What is it Like to Travel by Train?

We spent fifty one hours from Austin to Tucson on Amtrak to find out.

The observation car from our Amtrak train.

“The real treasure was the friends we made along the way.” Have you ever uttered this sentence without a sense or irony? Do you desperately need to be separated from reliable Internet service for several hours or days? Are you a fan of tiny spaces and big landscapes?

If you answered “yes” to these questions then you just might be a train person. I should know. I spent a cumulative fifty one hours or so among the train people just recently. There is definitely a type, and that type is unique. This mode of travel is neither efficient nor luxurious, but it is decidedly a favorite for train people. Train people value the journey over the destination. They enjoy chit chatting with strangers, comparing notes on their rail-based adventures, and spending their hours in the oddly cozy state I like to call “parallel locomotion”.

Lunch in the dining car.

You are never alone on a train, though I highly recommend paying extra for the thin walls, sliding door, and velcro curtain that provides the closest approximation available. The sleeper car, or in our case  the “roomette” offered a much-needed sanctuary from the communal style accommodations throughout the rest of the train. If you wanted, you could spend your entire journey sequestered in your own tiny compartment by ordering your food there. But even as introverted as I am, I was grateful for our three daily trips to the dining car. It was a chance to stretch my legs, get at least a few steps in, and maybe most importantly, feel gratitude for having the option to go back and be alone again after our meal.

One of the two seats in our sleeper car.

I’m getting ahead of myself though, aren’t I? What was I even doing on a train? Here’s the story.

My partner and I had always been curious about the experience of riding on a train overnight, and were particularly keen on trying out a sleeper car. So, we took a look at schedules and budgets, and after getting over the shock of how pricey and slow train travel seems to be in comparison to flying or driving, settled on a trip from Austin, Texas to Tucson, Arizona and back. We reserved a “roomette” which is a two-person sleeping car with an overhead bunk bed and two recliners that convert to a second mattress at night. Sleeper car tickets also include three meals a day and one alcoholic beverage with dinner.

Our Amtrak train “roomette”

The roomette is pretty tiny, with just enough room to stash your shoes and a small bag under your seat, but the space is used well, and the seats are pretty comfortable. You have your own little window to enjoy the landscape as it flies by, and even a tiny table that folds out from under the window.

The view from our sleeper car.

Now the purpose of our adventure was to satisfy our own curiosity. And as we experienced the train travel life ourselves, a certain question persisted in our minds. If the train is slower than an airplane and more expensive than driving, why would one choose to travel by train? To answer this question, we asked everyone we met, observed the travelers we passed, and looked for clues. Of course, everyone has their own personal reasons, but a few key features of train travel really stood out. After fifty one hours on the Amtrak Sunset Limited and Texas Eagle lines, these are my conclusions.

You may want to travel by train if:

• You Have a Fear of Flying
  Perhaps the most obvious reason for folks to travel by train is being afraid of flying. Trains remain firmly on the ground throughout the entire trip. You may go over the occasional bridge, but the overall altitude of the journey is far more comfortable for those who lean aerophobic. Be warned, turbulence is still a thing, as the train has a tendency to rattle, lurch, and sway, but at least you know you won’t have as far to fall should the whole thing tip over.
• You Hate Security Lines at Airports
  No-one is X-raying your luggage or patting you down before getting on board. No-one even checked my ID at any point. Of course, random checks and canine sniffers could appear at any time, but I didn’t see any of that during my trip. So if personal privacy is paramount, or security screenings freak you out, or if you just have an aversion to authority, train travel wins over air travel for sure.
• You Really Need Some Downtime
  Although the Amtrak website promises free wi-fi onboard, this was not available during my trip – or at least I never found it. Being at the mercy of cellular service while traveling through remote areas definitely forces you to spend less time on your phone and more time just existing. Some trains offer movie cars and other kinds of entertainment, but for us, the train ride was fifty one hours of knitting, doodling in sketchbooks, making conversation, and staring out the window. I did start to get a little stir crazy on the last leg of the trip, but honestly, I think my mental health got a boost from the time I spent “bored” and disconnected. Especially when we tucked ourselves away in the roomette, the train provided a peaceful break from being busy all the time.
• You Like Making Friends
  This motivation seemed to lie at the heart of the trainiest train people we encountered. Whether you are sharing a row with strangers in coach, chatting with your neighbors in the hallway of the sleeper car, or making small talk in the observation car, socializing seems like a cornerstone of train travel. You have to intentionally avoid it if you don’t want to meet people, because the whole experience lends itself to human interaction. The most striking example of this is community seating in the dining car. When you arrive for a meal you are usually seated with another one or two people at random. You don’t get to choose who you sit with unless you arrive in a group, so singles and couples inevitably end up having at least a small conversation with someone new. On our trip, we met folks from all over the country and abroad. It was quite a cast of characters, and on the last night of our journey we actually shut down the dining car sharing cocktails and travel stories with a London-based writer and a shoemaker from Switzerland. For a couple of introverts, that was really something else.

The view from our train window.

So, would I travel by train again? Am I a train person now? I’ve always considered myself more of a road trip person, but riding the train was actually pretty neat. I would definitely try it again, but next time I would save up my train hours for a route that is better loved than the Austin to Tucson adventure. I heard (from the train people) that riding up the West Coast to Northern California is a real treat. I would also love to ride the Alaska Railroad someday, or enjoy riding a train through Europe. My kids have been watching Ryan Trahan videos and now I’ve got this train ride on my mind.

How about you? Would you travel by train?