Amtrak in Las Vegas (Albuquerque, Raton: rent, crime, live) - City-Data Forum

newmex · 10-02-2007, 07:02 AM

I plan on going Amtrak for Christmas holiday to Cleveland, Ohio. It's way cheaper and less hectic than driving. There is the trend of more people taking the train instead of driving due to the price of gas. One thing...I plan on driving up to Las Vegas and leaving my truck there while I'm gone. Does anyone know exactly where the Amtrak depot is and would it be a good idea to leave my truck there? Is there any safe parking?

mortimer · 10-02-2007, 01:39 PM

I don't know about parking in Las Vegas (vs Lamy, Raton, Albuquerque),
but I *do* have an experience to relate regarding taking Amtrak to OH
from NM:

We started out in ABQ and it was fun and smooth until about Lamy when
it got dark and it was no fun to look out the windows any more. Going
down to the lounge car was terrible due to the cigarette smoke. (This
was in 1990, so maybe there is no smoking in there any more, but I
don't know since I haven't been inclined to take the train since.)

After a while all the trains were filled with smoke anyway since air was
not exchanged with fresh air outside. The train temperature was from
hot to very hot. Fortunately, I had shorts and a T-shirt to put on, but
I wouldn't have been comfortable just in my underwear.

One-by-one all the toilets froze up so that by the time we reached
Chicago, only one car had a functioning bathroom. This was because
the volume of (warm) waste was sufficient to keep the bathroom UN-frozen.

All-in-all, it was a hot, smoky, miserable trip that could have been over much
sooner had I taken an airplane and had a 24-hour delay due to weather.

I tried taking Amtrak once again in 1999 from San Diego to San Francisco.
The trip was ruined by a hostle conductor or whatever the person in charge
of seating is called who really resented that I wanted to sit by the window
on a specific side in a train car that was about 20% full.

Disclaimer: This my personal, anecdotal experience, so perhaps others
have positive Amtrak experiences to relate (?)

catman · 10-02-2007, 03:26 PM

Wow. I have taken Amtrak between Ft Worth and San Antonio a few times and have always found it comfortable and pleasurable. The only thing wrong with it is that it is SLOW, over 7 hours to go 250 or so miles. I spent a lot of time in the club car, so I didn't care.

newmex · 10-02-2007, 07:30 PM

$300 roundtrip to Cleveland and back coach fare...15% less if I apply for a student discount card through Amtrak. 2.5 days on the train due to the fact that Amtrak doesn't own the rails and has to take a rail siding and wait every time a freight train goes by. Not to mention that the US lacks in high speed rail. Our lack of quality rail infrastructure keeps the speed below 70mph. Their arrival times are usually 4 hours late. My mother-in-law took a one way from Cleveland to Las Vegas, NM last year for $126.00 coach fare she had a good time. Bring sandwiches and a hip flask of your favorite beverage and let someone else do the driving!!!

GregW · 10-03-2007, 05:26 AM

Those prices cannot be beat but the time factor will lead me to take Southwest Airline. From NH it takes one day to get to Albuquerque with a really annoying stopover in Kansas City. I think we will take our next trip next summer and fly to Denver and get an unlimited miles rent a small car. The mountain roads in Colorado and New Mexico just demand to be driven. I would drive the entire distance but the gas, food and lodging cost way more than the airfare. We are getting too old for sleeping in a van on a long trip.

On the other hand, if I want to get to NYC from here I'll take the bus to Boston and Amtrak to the Big Apple.

mortimer · 10-03-2007, 06:09 AM

GregW recommended:

> ... if I want to get to NYC from here I'll take the bus to Boston
> and Amtrak to the Big Apple.

Have you taken the bus from Albuquerque to Boston?
What was that like?

My personal bus experiences have been worse than my personal
train experiences (in the US).

GregW · 10-03-2007, 06:12 AM

I would NOT take the bus from ABU to Boston unless I absolutely had to. I think the plane is cheaper. I would love to do the trip on a motorcycle again but preferably in the other direction.

catman · 10-03-2007, 01:06 PM

I think Amtrak is far preferable to traveling by bus, even if it takes longer. You can get up and walk around, eat (I found the food quite good), and kill time in the club car. It is always sad to leave that lovely state of NM on a motorcycle.

mortimer · 10-03-2007, 02:11 PM

catman related his train experience:

> ... Amtrak .... can get up and walk around, .... kill time in the club car.

catman --
do you smoke? Did you find the trains smokey? When did you ride?

I'm curious if they 'fixed' that 'air problem.'

designer · 10-04-2007, 02:52 AM

I don't know if I would leave my vehichle parked at Las Vegas for any period of time and I'm also not sure if they will allow it at the amtrak station but I
have left my vehicle parked at the lamy and raton station and had no problems. I have heard that a few people leave their cars parked at the lamy
station for several weeks at a time and no reported problems. I don't live
in las vegas but I do hear that it has a lot of crime so beware.
I also prefer taking the train over flying or driving long distances and most
of my amtrak experiences have been positive but a few were not so great.

good luck.