11 Things You NEED To Know Before Riding An Amtrak Train 2024

Gail and I have travelled extensively by Amtrak trains as part of our "North America by Train" series of travel vlogs. That includes overnight trains on the Coast Starlight, the Callifornia Zephyr and the Capitol Limited, mostly in a Roomette but also in coach. We have travelled on cross border trains between the United States and Canada on board the Maple Leaf (New York City to Toronto) and the Cascades (Vancouver to Seattle). We've tried out the high speed Acela train from Washington DC to NYC. And we've had an unexpected "train journey" by an Amtrak Thoroughfare Bus and San Joachims train between LA and San Francisco by way of Bakersfield (due to a cancelled train).

We've accumulated a lot of travel insights in taking Amtrak. The purpose of this video is to pass on some of that practical knowledge to you. We want to make your first trip across America by train as enjoyable and as stress-free as possible. So let's get going with a few practical tips on taking Amtrak trains on your next transcontinental journey.