Hello-
My parents will be taking the train from Sacramento to DC next month to visit me. They wanted a new way to come and visit me, so they chose the train!

Have a couple questions if anyone knows the answers to them, we would be very appreciative:

1. They have a roomette from Sacramento to Chicago--what are the roomettes really like and is there room for 2 tote bags in their little room? From the pictures on Amtrak.com, it's hard to tell. How is sleeping on the top bunk?

2. Tipping, any suggestions for the various folks who help you?

3. Food, how good is the food served on board the train? Snacks...is that something that is easy to find and purchase? Or should they bring some with them?

4. Stops--during the course of the trip, are passengers allowed to get off the train and walk around, or are they just too short of a stop?

5. Delays--are they frequent? Their layover in Chicago to get on the next train to DC is about 3 hours. From what I have read about other peoples trips, they could be SOL and may have to either wait till the next day for a train or find another way to get to DC.

Thank you for any insight to can offer me (us).

Best,
Jill

Jill, I did the opposite - Chicago to Emeryville in a roomette.

1. Roomette is a tiny compartment with room only for 2 tiny tote bags - think shopping bag, not even an airline carry-on size! There is privacy when the door is closed, but hardly room to place feet between the "bed" and the door.

The bed was comfortable but narrow - I was by myself - and the upper berth is even narrower. There are 2 steps to help you up and some belts to prevent you from falling.

There is a shower, one person at a time, hot water, plenty of towels, bring your own shampoo.

2. Tipping is expected in the dining room - I think I tipped each time, less at the end of the trip when they started to run out of food. Also the bed is made twice a day like on a cruise. I tipped the conductor once at the end of the trip.

3. Food was good, I was surprised. On day 2 they started to run out of desserts, on day 3 just fed us whatever was left. Don't remember what was there to buy, I had my own snacks. No need to bring bottled water, this was always available.

4. There will be couple of smoking stops, they will announce. Very short stops. Most of "exercise" will be going to the dining room or the observation car.

5. Some people on our train were supposed to be on the train the day earlier. Our train was only 7 hours late, I was lucky. Make sure they have a list of phone numbers to call hotels if they need to spend the night. And a phone for taxi.

Surprise! Search worked, and I found my Amtrak report:

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...1&tid=34874548

FainaAgain-
Thank you for all these tips! My folks will really appreciate this information. Many thanks!

Faina's given you some really good comments. Maybe a couple of more: a roomette is quite small for 2 people. Any way they could swing a bedroom?. Besides more room, it has a private shower. Yes, we've always found the food surprisingly good. They could take some snacks, but they do have them in the bar area of the lounge car so they shouldn't have to fill a tote bag to take with them. The "smoking" stops are short but they should be able to stretch their legs if they wanted. And yes, definitely make contingency plans if they miss their connection in Chicago. Unfortunately, trains are often very late (for reasons that can be the subject of an entire other post), so make sure they have detailed info about their options.

Hope they enjoy it and they'll be traveling through some beautiful country.