Riding The Rails
 

Not to engage in schadenfreude, but on my Amtrak trip, the closest we got to TSA is the brown uniforms in Havre MT asking those in the lounge car "Are you American?" When they left the car, there were a few jokes. "What if I answered, 'Yes, infidel', or 'Just visiting, eh'" Of course any of that would be like saying "bomb" or "hijack" in an airport. Given where Havre is, no one wants to be put off a train there.

That would have been a great video opportunity. The final result would be the video edited with another of the Nazis checking papers in 1930's German train cars.

Priceless!!

What's wrong with Havre? Beautiful area. I would love to retire there if I could. Now getting kicked off in the middle of night in winter might be a different story. It can get a tad cold there.

Recently I have made several trips on Amtrak and generally had good experiences. However, there was one bit of TSA-like unpleasantness in being asked to show ID. On the Coast Starlight line, I have never been asked for it, but one trip required me to ride for a stretch on the San Joaquin line. The conductor asked everyone for ID. I assume that the reason they are allowed to do this is to compare the name on the ID with that on the ticket. However, I'm not sure this conductor was even doing that. It seemed more like a power trip on his part. After viewing my ID, he commented to me that his brother lives in the same town that I do, which rubbed me the wrong way. I just ignored him and did not make an issue because I know that Amtrak's policy does allow ID checking.

Also, one trip required a segment on an Amtrak bus. As we pulled into one particular station, a police officer with a drug-sniffing dog inspected the luggage compartment, which I also found to be a little obnoxious. I was watching them as they worked and was surprised that the dog was acting very playful--jumping up on the police handler like an excited pup that wanted to play--not the kind of behavior I would expect from a trained police dog.

Interesting. I suppose anyone from North or South America could answer "yes" to that question ("are you American?") without making a false claim of US Citizenship.

I am glad to see I was n;)t alone in thinking this.

I'm sorry if I missed this, but who are these officers asking about citizenship on the train?

I have taken Amtrak’s Auto Train a few times, which runs non-stop between Sanford FL and Lorton VA, on the Northbound segment in Lorton VA there were always at least 2 Amtrak police officers with their K-9’s checking each auto as the auto pulled up to the waiting area where the passengers claimed their cars.

It has been said that the I-95 corridor north from Florida is the main delivery route for drugs to the Northeast and the Auto Train would make it much easier than to drive the route. I would assume they have picked up more than their fair share of drugs being transported north.

At no time did any LEO or Amtrak personnel ask for our ID either when checking in or on board the train, I only had to show my ID when I picked up the tickets which was at an Amtrak station in Connecticut.

To me showing an ID at the Amtrak ticket counter is a dog and pony show, anyone can purchase tickets at an unmanned Amtrak ticket Kiosk without showing any ID

Mr. Elliott

In that case, the conductor is supp:rolleyes:sed to ask for ID on the train when the ticket is presented. They hardly ever do, though. Either way, the "check" is a waste of time and effort.

I showed my ID at the ticket counter. But when I was getting the colored tag with the car number where my coach seat was, I asked if I needed to flash my ID and the conductor said no.

By the way, nice comment on "Are you American?" I remember eons ago a discussion about what US citizens should be called since every single person from the Arctic Circle to Patagonia is an "American". I remember "USAns and USers". Maybe there were others. I guess we've sort of worked our way in the "USer" direction, haven't we? Maybe we should rename the country Freeland, and we can be "Freelanders".

We'd probably have to re-take the country if we wanted to do that.

Unlike all other Amtrak trains, because it is a nonstop train, the conductor does not come around and collect tickets. The ticket is collected at the check in counter where you go to after dropping off your car to the car jockeys, who load the autos on the car carriers, there you get your seat or room assignment boarding pass and select from 1 of the 3 seating times for dinner, the fare includes dinner and breakfast for all passengers

When you board the train, you go to your assigned car and the car attendant who is standing by the boarding door takes your boarding pass, these are Superliner cars and they have only one boarding door on each side.

The conductors, I don’t know how many there are on the train have it made, they don’t have to worry about collecting tickets between each stop, I usually see them sitting at one of the dinette tables in the lounge car doing their paperwork. ,

For those who are interested, it is the longest train in Amtrak service with 16 passenger cars and up to 35 car carriers totaling almost three quarters of a mile in length. Also the Auto Train has its own dedicated stations in Sanford FL and Lorton VA, no other Amtrak trains use these stations. Before you even can get in to the car loading area, you have to check in at the entrance gate where the attendant there puts a magnetic number plate on your car.

