Train Travels

This summer, I (John) will be helping to lead the South Asia Discovery team.  We are expecting the team to take a 30+ hour train ride as part of the trip.  I have already informed the team to take public transportation here in the usa before the trip so they have something to compare the South Asian trains to...
So I took my own advice and kept a journal recently when Shevawn and I traveled on Amtrak:

We left our home at 5:40 am Wednesday and took a city bus.  We missed our stop, (only every other bus actually stopped where we wanted to alight) so we took another bus back 3 miles ($2 more per person) then walked 1 mile  to the commuter train station. One commuter train was canceled so we took next available (short wait). Now this train is at a dead stop and the driver says there's a train stopped ahead of us and a red signal ahead of that train... The conductor keeps updating us via intercom regarding how he doesn't know anything about how long the delay will be:-) Our fellow passengers talk of a suicide as well as new track construction as possible reasons for the delays.
We arrived at Union station with plenty of time to check into our Amtrak train, buy coffee and eat a bagel... At 9:55 were in our assigned and spacious seats, using free WiFi, the AC is on, there is an electric outlet within reach, there are window curtains for when we need them, our seats recline, individual reading lights, foot rests, plenty of legroom...
A lady sitting across from us was using foul language upon entering but has been quiet since then. There is both a snack car with expensive fast food & drinks and a dining car with rather expensive food... We made a 1:30 lunch reservation in the dining car:-)
Now that our train is en-route, there is no WiFi.
For lunch we were assigned to sit at a shared table with 2 teenage gals who are traveling with a youth choir during their spring break... They both had hamburgers & dessert (for $17ea), Shevawn had chicken breast mashed potatoes & a salad & I had a salad with chicken ours came with rolls and drinks, our total with tip was $31! A bit expensive, but this is the only food we purchase on the train... we brought all our other food and drinks with us... it sure is nice to have one hot meal during this long trip.

People in our car are quiet. The social venues seem to be the observation & snack car and the dining car.

For dinner we enjoyed food we packed with us from home (carrots, quesadea & chips)
We slept a bit uncomfortably, I used my mp3 music & headphones to muffle noise and an eye mask... Shevawn used ear plugs.
The scenery is beautiful in N. CA and the Oregon mountains where there is snow on the ground!

Well... The "smoking" breaks and the high consumption of beers have served to bond a few of our outgoing fellow passengers and both Shevawn & I are now cranking our headphones to try to cope with their incessant bantering on-board the train.

As the hours of travel add up, passengers start commenting on the lack of housekeeping and some train cars (not ours) smelling as well as the restrooms becoming "ripe".  (I think passengers were being rude and commenting on how 1 or 2 specific people smell differently than they expect)
Shevawn noted no "smelly cars" when she explored... But she did note our car IS the loudest (the lady sitting opposite us talks a bit loud and quite a lot)!

Finally we arrived in Portland, our destination only about 1 hour later than scheduled... about 4 pm Thursday...  roughly a 30 hour Amtrak train ride.

Once I'm back from Discovery, you can expect to read a bit of my South Asian train journal to see how it compares.