Tips for Amtrak travel

A Northeast Regional train car.

My parents recently took their first trip by train, using Amtrak to get to a Canada/New England cruise that departed from Montreal and ended in Boston. And helping them prepare got me thinking about what I've learned over the years in taking the train.

So here are 10 tips for enjoying Amtrak travel. These apply to short- and middle-distance trips (I ride the Northeast Regional frequently, and have also ridden the Acela, Carolinean, and Downeaster). I haven't done any of the long-distance routes like the Empire Builder or City of New Orleans, although I'd like to someday.

1. If it's called a "Snack Car," don't expect gourmet meals

It's "snack" for a reason. If you want a bag of chips or a cookie, a glass of wine or a beer, you are in great shape in a snack car. Do NOT think that you are going to get a gourmet meal here, although it will be better than what you'd get on an airline. My preference is to purchase my meals at the train station beforehand, or pack a lunch/dinner, and bring it with me. For me personally, I have a hard time leaving from Union Station in DC without a Corner Bakery Chop Salad. Yum.

2. Yes, it is slower than the ideal plane time, and yes, there are delays.

Note, IDEAL plane time. That is assuming your flight isn't delayed, and you don't have some sort of ridiculous connection to make, which you then miss because your flight was delayed. This year, I've flown six times and had a delay of more than an hour three of those six times. So when you compare your Amtrak train against a plane, be sure to factor in potential delays there, as well as the time it takes to get to the airport and get through security, so you can sit there waiting for your delayed flight.

I've only twice EVER had delays on lines Amtrak owns (Northeast Regional/Acela), and the one I knew the cause of was an equipment issue. I travel on Amtrak more frequently than I fly, so that's a pretty good track record. On tracks Amtrak doesn't own (such as the Carolinian's route), you do see more frequent delays due to yielding for freight trains. But you don't have to sleep overnight in an airport for one of those.

And yes, on any train, anywhere in the world, if someone jumps on to the tracks, you are screwed, because there will be police, and they will take their time to do what they need to do. This is the one thing that can bring any route, no matter how usually on-time, to a halt. So if that's what happened, you need to be looking into alternatives immediately. Fortunately, incidents like this are few and far between.

3. Chemical toilets get gross after a certain amount of time.

On a lengthy train ride, don't expect to use the toilet in the 10th hour of your ride and have it smell like a rose. Obviously, this is different on long-distance routes where they have points to refresh the toilets. But on routes like the Carolinian, it seems there is a certain point where they stop servicing the toilets, and aside from you not being able to use them, things can get a bit smelly.

Lessons here — don't take a seat near the toilets, and don't chug water near the end of your train ride. Two or three hours toward the end of your trip, hit the restroom whether you need to or not. The good news on Amtrak is that if the restroom in your car fills up, you can walk down the train and probably find another that's not full yet.

4. Yes, you're on a train for a long time. Deal with it, accept it, and then embrace it.

Do you want to compare this to being on a plane? Because really, let's. So after opting out of a body scan because you don't want cancer 5 years from now, necessitating a pat-down, you and your quart bag and your carry-on bag are waiting for your delayed flight. Eventually, they start boarding the flight, but because all the people in line in front of you have brought their ginormous carry ons due to the checked baggage fees, the overhead bins fill up and they need to start gate-checking bags. This takes extra time as there are people in the middle of the plane with their giant carry-ons who need to work their way upstream to get them gate-checked. So your flight is ready to leave 20 minutes later than it could have been, when the airport you're flying to issues another ground-stop due to weather, and you sit there on the tarmac, buckled in to your tiny seat and unable to move, until you're finally able to take off. Then once your ears stop popping, you can move around and use approved electronic devices until it's time to land. That is, assuming that the weather issues that caused the ground-stop have cleared up -- otherwise, you're sitting on the tarmac somewhere else. Oh, and I forgot to mention that there's another seat half an inch in front of your knees.

