An absolute fortune. I've looked into this, and it isn't economical in any way, shape, or form. Flying across the continent is MUCH cheaper, and with your number of vacation days usually being limited, gives you a lot more time at your destination. The only reason to do this is because you really want to spend your vacation time sitting in a train watching rural American scenery go by in states like Montana. It's sort of like taking a cruise ship, except a lot more expensive and the food isn't as good (or even included in the price I think) and there's not much to do on the train except watch the scenery and talk to people.

If we had 300mph bullet trains going across the country, it would make some sense because you'd get there a lot faster while still seeing the sights, it'd be more comfortable than an airplane's economy seats, and the ridership would probably be higher (which would lead to lower costs). As it is, long-distance rail travel in the US is an expensive disaster.

I'd indeed say it costs more than most people are willing to pay.

That said, a sleeper car on Amtrak gets you: a flat surface to lie down on, your own toilet (note the toilet is just there in the roomette, next to the bunk, prison style), access to a shower (your own shower in the rooms, one per car for the roomettes), access to the first class lounges, and includes meals in the dining car.

Rooms have a slightly wider lower bunk versus roomettes to sleep 2 (skinny) people and an enclosed toilet so you don't lose mystery from your romantic or work relationships. Roomettes are too small for a first world prison cell but have the beds oriented parallel to the direction of travel, which many people find more comfortable -- the rocking of the train is more soothing and less jarring.

If you have the time, don't mind paying four-star hotel prices for a two-star experience, and hate flying or have a medical condition that makes it infeasible you should definitely consider it.

Or, if you're on this site, it's a great excuse to sit in a small room with a view and not talk to anyone for several days, just read, write and program.

> Or, if you're on this site, it's a great excuse to sit in a small room with a view and not talk to anyone for several days, just read, write and program.

With spotty cellphone reception, so if you want to disconnect from constant connectivity that's also an interesting way.

It's a great experience, but if you're thinking of just sitting in there and programming in a room with a view, keep in mind that the scenery changes and is pretty amazing, which might distract you from programming.

> Or, if you're on this site, it's a great excuse to sit in a small room with a view and not talk to anyone for several days, just read, write and program.

This sounds like fun. I wonder if there are any European routes that are as long/uninterrupted that I could try that on.

Not really - the only trains taking longer than 24 hours in Europe are the sleepers to Moscow, and the longest of those (Nice-Moscow) only takes 48 hours. There are then much longer trains from Moscow into Asia though, up to the famous Trans-Siberian (6 days).

I went London-Japan overland but my longest single segment was two and a half days (Moscow-Shymkent), and that was about right - time to relax and do nothing for a bit, but by the third morning I had definitely spent enough time in the same compartment, as nice as it was.

>I wonder if there are any European routes that are as long/uninterrupted that I could try that on.

The London to Ft. William sleeper, when there's leaves on the line?

Not really within the EU - we have reasonably fast rail that prioritises passenger travel over freight - but e.g. Moscow to Beijing takes 6 or 7 nights, and you could get to Moscow itself by sleeper train if you're up for it.

This. I’m taking the train from Tucson to New Orleans in a few days and am looking forward to ~40 uninterrupted hours.

I just looked it up.

A sleeper for one is ~1'800$. About 300 more if you're two.

That's about half of a yearly train pass for Switzerland (2nd class). The pass allowes you to travel in virtually any mode of transportation without restrictions. Except for taxis, some boats and some mountain railways.

So yeah, that's pretty steep.

A similar cross country sleeper trip could be around 50$ in India, though by Indian speeds it may take the train several days, it is common for train rides India to last more than 2 full days. The longest distance passenger train on the Indian network takes close to 80 hours one way.

Amtrak was selling Phoenix-New Orleans tickets for $79 around the new year (not sleeper though). These days you can get bargains on certain east coast routes on roomette tickets if you go on trains that they’ve pulled the dining car off of.

In fairness, the continental United States are over 195 times the size of Switzerland.

but only 12 times the width

As pure transit, I agree with you.

But that price includes the sleeper and meals. If you view this as the vacation itself, it's not far off the price you'd be paying for hotels and meals.

Yeah, that's why I compared it to a cruise ship. But on the cruise ship, the food is probably a lot better, you have lots of activities on board (games, casinos, gym, massage parlor, fancy restaurants, shows, concerts, swimming pool, tennis court, etc.) and lots of space to walk around, and it stops at several ports of call during the trip. With the train, you get none of that, maybe a few short stops in rural towns on the way but not long enough to get off. I guess if you want to spend your whole vacation just sitting down and looking out a window, it's ok...

$2k is hardly an "absolute fortune". For the typical hackernews software developer this is something like a week's worth of work for one of the most unforgettable experiences of their lives.

I totally agree with you.

But compared to a one way flight, which can be had for as little as 100 bucks it's still pretty steep.

Alas, the experience certainly cannot be compared. It's not about getting to the destination, when you take the train. You pay for the entire experience.

I can go to Europe for 2 weeks for $2k or so, all-inclusive. Spending that much money just to sit on a train and look out a window sounds like a fortune to me. Maybe for very sedentary people it's an attractive option. Even a cruise ship is a more active experience, since there's a LOT more to do on a cruise ship, and you can probably do that for less than $2k as well if you avoid all the extras.

