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I would love to avoid all of the TSA hassle and bustle of the airport, but couldn't find any reasonable trips. The train leaves from San Antonio only 3 days a week and leaves at 2 AM! The entire trip takes a full day. To get a sleeping compartment is several hundred dollars as well. Did i watch too many old movies that glamorized train travel. What was it like to ride a train back in the heyday? More selection of times?, more accommodations?, affordable? I would love a train system like Euro countries have. Those are very affordable and even include sleeping quarters in the price.
I would love to avoid all of the TSA hassle and bustle of the airport, but couldn't find any reasonable trips. The train leaves from San Antonio only 3 days a week and leaves at 2 AM! The entire trip takes a full day. To get a sleeping compartment is several hundred dollars as well. Did i watch too many old movies that glamorized train travel. What was it like to ride a train back in the heyday? More selection of times?, more accommodations?, affordable? I would love a train system like Euro countries have. Those are very affordable and even include sleeping quarters in the price.
don't know when you traveled in Euro, but when we were there, no, sleeping quarters were not included. We also did Canada two years ago, only a 2 hour trip, but it certainly wasn't cheap and offered no meal service of any kind. We had to grab something at the station before boarding, and it was anything but cheap. As a old retired Travel Agent, I can tell you one of the most fun, but most expensive trips people love is the Canadian train trip from east to west or visa versa. Like I said, not cheap at all. Oh and as far back as the 1950s when I traveled by train in the USA, the sleeping compartments were much more expensive than regular seats, plus food was costly. Train travel has never been a bargain. There are times when they run specials. We had a few friends from NM, that choose the train from ABQ to L.A. before we did a group cruise. I think it was about $100 a person (no sleeper) and ran daily. That was a lot less than airfare for the same time.
don't know when you traveled in Euro, but when we were there, no, sleeping quarters were not included. We also did Canada two years ago, only a 2 hour trip, but it certainly wasn't cheap and offered no meal service of any kind. We had to grab something at the station before boarding, and it was anything but cheap. As a old retired Travel Agent, I can tell you one of the most fun, but most expensive trips people love is the Canadian train trip from east to west or visa versa. Like I said, not cheap at all. Oh and as far back as the 1950s when I traveled by train in the USA, the sleeping compartments were much more expensive than regular seats, plus food was costly. Train travel has never been a bargain. There are times when they run specials. We had a few friends from NM, that choose the train from ABQ to L.A. before we did a group cruise. I think it was about $100 a person (no sleeper) and ran daily. That was a lot less than airfare for the same time.
Thanks for your thoughtful insight, Nita. I travelled on an overnight train from Madrid to Lisbon in 2006. I might have "snuck in" one of the sleeping quarters, but nobody said anything. With all of the rocks kicking around however, I couldn't sleep anyway. It always look so glam to ride a train in the movies.
Back in the early 50s my mother and I rode the train from Ohio to Texas. I was four years old and I remember it so well. Going from one car to the next was a terrifying experience. There was no upper plate above the connections. So, you opened the door and there were two little platforms swinging in opposite directions and they were difficult to cross. They scared me to death. Mother had packed food for us to eat on the trip. We did have a sleeper room and the porter came each evening to pull down the berths for us. It was exciting but also scary.
I was telling mother just the other day that I remember that trip and when I think of it I smell old lard. She laughed and said that was because she packed homemade fried chicken and by the time we got to Dallas some of it had spoiled. I can still see the greasy brown paper bag.
I've ridden the trains in England and Scotland. I don't recall seeing any sleeping cars. I really enjoyed that trip, though. I would not have wanted to sleep because there was so much to see.
I would love a train system like Euro countries have. Those are very affordable and even include sleeping quarters in the price.
My sister & I took an overnight train back in 2006 from Venice to Zurich, thinking it would be very Harry Potter-esque. The sleeper car was definitely much more expensive than just a regular seat on the same train. It was about the same price as staying in a hotel. It wasn't quite as cool as we thought it would be. I probably would have enjoyed it more had it been a longer trip. We left Venice in the late evening & arrived in Zurich in the early morning. Along the way we made numerous stops & we didn't sleep well as we were worried we wouldn't wake up in time for our stop. The porter would only knock on your door right before arriving in the station, so if you were still asleep, you would be in trouble getting ready/packed up in those couple of minutes. It was fun to say we did it, but I'm not sure that I have a desire to go the sleeper route again.
The trains in the Northeast corridor are quite extensive. I live in NYC & my sister lives in DC - I either take the bus or the train whenever I go to see her. There are multiple trains leaving every hour & it's a really pleasant ride down on the train. I prefer it to the bus, but the bus is usually much cheaper & most times I only let myself splurge on the train one-way, telling myself the add'l money saved by taking the bus the other way is better spent by doing things with her while I'm visiting.
I would love to avoid all of the TSA hassle and bustle of the airport, but couldn't find any reasonable trips. The train leaves from San Antonio only 3 days a week and leaves at 2 AM! The entire trip takes a full day. To get a sleeping compartment is several hundred dollars as well. Did i watch too many old movies that glamorized train travel. What was it like to ride a train back in the heyday? More selection of times?, more accommodations?, affordable? I would love a train system like Euro countries have. Those are very affordable and even include sleeping quarters in the price.
In 1970, when I was about ten years old I took a train trip on the Rio Grande California Zephyr from Salt Lake City to Oakland. We had a sleeping car and it was a very pleasant experience.
About four years later, I rode on a Mexican train going from Ciudad Juarez to Mexico City. The sleeping accommodations on this were more primitive. They were simply old style Pullman berths that fold into crude bunks at night. You had to get up and leave your berth to go to the bathroom. It was anything, but comfortable.
Unfortunately, Rio Grande stopped running the Zephyr in 1980 because it was losing money. The grim fact is that 95% of passenger rail service does not generate enough revenue to pay for itself. Amtrak has been running trains since about 1971. However, without a sizable government subsidy it would be out of business faster than I can snap my fingers.
Sleeping cars on trains have always been expensive because of the space that such a compartment takes up. Even the smallest ones have a bed, sink, toilet, and a chair or two to sit in. Someone has to make the beds and clean up after the people who use them. In the case of Amtrak, its unionized employees who likely earn $50,000 to $70,000 a year. The truth is that the $200 to $300 a night these sleeping compartments cost is probably about the cost of providing them. When I've traveled on a train, I've always forgone the sleeping compartment and slept in my seat. I'd rather spend the $300 that I'd save on something else.
I think what I'm saying is that it is not really economical to operate sleeping car service. If this is being done on European trains, than chances are its being heavily subsidized by whomever operates the railroad (railroads are generally nationalized in European countries). So, your unlikely to ever see sleeping car service you can afford in this country. One tip though: They tell me that you can get on an Amtrak train and if there are vacancies in the sleeping car that you can try to bargain with the conductor on the price once you are aboard the train. It might be something to consider.
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