I have been a longtime reader of this forum, however I have decided that the time is right for my first posting.
I first became acquainted with this site throgh an article written by Lou Dolinar in the Long Island daily "Newsday". Mr. Dolinar's described how he weathered the great Northeastern blackout of 2003 thanks in part to postings on the "Equipped to Survive" website relating to the topic of LED flashlights.
My story concerns a trip made via Amtrak over the holidays. I was taking my mother out-of-town to visit a destination not readily reachable by airplane, nor could we drive to my brother's home.
At Penn station, Amtrak personnel assigned us to our train car based upon our destination. After being seated, we noticed that the car lacked heat. This transpired on a day when the outside temperatures were in the single digits. The conductors tried flipping a few switches but to no avail -- as we left Penn Station, they promised that the heat would be fixed by the time we reach Philidelphia (a few hours away). The dining car was not scheduled to open until we reached Philidelphia and the crew would not permit us to relocate to another car.
Based upon the many helpful postings I read in the "survival forum", I had judiciously packed and was prepared for such a contingency. In my travel bag I had a supply of "Mycoal" hand, foot and body warming pads and a "mylar space blanket".
These items prevented my mother from becomming sick in the nearly freezing cold conditions in the train car.
To complete my story, the heat promised at Philidelphia was not delivered. Although they did open the Lounge car at Philidelphia, but the Lounge car could not hold that many people. They finally fixed the heat at Washington D.C. (nearly four hours after we boarded the train).
I would suggest that anyone planning to travel via Amtrak should treat their journey as a "survival situation". "Cold Cars" in the winter, "Hot cars" in the summer and unexpected delays which cause the "snack car" to run out of food can quickly turn a ride on Amtrak into a "survival situation".
Once again, thank you all for your collected wisdom.

Another nightmare AMTRAK story. Can't say I've ever heard a good thing about them.

Geez. Is there any way to travel anymore that doesn?t require your daughter/wife getting groped, your body cavity searched, your nail file getting confiscated, your luggage being lost, or your elderly mom freezing????? <img src="/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

And I used to like going by train, too.

I suppose you can go by car ? no hours-long delays waiting in line, no repacking everything to pass ?security? (you can file your nails IN the car!), no unwanted fondling, your luggage stays with you, you can stop and eat when you want, you have heat, and you?ll likely arrive in just about the same time. (A friend just flew from North Carolina to Louisiana ? 12 hours from her front door in NC to her door in LA. You can drive it in about 15 hours?..)

But with everyone in their cars?. where?s all that oil going to come from??? (Three guesses...... <img src="/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" />)

My $.02.

?..CLIFF

P.S. Doug/Chris ? you may want to move this thread to ?Around the Campfire?.

www.greentortoise.com isn't Greyhound, but along with vacation adventures has limited express services on a few major routes. I have never had more fun, excepting the still excellent Alaskan and Canadian train system. I have just inherited a black Brougham with hand cut glass windows, silk and wool interior and a concealed shotgun boot. If you can find a pair of fancy Saddlebreds I'll drive your grandmother anytime <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> AMTRAK has always been an unwanted division of the railway industry- and they show it. But for commercial aviation to cover poor service and financial blunders by waving the dust covered flag of 9/11is insulting. <img src="/images/graemlins/mad.gif" alt="" />

Its such a shame Amtrak has been neglected.
A few years ago I travelled from NY to LA (in a very roundabout way) by Amtrak. I've worked out I spent a total of 11 days and nights on board.There was never a problem with warmth and I alway eat my own food, however I was lucky if the train was only 2 hours late, either to leave or to arrive. I remember the train stopping for hours on end in the middle of no-where for no apparent reason. However its the same in every country... It took me 9 hours to travel 200 miles by train here in the Uk a few weeks ago in conditions that were far worse than I had ever encountered on Amtrak.
I try not to expect to much of travel services -if you do your always going to be disapointed. Warm clothes, a food supply, and plenty of patience are required.
On a more positive side, I have never met such a diverse and friendly bunch of people as I did when I traveled by Amtrak - both fellow travellers and staff.

Never knowing when - or if - you'll get where you're going is becoming S.O.P. for commuter and intercity rail. I've taken to carrying a pack with me on the daily commute to work. It's like a '72-hour' pack, except I call it my '30-mile' pack, because that's how far it is to get home. Its contents depend upon the season, but suffice to say there's enough basic stuff in there so I can handle a day or two walk.

If this doesn't fit your image, you could do about as well with a soft-side attache case.

My wife sometimes travels AMTRAK to Washington to see a friend who will fly in for meetings. She meets him there and they catch up. One the way home once, the train broke. Just plain broke.

After several hours of, "Just a few more minutes of your patience," they finally had to call for another train. I know this because she kept me filled in via cell phone, and graciously allowed her seatmate to call her family to let them know what was going on.

They reached downtown Philly way after the last train had departed for surburbia. The passengers were unceremomiously dumped at the the station. No apologies. No explanations.

I drove into downtown Philly to get her so she would not have to find a motel and spend the night there. Since we married (in 1991), our nights apart have been few and far between, and we prefer it that way!

-- Craig