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AMTRAK AUTO TRAIN TRIP REPORT
By
John Forster
On Friday November 25, I embarked on my third roundtrip on Amtrak's AutoTrain. I am an avid fan of AutoTrain. I love the fact that I can avoid flying, that I can take my minivan to Florida without the tedious drive south and north on I-95, and that I can travel in relative comfort both ways.
Along with my traveling companion, I departed Northern NJ at 8am. The drive to Lorton, VA took approximately 4.5 hours. Lorton is approximately 30 minutes south of downtown Washington , DC.
Amtrak starts AutoTrain check-in at 11:30am. So, we were able to check-in upon arrival our arrival in Lorton. We left our minivan with the valet, who affixed a magnetic sign with a number to the side of our vehicle. This number is used to claim the vehicle upon arrival at our destination, Sanford FL. We left our suitcases in the van, and took our overnight carryon bags, and proceeded to the check-in desk. Here we were provided with our boarding passes, and a dinner time. There were three seatings, 5:30 , 7:30 , and 9:30.
AutoTrain requires you to travel with a vehicle. This vehicle can be a motorcycle, car, or minivan/SUV. All vehicles are loaded into specially-designed rail cars. Cars are loaded double-decker style, while vans and SUV's are loaded onto a single level. Thus, you will pay more for a van/SUV than for a car.
I have limited mobility, so I reserved a handicapped bedroom. This bedroom is on the lower level of the double-decker Superliner rail cars. The room contains upper and level berths as well as a wheelchair-accessible toilet and sink. I was able to have meals delivered to my room because climbing up and down the stairs is not an option for me. Dinner included a salad with choice of dressing, a selection of hot entrees (steak. chicken, fish, and vegetarian) with potato and vegetable, choice of dessert, as well as unlimited wine, soft drinks, and coffee/tea. We both had the steak, which was cooked to order, and was excellent.
We departed the station approximately 15 minutes early. Amtrak requires you to check-in no later than 3pm for cars, and no later than 2pm for vans/SUV. On our southbound train, we were carrying over 400 passengers, and over 200 vehicles. The conductor said that this was a normal southbound load for this time of the year. A lot of snowbirds head south for the winter. We were also told that AutoTrain is Amtrak's longest passenger train.
A single DVD movie is shown continuously in the lounge cars. Also, starting this year, there is another entertainment option. A private company now rents video units at each of the two AutoTrain stations. These units have a screen similar to those found on commercial airliners. Each unit has a hard drive containing approximately 10 movies, as well as 10 TV shows, and 5 Amtrak featurettes. The units rent for about $25. You return the unit at your destination station. We found the unit a great way to pass the time. The units are equipped with two sets of earphones so that two people can watch the same movie together. $25 may seem high to some people. But, here in NJ, it costs almost this much for two people to see a movie in a theatre.
We had our room steward make up the beds soon after dinner, and we were asleep by 11. Our steward gave us a wake-up call at 7am , and brought a continental breakfast at 7:30. We pulled into the Sanford station on time at 8:30. We detrained, and proceeded into the station to wait for our minivan's number to be called. Fortunately, ours was the tenth number called, and we were on our way by 9:30.
Our northbound return rip started on Friday, December 2. The only major difference from our southbound train was the number of passengers (about 100), and vehicles (about 50).
As I stated earlier, I am an AutoTrain fan. I computed what it would have cost us to drive in terms of meals, gas, and lodging, and AutoTrain was not that much more expensive. We booked six months in advance, and we were able to get a round-trip fare of about $1000 for two people, including a bedroom and our minivan.
John Forster
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