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I will be traveling Newark NJ to Anniston AL in March and this being my first time on a train I would like to know what part of the train seems to be the safest and is a window seat or another seat the best? I have not a clue even to how the seats are arranged. Someone made a comment on one msg. board that wouldn't they seat the people that paid the most in the safest seat? I don't agree with that as I look at first class on a plane as being the worse place to sit. Ever heard of a plane backing into a mountain? Anyway, would like some advice. I will not have a bunk so for 20 hours I will be sitting in a seat. Thank you
Mr. Toy Member # 311
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It looks like you will be traveling on the Crescent, which is a single-level train. I am not familiar with that route, but somebody here can probably advise you on that specific train.
Coach seats are arranged four abreast with a center aisle. There are window seats and aisle seats, but no in-between seats like on planes. If you are used to flying you will enjoy the train's ample legroom.
I am not sure about the train you will be on, but all trains I have been on have both a legrest that comes up from the front of the seat and footrest on the back of the seat in front of you. Both of these are adjustable. Seats also recline without putting the seat back in the nose of the person behind you. These features make it fairly easy to get some sleep. However, the first time sleeping on a train can be difficult. It gets easier the more you do it.
As for safety, unlike planes even cars, rail cars are built like tanks. They don't break into a million pieces like a plane or crush into a little ball of metal like a car. Even in the worst accidents railcars tend to retain their shape.
No, I've never heard of a plane backing into a mountain, but I have heard of several that flew into them. In those cases, wherever you sit you are just as dead. Trains go right through the mountains in special holes made for that purpose and nobody gets hurt.
------------------ Trust God, love your neighbor, and never mistake opinion for truth. -Mr. Toy
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I went on the Crescent a few years ago, but little seems to change on Amtrak! Yes, Mr. Toy's right: plenty of room, clean, fairly quiet noise-wise. Probably be fairly quiet in terms of numbers of customers in March.
All coach seats face forward. The diner may host some games (they did bingo when I was on board), but that might be after you get off in Alabama, and also seems to depend on whether the staff can be bothered to entertain.
As for safety, there isn't really a safest place to sit. The only thing I would suggest is making sure you're next to an emergency exit/window. But don't worry, you'll be far safer on the train journey than the trip by car to/from the train (something in the order of 10 times to 100 times safer, depending which statistics you believe).
Love the comment about the "special holes"!
garvsgrl Member # 1278
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Thanks for the replies, now I know a little better what to expect.
KA6BGJ Member # 662
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Mr. Toy, I must give you credit for that very CATCHEY phrase with the words SPECIAL HOLES in it. Keep up the refreshing humor, It puts a smile on a lot of faces.
yummykaz Member # 475
posted Crescent Train ride So far the ride and travel experience has been 100% better than the ride on the Sunset Limited. The staff and train seem much nicer and accommodating. Our departure was right on time 7am. I slept for an hour. But before I slept, I watched us go over Lake Ponchetrain. Beautiful. Our standard room is great. Restroom in room is convenient, tv showing NEW movies is great. Galaxy Quest and James Bond movie. By contrast,the Sunset ltd was showing the boring music of my heart over and over. So I went to eat. Having only been in the Sunset LTD dining car,I was most shocked by the elegance of the Crescent dining car. Amazing decor and fine menu. I had a long and wonderful conversation with two gentlemen 50-60 years of age.After we spoke of train travel,we found we had a common interest in history.We spoke at length about WWII and Lincoln. What a diverse group also,a furniture executive from N. Carolina and a long haul truck driver from Los Angeles. I loved listening to the N. Carolina accent. The food was great, and the dining car service was beyond excellent. Mr. Chen the dining car captain was most apologetic to my fellow diners as the cook was a trainee and made the pancakes with butter instead of oil.So the pancakes were spotty instead of all brown. To me they looked great. But he brought my fellow diners some new even colored pancakes. Wow, that is service. We have sat mostly with coach riders in the dining car. We ate soup and sandwich for lunch by ourselves.The ride has been great. This afternoon I have had to call on the staff for terrible smoke. Someone in the sleeper next to us has decided to smoke and the smoke is filling the hallway.The longe car is more of a cafe car and is opened for smoking at times.It seems a shame that such a lovely train have such a miserable lounge car. We had a fabulous dinner of turkey and dressing.Laverne is the best server we have had. We had dinner with a nice older couple from New Jersey. They were visiting son in New Orleans. The wife is just like me,in that she has tried Valium,etc and her family still makes fun of her not flying.Her husband said that they take the train now and don't travel separate. One thing I notice on all the trains for dinner,is that they always bring you salad without a drink. So now, the minute the salad is served, I tell the server to please bring me my tea. We went to sleep by 10:00pm. I woke up to see sunrise. Thought it must be 8am. It was 6:17am EST. so that means it was really 5:17am to me. The ride was so smooth. As we travel through the Blue Ridge Mountains in Virginia just South of Appamatox, I wonder how any civil war battle could happen. This area is breathtaking to me. Mountains have always been amazing to me. If I lived in these blue ridges, I would never leave,much less start a war. We just stopped in Charlottesville Va. at 7:01est. The train station looks to be getting a remodel. A lovely red brick depot. Many people are here. We had lunch in Delaware. The steward Mr.Chang was such a kind, accommodating man. He told us about the dining car. We arrive on time but the baggage check in New York is unorganized.