We can build your bullet train as soon as California finishes theirs.

>If we had 300mph bullet trains going across the country, it would make some sense because you'd get there a lot faster while still seeing the sights

You should take a TGV, you'll realize that at 300kph you don't see the sights.

Yes, you would in America. It's a question of simple geometry and perspective. I haven't ridden TGV, but I'm guessing you're talking about smaller things, probably man-made ones (e.g. buildings), maybe trees, relatively close to the train. You're not going to see anything like that when riding a train across Montana. Instead, you're going to see enormous wide-open natural spaces, with absolutely nothing really close to the train. So even at a speed 2-4x that of Amtrak's, you'll see it just fine.

All TGVs run at 300kph in the countryside, which is (on a smaller scale), just open spaces. The speed reduces your field of vision.

When evaluating the price, consider that it is also a hotel room and comes with free meals. Compare it to air fare + hotel room for X days + decent meals for X days and the price becomes less painful.

Amtrak's been stripping meals out of the service to save money. The Silver Star [correction: not Silver Meteor also], which runs the length of the east coast from Maine to Florida and back, for example, has no meal car. You can buy the roomettes and the rooms, still for significantly more than a plane ticket, but they do not come with meals. There's a "snack" car for all passengers with a microwave where you can buy chips or a hot dog, and it's only open some of the time. The sleeper cars are also dirty and falling apart, and there is no observation car.

Quick correction to this comment as I just took the silver meteor recently from FL-NY. Meals are definitely included when booking a room. The dining car has been renovated so perhaps meals were unavailable at some point. The price is significantly more than a plane ticket and while the rooms are older I would not consider them dirty. Sleep is difficult IMO as you do stop, bump around and you’ll occasionally get some random rattling. There is no observation car but they do have a lounge car with tables and snacks. You could get microwave meals like pizza, burgers, etc. Definitely not gourmet fair. The dining car meal is a significant step up and while not winning any Michelin stars is surprisingly decent.

Silver Meteor still has one. Only Silver Star dropped it.

I'm not sure that is the right comparison. Let's take a New York to Los Angeles trip.

That would be 3 days on Amtrak, or about 6 hours by plane.

I'd guess that for most cases flying instead of taking the train doesn't mean we spend the 6 days that we would have spent on the train (round trip) in a Los Angeles hotel eating expensive restaurant meals. I think most people would simply leave home later and leave Los Angeles earlier if flying, so that the time difference is spent at home eating whatever they normally eat.

My base assumption is that one goes on Amtrak for the scenery. So it's not at all like being at home; it's more like being at a scenic resort.

Note that some people use Amtrak because they are afraid of flying. This way of looking at the prices does not apply to them.

The scenery, the experience, and (while I don't really like the term) the "bucket list" nature of it.

Personally, I sort of want to do at least a section of the Empire Builder or the California Zephyr at some point. And I'd also like to take a transatlantic liner (well, the Queen Mary 2) from NY to Southampton. But probably only once and I'm fully prepared for the idea to be more enticing than the reality.

It's very cheap to do in coach. I think I paid $300 or so. The key thing is to get off and spend some time at the major stops (Chicago, Denver, Salt Lake City).

According to the first paragraph in the article, it costs $1,089.

Does "sleeper car" mean you're getting a bed, or just that you're riding in that car but maybe in a seat? I'm not familiar with train travel, sorry.

Yes. It means you get a bed. Even most people who ride Amtrak regularly aren't familiar with them. (I've never actually seen one on Amtrak in person.) They're only on long distance trains.

https://www.amtrak.com/onboard-the-train-sleeping-accommodat...

Now you're just pulling my leg...

Here's a recent article that I found that describes the sleeping cars in detail: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/03/20/magazine/trai...

That’s a pretty interesting article—I can think of a site where you can share that, people might like it.

You get seats in a cabin that convert into bed(s).

Coach/economy/steerage means you spend the night in your seat. Sleeper means you get to sleep (in a bed).

But you get a whole 'room' to yourself for that price or just get bunk in a room with a bunch of other people.

The sleepers are all individual rooms of some description with 1-2 beds. There are some larger up to 4 adults. There are no hostel style bunk cars on trains. You're either sleeping in seats or in a room.

https://www.amtrakvacations.com/blog/3-important-things-to-k... (just googling 'amtrak sleeper' gets you this info!)

Canada's Via Rail trains have hostel-style bunk beds, called berths, double-stacked on both sides of the corridor, with a heavy curtain covering them. During the day they are converted into open compartments with couch-style seating.

Then $1000 doesn't seem that expensive really, especially if that includes in-room shower and toilet

Common showers, but this wasn't a problem at all for us.

The NY<->Chicago line had toilets in the compartment - but I mean in the compartment, not a separate bathroom. So not so great.

The California Zephyr (Chicago<->SF) has common toilets. The one in our sleeper car was broken for the whole trip, for which Amtrak only gave us the slightest nod of recognition.

There are three in every sleeper car, so the failure of one is not a huge problem.

In the case of Amtrak, I believe they're all private. (By contrast when I took an overnight train in China a few years back it was a shared bunkroom though there were probably different options available.)