Amtrak and CHL?

[BlakeTyner]

I'll weigh in with what I can, being a railfan and, to some extent, a railroader (steam tourist train, attempting to transition into the big leagues.)

1) Amtrak travel is generally not as bad as its made out to be, with one caveat: you have to have realistic expectations. The train will likely be late at some point - maybe the entire trip - and you need to check its status online or through 1-800-USA-RAIL. Most of the time it will only be a couple of hours, but there are circumstances where the freight dispatchers (Union Pacific especially) will put Amtrak on sidings for hours. Case in point is the Sunset Limited, and, to a lesser degree, the Texas Eagle. BNSF does pretty well, but UP will dog you. The food on board is better than airline food, but expensive. The snack bar in the lounge sells microwave burgers and pizza and such (which, even nuked, are pretty tasty) but it's a bit steep. You do get a pretty decent portion, though. Smoking is now prohibited on all Amtrak long distance trains, so you have to wait for station stops. It's not *that* bad, but it was a lot nicer when they had downstairs smoking lounges.

2) Amtrak is not really a money pit, at least when you consider that it was set up to be a federally-subsidized public mode of transportation. As it is now, you and I pay $1.50 per year to keep Amtrak running on it's roughly $2 billion budget - the *private* airline companies get more federal money in a year than Amtrak has received in 30, plus they don't have to pay for the sky they fly through, and they get nice tax breaks on airports, etc. Personally, I don't mind paying that buck fifty per year to keep the trains running.

3) It's pretty explicitly stated that handguns aren't allowed on-board the trains, though I don't know if that's legally binding or simply company policy. I know that the train has to obey the liquor laws of whatever state it is in (the Texas Eagle suspends alcohol sales on Sunday while it goes through Arkansas - or did the last time I rode.) I've never been searched or had to submit to any sort of metal detection, either pre- or post- 9/11; however, at certain stops, dogs are brought onto the train (downstairs in each car, where luggage is stored.) Talking to conductors, I'm under the impression that this is for drugs, but I suppose it's possible that the dog would alert on a weapon or ammo, if it was in the suitcase. That'd be a pretty stupid move anyway, since that luggage is out in the open, unattended.

For me personally, I leave my pistol at home when I travel on Amtrak, just like I do when I visit Lake o' the Pines. I don't *like* it, but that's sort of what life's about...a lot of crap you don't like.