To sum up, the train is the tortoise, and the plane is the hare. While the plane is filled with drama and delay, passengers on the tortoise are siting in their nice big seats and stretching out their legs, walking up and down the train with no thought to a seat belt light, stopping in to the cafe car for a drink if they're so inclined, and using the restroom whenever they want to. Yeah, they might be delayed, but they're delayed in a not-altogether unpleasant place to be (as long as per #1 they brought sufficient food). So whatever it is in this world you need to keep yourself occupied and happy over the course of a long train trip, whether it's a Kindle, regular old book, iPod, or something else (aside from the scenery, which may distract you from whatever you bring, anyway), bring it. If it's a book, try to bring something special -- something you know you won't want to put down. I did a day trip to New York on Amtrak once and brought Stieg Larsson's "The Girl Who Played With Fire," which I ravenously finished that day.

5. Remember the Quiet Car. Love the Quiet Car.

The Quiet Car is the best thing about both the Northeast Regional and the Acela. Basically, it's a car in which you cannot have cell phone conversations, and must talk in a whisper. It's meant to be a library-style environment. I'm not going to lie -- once I was on the Acela where a really drunk guy was on the quiet car next to me and kept making cell phone calls, despite all of the other passengers' attempts to police him. (Some sociologist is definitely missing out in not doing a study on the dynamics of quiet car passenger policing.) Generally, though, this is an uber-quiet bastion of the train where you can work, read, or sleep with no interruptions.

6. Don't stay in your seat.

Yes, in even coach it is the size of a business-class plane seat, and yes, you have business-class leg room, and you should enjoy these things. But also enjoy the fact that unlike a plane OR a car, you can get up out of your seat and walk around anytime you want. Take advantage of this. Walk the length of the train if you're feeling restless.

7. Train naps are the best naps.

There is something about the motion of a train that has lulled me to sleep on countless trains, both here and in Europe. If you're feeling sleepy, go with it. And if you've chosen to follow the quiet car advice, you might be asleep for quite awhile. Don't worry about missing your stop, though, because the conductors put a piece of paper on the luggage rack near your seat noting where you're supposed to get off, so they'll warn/wake you if they need to. You can also set the alarm on your cell phone for extra security.

8. The piece of paper is a bit mysterious, so take precautions.

That piece of paper that the conductors put on luggage rack near your seat...I've heard that you are supposed to take it with you (leaving yourself open to having your seat taken if you choose to sit in the cafe car for awhile), but it'a all a bit mysterious. I personally usually leave the paper, together with some sort of cue that my seat is taken (a book, sweater, or Corner Bakery salad on the seat will do the trick). But then I'm sure to carry my ticket stub for the train on me, so that if a conductor stops me, I can show that I'm supposed to be on the train and I've already had my ticket looked at.

9. Travel light, and be ready for stairs, but don't worry about exact dimensions.

When you travel via train and public transit, you do want to make sure that you're using light baggage (in wheeled baggage, the latest Skyway carry-on is my favorite when airline rules aren't a factor). Amtrak has extremely liberal guidelines for carry-on luggage, but what you don't want to do is be like the French girl on one Regional I took, who had a giant (29"+), heavy roll-aboard, and when our Regional departed from a platform where you needed to walk up a few steps with your luggage, was screwed to the point where another man had to carry her luggage up the steps for her.

So on Amtrak, no one is going to make you put your bag in a sizer. But on many routes without checked baggage, you will be responsible for all of your luggage. So learn light packing techniques. Everyone should actually be able to live out of a carry-on-sized bag for an indefinite amount of time with a little learning and advance preparation. As for stairs, in addition to any legitimate stairs you think you will encounter, plan on at least one escalator being broken during your trip. On Amtrak, you can carry a tremendous amount of baggage without having to check it, so make sure you're ready for the amount of baggage you bring.

10. Remember that the snack/cafe car has seats.

A couple things might happen. You might have chosen to sit in the quiet car, but since had a call that you need to follow up on. Or you might be seated in an area with rambunctious people or kids (usually it's the kids...I'm just sayin'). Or you might just have gotten on the train with timing that made it impossible for you to sit together with the rest of your party. Regardless of what your driver is for not being happy with your present seats, remember that you might have other options. Check out the Cafe (Acela) or Snack (other short/middle-distance routes) Car, which has seats in addition to a booth for food sales, to see if there might be a better spot for you to sit, at least in the interim. And if you have a glass of wine while relaxing and enjoying the scenery, well, more's the better.

And a bonus tip for those leaving from or going through New York...

