This summer we have decided to spend a little more time and a lot less money on our summer vacation by taking the train. It is partially the money, with the price of gas and hotels etc. we saved about 60% compared to taking a car or even a plane! Yup thats right, it really was that much cheeper!
In addition to the simple savings and perhaps just as important, we made our summer vacation low carbon! I'm really quite pleased with that as well, it's a bonus knowing that I didn't burn up 6 tanks of gas going to NC and back.
So my thoughts on train riding, in short it was fun and relaxing though a bit long. When I say long though don't get me wrong it was only a couple hours longer then driving and significantly less exhausting. I was able to read, write and relax with no need to worry about falling asleep at the whee! That made it worth it to me. One observation though, Amtrak hasn't been use to heavy traffic on their trains, but I would say that this is the summer of the train and Amtrak is very busy. They don't quite seem to be prepared for this heavy passenger load as the employees seemed a bit stressed from the really heavy load. Nearly every seat on every coach I walked through was full! I wouldn't be surprised if the last time Amtrak was that busy was the 70's! Despite this it was good trip and I expect Amtrak will get use to the good business as I seriously doubt gas will go down, ever again. Welcome to the second age of the train!
