Auto Train

[784caroline]

Just curious...and I should probably post this on the travel board,,,,but who has travelled on the auto train from Va to Fl and can you describe your experience. When did you travel, type of accomodations, was it crowded, how was the food and other items offered. Was it noisy with alot of children on the train, did you get a restful sleep, how was the drop-off and pickup of your cars, and bottom line did you feel it was worth he extra expense comapred to driving 800 miles!!

Any tips for making the trip more pleasurable?

[Hancle704]

There are folks who make that trip often. I am one of those who having tried it, will never do it again.

Trying to recall my trip, what comes to mind was their ad that said you get on train, close your eyes and wake up in FL. Not me, I kept closing my eyes and never really got to sleep. We had a small compartment. My bed was the upper and it had about as much comfort as aclosed MRI. The train is noisy and passes through lots of towns with the resulting horns and whistles a crossings.

The car that had the light meals, drinks and movie, was dirty and the movie was a vintage Disney flick that they just played over and over and over again.

The dining car was okay but seating was tight.

I have heard some folks report that sleeping in one of the cars that had reclining seats similar to an airplane, was somewhat more comfortable.

Having traveled the I-95 route many times, my feeling is the train from Lorton, VA to Sanford, FL travels along the easiest part of the I-95 trip. I still had to get to Lorton, which meant the NY,NJ, Baltimore, DC coridor, which has always been the worst part of the auto trip.

Don't know what the current fares are but at the time (1997) it seemed pretty steep for the one-way ticket for two with a single auto. With today's gas prices, motel accomodations it might be an alternative to driving. Just not sure about that.

[barb1191]

Don't think that I would do it again. First of all, we had the long drive from MA to VA. Then a one-night train ride where we reserved a room with bath. Very tight quarters and the seat turns into bunk beds; upper and lower. The bathroom in the compartment was a hopper with a shower head above the hopper. I gather you sit on the hopper to take a shower. No thanks. Give me a nice comfy hotel room and real bath, tyvm

It's a good thing that hubby was used to bunks close to the ceiling from his Navy days; he slept like a log in the very small space of the upper bunk. I on the other hand didn't sleep a wink as I couldn't get comfortable, it was so closed in like in an elevator.

The food was good as well as the dining car ambience pleasant with friendly people. When you arrive in Florida, you have another couple of hours drive to TV. There's a wait both boarding and picking up the car.

Considering the price, I prefer to do the three-day, two-night drive thru where one can be comfortable in a hotel of choice and eat when the mood moves (or the tummy rumbles). I haven't really crunched the figures however my gut feeling is that the drive is less dollars (even with the current gas prices) than the train.

This is merely my opinion and it really varies from one to another's. I doubt that I would ever want to travel via coach on the auto train. I would imagine that would be most uncomfortable. ......b

[villages07]

784,

I took the autotrain down for the 'final' trip to FLA. Mainly because Mr 07 and I were leaving MD on different days, so, the trek was to be made alone. I did not want to make the 15-16 hr drive (in two days) on my own and thought trying the autotrain once would be an adventure.

Hancle summed up my impressions pretty well. I opted for the coach seat vs a compartment. They were reclining seats and was OK...I did not sleep well, nodding on and off a few times. I travelled in mid November so not many kids, mostly snowbirds returning to Florida. Food was OK, other passengers were friendly. Movie was shown on a 12-14" TV type screen.

Costs vary a lot based on the time of the year and how early you book. I don't recall my exact fare but it was pretty reasonable and was equal to gas, hotel, eating out not to mention saving the 850 miles of wear and tear on the car.

Loading at Lorton meant having to get there pretty early. Unloading at Sanford was pretty efficient. It was only about an hour and ten minutes from Sanford to TV.

So, for me, it was worth it for the experience and convenience but probably would think long and hard before doing it again. If it's just one person traveling down, it's more justifiable than if it's a couple.

Good luck....was nice to see DC in my rear view mirror!!!

[fraurauch]

My husband and I have used the auto train five or six times, both in coach or in a sleeper. We prefer the sleeper. We will be going north in a week and have chosen to drive, as we called to get prices on the train. We have an SUV (more dollars), so the bottom line was around $1100 round trip. We can drive to Pennsylvania, even with today's gas prices and a night in a motel up and back, we think, for around $600. Even though we would prefer to take the train, we couldn't justify the extra dollars.