11. Penn Station is a hole.

Blame this one on New York, not Amtrak, will you? New York had a beautiful Penn Station which trains came in to, but it chose to castrate it for the space Madison Square Garden is in now. This is exceedingly unfortunate. I feel sorry for people who start their Amtrak trips here instead of somewhere like DC's lovely, organized Beaux Arts Union Station. But they're still probably better off than they would be if they had chosen to fly or take the bus, so don't feel TOO sorry for them.

So in Penn Station, do still follow my earlier tips and make sure you have a decent lunch from here or nearby before you board your train. Just don't expect it to be as lovely as boarding a standard Amtrak train in a decent station. And keep in mind that there is an Amtrak waiting area, although it's a bit hidden. So grab your food and hang out here until a track is posted for your train.

Bus vs. Train

So I've also been meaning to post about my means of transportation to New York, since this blog seems to have morphed into mostly being about transit and travel.

I took Bolt Bus this time. Even with Amtrak fares on sale at $49 one way from Washington to New York, it was still half the cost of the train, so from a frugal standpoint, I figured it was worth trying.

Since taking the bus, I have concluded that if I can't afford to take the train, I can't afford to go.

Let me clarify about the bus — it's not that it was a bad bus experience. The seats were leather, it was significantly cleaner than the Metro buses I take to work most days, and there was free wifi, although I did not partake of it. But, in the end, it was still a bus experience.

After a few hours in the narrow, leather-but-wildly-uncomfortable seats, my back hurt, and I was feeling a little trapped. The more I think about it, the more I think that the best thing about taking the train (aside, perhaps, from the wider seats and ample legroom) is the ability you have to get up and walk around whenever you want. I really missed having the option to go for a lengthy train stroll, or sit in the cafe car for awhile instead of my regular seat.

On the way back, I missed the cafe car itself. I was running late in getting to the bus, so I didn't have time to pick up any food, or use the restroom. I rued both during the ride, probably the restroom bit more than the snack car. No restroom in a moving vehicle is great, but Amtrak restrooms, at least, have sinks and are relatively large and clean(er). All the bus had was a dispenser of Purell on the wall. I used it on my hands, but would have preferred a Purell bath after getting out of that thing.

The Bolt bus did have one advantage over the train in the free wifi. But you can buy a beer on the train. So I call that a draw. Train wins. That's how I'll be getting to New York next time.

What I gave up by going green

My Regional train pulls into the tiny Mystic station.

Yay! The lengthy process of posting all of my photos and video is finally over. I've created a Flickr collection with all of the sets.

As my trip wound down, I started thinking about what I had given up by going green and not using any planes or cars. Planes is easy — I don't feel like I gave up anything by taking the train, unless you count grief and aggravation.

Cars, however, is a bit of a different story. In Boston, I definitely didn't miss out on anything by not having a car. In fact, as is generally the case in big cities, it was more convenient to take the subway and walk to my destinations than having to worry about driving and parking in a strange place. I think you see more by walking, as well.

In my day trips to Salem and Portland, I also don't feel like I gave up much. Taking a cab into and out of town in Portland would have saved me some time, but that's about it. If I were making Portland more than a day trip, though (or wanted to go to the LL Bean outlet), a car would have been helpful. And a drive up to lovely Bar Harbor would have been quite nice — and perhaps allowed me to track down that shack with the mind-blowing lobster rolls. There might be bus or boat transportation options to Bar Harbor, though — I didn't really look into it.

It was probably in Mystic that I gave up the most by not having a car. There's enough to do within walking distance of the train station for a few days, but to spend any more time there — perhaps go to the beach, visit the submarine and other museums, or go to the local wineries — I would have needed a car. Even Abbott's Lobster in the Rough — which I walked to because I really, really wanted to go there — should have been a cab ride or perhaps, if possible, reached by water taxi. There are rental car companies in the Mystic area, including Enterprise, so I'm assuming you can arrange to be picked up at the train station and at least be green about getting to the town.

I do, however, feel like there are some things I gained by doing this all by public transit. There is, of course, that feeling of doing right by the environment. But there's also a sense of accomplishment in figuring out other cities' public transportation systems, even though both Boston's and Portland's were fairly easy. And there's a lack of stress in knowing that someone else is always responsible for getting you to your destination.

I grew up in the Akron area, and in suburban Ohio fashion, thought that if you wanted to get anywhere, the car was it. I never would have thought about traveling for a week and being able to see and do all of the things I did on this trip without using cars or planes.

