Amtrack AutoTrain
 

I would like to hear from anyone that has taken the autotrain in the last year or so. We used it several times between 10 and 12 years ago, and as I understand some things have changed.
Specifically:
Do they still supply pillows and blankets?
Do they still have a breakfast?
What is the procedure for getting seats, are they assigned when you arrive at the station?
Any other items we should know about?
Thank you, VT

I took the AutoTrain last month. It was my 2nd trip on the AT, the previous one was about 10 years ago.

I would never take the AutoTrain, without getting a room. The service was very good, the food was ok and the trip was uneventful and even arrived ahead of schedule, which is a crap shoot at best.

We took the autotrain down in summer of 2020 when we moved to Florida. Packed the two cars full. We paid extra for a bedroom which comes with meals. They provided the bedding. It was costly but worth it - we considered it a splurge. We paid extra for priority unloading our autos. The meals served to us were delicious. If you just get a seat, then you can buy a meal on board or bring your own food and bring your own pillow - the seats don't fully recline.

I haven’t taken it but this is a recent YouTube video describing the experience. I think it would be much cheaper to drive.

https://youtu.be/C16UYeOj62E

I just took it.
If you have a room, you get meals, if just a seat, you have to go the dining car and buy food.
If getting a seat only, your seat is assigned when you get there. No pillows or blankets. Not sure about rooms since I booked too late and could
not get a room.

I've taken Autotrain at least four times, coming and going. Getting just a seat means a public bathroom that will get more foul as the trip proceeds. A room is okay, unless you're elderly and/or physically limited. Getting on and off the top bunk is a risky challenge. Last trip up, wife and I booked a so-called Family Room. Two beds (cots, essentially) are on the small level and are fine, if you're under six foot and weigh less than 200 pounds. I will say, the porter service is helpful and the food is more than satisfactory. However, the ride overall is noisy and shaky. You won't get much sleep.

What is the attraction of the auto train? I just checked prices and it costsvabout $115 for the ticket plus $225 for the car. That is for coach seats. If you want a roomette it is about $480 for 1 and $625 for 2 plus $225 for the car. It is 840 miles to DC. That is a long day or two short days so if you broke it up, you would need one night in a hotel. I checked Florence SC which is about halfway there. Hotel rooms are from $75 to $175. Plus you have the freedom of controlling your own schedule - stopping when you want and eating where you want to. Gas would be about $150 more.

Not everything is about the money....especially the Auto Train. For those that subscribe to the only important thing is cost then you are correct. We have taken the auto train multiple times over the years, and find it convenient, plus have met some wonderful people so the social aspect is a plus for us. As long as people us it they will continue to run it and when we have been onboard the rooms are usually sold out.

As I said I haven’t taken it but according to this video, it seems like a nightmare.

https://youtu.be/C16UYeOj62E

I took an overnight Amtrak train years ago. It was one of the longest nights of my life. I like the freedom of driving and controlling my own schedule and itinerary.

Your "time" is apparently not as valuable as time is to others.

As others have told you, not everything is about "money". Some folks considered their quality of life and their time, more important than a few bucks.

If time were a factor, you can drive it faster than taking the train. Google says you can do it in 12 hours. If you factor stops and meals, you should add 3-4 more hours. The train ride is scheduled for 17 hours but you have to drive to Sanford and you are supposed to get there two hours early.

And as to quality of life, watch the video that I posted. According to the Amtrak website, the dimensions of each roomette are 3’6’ X 6’6.
Pigs in California are supposed to have 24 square feet.

People may differ on their definition of quality of life but I would rather have the freedom of driving and staying in a hotel rather than staying in a room that small.

Quote:

Originally Posted by villagetinker (Post 2219065) I would like to hear from anyone that has taken the autotrain in the last year or so.

The OP asked for opinions from folks "who have taken the AutoTrain". I read his post again and I can't find where he said he was interested in opinions from folks who watched a YouTube Video, who have absolutely no experience with the subject at hand.

Some folks just can't help themselves and have to inject themselves into any subject that comes up, despite their lack of knowledge and/or experience with the subject.

I admitted I had never taken the auto train. However, I thought it would be useful for the OP to watch a 24 minute YouTube video that was uploaded 12 days ago and has had more than 200,000 views. The video was very detailed and should be useful to anyone who is interested in how the auto train currently operates.

