars not designated as quiet cars might be expected to talk in louder than library voices.

If Amtrak made more effort to encourage inexperienced passengers to walk around on the train, that might also help with this somewhat. This is a foreign concept to those accustomed only to automobiles, airplanes, and perhaps even commuter rail. The seat check slips Amtrak conductors put at the seat also don't help to give people the impression they should wander around.

 

[Green Maned Lion]

All of your statements work perfectly fine during the day. I don't mind. I don't expect (OR WANT) a silent train. I've made quite a few friends on train travel, and it wouldn't work if we didn't talk. During the day.

A 2 or 3 in the morning, its a whole different thing altogether.

 

[VentureForth]

This is just so fun, I have to add my 2c...

1) Twinmom: You are the best judge of your children, and I would imagine that you would make the proper decision. The older the kids, the more appropriate Acela would be (keep in mind that their lowest service level is business class). There certainly isn't any reason why younger kids should be kept off of Acela, but you may want to bring along a DVD with earphones to entertain them. Even the best behaved children can get restless.

2) Interesting that the two who are most critical of kids are those without their own (and were most recently kids themselves).

3) A heartfelt conversation, even at 2 AM, with someone whom you love and cannot be with may be appropriate for a period of time. Someone said once that your freedom ends when it starts to infringe on mine. A 15 minute call in a low tone should be tolerated by most. Screaming, yelling, and God-fobid, cussing is something that anyone has the right to ask you to refrain from whether the other end is in Iraq or New York City. I sat in a terminal where a lady was cussing at her husband because her flight got cancelled. Everyone in the waiting area did not need to be a part of that conversation.

4) There is no "downstairs" on regional or Acela trains.

5) Peace.

 

[mercedeslove]

This is just so fun, I have to add my 2c...

2) Interesting that the two who are most critical of kids are those without their own (and were most recently kids themselves).

That argument, point, whatever the heck you want to call it is so...cliché. I hate hearing that.

 

[Green Maned Lion]

Allow me to clarify what both me and (I think) Mercedes are saying: we aren't crtical of children. Children are children, and they don't always know what is appropriate. We are critical of the parents who do not seem inclined to teach and or remind said child that they are acting inappropriate.

 

[kimbersierra]

Wow! Parents are used to ear piercing shrieks?! Really!!?? You think we enjoy what our children do?!? We are just trying to survive parenthood intact and sane.

Edited to remove offensive personal attack language.

AmtrakWPK-Moderator

 

[AmtrakWPK]

Two comments for the most recent poster:

1. The posts you are replying to were most recently posted in March of 2008, a year and a half ago.

2. All of us who have traveled on Amtrak long distance trains for any length of time have witnessed out-of-control children whose parents truly looked as if they cared not one whit about the havoc and distress those children were wreaking on their fellow passengers. Some of those children, quite frankly needed to be on a leash, or in a cage, their behavior was so uncontrolled and disruptive. And that is the fault of the parents. If you are going to have children, you also are responsible for their behavior.

Some parents do indeed have well-disciplined, well-mannered children. and if that includes yours, you have our grateful thanks, and the thanks of all the others who were passengers when you traveled. And, when they are grown, you will have their thanks, and the thanks of THEIR children, because you taught your own children discipline and manners and therefore they knew what to teach and how to teach it

We are not child-haters. If anything, we despise those PARENTS who refuse to instill proper discipline in their children. If there was such a thing as a parent license, there are an awful lot of parents who should not have been given that license. The unfortunate end result is a grown-up with little or no social skills, who cannot behave appropriately in a work situation, and likely has a very difficult time finding and keeping a marriage partner. And if those persons become parents, there is then a VERY steep and immediate learning curve necessary if their children are not to turn out like they themselves did.

 

[mercedeslove]

Two comments for the most recent poster:
1. The posts you are replying to were most recently posted in March of 2008, a year and a half ago.

2. All of us who have traveled on Amtrak long distance trains for any length of time have witnessed out-of-control children whose parents truly looked as if they cared not one whit about the havoc and distress those children were wreaking on their fellow passengers. Some of those children, quite frankly needed to be on a leash, or in a cage, their behavior was so uncontrolled and disruptive. And that is the fault of the parents. If you are going to have children, you also are responsible for their behavior.