And indeed, this is the sort of trip you can only make on the busy Northeast rail corridor. So here's hoping we see the national rail network expand quickly — I loved traveling this way.

Amtrak's Acela vs. Regional

First, pics and video from Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday are up at Flickr.

And then a question I've been thinking about: now having ridden both the Acela and the Regional, is the Acela worth the extra cost?

That partially depends on how much saving the extra time — an hour and 15 minutes from Washington DC to Boston — is worth to you. But the Acela is worth more than the time you save, I think.

I didn't realize how much smoother it is than the Regional until I actually got on the Regional and felt it rocking and rolling. It seems to get up to higher speeds (the conductor announced we were running at 125 mph at one point on the way to Mystic) and therefore jostle around a lot more between Boston and New York than I've been used to between DC and New York.

On the Acela, you don't really feel the speed. It's quieter than the Regional, with one design flaw exception — the Acela's airline-style overhead luggage bins have actual closing doors with actual closing latches. I'm guessing these are in part to show a classier look than the Regional's open luggage racks, and in part to make sure luggage isn't flying as the train leans into turns. But they're NOISY, with a loud ka-thunk whenever one is closed.

The Acela's business-class (the lowest class offered) seats definitely offered substantially more legroom. But compared to airplane coach seats, the Regional's coach seats are wider and have much more legroom. And the Regional, even at its loudest, is still quieter than an airplane.

And indeed, as I rode home on the Regional yesterday, I was thinking about how it was bouncier and louder than the Acela, and wondering, once you've taken the Acela, how do you go back?

Oh yes, I remembered. The Regional still beats flying, hands down.

The trouble with vacation is it always has to end

Well, I did it. No cars and no planes through an entire trip.

Even up to the end, there was always a chance I would have to cab it. Of the three trains going south from Mystic yesterday, I went for the latest one, the one that left at 7 p.m. and was due to arrive at Union Station at 1:30 a.m.

With Metro's late Friday and Saturday hours, that should have given me plenty of time to get home. But any major issues on Amtrak's or Metro's ends, or both, and I'd be taking a cab back to Silver Spring. And indeed, there was one moment where I thought I might be screwed.

I checked out of my hotel Friday morning and looked outside to see a downpour. My plans had been to go back over to Mystic Seaport for awhile (I bought a membership, which allows unlimited visits and other discounts, so I think it paid for itself), do a little shopping downtown, and then go back to the Captain Daniel Packer Inne.

Plans at least temporarily thwarted, I walked the short distance to Bartleby's Coffee Cafe to wait it out with a cappuccino and a close eye on weather.com. It was a cute little coffee shop, and obviously had a regular clientele. By 12:30 the rain was letting up, so then I headed over to Mystic Seaport. I wanted to grab a light lunch and check out the Seaman's Inne, the Seaport's restaurant.

I ate in the pub, and at the Seaman's Inne it's a nice place for a respite from outside, although not as great a space as the DPI. More importantly, after realizing that I couldn't remember the last time I'd had a serving of non-coleslaw vegetables with any meal, I got a delicious spinach salad, loaded with spiced pecans, cranberries, apples and cheese. Yay, nutrition.

Seaman's Inne.

I wandered the Seaport for awhile, checking out a few things I'd missed, and went for a ride on the historic steamboat SS Sabino. It just goes up and back the Mystic River for half an hour, so it's not an extensive ride, but it is a good way to see things from the water and check out the Sabino's historic steam engine.



It was, unfortunately, overrun with kids — some well-behaved, some out of control. I understand increasingly why my mom is in such demand as a substitute teacher — she would have had the out of control ones in line, I'm sure.

I wandered my way back downtown, checking out shops as I went. In Mystic, there are a lot of eccentricities, nautical items, organic items, jewelry, clothing, and art, with the occasional oddity like an army navy store thrown in.

Then it was fish and chips time. I'm beginning to develop this theory that the closer you are to the water, the better fish and chips taste. At the Captain Daniel Packer Inne, they featured a huge piece of really fresh North Atlantic cod, fried to crispy, flavorful perfection. The fries were good but not great, and many were fish greasy because they'd put the fish on top of them. But I mostly judge fish and chips on the fish, and it was very, very good.