Factor in the stress of 12 + hrs driving I95, likelyhood of sitting for an hour or two while they are clearing accidents.

Even the semi drivers are aggressive and rude now days making that drive more than miserable.

Pick your poison...

It seems a thread can't get past the fifth post here without someone answering the question they thought the OP should have ask...

There are many YouTube videos on the Auto Train, some very positive and some negative, depending on their agenda. The train continues to run, the rooms continue to sell out and each train carries about 300 cars and motorcycles. Sometimes it's a 17 hour trip and sometimes it's 20 depending on CSX. If driving I-95 is what you enjoy then that's what you should do. Those of us that treat the trip as part of an adventure have a different view.

Auto Train
 

[QUOTE=villagetinker;2219065]I would like to hear from anyone that has taken the autotrain in the last year or so. We used it several times between 10 and 12 years ago, and as I understand some things have changed.
Specifically:
Do they still supply pillows and blankets?
Do they still have a breakfast?
What is the procedure for getting seats, are they assigned when you arrive at the station?
Any other items we should know about?
Thank you, VT[/QUOTE

VT I don’t know how to pvt msg on here but if you do I can call or vice versa I am experienced
Driving it and AT can give you ad and dis vantages

Agree, but if you listen to some of these posters, the quality of the trip sucks. You get a cot like bed, or you get a seat with a foul smelling bathroom you get to share with tens of people. Where does the extra expense come in to give you an experience you can remember in a good way?

Some of these posters are trying to say that driving will give you a better experience (freedom to take ann excursion or detour if want) and any hotel will have better beds than the train, -listen you are in control where you eat.

So in my case, I don’t care if I save a dime or not, I would not take this train any long distance because of what I read here.

Train
 

We took it from Washington to Sanford about 4 years ago. We had sleeping compartments upstairs. If you sleep on the top punk you're inches from the ceiling of the train so there's a lot of rocking going on. Of course this was before covid so things may have changed. But a dinner the first night and breakfast in the morning was included.

Auto train
 

I take the auto train every year. If you have the money I recommend a roomette or bedroom. It is a relaxing trip I don't have to worry about traffic or falling asleep at the wheel.

When we first took it abofut 8 yrs ago, it was good. Wine and cheese for room passengers after we boarded, a delicious meal, excellent service. But it was cheapened. They did away with the wine and cheese. Styrofoam cups replaced the porceiain, servers cadge for tips. Rooms are the best way to go. Roomettes are for young acrobats who don't need sleep. The best part is the lounge where I have met many interesting persons and have spent most of the time. Would not pay extra priority car unload: I'm retired. I can wait.

We took the auto train this past Christmas and there are no more pillows or blankets. Food only if you get a sleeper. Seats are assigned when you get there.

Booked a Room
 

We booked a room with a toilet so we had pillows, blankets, turndown service seats, meals and privacy. Not inexpensive though. We had our vehicles loaded to the brim with our valuables, things not trusted to the movers, and we didn’t want this sitting in a motel parking lot overnight. Nor did we want that load, near max gross vehicle weight, bouncing down I-95 for hours. It was worth the cost to us.

Oh yeah, I got to take a shower on a moving train!

As you are!

Hi! We were just on the Autotrain in April. Here's what to expect. You will be assigned seats/room at check in. If traveling coach: Bring your own pillows, blankets. You can visit the cafe car for snacks, light meals that you will pay for. You'll have access to free grab and go breakfast: cereal and milk, crumb cake, OJ, banana, coffee or tea. If traveling room or roomette, your meals are included, served in the dining car. Your room/roomette will be transformed by your steward at night into sleeping quarters with blanket and pillows. We usually travel coach, bring airline blankets (lightweight and easy to carry), those neck pillow things and a couple of small pillows. I also bring our dinner. I prefer my own food to the steamed/microwave offerings. We bring a few sodas and a small bottle of wine. Ice and plastic cups available in the cafe car. Good to know: The free wifi is dependent on the area you are traveling through, so you might want to preload movies or books onto you device. The morning coffee is efficiently poured and ready to grab, which means it may be lukewarm or cold by the time you get to it. Staff will pour you a hot cup on request. Pay attention to boarding time instructions so that you and your car are at the station in time for loading. That means a wait in the waiting area, but there are shuttles to Sanford and at least when we were there a food truck. Seats in coach are comfortable--two across with plenty of leg room. If you want to see more about seats and rooms, there are YouTube videos to watch.

