It is so cool hearing how passionate the Amtrak workers are. They clearly love what they do and provide an awesome service carrying on the tradition of rail travel in America

Fantastic, loved this. I've ridden Amtrak twice- The Empire Builder, once deliberately on the way to whitefish, once out of necessity after totalling my car near Havre and Malta Montana hitting a mule deer on the way back to Minnesota after a ski trip to whitefish returning for the first time to whitefish in 10 years. The Conductor of the train was so kind (Bob,..I've forgotten his last name unfortunately) had been doing it for something like 30 years. He helping me out allowing me to bring on way more extra luggage and weight as I pulled most of stuff out of my car including a subwoofer, our snowboard/ ski bags etc. He went above and beyond and connected me with his colleague another conductor as I had to swap some days around out of necessity, and he gave me his personal phone number to just help me out the next day when he would be by again on his Route between Grand forks North Dakota and Malta Montana. I will never forget the kindness he offered me and my friend.

You simply must take The Coast Starlight. LA to Seattle or vice versa. Either direction is fun. i was born in Klamath Falls, Oregon 60 years ago. my first train trip was in 1977 from there to Eugene, Oregon. Dan Hanakow, my best friend, and i had worked and saved all summer long to make the 30 dollars and some cents it cost to buy each of our one-way tickets. This was the supposed retirement trip to Portland of the 4449 4-8-8-4 Big Boy steam locomotive! She and the rolling stock were painted in the old Shasta Daylight colors. Fresh off of Her bicentennial around the country tour, there was a diesel unit with an all-over, red, white and blue flag paint scheme. We were 5 and a half hours late getting in to Eugene. No one thought about the numerous hot box detectors. Especially on the drier and, at that time, more fire prone eastern slopes of the Cascades. They are designed to alert someone, somewhere that the train passing it has an overheating wheel bearing or "hot box" and must stop and make a visual inspection walking around the entire train. No exceptions. We loved every minute of it! i went on to ride thousands of miles on countless trips in many different segments south to LA and as far north as Tacoma, but never that last little bit to Seattle! i always traveled Coach. i'd studied Amtrak's diagram of the sleepers, the rooms and roomettes, but of course i'd never seen one. Coach travelers don't have access to the sleepers for obvious reasons. Once i'd booked a trip from Vancouver, WA to Tacoma. The train was packed full coming out of Portland. It had taken awhile for the conductor to seat the handful of us that got on in Vancouver. i was the last one. He stood there for a minute scanning through His tickets and seating check off lists and frowned. Still frowning He looked up and said, "Follow me." He escorted me to a roomette, pointed out the upper bunk and told me very sternly, "You will be charged $125 dollars if you pull that down" and left. i'd only paid $37 dollars for the round-trip, so needless to say i didn't touch it! It was nice to see what the sleepers are like. i got to see in an open room just like You did! Once again, You simply must take this trip !:-) 🙏💜⚡️

There's something beautiful about the obvious passion that all of the crew you interviewed have for their jobs. I hadn't really considered it, but traveling this way is now definitely on my bucket list.

I think half of the appeal of your videos is your personality. You seem like such a nice person (Emma as well), and it's just a pleasure hearing you talk about things

The employee at end talking about gifting passengers with souvenirs at his own expense…I don’t know why but it almost brought me to tears. What a wonderful experience, Amtrak has some of the best, most genuine sounding employees I have ever seen

Thank you for this lovely video. I read comments from people in other countries mocking the US a lot because we don't have high speed rail. But in the US, you don't take the train to get somewhere fast. You take it for the experience, to see the landscape, to have interesting conversations with people from all over that you would never meet otherwise, to experience the journey across the continent. It's really nice.

If anyone is interested in watching the trains there’s a KZfaq channel called Virtual Railfan that has cameras at a lot of the locations. So, it’s exciting to see you ride a train that I might’ve watched go through certain towns.

My inner rail nerd just died and went to heaven. Also, apropos of absolutely nothing, I *love* Emma's fashion sense.

My dad worked as a claims adjuster for the Association of American Railroads in the 1950s and he spent a lot of time on the trains. Based in New York City, he probably took the same route you took across Pennsylvania as he was from Johnstown and made trips home often. This video really had me thinking of my dad, so thanks for this.

Looked like a lot of fun and those conductors was really nice. Could tell the one who brought the meal wished it could have been better.