Our trip back started on time from NY. We have great car attendants on this trip.Once we were settled into our car, our attendants offered us a drink and snack. Our car attendants are Aspen and Morris. They are the nicest car attendants we have had on the Crescent rides. Aspen seems to enjoy his job and is very energetic. No lunch service, but dinner starts at 5PM. We had dinner and the diner was empty. The dining car is not the beautiful car we had going to NY. We had the chef's special roast turkey. It was great. We then went back to our room and watched movies and read. We watched Bicentennial Man with Robin Williams. It was very good but sad. We then slept.The ride overnight was either very rough or I was not as tired as I was on the way to NY. I felt like the train was jerking and tipping from side to side. I also kept smelling a burning sulfur smell. At some point the train stopped in the middle of nowhere. I heard a bunch of sirens. So who knows what was going on. I did overhear that a woman was thrown off the train. I had breakfast with a nice man that was going to New Orleans for a conference. He had a great saying 'if you can't take a train to it,it's not worth going to'. That is my new belief...but I would add driving to that saying too. My daughter and I hung out-watched a great movie called the "straight story". It is a true story of a man (Alvin Straight) riding his lawnmower tractor across many miles to see an astranged brother. We have watched/listened to this movie many times now and is still an amazing movie. Seems like "real people", not actors. We went to have lunch at about 11:30am. I ordered the "Louisiana Gardner",and it was delicious. We have been stuck on the track now for at least 45 minutes. Conductor tells us "freight train" is holding up our train. I feel like I heard that on the Sunset Ltd. I feel like we are circling an airport! At least the conductor comes on to tell us status. We had dinner at 5:30. I was sure to tell Lavergne Chambers how wonderful she was. She was the nicest! I also told Mr. Chang how much we enjoyed having him as our diner captain. He and Lavergne and the chef apparently work as a travelling team. What a great team they make. We are now informed that we will be 2 1/2 hours late into New Orleans. I am starting to feel that New Orleans is not meant for us.
jebradley Member # 606
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(1) For coach travel, take a pillow (or sweater to use as pillow) and maybe a light blanket (or use your overcoat); trains often get cool at night. (2) Try to sit in the middle of the car, farthest from the ends; there will be a little smoother ride and less door noise. (3) I'm a light sleeper and for a long trip I get prescription sleeping pills. You'll only be one night out so if you can rest up the next day, this last item is probably not needed. (4) It should be a treat to take a meal in the dining car - we found the food very good and about the same prices as a hotel restaurant would charge. You can save by carrying some food that travels well - apples, raisins, granola bars, pretzels, boxed drinks that are sold for kids' lunches. Jim Bradley Hawk Mountain Chapter National Railway Historical Society
Amtrak207 Member # 1307
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Physically the safest place to sit in a train is the middle of the car on the aisle. This should not be a concern for you, however. Keep in mind american passenger cars themselves are designed to the highest rail standards in the world. The physical makeup of your train will also help protect you: a few baggage cars, then the crew dorm up front and all those mail and express cars on the back act as a buffer between the passengers and the ends of the train. Even if your luggage gets toasted in the baggage car, the passengers themselves walk away in the worst instances. Statistically traveling by train is as safe as getting on an airplane, but without that 30,000 foot space of air between you and the ground. The best safety advice I can give you is be careful and use the handrails (always!) when traveling between cars. You have a 14x higher chance of being injured or killed riding the cab to the station, so I wouldn't sweat the safety aspect. That, along with the cramped quarters, horrid food service, irrational baggage service, and Disney-esque employees are why I'd rather take a train anywhere in this country.
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