I collected my bag from my hotel, and walked the few blocks back to the train station. I'd noticed when I came in that Mystic's train station was small, but it really sank in as I was waiting there, and, for a time, was the only person there. There's an Amtrak ticket machine in the station, but the station closes at 4 p.m., so Amtrak had mailed me my ticket in advance.

The tiny Mystic train station.

This is the only time I've taken a train where there's no announcment, and no one from Amtrak to direct traffic. Not that there was really traffic to direct — just myself and one other woman who came by later were waiting to take the train. At 7 p.m., an electronic voice announced, "Train approaching, stay behind the yellow line," in a continuous loop. I was already familiar with this, as it had happened three times previously, for two Acelas headed in opposite directions, and a regional train headed to Boston (not all of the regional trains stop in Mystic).

The woman and I gathered up our luggage and headed up the ramp to the train. Far more people got off than on — what looked like a mix of businesspeople coming back from Boston, locals coming back from trips, and vacationers headed in, perhaps for a weekend. One of the Amtrak people on the train helped us up the steps — no high-level platform here — and we were on the train and rolling.

I sat in the quiet car by accident at first, as it was the closest to where we got on. But all I was planning to do was edit photos and listen to my iPod, so I decided to try it out, and really liked it. It was very quiet except for some cell phone and other chatter when people got on in New York. The cafe car is available, too, if you need to make or take a cell phone call.

When I went to the cafe car, I did make a rookie mistake by forgetting to take my little seat ticket with me. This is the one thing Amtrak does not and should explain better — they put it overhead on the luggage rack by your seat and mark it with where you're getting off. And you're supposed to take it with you if you go somewhere like the cafe car as proof that they've already taken your ticket. The conductors also use it as they walk through the train to know who they should inform (or wake up) about upcoming stops.

As we rolled along, there were periodic points where we kept moving, but the overhead lights and outlet power would go off and then back on in the train. I had my laptop plugged in with a surge protector, so it wasn't a big deal, just kind of weird. It even felt a little classic, like we were part of a bygone era, as we rolled in to New York city, slipping dark and quiet through the night with the city lights off in the distance.



And then the train stopped, and the power was out for good. They announced that, as we could see, we didn't have power, but that the engineer thought he knew what the problem was, and it could be fixed in a few minutes. They'd make another announcement if it wasn't a few-minutes-fixable type thing.

Bullshit, I thought. I've flown enough times to know that things that cannot be fixed in a few minutes. We were going to be stranded on those tracks for hours. Or they'd tow us in somehow, as we were blocking the approach to Penn Station, and you probably can't do that for long. We'd have to switch trains, or get a new power car. I would have to take a cab home from Union Station — failure at the very end of my trip.

The lights came back on. They announced things were fixed. We started moving again.

Okay, apparently they really can fix things in a few minutes. The lights didn't turn off for the rest of the ride in to DC.

By about midnight, I was too tired to do anything else on my laptop. I dozed on and off all the way in to DC, got off the train, and headed for the Metro and home.

Today, I'm uploading lots of pictures. Everything from Sunday in Salem and Quincy is up at Flickr now.

The Downeaster

I'm back from Portland, Maine, but way too tired to attempt to write a post about everything I did.

Briefly, the Downeaster was pretty much what I expected: standard Amtrak stock, although with some different twists like Shipyard beer and Legal Seafoods clam chowder in the snack car. It made stops in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Maine, and the scenery along the way was a mix of small New England towns, forests, and tidal areas.

We were about 20 minutes late getting into Portland, which seemed to be mostly due to having to stand by while commuter trains went past in the other direction. But there was a bus into downtown (Portland city bus #5) pulling up just as I left the station, so the timing was actually good for me. Added bonus — the bus ride is free if you show your Downeaster ticket stub.

Since getting into downtown and the old port area was likely going to be the portion of the trip most likely to go wrong, it was good for things to line up nicely. Getting back, I had to wait awhile for the bus ($1.25 sans ticket stub), but I still made it back with huge amounts of time to spare for my train, the last train back to Boston for the night.

Tomorrow I start working my way back home with a two-night stop in Mystic, Conn. I'm not 100% sure what the Internet situation will be at the inn I'm staying at, so it may be awhile before my next post.

Downtown DC to downtown Boston — that was easy

Taken in Connecticut, from the Acela.

