Take. The. Train.

[NancyMoranG]

Ottumwa. Isn't that where Radar O'Reilly was from on MASH?
Enjoy your trip

 

[KmH]

.....
As a bonus, when I get back to Ottumwa it should be close to lunch time and I should get a chance to eat at the famous Canteen Lunch In The Alley restaurant.

That's one helluvan assumption. ..... that the train is On time .

For many, part of the appeal of traveling by train is the casual pace, frequent stops, and uncertainty of the schedule.
Yesterday the #5 (westbound) train arrived in Ottumwa 16 minutes early, and today the #6 (eastbound) train arrived 5 minutes late.
A couple of days ago the #6 was 6 hours late arriving in Ottumwa.

Ottumwa. Isn't that where Radar O'Reilly was from on MASH?
Enjoy your trip

Yep. The fictional character in MASH - Corporal Walter Eugene "Radar" O’Reilly - was from Ottumwa.
In real life the actor Tom Arnold is from Ottumwa, which is why his wife's TV show featured a restaurant modeled after the Canteen Lunch in the Alley restaurant in Ottumwa.

 

[480sparky]

In real life the actor Tom Arnold is from Ottumwa, which is why his wife's TV show featured a restaurant modeled after the Canteen Lunch in the Alley restaurant in Ottumwa.

I wonder what happened to the house they started and never finished.

 

[KenC]

January 1999: Two friends and I were going to Kapadokya for winter break. A Turkish friend helped us get train tickets. We didn't realize that the tickets were for the section with unassigned seats (this was an old-style train with compartments) and by the time we got to the train, all the seats were taken. Not only that, but most of the hallways were taken as well - people were lining the hallway sitting on their "luggage" (plastic bags) and some were carrying chickens. We opted not to sit in the hallway since this was a 12+ hour trip. Instead, we snuck into a reserved compartment that was empty and stayed there until we got kicked out a few hours later.

We moved to the dining car, where we ended up chatting with some people. When the dining car closed, we were invited to sleep in the compartment. We got there and realized the 6-person compartment was packed with at least 10-11 chain-smoking Turks - one guy was even hanging out on the luggage rack. The three of us squeezed in and asked to open the window since they were all smoking. Now, these old Turkish trains were heated from the engine so they would get hot, but the Anatolian plain is quite chilly in January, so we were either really hot and coughing from the smoke, or we were freezing.

People started falling asleep and we turned the lights off. My friend Jenny was sitting by the slightly cracked window and I was next to her with my other friend, Ken, on the other side. Jenny seemed kind of restless and eventually we decided to switch seats so she could be warmer and I could be cooler. Not long after, I realized why she seemed restless - the man sitting across from me kept trying to creep his foot up my leg. At first it seemed like he just brushed it as he shifted, but then it was pretty clear what he was trying to do. I kept pushing him a way or moving, but he his foot kept coming back. Finally, I sat up, stomped as hard as I could on his foot and yelled that if he tried it one more time, he'd lose a testicle.

He stopped. And actually apologized the next morning!

The train stopped over in Ankara at about 6am and we couldn't stand staying on the train for the rest of the ride, so we got off the train and took a taxi to the bus station to take a bus the rest of the way. The next bus was hours away, so we became very well acquainted with the Ankara Otogar.

Sounds like a Marx brothers movie, but not in a good way

 

[dennybeall]

Although I rode Amtrak from DC to Philly a hundred or more times and the very interesting Auto-Train from Alexandria, VA to Orlando a couple times, I really would love to get the chance to ride the Canadian train from the east to the west. Riding that train and then touring up through Alaska on the ship owned by the same company would be an absolutely amazing adventure. Very, very expensive though!!!

 

[Nevermore1]

Although I rode Amtrak from DC to Philly a hundred or more times and the very interesting Auto-Train from Alexandria, VA to Orlando a couple times, I really would love to get the chance to ride the Canadian train from the east to the west. Riding that train and then touring up through Alaska on the ship owned by the same company would be an absolutely amazing adventure. Very, very expensive though!!!

I would love to do that trip as well.

My husband and I would love to take the Auto Train one day but the trains (any Amtrak train) are so expensive. I priced it out once and it would cost my family nearly five times the amount it would cost us in gas to drive somewhere and in a few cases it's still even more than flying. I do want to take a nice train trip one day though. There is so much more you get to see on the train that you don't when driving.

 

[KmH]

but the trains (any Amtrak train) are so expensive

Go in the off season for that train and book well in advance before the train starts to fill up.

January 23, return January 30 it's $1053 for 2 Adults in reserved coach seats and a car on the Auto Train.
Book now and June 18, return June 25 it's $954.

I'm a registered and certified tight wad. My Amtrak trip in the spring to Oregon and back by reserved coach seat (April 30, return May 11), my round trip fare cost me $355.30 with their 15% senior discount. The same dates it's $418 for an Adult fare round trip.
Amtrak allows us to, so I'll take my own food and non alcoholic beverages on the train and figure I'll spend about $80 for nice and healthy food round trip. So figure $435 total for the train including my meals.