It is totally a different traveling experience from all other Amtrak trains, sure beats driving almost 900 miles on I-95.

Mr. Elliott

I'll never take my car on the train. When I travel, my car gets some well-earned downtime. I swore I'd not drive on this trip, and I didn't. Result was I saw so much more than in my previous two trips when I did rent a car. At the end of each of those trips, I looked at the miles I drove and just cursed that my "green trip" had ended using so much gasoline. Sure the travel to the destination was low emissions, but then at the end of the road, back in the car, back in the traffic jam! So lame. So annoying. Really I'm most interested in destinations that don't make me do that. Portland has such good mass transit, it really was unnecessary. I asked the drivers for help, and they often told me which transfer to make where I'd be dropped off NEXT to my destination! And my sister did the same when I had to get back to Union Station. Only a town with awesome public transportation gives that option. I don't think I'll be interested in visiting any place that makes a car that necessary.

I assume you were crossing the Canadian/US border? Yes those dogs are something, eh? They were border guards by the way, the men, not the dogs. :p:D

No, the drug search occurred at one of the intermediate stops--I don't recall which--on an Amtrak bus traveling from Santa Barbara to Bakersfield California.

Amtrak's actual ID checking policy revolves around your ticket number. A random number is chosen at the beginning of each train trip, and if the last digit of your ticket number matches that, the conductor is supposed to check your ID.

The conductor who usually works my morning train says apologetically "It's like a strange lottery with no prize"... He doesn't like doing it.

The one time I rode the San Joaquin line, the conductor asked EVERY passenger for ID. And he hassled quite unapologetically anyone who could not produce one (although I don't think he went so far as to kick them off of the train). He even had to gall to try to make small talk about his brother living in the same town that I do.

On the other hand, I have never been asked for ID on the Coast Starlight.

Seems kinda tricky. There are three or four places on the train a passenger could be. Lounge, cafe, dining car, seat, room if sleeping car. It is one thing to know where the passenger is supposed to ride. It is another thing to actually find them there. But maybe that varies by the route.

Bolding mine: This doesn't surprise me. It is probably a DHS requirement, you know, "ID is important! (so that we're not made to look like idiots when a person with 11 fake IDs gets past us)" :rolleyes:

It's been a while since I've been asked for ID on Amtrak, but discretion does go a long way in my book. Starting a conversation or making a public remark based on any of my personal data on the ID is definitely a turn-off. Back in 2005, boarding the northbound Silver Meteor in Jacksonville, the conductor collecting tickets in the station looked at my California ID and loudly exclaimed, "California! Well, you're sure a long way from home!" I'm sorry, any innocent intentions aside, my home location is no one's business. :mad: I can put it out there on my FT profile, but such public disclosure is my prerogative, not that of anyone else.

You should respond with "Si Senor". All CBP officers need to know how to speak spanish. So if the officer complains, just say you're brushing up on your spanish skills ;)

I'd say "thanks a lot for sharing it with all these strangers. Now I won't have to strike up conversations with everybody in the car so I can tell them where I'm from". Then give him a look that says "Idiot!"

I'm on the Maple Leaf right now and wasn't asked for any ID. I don't recall if I've been asked before - maybe on a NEC trip DC to NYP.

But what I'd really like to know is how Amtrak can justify this? They claim to be a private company, and so what authority do they have to demand my ID? Other private companies could never get away with that.

Actually, I think it would be easier for private companies to get away with this than the government. After all, the only thing our Bill of Rights applies to is government (and really mostly toward Federal at that, unless you look at something the the Tenth Amendment). (Notwithstanding that privacy isn't a right...)

Private companies can place whatever restrictions and requirements they wish upon people in a business relationship. If you don't like it, you're free to conduct business with someone else. (Subject, of course, to market forces making such choices imprudent for them.)

Amtrak is only a private company in organization, it's owned by the government and funded by the government. If it was truly private, then first amendment issues would be moot because as was pointed out, there IS no first amendment with private entities. Otherwise, the outrage about Amtrak arresting the photographer, and the ACLU getting them to change their photographic policy wouldn't have worked. Greyhound prohibits taking pictures, but you don't see the ACLU suing them over it.

I wan't aware that Amtrak changed their photo policy; I'm under the impression that they always allowed photography and the Amtrak Police just didn't know their own employer's rules and made an arrest.

Obscenity if not protected under the First Amendment.