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On Saturday I took the Texas Eagle from Taylor, TX, which is about 25 miles southeast of my home in Georgetown, TX to Fort Worth to attend a concert.  I stayed over night and caught the train home yesterday afternoon. When I got on the train at Taylor, the car attendant told me that I was assigned to Seat #19.  That was a first for me, so I asked her if Amtrak is assigning seats for coach travelers.  "No", she said, "I thought that you would like a window seat, so I blocked one for you."  She also recommended seats for the other three passengers who boarded at Taylor.  Finding a desirable seat probably would not have been a problem, since the train appeared to have a load factor, at least in the coaches, of between 30 and 40 per cent.  On the way home from Fort Worth, passengers were invited to board the train when it arrived in the FW station, which was approximately a half hour ahead of schedule, and pick whatever seat they desired.  The load factor coming home was even less than the load factor going to Fort Worth, so finding a desirable seat was no problem. Ironically, I find the coach seats on Superliner equipped trains to be more comfortable than the seats in a roomette.  That might not be the case if I was seated next to a porker or someone who was a stranger to a shower, but I think that I am going to try a coach seat to Chicago when I go there in October.  If I pick a light travel date, e.g. Tuesday or Wednesday, which retired people can do, I should be able to get a seat to myself, at least as far at St. Louis.  And it will cost me a lot less than a roomette. Although I did not have a problem getting a desirable seat on the Eagle, I would vote for Amtrak to adopt assigned seats if the process was similar to that found on the airlines, i.e. pick you seat from a seating diagram when you make your reservation, Southwest to the contrary not withstanding.  It would avoid the rush at major stations like New York, Washington, Chicago, etc.  Oh, by the way, there is no passenger gate rush at Taylor, in part because there is not gate; unless you think five or more people boarding the train is a rush. I had a nice ride.  The train was on time in both directions.  It is amazing what the recession has done for the Texas Eagle's schedule performance.  It has been on time this summer with the same degree of regularity as it was late last summer.  Going to Fort Worth I had lunch in the redesigned dinner/lounge car.  It was decent.  Best of all, it was served by a waiter who did not have an attitude problem.
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