Well, I'm in Boston, and the first thing I have to say is — it's a huge shame that the Acela only runs between Washington DC and Boston, because it's the best way to travel on this continent.

The seats might not be much wider than standard coach seats on other Amtrak trains, but there's a gargantuan amount of leg room. Even with my laptop backpack on the floor I had plenty of room for my feet.

The trains are remarkably quiet given the high speed. You do get a little squeaking, but most of the noise comes from other passengers. If I had it to do over again, I might opt for the quiet car. I might be biased, though, since a bit after New York a guy plopped down in the seat next to me and proceeded to have a lengthy conversation on his cell phone about real estate.

The thing that's most noticable is how buttery smooth the ride is most of the time. But the real "whoa" moment for me came when the train started taking turns hard enough that it was noticably banking into them. It's a very odd sensation at first, but after awhile I stopped noticing it.

The ride was so nice that, although I know we were going really fast much of the time, it was difficult to feel the speed. Looking out the window, though, provided a blurred confirmation that we were really hauling it.

The boarding process was easy, as usual. People behind me remarked on how much easier it was than getting on a plane. And I was able easily able to get what I wanted — a window seat on the right side of the train so I could see the ocean once we got into Connecticut. 

The scenery started with dense forests and backyards of little towns, gutted factories and row houses punctuated with graffiti. But as we headed into Connecticut, it gave way to tall church spires and houses ringing the water, sparkling in the sunlight. Rhode Island and Massachusetts were a mixture of everything.

We only saw billboards where the tracks paralleled the highway, and the Acela raced along, easily outpacing the cars.

I'll post pictures to Flickr later. Right now I've got a Red Sox game to get to.

My father's magic carpet made of steel

Maybe this train thing is genetic.

Anyone who's been around my dad when a train goes by knows he gets this slightly gleeful expression on his face.

"I love trains," he usually says.

I didn't pay much attention to trains for the first quarter century of my life. I had a positive association with them only as something my dad really liked, but that was about it.

But then I moved to the DC area. I started taking the train, and I was amazed at how simple it was. Show up a half hour before your departure time, snag your ticket and maybe a to-go meal or snack, get on the train. No shuttle from distant parking, no security line, no shoes off and laptops out, no anarchic rush to board and find enough space for your carry-on. And, especially, no stupid little quart bag.

I'll admit I could still care less about freight trains, save the part they play in keeping semis off the interstates. But passenger rail is something I rapidly came to love, even though it currently falls well short of its potential here in the United States.

Let's face it — not a lot about Amtrak hearkens back to the golden age of train travel, when men and women dressed to the nines sat down to gourmet meals in the dining car, and GIs with their gear bags waved goodbye to sweethearts and families on small-town platforms, headed for the great wars of the last century. 

Most Amtrak trains today are tiny silver tubes that fall significantly short on character. When Barack Obama rolled in to Washington for inauguration in a vintage 1930s train car attached to standard Amtrak stock, it looked downright comical, as if both came from entirely different universes but had somehow come to be hitched together through some train yard time travel mishap.

What Amtrak trains are, though, is comfortable on the inside, and generally cleaner and better-maintained than planes. Seats are as large as business or even first class seats on your average airplane, and there's legroom galore. No seat belt to keep buckled, and you really are free to move around whenever you want. There's no high-altitude pressurized cabin, and no recirculated, germ-filled air. And while there's noise, it's the more pleasant clack of the tracks and brief sounding of the horn, not the loud drone of an airplane. I'm not packing my noise-cancelling earphones. 

Until extremely high speed trains, like those in France and Japan, are embraced here, flying is still going to be the means of choice for a cross-country haul. Few of us have the time to take several days to cross the country, even if we have the chance to see some truly spectacular scenery along the way.

But for short to mid-range trips, I think more and more of us are going to choose comfort and convenience over saving a few hours. Many can't, though, until Amtrak adds more service, and high speed rail lines in uncovered areas become a reality.

I lived in Cincinnati a few years ago. You can get to Chicago from Cincinnati by train, in 10 1/2 hours going out, and 8 1/2 hours coming back. The trouble is, you'll have to leave Cincinnati at 1:10 a.m., and get back at 3:17 a.m. But if you could take a train at a convenient time between those two cities, wouldn't it beat flying into busy O'Hare, or driving into Chicago's mess of traffic? And what if that route was high-speed rail, and got you there in less time than it would take to drive?

