Wow, the crew on this Amtrak has an unusually high asshole quotient.
Rail travel in the US is such a disappointment.
@inthehands @Brad_Rosenheim Oh, come to Canada…
@MichaelPorter @Brad_Rosenheim For a better experience, or to learn how good I have it?

@inthehands @Brad_Rosenheim Our intercity passenger rail regularly gets delayed because there’s only one track and fright trains have priority…

The LRT in Ottawa was an enormous success… at convincing people they’d be better off taking they cars to work…

Every time I heard that Biden would go to work via Amtrak I would think, “How is that even possible?”

@inthehands @Brad_Rosenheim I’m not going to fix that typo 😄

@MichaelPorter @Brad_Rosenheim Ah. Exact same problem with fright trains here. But at least LRT here in MSP and several other places is quite good.

Re Biden: the Acela line that runs up the East Coast is apparently a whole other beast in terms of speed and reliability.

@inthehands @MichaelPorter My last great train adventure was pre-kids. I went to a conference in San Francisco from New Orleans. I had a roomette on the way out, but if I had it on the way back it would have been more expensive than a plane ticket and my university would not have allowed it. Everything went without a hitch, but the train only ran three times a week, so don't miss it! We left on a Wednesday at noon and I arrived in San Francisco near midnight Sunday morning (Saturday night). Coming back, I had to overnight in Los Angeles and meals were not included with a first class ticket. Overall it added 7 days of travel to a 5 day conference, which is why I haven't done since kids were born. Maybe next time I will go with them - they are old enough now!

@Brad_Rosenheim @MichaelPorter
That sounds magical. There’s a lot to be said for slow travel!

Amtrak with a family has a lot going for it. Observation car is where it’s at. My advice: pack lots of your own food, bring things to help you sleep comfortably, fully expect it to be 0-12 hours late, and embrace the idle time!