Seeing America by Train: the Honest Guide to Amtrak Sleepers, Scenic Routes, and Decisions That Make or Break Trip

Nobody tells you which direction to book. That one decision changes everything. The southbound Coast Starlight passes the foot of Mount Shasta at about a quarter to one in the morning. Going the other way, the same train is in the same country at five, with the mountain coming up out of the dark while you eat breakfast. Same railroad. Same fare. Same seven-hundred-dollar room. One radio button on a booking page that gives you no reason to think it matters. That is the problem with almost everything written about American train travel. You can find a thousand photographs of a roomette and almost nothing that answers the questions you actually have: what does it really cost, where is the bathroom at two in the morning, which side of the train should I be on, how late will it be, and can two grown adults share a compartment the size of a closet for two days and still be married at the end. Seeing America by Train answers those questions in the units you think in - left, right, o'clock, dollars, and stairs. >Inside you will find: - Five reusable tools - the Doorless Question, the Two-Night Test, the Daylight Audit, the Compass Rule and the Slack Budget - that work on the California Zephyr and on a night train out of Vienna- Route-by-route guides to the California Zephyr, Empire Builder, Southwest Chief, Coast Starlight, Sunset Limited, Texas Eagle, Lake Shore Limited, Crescent, Cardinal, Silver Meteor, Floridian and Auto Train - with direction verdicts, compass sides, daylight windows and the one thing a first-timer would not know- A three-bag packing system built for a room with nowhere to put a suitcase- A frank chapter on traveling with a body that has opinions - stairs, berths, the two a.m. walk, medication, CPAP and oxygen rules, and the four questions to ask Amtrak by telephone, word for word- Scripts you can read out loud for the dining car table, the conductor, the station agent and the change-and-cancel phone call- The Delay Playbook for the four kinds of trouble, and what Amtrak actually commits to- A one-day dress rehearsal that tells you, for about one percent of the cost, whether a transcontinental is for you And one chapter no other book in this category contains: an honest test for deciding not to go. Whether you are planning a bucket-list crossing, a single overnight, a month-long circuit of the whole network, or a first sleeper trip after a lifetime of flying, this is the book that turns picking a route into designing a journey. Independent guide. Not affiliated with or endorsed by Amtrak or any railroad.