We are planning a rail trip from New York to Savannah Georgia-Does anyone have any suggestions

Take the Palmetto at 6:05AM.
The Silver Star doesn't have a diner until April.

Allow plenty of extra time - anything south of DC is often late to very late.

Today's Palmetto #89 arrived in SAV 6 minutes late (9:10PM ET).
Better to arrive sometime before 10PM than to get to SAV after 1AM or at dawn.

I am sorry but having been on Amtrak services outside of the Amtrak-right-of-way owned northeast corridor more than once, and been late, and I mean VERY late, more than once, I would have to agree that you need to factor that very real possibility into any travel arrangements involving AMTRAK.

And as far as the food aboard any of those services including the Silver services and the Palmetto, it is, IMO, some of THE worst food anywhere.

This is based on my personal experience and obviously, other people on this thread have had different experiences. Perhaps you'll get lucky and not have one like mine.

Yes. 23 Skidoo.

HTtY

Agree that passenger train travel through Virginia can be seriously delayed, and I always plan to arrive late. Also agree that if you want good food on Amtrak you need to be in sleeper class on one of the cross country routes. I board the Carolinian or Silver services with food and water.

Just to be clear, on all Amtrak trains that have a dining car, coach passengers may order and eat in the dining car.
The meal cost may seem high but you should consider the costs of having that dining car and the staff including the chef.
The sleeping car passengers have the cost of their meals included in their fare which is a little over 3 times what a coach seat fare is.
On the Superliner trains west and south of Chicago, there is a sightseer lounge with a snack bar with variety of foods and drink (including alcoholic).
Checking the train status for today, #89 is expected into Savannah at least 10 minutes early.

Just so you understand, Tom is a huge fan of train travel and in his eyes they do no wrong. Some others find them not so bad and individual trips can be fairly uneventful.

But there have been MANY reports of very late arrivals, dreadful food and the costs are not inexpensive.

Presumably you have a reason for taking the train, but don't expect the trip to be scenic - much of the trip is through the wrong end of town of a while bunch of towns - although there are some places where the view is not bad.

Thank you all for your input. Gave me a good perspective.
Skedoo

I always wondered about the Savannah train station. It is far from downtown and suppose there are taxis but from here it is a very late arrival. I like taking the train north on occasion. So do tell us about the station and taxi upon arrival.

By all means call a taxi company (google or Yellow Pages) about 20 minutes before you arrive and make sure you have a taxi waiting for you at the train station.
Better to arrive before 10PM than sometime after midnight.
You are welcome to bring your own food onboard if you don't like the menu options.
The Amtrak website does have pdf files of the menus.
Just think of the beautiful view you'll have of people's back yards if you fly and take a taxi in from the airport.

Hi skedoo,

I have taken over 20 trains south of DC in recent years, (including to Savannah and nearby Charleston) including the Palmetto train once and Silver Meteor train 9 times, which are the two trains you are most likely to consider to Savannah.

The ride south, while not the most scenic Amtrak ride out there, is not the least scenic either and does have its moments. The Jefferson Memorial, the Masonic Temple in Alexandria, the water views near Quantico, passing by the lovely southern porched homes of Randolph-Macon College in Ashland VA, and crossing the James River near Richmond are highlights that popped immediately to my mind. You will see all of these if you take the daytime Palmetto train but will only see the lit-up Jefferson Memorial and the Masonic Temple if you choose to take the night train (Silver Meteor).

If you do take the Silver Meteor, if it doesn't seem prohibitively expensive, you may want to consider a sleeper car. Since the train arrives around 7am in Savannah, I was glad I had a sleeper for that trip, as I spent my first day in Savannah fairly refreshed. While not everybody sleeps well in a sleeper, for those that do (like me), it can make the experience very relaxing... I like the calm feeling I get looking out the train window between reading my book, doing a crossword puzzle, taking a nap or even knitting. Time for me to decompress from work stresses. If a sleeper looks too expensive, I'd recommend the daytime Palmetto train if you go coach, as the views of the outdoors out of the window can make the time go faster than views of darkness.

For the sleeper car, your meals are included with the price of your ticket; some menu items are better than others. I'm possibly not too fussy but I find I've not gone wrong with the steak. One is seated by an Amtrak dining car attendant at a communal dining table and more often than not, I've quite enjoyed the conversations with passengers I'd never meet otherwise--a highlight for me of long-distance train travel.

I know things can go wrong with Amtrak and I understand those that have had bad experiences, that this can sour one from wanting to do such long-distance train travel. Like with other forms of transportation, these bad experiences do happen from time to time--this is not limited to Amtrak in the southern US though. My Mother was caught in a train that lost power in the northeast corridor (which most people won't hesitate to tell visitors to use) between Wilmington and Philadelphia for 4 hours and ten family members after missing a plane connection in Miami coming from Costa Rica ended up driving back home to DC, as no ongoing flights were available for 3 days.

This said, and I don't think my sample size is negligible, I've been on-time a surprising number of times and at most 2 hours late (although once going northbound, which was on-time, I saw the southbound train was 8 hours late, admittedly after a heavy snowstorm in the Northeast, but I could see how that would be off-putting). I recommend trying it once and you can decide for yourself; I personally have very much enjoyed these (and other) Amtrak travel experiences and I've met numerous repeat Amtrak customers while traveling who feel the same way, but some who do it say they will never do it again.

I agree wholeheartedly with Dukey that it is important to plan for, even assume the train will be a few hours late, as it does happen. I find putting my mind in this framework helps me relax in the eventuality of lateness. You may or may not find this amusing but I must say, expecting lateness, I was disappointed that my train to Savannah was on-time, as I was kind of hoping to get the breakfast that would have come with my sleeping accommodation had we been late.

flpab-- There were several cabs waiting in my experience at the train station to meet arriving trains in Savannah, although Tom Fuller has a good suggestion about calling one 20 minutes before the ETA.

Best wishes whatever you decide! Daniel