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Comment by d_burfoot | Hacker News Reader

My wife loves the train (hates driving) and so this would be quite interesting to us. But I've heard too many Amtrak horror stories, like the one about how the train broke down about ten miles away from her destination, and they wouldn't let her get off, so she had to sit there for ten hours until they were able to fix it.

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This is definitely the weirdest part, their refusal to treat passengers with any respect. For the most part the crew often doesn't know if it will get fixed in one hour or ten hours, but they don't communicate this and there's never an option to bail and have someone pick you up.

Last time I took Amtrak out of LA Union Station, it broke down but luckily was able to pull into the next station so people could get off and find another route. I stayed on and after about 4 hours we were towed back to union station.

They cannot legally allow you to bail. They’re government employees or the next closest thing.

So you need to work within their framework. Take the smoke breaks with other passengers. Note how the door works. See where the nearby road is.

And then do a runner.

We once rode the Amtrak from Sacramento to Reno, through the snow, with the kids. Figured it would be a fun adventure. On the ride up, we were about an hour behind schedule - no problem. On the way back, we started our day at 8am and didn't arrive home til 8pm. Train had to keep stopping for "unexpected delays". Regulars on the train were saying it happens all the time. Not fun.

Why anyone would pay 100x the price to have the same experience is beyond me.

Because if you can remove the need to be somewhere, it can be relaxing and fun.

But that decoupling from the need to be somewhere at a time is quite hard.

The car horror stories are much worse

Having a toilet in your sleeping compartment, in 40cm from your pillow is a horror story by itself.

That is not how Amtrak cars are laid out. That's just categorically not a thing on Amtrak. Not in coach, not in the roomette, and not in the private rooms.

You mean this is not a thing anymore? https://imgur.com/a/abw8NRg

EDIT: Video, 1 year old https://youtu.be/wf9OtLxha_U?t=1952

Welp, I've never been on an Amtrak with a Viewliner, so my mistake, but I've ridden the Amtrak many times and have never seen that particular style of railcar. They've always been two-story, and apparently that's a one-story railcar (presumably why they need to economize space like that).

Wikipedia says that they're primarily used on the east coast, so that's probably why I've not seen one. I've ridden all over the lines west of Chicago. I'd love to do their new Chicago to Miami line sometime, so perhaps I'll have the privilege.

My bedroom shares a wall with my bathroom in my penthouse apartment. My toilet is less than a meter from my head. What does it matter, mate?

There’s a wall…

Amigo, there's literally a toilet (shared with another person in your room) near your bed, look https://imgur.com/a/abw8NRg

No wall, nothing, just you, your roommate and a toilet for you two.

Maybe small spaces just aren't your thing?

Sleeping in a washroom is not my thing. Is it yours?

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