I enjoyed this so much! My daughter and I made a very similar trip (we started out on the a Lakeshore Limited in Rochester NY then on the Southwest Chief to LA. It was long before Covid so there was full meal service (delicious!) and we were in one of the bedrooms with its own bathroom/shower which is teeny tiny but oh-so-convenient. It was a wonderful trip! We flew home due to time constraints, but wished we could have taken the train in reverse. I believe the schedule was such that some of the places that we missed during the nights would have been passed in the daytime. Thanks for reminding me what a lovely trip it was!

Wife Claudia and I have taken the train to Chicago four times, twice on the Chief from Los Angeles and twice from San Francisco, Emeryville. “How long does it take?” Friends ask. “Not long enough .” I reply. It is like staying in a bed and breakfast for two days and instead of a static view out your window you have a constantly changing view. The views, passengers you meet, the food and the “train” feeling are wonderful. The “train” experience for us is much better than that of a Cruise. We take along a few bottles of wine for an appropriate happy hour. Don’t compare the cost of the train transportation to that of an airline ticket but compare it to the cost of staying in a nice hotel for two nights with all meals included. Good job Tom and Emma. Charlie and Claudia, Avalon, Ca

My wife and I took the train from Rensselaer NY to LA maybe 18 years ago, 5 days I think. It was amazing, great experience. Then we drove back to ny.

All of Tom's videos are great, even if they're filmed 2 years ago

Amtrak needs to feature Matt the conductor in an ad campaign. He totally sold the experience.

looking forward to this, you may want to ride via rails's Canadian which is affectionately known as the last streamliner because it still uses 50s era passenger cars

Back during WW2, my father went to work for the Santa Fe RR out of the Chicago crew base as a Dining Car Steward ( like a maitre de ). He spent many years working the Super Chief, the El Capitan, the San Fransisco Chief and the Texas Chief. We still have photos in my family's possession of the many celebrities he served in the late 40's and 1950's! As a child we traveled to California on the Super Chief on a couple of occasions. Watching this was a nostalgic journey for me and I really enjoyed the journey with you! After Amtrak took over in the early 1970's my father was transferred to Seattle and became an onboard supervisor and inspector. He was always cognizant of the quality and enjoyment of the traveling public's' experience aboard the train! Thanks again for the journey with you! Found your channel after watching you video on Elkhorn, MT ghost town. Since I live fairly close, it is on my bucket list.

This was just fabulous. Now I'm thinking this has to go on my To Do list. And look at Emma looking so beautifully chic. I always love to dress up when I travel and it's delightful to see her doing the same.

I've only ridden Amtrak a couple of times but have lasting memories of it, especially the scenery. You see everything-- from the worst to the best. Way more than you see from the freeway. I've never done the southwest and what you show looks amazing.

Great History+Good Quality+More Railway Content =Good Times

Between 2001 and 2013 I did on my own 5 weekend to weekend trips rode all the AMTRAK routes west of St. Louis (connections in Chicago and K.C.) and on one trip made connection to ride The Canadian on VIA Rail back and forth between Vancouver and Jasper. For me, it was a great way to relax and see the West. I also saw some of the cities taking trolley tours, when needing a hotel to make connection with a train the next day. It was too much rail time for my wife who only tried it once. For me, it was a great affordable adventure. I did coach on 4 of the trips and rode sleeper on one of them. Good video!

Pre pandemic I was traveling by Amtrak from Trenton NJ up to Maine and many destinations in between for work. I loved it and I love trains , riding, walking the tracks , drinking under the bridges, ( not any more) , all of it . Thank You

Your comment on the Eastland in Chicago struck a chord as my grandmother's only brother died on that excursion vessel...he was only 25. My uncle took a round trip on the train from Chicago to LA in 1933 and kept a diary of the whole rail experience..it is a great read! Cheers!

My mom's family is from the Raton area. During the summer, you see lots of cub scouts on the train, heading to Raton. There is a huge ranch that hosts them every summer. In Raton, is Solano's Boot and Western Wear. My uncle used to do leather work for them. They have a "hat cemetery " on their walls. They are hats donated by local ranchers and cowboys. Many are sweat stained. My uncle's hat is there. Near Raton is Capulin Volcano National Monument. The Castaneda Hotel in Las Vegas was a Harvey House - it's magnificent from the train. Heading into Santa Fe, there are some homes you see on the east side. The kids would come out and wave. A little further down the conductor gave a little history on the Glorietta Pass. One summer, Amtrak had an Indian guide who did a wonderful presentation between Albuquerque and Gallup. They also showed a document on the wind talkers. It was wonderful. Its a beautiful train ride, especially if you get the history.

