Lumeria

What are recommended ways to find someone to share an Amtrak sleeper? In addition to this forum on FT, what other forums and/or sites are worth trying?

In my case I'm planning to travel from Seattle to Chicago within the next few weeks, then possibly a couple months later return to Seattle from Boston, again likely via Chicago. Should there be someone with a similar itinerary for either leg of the journey feel free to send me a PM. FTR, between Chicago and Boston I'm actually heading to northeastern Tennessee, but that area's not served by train. :-(

Whatever my personal plans might be, though, the topic of finding roommates for train travel seems worth discussing (be it for Amtrak or other countries and continents).

lacuadra

Just as a personal interest, no trolling whatsoever. Why are you taking the train? Is the scenery or adventure?

I grew up in a place where trains were the norm. But in the US , the country that invented the train I think, they are not used that much except in the northeast. We talk about travels and foreign places but the US has stunning landscapes that lots of Americans are not aware of. I have been to 47 states and love the West in particular. And think something like an upscale Frontier Express would be amazing.

Lumeria

When the price allows it I prefer the train because it's more relaxed and comfortable. Train travel, especially long-distance travel, is like a mini-vacation. For a long journey like this it's slower, but for short runs (e.g., Boston to New York City) it's faster if you count the total time required to get door to door. You can take more luggage if need be, and are welcome to carry your handy-dandy pocket knife to cut your apple and cheese. And now (yay!) there's wi-fi, too, so even if you're not a writer you have the option to stay productive.

Each mode of transportation has its advantages. Airplanes are faster and you get to look down on snow-saddled mountain ranges. Busses take you into many towns you'd otherwise bypass, and you talk to people you might never have otherwise met. (I remember speaking with one woman who was from such a rural area in the South her daughter had to translate for me - though perhaps the woman spoke Gullah. I don't recall.) Travel by car, of course, offers flexibility but at significant cost and having to do the driving. Bicycle is a wonderful way to get to know a place and the people therein, but only practical for commuting (vs. vacationing) within a range of perhaps a score of miles. And by foot - just like bicycle, except more so in every way.

As an adult I've only taken an overnight journey by train once. A friend and I had a roomette on the way out for the return. Only after most of the night had passed did we make a discovery: By pulling one of the footrests up, one person can curl on the seats, with the other curling on the floor below. At that point we slept pretty well. :-)

lexande

The Amtrak forum here ( http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/amtra...t-rewards-399/ ) might be more helpful. http://discuss.amtraktrains.com/ is another large Amtrak forum.

railways

What?!?

Is this from the same Book of Myths that claims pizza is an American invention?

EmailKid

I too grew up where trains were the norm, in fact steam-engines were the norm

OK, OK, chill pill please @:-)

IIRC, it was English who "invented" rail, which I neglected to point out

OTOH, it was the Americans who built the first intercontinental railway IIRC.

sfx

Beating the Russians by only 30 years. But then the Russians had over twice the distance and very different climate and terrain...

ofto

Not sure why we'd need a more "upscale frontier express." The full upstairs bedrooms in the cross-country Amtrak trains are actually very nice (and expensive), the dining experience is also pretty decent though some trains could use a better bar.

A roomette has a fold-down bunk + two seats that fold to make a bed. No need to sleep on the floor, though I guess the upper bunk can be a bit cozy.

It's interesting other countries it's pretty standard that solo travelers are sold roomettes to share, that doesn't seem to fit with our understanding of privacy. Also the roomette is so expensive to begin with that it's hardly worth skimping the price on, and people worried about price stick to coach seats which are relatively nice (especially if the train isn't busy and you have two to yourself).

Amtrak used to, and I think still does, sell upgrades to coach passengers for the roomettes that are still available at departure. These range from $50-150 depending on what they think they can get and are totally luck to get offered or not. (Checking in early might help?)

Lumeria

To clarify, the seat + floor arrangement was in coach, when we did not have a roomette. On the way out I had the upper bunk - which, indeed was considerably more comfortable and less cozy than the floor. The floor, on the other hand, was a lot more comfortable for sleeping purposes than sitting upright. Had I figured it out earlier we might have gotten more than two hours of sleep. :P But oh, can you imagine even thinking about trying that on a bus? =-D

For the record, thanks to lexande I did join the AmtrakTrains forum and posted a room-sharing-request thread. It was quickly deleted, with the Mod graciously explaining that they wanted to stay away from that sort of thing because of the legal ramifications. Too bad, since the odds of finding someone ahead of time would be better on a site with lots of train riders. Oh, well.

I've since posted on Couchsurfing, but will probably just reserve the room and hope to find someone on the train. I'm thinking it might make sense to ask a conductor if he/she has an idea of someone who might want to share. What do you seasoned riders suggest? I'll be okay if I don't manage to pair up, though.

As a nod to the history sub thread, I offer a trivia question: Do you know the history of why (most) train tracks are at the width they are?

lexande

This is a little more complicated than it's often told: http://www.straightdope.com/columns/...n-chariot-ruts

Lumeria

Sweet! I was familiar with the more common, less accurate version. But if the Straight Dope says it...! I love Cecil Adams. Back when I was in Boston I was a regular reader, but haven't seen the column locally. Looks like it's on the Net, though. Yay!

Many thanks for the link. You win the blue ribbon, plus whatever's on offer for a bonus prize.

Daichovo

Actually, there's a great reason to do this. I read on a comment @travelisfree that you could travel coast to coast for 35k ultimate rewards- sleeper w/food included!

"For 35K Amtrak (which comes from 35K UR), you can travel MIA, WAS, CHI, SAC, SEA, in a roomette, which includes your food. So 5 days room and board in the US for 35K points for 2 people. Cheaper than Asia (well, at least pretty cheap).
- See more at: http://travelisfree.com/2014/02/25/best-cities-in-the-world-for-free/#sthash.ZHC8uR5j.dpuf"

There are some really nice routes that make train travel a nice option- NYC-YUL (AWESOME trip, I did this last summer), Rocky Mtns, any portion of the Pacific coast. And probably some others.

blsnk

One could always try the rideshare section on craigslist. People car share long distance so why not train rooms?