The train whistles don't bother us at all; we both worked for a railroad. Also, our experience was that the train rocked us to sleep.

[SteveZ]

Have used it several times since it started - love it! ! ! !

There are a few tricks you learn over time to get the best seats( if going coach) and knowing what to bring on the train for additional creature comfort.

If there was a way to take my dogs on it, I"d never drive I-95 again, but always use the auto-train when going by myself. Even took my motorcycle on it a couple years ago so I could make a weekend reunion.

Considering the price of gas, hotel costs, food, wear-and-tear on the car (or bike), and the frustration of Georgia road construction, it does have it's merits.

Time of year is also important. If you plan to use it when it's peak travel in a particular direction, it is more crowded and not as nice. Timing is everything.

[JohnM]

We took the auto train (Lorton to Sanford) in January 08 (right after the holidays) and it was packed with snowbirds going south. Dinner was very nice, breakfast was continental and nothing special, fellow travelers were interesting and fun, had a sleeper but could not sleep (too much bouncing around). Loading and unloading the car was efficient, but did extra take time on both ends of the trip. It is expensive, even at today's gas prices. We returned by car (for a variety of reasons).

It was fun...but do not know if I would do it again...

John

[784caroline]

Looks like people have tried the auto-train as a novelty, and in some cases it would be a preferable means of travel to/from TV, but it is not getting an overwhelming vote of confidence or support even with the higher price of gas.

[JohnM]

At least for us, your summary is accurate...

John

[Rokinronda]

We absolutely love a scenic train ride, but HATED the long, long, long (32 hours?) very boring trip we took once (2001) from RI to Miami and back. There is no security. NONE! Better sleep with one eye open. There were some really creepy characters! The food was awful and they were out of everything (only chicken or spaghetti sorry) and didn't seem to care! . Not 1 TV worked for movies. The seats barely reclined and the padding was gone. OUCH! The noise and rocking was unbearable with time. No we didn't get a sleeper, but upon looking at the 4 foot bed with the toilet right there, we were glad we didn't spend the extra $$. We should have learned the first time (1990), when our train became disabled in the middle of no where. We waited 2 hours and were jammed into another train that pulled along side us. We had to jump about 4 feet to the other train with no assistance. We helped each other and assisted the elderly. It was so packed, but we were told we had to fit. My hub was standing in the bathroom!! WHAT A NIGHTMARE! Did the trains improve since 1990?? NO. Since 2001? I doubt it. For us NEVER again!

[Sidney Lanier]

I never took the AutoTrain, but there was a period of several years when I could not fly and used Amtrak to go from the Mid-Hudson Valley (Poughkeepsie) to Fort Lauderdale to visit my parents when they were alive. I always took the sleeper which I found comfortable even though it was barely larger than a phone booth. Even found the little bed comfortable, though I should add that I find a closed MRI comfortable too.... Dining car and meals were okay, enough to get by on. The daytime portions were beautiful; at night I slept, how shall I say, no more or less okay than at home. As I recall it was pricey, but my choices were the train or flying (driving was not a consideration), and since I couldn't fly, the train was the only option. Nowadays, with the two of us traveling, I think we'd do the drive all the way, as we've done before, and not take the AutoTrain. In our Prius, the cost of gas is less a consideration, and reasonable motels are no problem to find. Hope this helps.

[another Linda]

We took the autotrain this year (March 2008) mostly because I'm a nervous (husband says bad) passenger. I had seen the sleepers and didn't think I could do the MRI-like space so we opted for coach. We found the dining car a pleasant surprise and the reclining coach seats as expected -- my husband slept and I didn't. Families were seated together so we were with mostly couples like ourselves (young! very very young!).

Not sure what we will do this year when we come down. We have sons in both Baltimore and DC that make easy stop-overs to and from Syracuse. The trade off for me is 2-3 days in a car vs getting the agony it over in 17 hours. My husband is in favor of shooting me with a tranquilizer gun and flipping a coin.