Some parents do indeed have well-disciplined, well-mannered children. and if that includes yours, you have our grateful thanks, and the thanks of all the others who were passengers when you traveled. And, when they are grown, you will have their thanks, and the thanks of THEIR children, because you taught your own children discipline and manners and therefore they knew what to teach and how to teach it

We are not child-haters. If anything, we despise those PARENTS who refuse to instill proper discipline in their children. If there was such a thing as a parent license, there are an awful lot of parents who should not have been given that license. The unfortunate end result is a grown-up with little or no social skills, who cannot behave appropriately in a work situation, and likely has a very difficult time finding and keeping a marriage partner. And if those persons become parents, there is then a VERY steep and immediate learning curve necessary if their children are not to turn out like they themselves did.

don't waste your breath it is impossible to reason with these kinds of people. They are far to selfish and self-centered to realize there is a problem and then to act on it. They live by the ignorant saying 'kids will be kids'

 

[Guest]

And they blissfully sip their beer and watch sit coms and exclaim: "Not my kids!" When the day of reckoning comes they then blame "society" or nmake lame excuses about "they werent raised that way!Its not my fault!"**sigh**

 

[sunchaser]

And they blissfully sip their beer and watch sit coms and exclaim: "Not my kids!" When the day of reckoning comes they then blame "society" or nmake lame excuses about "they werent raised that way!Its not my fault!"**sigh**

As a mom & grandma, I know that you can teach proper manners & behavior to children of all ages.

When the grandkids come over, they know there certain things that are not allowed, & things they would not be able to do at home. (nothing scary, don't worry)

But they still have to choose to behave. Or get disciplined.

At some point in their lives, they will all be responsible for their own actions.

I do not blame my parents for my misbehavior as a child/teenager/adult.

We could spend our whole life blaming others for the way I am, but IMHO that's the lazy way out.

And yes, I have said, 'they weren't raised that way'!

Because they weren't!

 

[JayPea]

On my last trip, there was a boy, perhaps 10 years old, traveling with his grandpa on the Empire Builder. Our car attendant's son was on this trip, and he and the other boy made fast friends. The first boy got a bit out of hand, and after Grandpa had spoken to him about his behavior, he finally took him into their room, shut the door, and they had a VERY stern talking-to. That ended the unruly behavior right then and there.

On the other hand, while on the Coast Starlight, a young mother got on with her son, about three or four, and unfortunately had the sleeper across from me. He was no doubt excited about his trip, but........he would not shut up. He constantly yapped, at the top of his lungs, and with a voice that could no doubt cut through diamonds. His mom was doing her best to shut him up or at least get him to lower his voice, but to no avail. I fortunately had the option of going into the faux PPC (it was in reality a CCC as the PPC for that train had presumably had mechanical issues), which I did, more to get away from him than to enjoy the scenery.

When it was time to go back to my sleeper and prepare for leaving the train at Los Angeles, the kid was still at it, talking even louder and more annoyingly, if possible. His poor mom was trying to shut him up but just could not get him to understand how annoying he was.

So in the end, it comes down to the kid. Some respond and some don't.

 

[Julie]

How well behaved are your kids? There will be other people on this train, a lot of other people actually. Who won't want t deal with kids crying and screaming most of the trip because they are bored or over tired. Make sure you bring stuff for them to do or use baby benadryl. Of course you are worried about yourslef and the kids on your trip, that is to be expected, but please think of those around you as well on this trip.

I found this post googling the topic. I realize it is an older post. However, I was completely appalled by the oringinal poster's attitude. NO I will not be drugging my kids to suit you. They are well-behaved, but they are very young still and act like kids, not adults. If this is a problem for you, DRIVE!! Apparently PUBLIC transportation is not for you!!

 

[Shawn Ryu]

If you want peace and quiet go sit in the Quiet Car.

Personally I enjoy talking to people and I like having kids around, much more fun trip. Although admittedly, kids crying 4 hours straight isnt fun at all.

 

[AlanB]

If you want peace and quiet go sit in the Quiet Car.

Not all trains have that luxury.