There's a real chicken or the egg problem with train travel in the United States. People won't ride trains until they are more convenient, and Amtrak can't provide more convenient routes and times (even at standard speeds) until more people ride the existing trains.

It's why I took the Carolinian down from Washington to Charlotte for my sister's wedding last year. It was cheaper than flying, and maybe a bit more expensive than driving, back at the height of $4 a gallon gas (my car gets great highway MPG). It was also the longest of my travel options, at 8-9 hours in the train. But it was also the most hassle-free. And as I read, dozed, worked on my plugged-in laptop, and just enjoyed the view out the window all the way to Charlotte, I knew I'd made the right choice. I wasn't alone, either. The train was full going down and coming back, my own personal experience of Amtrak's record year for ridership in 2008.

That, and the significant support of President Obama and "Amtrak Joe" Biden for train travel, gives me hope that rail service in this country will get the funding and support it needs to improve and expand. Recent money allocated for high-speed rail is a huge step in the right direction.

I'd be lying to you if I said I wasn't fascinated by bygone means of travel. But in the case of train travel, it's pretty obvious that the past is also going to be the future. The question is how quickly we embrace it.

Right now, though, I'm mostly focused on the near future, and the fact that tomorrow I'll get to go the fastest I ever have on land — up to 150 mph. I am so ready for this trip to actually begin.

A ticket for a fast train

So Channel Six will turn travel blog for awhile, because in two days, I'll be setting out to really test my green mettle, on a trip with two simple rules — no planes, and no cars.

You would think this doesn't leave a lot of transportation options, but really, it does. They are, in order of preference:

1. Sail-powered ships

2. Trains

3. Non-sail-powered ships

4. Subways

5. Buses

If all goes well, I'll probably use all of these options at some point during my trip. Failure equals calling a cab.

This didn't start out as a green trip. It started out as a simple trip to Boston. Various circumstances (mostly, the economy) left me without a trip planned with friends this year, and I'm one of those people who goes a little batty if I go too long without traveling.

I checked flights to Boston, and the prices were good. But the more I plugged info into Farecast, the more I began to realize I didn't want to fly. I didn't want to go through the hassle, and I didn't want to be a part of all that jet fuel burned, all that carbon spewed into the atmosphere. 

Maybe I could cut my flying time in half by flying in and taking the train back, I thought. I checked the times for Amtrak's regional train back — about 8 hours, but maybe a good way to wind down on the ride home. Then I noticed that the regional stops in Mystic, Conn., another place I'd been interested in visiting. A night or two in Mystic would break up the train ride nicely.

Then I decided to drop the flight to Boston, too. Looking strictly at the in-transit numbers — 6 hours and 45 minutes for Amtrak's fastest train, the Acela, to get to Boston versus an hour and a half direct flight — the train wouldn't seem to compete. But any one-way flight would involve either: a more expensive flight out of Metro-accessible Reagan National; Metro and then a bus to Dulles; or Metro and then a train to BWI. When I started to consider the 2 hours early I like to arrive for a flight, versus the half hour I'm comfortable with arriving before a train, well, the train suddenly started looking a whole lot more competitive.

And then there's Union Station. The mall-ified-but-still grand Beaux Arts masterpiece is one of my favorite places in Washington. It easily bests Dulles' dated concrete swoosh, or BWI's extreme blandness. Somehow, it felt like I would be cheating on Union Station if I departed for my trip anywhere else.

The Acela's business-class seats are a little out of my usual price range, but I decided I would splurge and take the high-speed train up, to save some time and see what it was like. Then Amtrak offered a fare sale on the Acela, and that sealed my plans.

I'm a big fan of public transit, and after I decided to take the train, it didn't take long for the rules to develop. Or for me to add another city and state to my itinerary — a day trip to Portland, Maine.

I've been thinking a lot lately about the future of travel — about what happens when we run out of oil. I'd like to think that you could still make this trip in that era. So this isn't one of those multi-day sleeper car rail trips where the journey really is the trip. This is just a trip where rail is a more relaxed, greener means of getting from point A to point B, one that's likely to still exist in 50 years.

Now let's see if I can stick to the rules.