I've got a few hours to kill in Chicago between trains, and I thought I'd write something about traveling by train here because it is so different from doing so in Europe.
Firstly, on nearly every line there is only one train each day, often in the middle of the night.
Secondly, the trains are almost universally late - on long distance trains usually up to around 2 hours, but it can be much more. Mine was an hour late leaving Pittsburgh and nearly two hours late into Chicago. Mainly because freight trains always take precedence (because they bring in income, whereas the passenger trains are run at a loss).
Once the train has arrived, all the embarking passengers queue at one door. Then the guard picks out first families with children, then people in groups of two or more, and seats them first. Only after that can others get on.
The trains (some at least) are double decker, and the seats are huge, with lots of leg room. They recline, and a leg rest comes out to make it easier to sleep. The best approach is to try to get two seats to yourself which, with the leg rests out, make a pretty decent bed.
Conversation with strangers is pretty much mandatory (the opposite of the tube).
And there is one group of people you are bound to meet on an Amtrak train, in this area at least - the Amish, who prefer trains to other long distance methods of transport (apparently).
In my carriage, along with the usual assortment of travelers there was an Amish father and son, complete with straw hats (but wearing buttons...), a drunk who couldn't remember where he'd gotten on, and two young men (about 20) carrying bibles and singing praise songs while everyone else was trying to sleep.
Pittsburgh to Chicago was just over 9 hours, Chicago to Denver will be about 17.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
When I travelled on an American train the conductor took my ticket and stuck it in a slot on the luggage rack above my seat. Is that normal? Why?
not sure - they didn't do that to me... but i wonder if it's for two reasons... since they don't do seat reservations it enables you to bag your seat even while you're eating in the dining car / admiring the view from the observation lounge. also, since a lot of the stops are in the middle of the night, the conductor comes through before each one and wakes people, but only those whose stop it is - on my train the conductor wrote a note of where everyone was getting off and stuck that into the luggage rack - perhaps using the ticket served the same purpose?
Post a Comment