Let's Get Rail: Logistics

Photo: Amtrak's engines are capable of speeds up to 125 MPH and have 4,400 horsepower. We stand to the right of the first of two engines, painted in the rail company's typical steel grey and cobalt blue. From the front, this juggernaut looks powerful and formidable. Yellow lines indicate where it is safe to stand when the train is in motion. We have clearly crossed that line because the beast is at rest.

Photo: a man peers out of the reflected window of our sleeper "roomette" while a railroad worker in a neon orange jacket strides along the tracks. In the reflection: tall trees, cloudy sky flecked with blue. Across the tracks behind me, the Daily Buzz coffee trailer serves caffeine-craving (and company-starved) riders in a long snake-tail line.

     One of the most intriguing aspects of our trip, pre-travel, were the space constraints. Just how big is the Amtrak roomette? How will we sleep in tight quarters? What size is the shower?

    The answers are: smaller than you expect; you will get accustomed; and, a little bigger than you imagine.

    But size is not the main consideration, once you're on board. The logistics will be the most important aspect.

    HOW will you move around your roomette? HOW will you train yourself to sleep in tight quarters? HOW will you orchestrate your shower for maximum utility and comfort?

    Let's begin with your private 'nest' for the journey. We Americans are completely spoiled by space. We live in vast houses, with cavernous bedrooms and sprawling kitchens and multiple living areas. Even our bathrooms are the size of actual rooms. So, when you step into the space occupied by two LazyBoy recliners facing each other, with a shoebox in between for a table, and you build three hard walls around that space, leaving room for a sliding door through which you can step out momentarily if both travelers need to move at once. 

    This is when carefully planned movements, plenty of forethought, and the agility of a mountain goat will serve you well. Any sharp movements, should you get smart about doing something without thinking it through will result in bashing your head, elbow, or big toe into something that is less than forgiving. So you think deliberately: I am going to stand up, fetch my backpack, and extract a granola bar. Then, you place your footing with the precision of a moon landing, stretch your left arm in the direction of the backpack, use your right leg to pivot back into your seat, and place the pack decisively in your lap. Success! You will feel a flush of accomplishment and pat the mist of perspiration from your forehead. 

    For our rail adventure, I volunteered for the top bunk, partly because it reminded me of sleeping in the top compartment of mid-century truck-top campers, and partly because I thought it prudent to spare my claustrophobic hubby the thought of a train mutiny. It really wasn't too bad - again, owing to logistics. You must plan everything. Or at least think things through. Arranging everything you'll need for the semi-monumental task of slumber will mean staging where your phone, glasses, water bottle and blanket/pillow will be, because once you ascend the Kilimanjaro of somnolence, you'll not want to make a return journey soon without a Sherpa. Once ensconced in your bivouac of dreams, you'll hook up the obligatory webbing that is designed to catch you around the middle should you lurch off the bunk in your sleep. Because you will be moving all the time!

   By the second night, I had the best sleep of my life. I felt gently rocked in all four directions, and the humming of the rails, the repetitive jig-jag will remind you of your mother, if, in fact, she were two massive diesel engines with locomotive breath.

    Bathing on a train is also an art. If you have ever imagined brushing your teeth or shampooing your hair on a New York City subway, you'll be well prepared for a shower on the train. First, I laid out all the accoutrements, assembling soap, hair products and towels (which are provided in abundance by train staff). Just like on the subway, you'll take a stance that will allow some hands-free steadying. You'll dab a bit of shampoo on your palm, and you'll raise (sway) both hands (lurch) to your head (massive lurch) all while ninja-ready to clutch the grab bar should a seismic movement occur while you're scrubbing bubbles. On the subway, you risk hurtling into a sweaty fellow passenger; in a train shower, you risk face-planting into the very grab bar that's meant to protect you.

   And somehow I survived. Not only survived, but enjoyed a nice hot shower with great water pressure! The vestibule in the shower room has a seat for placing your clothes on or for sitting to dress. All surfaces could easily be sanitized with a disinfecting cloth but the stall was clean and regularly maintained by train staff.

    By the time we disembarked our train, we'd had a truly unique and pleasant adventure. The coziness of our tiny cabin was both private and comforting. If you've ever taken a long-haul flight in coach, you'll remember that moment when you'd be willing to hock your wedding ring to get a seat where you can just lay horizontally for a few hours. On a train, that's the whole point. 

    Though our research gave us some clues, there was nothing like the first-hand discovery of the ways and means of traveling by rail. Learning along the way not only gave us something to do, but also allowed us to settle in in the slow and meandering pace that locomotion encourages. Would we do it again? Absolutely!

    Our return journey is in five days.