ZACH McCRARY: A couple months ago, I was making arrangements to head back home for spring break. I was thinking about getting a plane ticket and doing the same thing that I usually do; but this time, I had an idea to do something that I’ve been wanting to do for quite some time: take a long-distance train.
Luckily for me, Amtrak has a huge hub in Chicago’s Union Station where many long-distance routes terminate; however, it’s routes out west that are relatively sparse. I have to get to Las Vegas somehow, and there’s no Amtrak station at all there. So here’s the plan: I take a train out to some town close to Vegas (and by close, I mean somewhere where I can catch a short connecting flight). That meant either Reno or LA, and I’ll take Reno’s airport over LA’s any day; Reno-Tahoe is a shack in terms of airports and LAX could be a small town in some states. So then I’ll fly home from Reno. Simple as that.
I leave home around noon to catch the L. The train leaves at two, so I have to make sure I’m on the train five minutes before then. Taking a train is definitely laxer in terms of preparation and security. There’s no TSA to deal with; the most security I ever saw was a police dog in the lounge by the platform. Then you get on the train and that’s it. No muss, no fuss, no pressurized cabin. While yes, we are dealing with heavier equipment here, but we’re also not a few miles in the air and the train can pretty much stop wherever it wants in an emergency.
Anyways, I get into my roomette and explore a little bit. I actually accidentally got into a coach class car near the back of the train because I had no idea where to go or what to do. That was quickly fixed when I asked where my room was, and I walked a few cars down. I leave my bags downstairs with the other passengers’ bags–again security is pretty lax on these trains–and I settle in. There are two pretty comfy seats facing each other and a window. A sliding door and curtains are also available for privacy. There’s a bed that folds down from the ceiling, but it’s a bit awkward to get up and down because the roomette is absolutely tiny. Granted, this was the cheapest class of rooms available, but it’s still a bit of a tight squeeze. For just me, it’s alright, but Amtrak’s website says that roomettes can be rented out for two people–that would definitely be living in close quarters. The seats on the lower level fold down to create a makeshift bed for the night, a very handy space-saving feature. I slept on the bottom bunk because the top one didn’t have a window and I didn’t particularly like the risk of falling down should we come into bumpy rails on the way.
CONDUCTOR, OVER TRAIN INTERCOM: …and gentlemen, may I have your attention? Welcome aboard on train number 5, California Zephyr, with scheduled station stops at Naperville…
ZACH: We depart precisely at 2 pm from Union Station towards the west. By the end of the day, we’d be in Omaha. I meet the car attendant who comes every once in a while to make sure everything is up to par; if you do go, definitely bring smaller bills because it’s standard etiquette to tip your attendant.
So what is there to do when you’re on a train for two and a half days? Well, sleep, for one. It’s an extremely smooth ride; arguably even smoother than a long car trip. Sometimes the car shakes a bit when going around big bends in the tracks, but it’s nothing too frequent. It’s also virtually non-stop. We stop in a city in intervals from 45 minutes to 2 hours apart from each other, but sometimes I wouldn’t have even noticed had it not been for the announcements from the conductor. Outside the sleeper car, you can walk down to the dining car where meals are served. You can opt to have your meals in your room instead of in the dining car, but I figured, hey when in Rome and there’s barely anyone on this train, anyways. Past that, there’s the observation car, a car with huge windows and ample seating to just sit and enjoy the scenery passing by. Below that is a little tiny café car, and by café car, I mean the lounge car that was turned into the café car because you can’t sit together at the lounge anymore. Anyways, they sell food and drinks down there. It’s very expensive, so I would recommend not doing that; it’s basically airport food prices or Disneyland food prices.
One big caveat through the whole experience–no provided wi-fi, and as the train passes into the great plains and especially the Rockies, cell service is sparse, sometimes completely unavailable in some places. Overall, however, it’s a very relaxing experience. You get to see some of the best landscapes that the United States has to offer and you get to pass through a few cities, too. On the morning of day 2, I woke up to see that we were stopped at Denver’s Union Station; apparently, there were delays overnight and we had to stop to give the crew their 3-hour break.
So what did I do? I walked around downtown Denver. I had to pick up some toiletries and snacks anyways because the only shower accoutrement provided was bar soap, so I had to pick up some kind of shampoo and conditioner. The meals were provided, as well, but weren’t the biggest portion-wise, so I grabbed something to hold me over between meals. It was actually kind of cool because I’ve never been to Denver before and I got to see the city for just a bit before taking off again.
After that, time just flew by. The next thing I knew, we were already in Nevada, just a few hours out from Reno. The more than two-day trip felt like it passed by in an instant, and it’s definitely one of the most memorable experiences of my life. The sad thing about it, though, is that Amtrak’s ridership, especially outside of the Northeast corridor (where service between Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, and New York are easily the most popular routes on the network) is relatively unpopular and skews among older riders; younger people like myself seldom ride trains at all. Where will this lead Amtrak in the future? Does it have a possible sustainable future?
After getting into Reno, I hitched a ride to Reno-Tahoe airport. Boarding was quick and I was back in Vegas in less than an hour. It felt like night and day riding an airplane after being in a sleeping car for more than two days. But one thing that the airplane experience lacks that a long train ride does definitely have is the comforting vibes of camaraderie and relaxation. Everyone just packs into the plane without any regard for each other, some having very little consideration for other passengers at all. On a train, you kind of have to make friends with some of the other people there because you’re stuck together anywhere from a few hours to a couple of days. That, and it’s such a relaxing, mutually enjoyable experience that’s embedded in Americana.
If Amtrak ever goes away, it’ll be a shame–not just for passenger rail and transportation in general, but for American culture as well.