We moved my in-laws to The Villages on the auto train in October 2021. Two cars packed full of their stuff. We got two rooms, on either sides of the hallway from each other. Neither room had the private bathroom. The private bathroom is totally not worth it IMO. The private bathroom, as it looks on the video someone posted, is smaller than the shared bathroom down the hall. Keep in mind that you are only sharing the bathroom with the few other people that also have private rooms but no private bathroom. The people in the cheap seats have their own bathroom. No delays or issues getting on and off. The staff was nice. Dinner was pretty decent. Breakfast was like a continental breakfast at a non-fancy hotel, but fine. Someone comes and turns down the beds for you, and puts them back in the morning. Because we were up late packing the night before, we slept like logs. Top bunk fit someone that is 6' tall. My 74 year old mother in law with a bad knee could climb into the top bunk. Watching the scenery - before it got dark - without having to worry about traffic, was great. In-laws loved it. You save money if you book ahead of time.

I've taken it in the past and have enjoyed the ride. Driving from here to D.C. is just too monotonous and boring for me. However, I must say that it's the driving and tolls and traffic and congestion and construction NORTH of D.C. that really gets to me. I would love to see it extended to the New York/New Jersey area but I know it's not possible until CSX clears the route in the future which is planned.

I did go coach last two times to save a lot of money and it really wasn't that bad. The cars were not full so it was easy to find too unoccupied seats.

For coach they do not supply pillows and blankets but they sell a small kit if you wish to buy it. Bringing your own pillow is easy.

We did receive a continental buffet breakfast and I think we got dinner too but apparently things have sadly changed recently in that regard.

You are assigned seats at check-in so you have some choice there but you can move to other seats easy enough if the train isn't full. I grabbed a seat mid-car at the top of the stairs and that turned out to be a bit of a noisy spot since people were going up and down the stairs all night to get to the bathrooms and they usually slammed and loudly locked the doors. Earplugs would help.

I was lucky enough to take the original "Auto-Train" before Amtrak took it over and that was excellent. There were movies in the dining car and live entertainment at night in the Starlight Lounge giant dome car. It was a special and unique experience. Amtrak is ever so slowly downgrading this unique upscale Land Cruise experience into a basic utilitarian ferry boat service.

I guess you have to decide if you want to drive that distance or not. I prefer to sit back and relax and watch the world (mostly pine trees) go by. If they ever run it to New Jersey it would be a no-brainer for me.

BTW - When we first moved here it was a 24 hour straight non-stop drive from Boston. Do not want to do that again.

Have a safe trip whatever you decide.

Auto Train
 

We have taken the Auto Train in both directions for the last 7-8 years, except northbound 2 years ago when we knew in advance that the train would be departing 7 hours late due to issues several days prior and they were still trying to catch up to the original schedule. There are two basic types of accomodations, coach seats and one of three types of rooms. For coach seat passaengers, there are no longer pillows or blankets and no dinner available at all, just a snack bar car. A continental breakfast is included but you must carry your food to the snack bar car (if any seats are available which is rare) or back to your seat. Coach seats are assigned at the station, but when booking you can request upper or lower level seats. Lower level is much quieter (only 12 seats in the section and no through walkers) but the outside view is not as good as the upper level. For any of the rooms available, the room used to be assigned when the ticket is booked. We have not booked a room for the last three years due to the substantial increase in cost. One fairly new feature is vehicle priority off-loading for the first thirty cars. The cost last year was an additional $95. Not sure if it has increased. If the priority off-loading interests you, book it as early as you can. The 30 slots go quickly. We personally just decided this year that we will no longer take the train northbound. For the last 3 trips we have arrived in Lorton between 3 and 7 hours late. With the additional time to get our vehicle and a 5 hour drive to arrive at our home, it puts us on interstates in the dark and by that time we are usually quite tired and not up for driving. And, a change they made last year, which we were not happy with, was switching the departure and arrival times from 4 PM to 5 PM and 9 AM to 10 AM. This contributed to the driving in the dark issue. Hope this helps.

