We will be taking our first trip in a couple months. From Portland to Chicago. We are a family of 4. We will have two standard bedrooms on the way there and a family bedroom on the way back. I have a few questions I hope you experienced travelers can help me with.
We will be leaving Portland around 4 pm. I believe I read somewhere that the dining car is not available until we get to Spokane. What are our options for dinner that day? Do you recommend taking food along? If so, what works best?
Is it likely that someone prone to motion sickness will have a problem on the train? We will be taking Dramamine along, but I'm hoping we won't need it.
Is there adequate space in the bedrooms for each person to have a piece of carry-on baggage?
We will be renting a car when we get to Chicago. We'll be using the Hertz location near Amtrak. Is it conveniently located? If the train is very late and the Hertz location is closed, what are our alternatives? Are there good hotels nearby?
We are excited about the trip, but we really have no idea what to expect. Any advice you can give us will be appreciated. Thanks for your help.
Posted by traveler (Member # 1415) on :
The diner opens at 0630 so dinner before you board and a late snack should hold you. You don't need to take any beverages with you because as a first class rider your car attendant will have juice, pop (no coke), bottled water, ice, fresh coffee and hot water for tea, and cookies. The standard sleepers are too small for all of you to eat together but the more than ample pull-out table in the standard sleeper works well for two. The lounge below the observation car has an impressive selection of packaged food from snacks to one dish meals, large salads, sandwiches, milk, pop, beer, wine/liquor (Gallo wine uck!),even White Castle. The tables in the lounge are suffucient for a couple adults and kids or you take your snacks/meals upstairs and watch the world go by. The lounge closes around eleven. There are a number of relatively nutritious options in the lounge. The meals (included with your sleeper price, as you know) are huge so you really don't need to take many snacks.
Motion sickness. Ask customer service (1-800-usa rail) for a lower level sleeper in the middle of the car. Visual stimuli can have have an effect on motion sickness. Red clay embankments zipping by outside the window can play havoc with those prone to motion sickness, for example.
Baggage. The standard sleeper has a space (recess in the wall) for one piece of carry-on. A couple smaller bags could squeeze in someplace. The best bet is for each person to take a companion bag with their necessaries and have the attendant stash the other bags. Don't check them so you can get to your stuff if you need to.
Hertz is at the Amtrak station. Go to Hertz.com for closing times.
Get a AAA guide book for hotel selection in Chicago.
Buy "USA By Rail", a Brandt book. Lots of info. about Amtrak travel.
Posted by Mr. Toy (Member # 311) on :
In a Superliner Standard Bedroom there is a fair amount of storage space under each seat. I measured it once. The space under each seat is 9.5" tall, 23.5" wide, and 26" deep. Measure your bags and see if they will fit. Many small bags will. There is a large luggage rack on the lower level at the bottom of the stairs for large pieces.
The room also has either a small closet (a few inches wide) or a short hanger rod for a few hanging items, like one garment bag.
------------------ Trust God, love your neighbor, and never mistake opinion for truth. -Mr. Toy
You are correct that the diner is in Seattle, but sleeping car passengers out of Portland get a box-lunch dinner. I have not been on this particular leg of the trip, but a friend has & he said the box-lunch was fine - although it doesn't come with turtle pie (!)
Posted by Konstantin (Member # 18) on :
There are different types of motion sickness. With my type of sickness, I would disagree with Traveler's statement above. I would ask for a higher level bedroom. Zooming by the ground down low makes me feel a little sick. I don't feel sick at all above.
I get very motion sick. I do not like to fly because I get sick. I do not like to ride in a car because I get sick. I am fine if I do the driving. I never get sick on a train. There is quite a bit of movement at times, but I do not feel the least bit sick. I think most motion sickness comes from up and down motion (The feeling that gravity becomes more or less). Trains to not produce that type of motion.
I always bring food and water with me as a backup. You never know when the diner will run out of food, or be too crowded, or feed you at 11:00 PM when your reservation was for 7:00 PM, or whatever else might happen. All of the above has happened to me in the past.
Good Luck and enjoy your trip.
------------------ Elias Valley Railroad (N-scale) www.geocities.com/evrr
Posted by traveler (Member # 1415) on :
Hi again. I just read in the "National Timetable" that you will receive a cold meal service in the absence of the dining car.
------------------ brad
Posted by traveler (Member # 1415) on :
The lower level compartments have significantly less sway than the upper level. The middle has significantly less rock than the ends. The middle bottom is the fulcrom.
------------------ brad
Posted by Bon Jo (Member # 1323) on :
You will get a box lunch on the Empire out of Portland. It's nothing to write home about, but it is okay. If I remember right, you should get in around 5:00 in Chicago, so I'm pretty sure that the Hertz place will be open. I think it is at the top of the ramp going up to street level at Union Station, but don't quote me on that. If you want a nice hotel to stay at, try the Palmer House Hilton. It is a $5.00 cab ride and is famous old hotel in the style of the early part of the 20th century. Check out their specials on the Hilton web site. We sometimes get a room for $99.00. Enjoy Chicago.
Posted by daisybumble (Member # 855) on :
Here's another hotel recommendation...just a short cab ride from Union Station. Best Western Inn of Chicago, on the corner of East Ohio and St. Clair. I paid $85/night in 1998. The rooms aren't huge, but it's very clean and attractive with friendly staff. The coffee shop has a lot of good selections and reasonable prices. TGI Friday's, Big Bowl (Asian noodle place), and Geno's East pizza are within a 2-4 block radius. The hotel is a block off of the shopping area of North Michigan, and you can get a nearby shuttle bus to Navy Pier.
Posted by candy46 (Member # 947) on :
Hello mjf325! You might want to check out a message board question I started last year regarding first time train travel across country. Look on this message board, page 6, for a subject entitled " Sleepers from Chicago to Seattle" I received some great info from others who have done a lot of traveling. Hope this will help you! Have a great trip! I will be leaving on my big trip in 99 days....but who is counting???
Candy
Candy
Posted by candy46 (Member # 947) on :
Hello mjf325! You might want to check out a message board question I started last year regarding first time train travel across country. Look on this message board, page 6, for a subject entitled " Sleepers from Chicago to Seattle" I received some great info from others who have done a lot of traveling. Hope this will help you! Have a great trip! I will be leaving on my big trip in 99 days....but who is counting???
Candy
Posted by CarterB (Member # 1439) on :
If your children are young and small (under 4'6") then the family bedroom will be ok......if teenagers.....no way!! You will need the two standard rooms. As far as dinner first night from Portland, as has been noted, you get a 'cold meal box dinner' , in my opinion better for a late night snack. I would eat a late and substantial lunch before boarding, were I you. If you do have someone that suffers motion sickness best rooms to book are lower level std. rooms 11/12 or 13/14 across from each other. As far as Hotels........yes the Best Western is close and reasonable, but if you want a bit classier neighborhood and higher price.......Check out the Drake (on the Lake) Ambassadors (near North Side - restaurant district) or any of the AAA 3 or 4 *** hotels on the North Side (North of the Chicago River)
