The train trip I took

Let's not forget that US had an extensive railroad network at the end of 19th and beginning of 20th century. It was privately operated and insanely profitable. It couldn't compete with government-sponsored air travel and government-sponsored highways, however. Also, when talking about public transport, highways and military-industrial complex one should not forget that tens of thousands of miles of US roads were built for the so-called National Defense Highway System.

As a tourist coming to and traveling within America, I've always *loved* Amtrak, and I've always wanted to get a sleeper. Alas, as you say, they're prohibitively expensive. My longest continuous trip was Philly to Des Moines, and I can't really say it was very enjoyable trying to sleep in the coach seats. Some thoughts/questions from said tourist: 1.) Why are delays annoying? Do you have somewhere else to go? 2.) Does the upper floor sway more? Would motion sickness be worse if one booked the upper roomettes? 3.) You say there's a door/privacy curtain, and you left your luggage on the rack outside. You sleep behind this closed door. No worries about getting robbed of all your shiny electronics while you sleep? 4.) And in the same vain, the door looks unlockable from the outside. No worries about leaving your iPad in the room while you go shower or dinner or read in the lounge? 5.) How is the 4G/WiFi coverage on the route?

Arni Bjorgvinsson

Coach is what we call the cheapest kind of travel. You pretty much get a seat, and that's it.

Michael Dunn

I took the Coast Starlight between LA and San Jose once, and the trip home was wonderful. I ended up in the observation car in a group of four artists -- me with my camera, a guy with his guitar, and two others -- and we just chatted for a while and the guitarist played us two of his songs. I mostly drive places now, because I don't like flying and driving is faster than trains, so I don't know if I'll ever have a travel experience like that again. :/

Michael Dunn

it would have been nice to see the "coach" seats. Being from Europe it took me a while to work out what "coach" was since I would call the car a "coach" (as in the train is made up of 10 coaches). But I suspect "coach" is seating for people who have not booked a cabin/roomette. Are these normal seats or do they recline a lot more

Richard Bevan

Those socks sure are awesome... it's hard to explain the feeling of seeing someone else with those socks in the wild, like being part of a secret society. Do we do a knowing nod?

Gord Allott

Very cool roomette setup. The standard roomettes on VIA Rail in Canada don't have the bunk feature. There's only one chair that turns into a Murphy bed and the footstool hides a toilet. Bonus is an "ensuite" bathroom with a sink but having to lift up the bed to access it in the middle of the night is a pain. The bedrooms have bunks.

Buckaroo Bunny Slippers

Interesting video. A few questions: How fast does the train travel - average speed and top speed? Is there Internet provided by the train like WLAN or is there only mobile internet? Does it work in the train? Does the train only run on fuel or are there tracks with power lines over them?

Robert

Great video! You should really see if you can join in an episode of Well There's Your Problem. I think you'd enjoy it!

Shay Wallace

I thought the landscape views were AWESOME, thanks for those. However it seems that you've uploaded the video in 1080p30 which is causing lots of flickering in the images. Do you have the content in p60 maybe? I guess that would be _so_ much nicer.

Michiel Beijen

I'm half way through the episode but thought I'd chip in while I have the thought. We in the UK have two of the same problems, expensive rail and limited time. Part caused by the air industry being subsidised when surely the rail is better for the environment and partly the basic principle of keeping costs high and money short. Bluntly, lots of (relatively) poor people in terms of time and money so that there can be a small, ever richer, 'upper' class. What baffles me is that in the UK and the US the population votes for it. 'Turkeys voting for Christmas' we say here. I'm advising younger people to move to Europe.

Jim Hewlett

Thanks for sharing the trip! Always nice to see those huge American trains, in Europe, unfortunately the clearances are too small... Double deck trains here are really trying to use every single mm of space, night trains cannot be completely double decked, because the clearance on some lines doesn't allow for double deck cars. The closet is very cool, always missed that on the night trains here, difficult to find space for luggage. Taking a shower in the train is cool, in the European night trains they are very small, but that's good so you can't fall really. But it is always funny when moving. I think the dirty tables are really bad, I would expect those to be cleaned at least after every turn. Here in Switzerland, they even hired extra personell due to Corona to clean everything that gets touched all day. I was also wondering about the noise levels: in the last footage shots, they seem to be very different, is that because some was shot in the roomette, other footage in the lounge car? My experience here is that trains from the 1980s and 1990s tend to be the most quiet and comfortable, afterwards, cost and stupid rules seem to play a bigger role in designing trains unfortunately... And the USA and trains, actually public transport in general, is a whole topic on itself... When I was in California, I had the feeling it was largely neglected: trains, trams and busses not keeping their schedule. So unfortunate. Funny, since most Americans I know who live here in Switzerland even don't have a car! BTW: tunnels are not so very interesting from the train view point: just darkness (said as a person who lives in the country with the world's longest tunnel). When travelling through the Gotthard Base Tunnel at 200 km/h (125 mph), it is like flying in a jet plane in the dark.