Amtrak coach seats include a lot more leg room and more width than airplane seats do. The seats recline more and have a nice lower leg support that makes them easy for me to sleep in.
I'll bring a small pillow and a light blanket and will be comfy cozy.
I'll use No Rinse Bathing Wipes on the train to sub for showering.

 

[KmH]

I get on the train this Thursday evening - about 7 PM.

I've learned a lot about long distance train rides on Amtrak, and US railroads in general since January.

Back in the 50's & 60's the feds built the interstate highway system and lots of airports. The new highways and the new airports caused a steep decline in passenger rail traffic because lots of people started using those new transportation modes. The railroads started losing a lot money carrying passengers.

The railroads petitioned the feds to discontinue carrying passengers. At first the fed said, "No. You have to provide passenger service."
But, it turned out that was not workable and the feds started a publicly funded passenger railroad service, the National Railroad Passenger Corporation. Originally called Railpax (pax is shorthand for passenger), fortunately the name didn't survive long and was changed to Amtrak.
Amtrak began operations May 1, 1971.

I'll be on the California Zephyr May 1, 2015 - Amtrak's 44th b'day.

Online I saw videos and stills made by Amtrak passengers out a window at the back of trains. It's known as the "railfan window."
That window will be at the back end of a CZ sleeper car. Coach passengers are not allowed access to the sleeper cars. To gain access to the 'railfan window' to make photos/video when a sleeper car is at the end of the train you have to have a sleeper berth ticket.

Wanting access to that window during that part of the trip going over the Rockies so I can make stills/video, I changed my ticket, again, and booked a Roomette sleeper berth from Denver to Reno and for my return, Reno to Denver. Meals and access to 1 shared shower in each sleeper car are included with the price of a sleeper berth (towel, wash cloth, soap are provided). (Up to 34 people share the shower.)
So I get breakfast, lunch and dinner Friday, breakfast on Saturday before we get to Reno, and I can shower, as many times as the shared shower is not in use, as I want to (gotta remember to pack flip/flops) between Denver and Reno.
BTW. The showers on Amtrak trains don't drain into a holding tank like the toilets do. The showers drain right out the bottom of the train onto the railroad tracks.

So I'll be making photos/video from the Sighteer Lounge car, my Roomette, and the 'railfan window' when we go over the Rockies, through the first part of Utah before nightfall, and in Nevada after sunrise but before we reach Reno.
From Reno to Eugene I'll only be able to shoot from the Sightseer Lounge car and out the windows of the Coach car.

 

[Designer]

I've ridden trains before, but only for a couple of hours at a time. This next time I will be on the California Zephyr for two days. I've made a note of the travel wash cloths, thanks.

 

[pepperberry farm]

we've done some vacation traveling by train - highly recommended and so much more relaxing than air travel... I always suggest it as an alternative...

 

[KmH]

I've ridden trains before, but only for a couple of hours at a time. This next time I will be on the California Zephyr for two days. I've made a note of the travel wash cloths, thanks.

Their web site actually says - "Fresh towels & bed linens, soap (no shampoo - unless the SCA -Sleeper Car Attendant - provides some), and shower amenities. I'm not sure 'amenities' include wash cloths.
Train Attendant Sleep Car is their official job title. And on Superliner sleeper cars the SCA for each sleeper car sleeps in Roomette #1 of the car they take care of. Other On Board Staff (OBS) sleep in the Transition sleeper that is right behind the baggage car.

But.

In the the following video, at 4:16 we can see what look to be shower linens in a cubbyhole above the hanging clothes.
At 8:58 he opens the door to the shared shower. Unfortunately, he does not show all parts of the shower. I wanted to see behind the shower curtain to the left.

You might also want to note that each sleeper berth passenger only gets 2 free bottles of water per trip. Save the empties and refill them at the water dispenser near the bottom of the stairs, seen on the right at 9:30 in the video.

 

[Designer]

I'm not signed up for a sleeper. Just two nights, so I think I can tough it out.

 

[rexbobcat]

But do you know how hard it is to jump into a train car as it's leaving the station? And don't even get me started on the possibilities of being mugged. Plus, if you get caught by the cops, you're pretty much screwed.

I just don't think it's worth it.

 

[KmH]

I'm not signed up for a sleeper. Just two nights, so I think I can tough it out.

Yep. Two nights should be OK.
But no sleeper - no shower, no towels, no free bottles of water, and no access to the railfan window unless the last car on the train is a coach car.
You might want to note that during the winter months Amtrak re-orders the cars, putting the coach cars at the back of the train and the sleeper cars at the front of.

My 3 nights will be coach, sleeper, coach - each way.

 

[KmH]

But do you know how hard it is to jump into a train car as it's leaving the station? And don't even get me started on the possibilities of being mugged. Plus, if you get caught by the cops, you're pretty much screwed.

I just don't think it's worth it.

Disconnect!
Jumping onto a train as it's leaving the station?
Possibilities of being mugged?
Get caught by the cops?