Anyone enjoy travelling by rail? I have done it in Europe years ago. I am curious what it's like in the USA. Thoughts? If the Canadians have experience in Canada, I would like to hear about it. Thank you for your time.

Have ridden the train several times it’s not a bad way to travel, no worse then a greyhound and comfort wise better then most commuter planes I have been on, especially if you not standard size

Much appreciated, night life.

Just slower then a plane and more restricted then a bus due to running on tracks

I did amtrack from staunton Va. to ohio many yrs ago...it was kinda scarey the way those cars swayed thru the mountains. I would love to do a cross country to montana in luxury glass domed car.

I have always . been wanting to do the 4 or 5 day trip across Canada , The Canadian. . Starts in Toronto Ont , ends in Vancouver . Then fly home. old243

I rode the StraBenbahn also the Deutsche Bahn. Rode a passenger train to go see gramma when I was4-5. Near as I can remember it was about the same.

Took a trip from Montana to Illinois this past Aug. by train. Went with a sleeper room, it was a lot pricier (even with medical discount) but it was by far the nicest way I've traveled cross country. The package deal came with meals, the food was very good. Room was wheelchair accessible, had it's own bathroom. Real comfortable.

look up Rocky Mountaineer train

Thank you for the overall positive reviews thus far.

Never traveled much in the US by train because the lines are too few...However, I rode on the Alaskan Railroad from Anchorage to Fairbanks, and would suggest that route to anyone! I also took a train from Hamburg, Germany to Copenhagen, Denmark where the train itself actually boards a ship for the water crossing. That was pretty neat...

I took the Southwest Chief from KC to Chicago and had a 1 1/2 layover till the Wolverine left and I took it to Pontiac, Mi. The Chief has glass domed observation cars that are neat, I really liked it. The Wolverine got up to over 100 mph in one stretch of track and made up some time and I actually arrived in Pontiac ahead of schedule, the Chief was behind about a 1/2 hour. Time wise it was about the same as driving but a lot cheaper and a lot more relaxing plus you see things that you won’t see on the highway.

When I was a kid In the first grade I would get on the train in my little town then take it about a 150 miles to KC and my Aunt would get me at Union Station and I would go to the eye doctor. I’d spend the night then she would put me on the train and I’d ride back home, by myself, that would never happen today. I really like taking the train and Amtrak has lots of discounts if you watch for them, start looking way before the date you want to travel.

I have done two railroad trips around Europe on an Eurail pass. It makes some economic and hassle free sense in Europe. They have many high speed trains that may get you where your going faster than a car. The trains in many European countries cover almost every little town. America and Probably Canada are probably fairly limited in coverage and probably not very fast. Your luggage amount has to be small and you have to tote it everywhere you go. It is just more convenient and maybe more economical to rent a car in the U.S. Buses cover more territory and not much different than riding the rails. In many cases the veiw from a highway is the same or similar as the veiw from the railroad. I did note an Amtrak station in Dodge City, Kansas so there is one spot of interest on Amtrak.

Very good advice. I rode The Empire Builder and there are some very loud, undesirable people between Chicago to Minneapolis. I had to get up out of my seat and “ask” some to shut up at one in the morning. Bathrooms were filthy and it just wasn’t a good trip from say Cincinnati to Minneapolis. A private sleeper room is highly recommended.

Took grandkids from Rocky Mt., NC to DC one summer. Temps were near 100°. AC was out except in dinning car. Heat caused rails to warp and train could not run over 60 mph. Was my last rail adventure except in the Rockies. Rail is not cheap.

I've done Amtrak to LA it was nice the food was good. Get the sleeper otherwise you're sleeping wherever you can.
The train took as long to drive. The pit stops are maybe a 3-5 minutes each

Used to trap by train.
The Mixed little bear to Moosonee is a flag stop train that lets people on an off anywhere along the line to hunt fish and trap etc.
I had a trapline back in the early 80's that the railline cut through.I would take the train down to mile 64 and trap my way back to mile 72 every few days on foot.

As a ten year old I rode the narrow gauge railroad from San Jose, Costa Rica to Limon on the Carribbean coast. What most impressed me was the toilets...just an open hole in the floor and you could see the tracks! I imagine Amtrak has a different system.

I believe there were some going to or coming from Minneapolis that stood on toilet instead of sitting and it was beyond nasty. I got the feeling those train employees kept leaving the mess for the next shift. Pay more and get a clean, quiet and safe place to travel if you go by train.