MrHammond

I treat the train journey as the holiday rather than using it to get to a destination for a holiday. It is like staying at a mobile hotel where the view changes all the time.

Roland Smith

I think most of the people having a problem with taxes for such services are the ones who would insist they wouldn't be caught dead using them, and therefore don't want THEIR taxes being used for it. But I digress:,..and then I read of an Amtrack train derailment in Montana.

Arthur Robillard

Thanks for the “political” part of the video. People need to know this, So often we are asked to believe that there is no money that benefit the average citizen, when large corporations pay little or no taxes. Heck, many get refunds and stipends from out taxes. It’s high time that corporations get off of welfare. Corporations own politicians, and this must stop. The US needs to become more a country for WE THE PEOPLE, and less one of them, the corporations. I’m done here, but I haven’t even started. So thanks for the tiny bit of politics here. We need more of it, from the people’s perspective.

Rocco Rizzo

This is really great! I love traveling by train, but it's so much more satisfying in Europe. It would be a lot more popular here if we could have proper high-speed routes.

Jason Thorpe

The news of the derailment in Montana popped up just as I was watching this. Unsettling.

Unfortunate timing. https://apnews.com/article/c8c3730849f568ca68b455eb23b49cef

In honor of your Amtrak trip to Los Angeles, I am sharing with you my favorite fictional Amtrak trip to L.A. https://youtu.be/Tl9wZRoxT3A&t=162

Charles Seyle

Taken the Coast Starlight from LA to Seattle a couple times, and I can't recommend it enough. Most/all times have been in the winter, and waking up on the uphill of the Cascades, passing by frozen waterfall; nothing beats it. I tell my friends, compare it to a cruise ship, not an air flight. The experience is more like the former.

Sierra Mistystep

We need more routes down south. The closest ones to me are two hours away :(

Jason Wellband

I'm a minute in and hearing you narrate like this is one of the most calming things I've heard in ages. I love it.

Craig H

One or two YouTube comments touched on the Trans-Siberian - perhaps one of the ultimate sleeper train trips aside from whatever-it’s-called-in-Canada? My better half and I have a half-baked idea that we’ll do it one day, but in the meantime we have to be satisfied with traveling vicariously. In case it’s of interest, we loved these two video series: First from a couple of American travel vloggers: https://karaandnate.com/the-ultimate-guide-to-riding-the-trans-siberian-railway/. Second is an RT series about the staff on the Trans-Siberian, complete with hilarious(ly bad) dubbing by people we like to think of as ex Russian spies due to their pretty decent western accents twinned with perfect Russian: https://rtd.rt.com/series/trans-siberian-odyssey-series/trans-siberian-odyssey/ Hopefully, one day, Covid will have receded, and the the geopolitics will have thawed enough to make it an easy trip to consider in reality.

Another example of how the public sector fails to the private sector.

I've done the MN to Glacier trip in coach on the empire builder twice. Coach is a bit less posh than what you had with a sleeper, but overall it was fine. You can end up next to backpackers who didn't shower and some odd characters but overall its a pleasant enough of an experience. If only we had trains in the US like I've ridden in Europe and Japan (which are great. esp in japan)

Jacob Nelson

Also the lower ones don't rock as much. I have definitely been jolted awake a few times at night in an upper room with a sudden feeling of falling, but it's really just the train swaying in some corner. You get used to it over time, but it stills feels pretty weird the first few trips.

Travis Geiselbrecht

Long term fans of your channel know how much you love percolated coffee. :) I noticed what I believe are AfterShokz bone conducting headphones on you in the early shots. Great choice. Lastly, yes the lower level roomettes are very close to ground level, but there's actually less noise due to not having the metal on metal screech and grind of the inter-car walkways on the lower level.

Don Eitner

The Southwest Chief used to (1980s/1990s) come through my home town and I would often go out just to watch it pass. Have never been on the SWC however. I have ridden the Coast Starlight 3 times (was supposed to be 4 but a rockslide shut down the tracks between 3 and 4 and I wound up needing to take a flight home from Seattle).

Don Eitner

Shall I expect a 42-hour long video? :-)

Raphaël

Oooh, I love riding the long distance Amtraks. Being out of Seattle I have done the Coast Starlight up and down the coast many times and a long 4 day route from Seattle to DC via the Empire builder and the Capitol Limited. I would love to take the Southwest Chief.... Hmmm maybe time to arrange a trip...

Travis Geiselbrecht