AutoTrain
 

We just took the autotrain from Sanford a week ago. Everything worked very smoothly and we even arrived 45 minutes early. We were in coach; seats were comfortable and a "grab and go" breakfast is provided in the morning.

One of our friends just took it last week as well. It was a trip from hell. They paid for an expensive room and it wasn't available when they got there so they put them up in a linen closet :( . It takes up to 4 HOURS to get your car off the train unless you pay EXTRA for "priority removal." Autotrain has secondary track priority over Amtrak regular trains which means they might have to pull over to wait for a regular train to pass. You still have to drive to or from Sanford or Lorton VA. If the train has mechanical issues it's like getting stuck between exits on Rt 75. You can sit forever.

About 3 years ago another friend was taking it DOWN to FL from NJ and it was cancelled when they reached the boarding station at Lorton VA without notice so they ended up driving down anyway.

Edit: For us it's a 19 1/2 hr drive split into 2 days at a decent hotel to NJ from here. Otherwise it's ??hrs to Sanford and a bunch of hrs to (or from) Lorton then waiting for the car to get rolled off so the trip timewise is a LOT longer than driving.

Has NEVER taken 4 hours to unload our car (5 trips). They share the track with CSX who owns the right of way and has priority. The Auto Train is AMTRAK and is a regular train. AutoTrain is the most profitable so slowing it down for a less profitable train makes no sense. As has been said many times, if it doesn't work for you don't use it, not sure why folks who have never taken the ride continue to trust youtube or friends as a definitive authority.

Time is always an unknown
 

Last year train going north was 5 hours late and coming south was 9 hours late. With a roomette the food is free and tolerable. WiFi was almost nonexistent in the older train. Auto train uses more modern equipment so WiFi is better.

Many older folk are not able to make the long drive from up north. Traffic is just crazy. The auto train is very useful for those folks. My parents took it several times in the early 2000’s. For them, it was a Godsend.

[QUOTE=collegeref;2219281]I sent you a private message, BTW, if you click on my name (Villagetinker) you will get a dropdown menu, and the second item (I think) is send private message), click on this, and follow the
instructions.

After about a half a dozen AutoTrain trips, I can offer these comments: we always reserved a private bedroom. The private space and bathroom are worth it to us. Download movies on your tablet prior to the trip. The Wifi on board is too spotty to watch a movie and enjoy it. We brought our own food but that's your choice. Paying for priority unloading is a good idea. It gets sold out. One time it was sold out and we waited almost to the end for our car. The drivers do a terrific job but there are just a lot of cars. All the porters were friendly and competent. It's a government operation and it shows. They could do so much to modernize and spruce it up.

They need to run the AutoTrain from somewhere just north of the NYC area down through Florida. Having the terminal in middle Virginia is just plain stupid. Once you get past Richmond going south, driving is usually easy. DC through Richmond, going north or south, can be a slow mess. AutoTrain now does the easy part, which makes it a no-go for me. Not much benefit for the money.

I asked about this years ago, and was told there were too many bridges (tunnels?) or other locations that restricted the height of the train so it was not practical to go any further North.

As an aside, I have driven 95 North and South, and I will never do it again, so it is train or fly. Now depending on how long you are going to stay, the car rental can easily offset the cost of the car transportation, and the airline fare would offset the cost of the passengers (we do not fit well in economy seats). So while I appreciate the comments about driving, it is not for us.

Might want to research that a bit more before making that "stupid" statement.

Brought a Miata north a few years back. Get a private room at the least. Pack your ice cold beer and snacks. Pick a room as far back as possible. Enjoy the view and the ride.

I'd use if
 

I agree with loading further north. Say somewhere north of New Haven. The worst traffic is from Richmon, VA to New Haven, CT. Been making the I95 ride for years and it is only getting worst.

Just did trip last few days. NC highway shut down accident. Bypassed DC & MD on Chesapeake Tunnel. DE bridge construction. NJ Turnpike jammed with traffic. Garden State stop and go. Tappanzee jammed. CT 41 mile backup starting just north of NY. Good 5-hours of sitting on I-95 north of Baltimore alone. Never mine south of it. Probably 8+ hours delay all together on this trip.

Train would have given me and my car a break.