I have a friend; Schon who's a co-host of a local railroad podcast, took Amtrak from New Jersey back to Utah a few weeks ago. It was an interesting experience especially with all the controversies of late hearing his first hand experience riding with Amtrak. My friends and I got a lot of late night messages from him as he slowly moved from one end of the nation to the next. Sort of one of those 'I am glad I did it but don't want to do it again' types of experiences for him. Since he does a podcast I figured I'd link his Amtrak focused episodes here for those curious how his trip went.
Schon discusses his plans before he takes the trip here:https://www.spreaker.com/user/broadwaymedia/schon-s-amtrak-trip-across-the-country-a
The trip itself is summed up in this episode:https://www.spreaker.com/user/broadwaymedia/the-amtrak-episodeThis episode discusses further things seen on the trip along with the recent PTC Amtrak statement and the surrounding debates over the Southwest Chief:
https://www.spreaker.com/user/broadwaymedia/revisiting-amtrak
Again I highly recommend giving those a listen for anyone curious how a 'long time railfan first time Amtrak rider' viewed the NEC, Long Distance trains, dinner service, employee enthusiasm and everything in-between on his trip.
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