I had a chance to ride The City of New Orleans from New Orleans to Chicago and the Chief from Chicago to Kansas City this past summer. It was by far the best trip I've ever taken. The crew were wonderful, and since the dining has returned to normal, even the food was good; I had salmon in the dining car with a white tablecloth and a fresh rose in a bud vase on the table. It's really true that getting there is half the fun. Get a roomette, and enjoy the gorgeous scenery. The train is definitely my preferred mode of travel from now on. Kansas City's station, while smaller than Chicago's, is lovely, by the way.

Recently Amtrak upgraded the food in the dining car and they're back to pre-Covid operations. No more microwaved food. You mentioned the legendary food on the old Super Chief at 16:20. That was the Fred Harvey Co., which was headquartered in Kansas City where I live. During the Golden Age of American rail travel the Fred Harvey Co. was famous for running the dining cars of the Atchison. Topeka, and Santa Fe RR like 5-star restaurants on wheels. You could eat like a king on a train trip. But Fred Harvey only operated west of Chicago and to the Pacific.

I love train travel. I've taken about 20 trips on Amtrak through the decades. Since I live out west I've traveled frequently on the Southwest Chief and the California Zephyr. You see the US in all its glory from a train window. Everyone should do it once.

Back in about 1990 I was photoing trains in the Chicago area. Caught a Santa Fe westbound pig train at Argo tower. In the afternoon. It had 4 Fp45/F45 locos all in the red/silver paint. What a sight.

One of your best. The ones of us who loved this and liked this will always be here to share with you your future rail travels. It was beautifully engrossing. Thanks Tom. ❤️

I Love Trains... I have taken Amtrak from Richmond Virginia to Florida. Went in sleeper car with my girlfriend. I loved the trip. Looking out the window most of the time, like a Dog. Enjoying the Scenery. You can also load your car in Northern Virginia, Lorton Station. This way you can have you car to travel through Florida. Must Make Arrangements Well In Advance. God Speed Your Travels.

I traveled northeast with my girlfriend from los angeles to chicago onboard the southwest chief train in mid August 2014. Nice trip we both had.

I want to take the train from Los Angeles to Denver and cross the rockies! This is inspiring! I want to take my son. There is just nothing more nostalgic and elegant than train travel. You really got some great people to interview. Such passion and knowledge. Really cool. Your channel is one of the best on all of KZfaq. Hands down. You need a million subscribers ASAP. I wish you the best!

I loved my cross country trip on the Southwest Chief. I did my journey pre covid and the food lived up to the Chief's reputation. I remember this one employee who was in the cafe car and he was a constant joy and was like a tour guide giving everyone the details about the Harvey House stop, about Raton and the Raton Pass... it was delightful

This is a trip I’d like to do at some point. Your traveling across the country, but the train is part of the destination. Now I see why something like the Snowpiercer ‘cruise ship’ train would be so popular in a non-apocalyptic world.

Augh, that makes me ache to take a trip. Lovely voyage! You've got the "dad joke" MASTERED, too, lol! 😂 I dunno' about that milk - I prefer the milkless milk, myself, for my allergies and all. :3 Thanks, as always, for another excellent trip!

I got to ride about half of the Empire Builder when I was 16 and it was such an amazing experience. I highly want to take a longer trip like this again someday. I've loved trains my entire life. Rail travel is special and needs to be experienced at least once.

What a find: the Amtrak employee (Matt) you interviewed at the beginning of the video. I LOVE listening to guys like that (articulate and knowledgeable). He did a very nice job at laying out the history of the line you were on. Love the whole video. Well done.

An absolutely perfect video! Keep up the amazing work!

Makes me reflect and appreciate our country, it’s history and architecture that much more.

What a delightful video about our rail heritage, and also what generous and insightful people you met along the way.

What a fantastic video!! Thank you so much for it! Good to know that trains are very much alive in the US and that's a ride I will certainly try my best to go on if I ever visit the country!

Thank you for sharing, Tom. I moved to Germany at the end of last year, and while it has been offering some amazing adventures, and many to come, I enjoy seeing how things are going back home through your lens. Some beautiful shots of Cajon Pass, tragic with the fires. Hidden a little in the Pass tucked away is a spot called Hill #582... That stretch a few hundred miles East before Barstow is a place I have spent many nights in the middle of the desert with a campfire, telescope, harmonica and a little Jack as trains go by, I've seen that Amtrak go by, beautiful. I couldn't recommend checking out the ghost town of Bagdad enough. It sits at the bottom of the valley so the long trains really fly by, some old graveyard and a bunch of china fragments in the dirt. Kelso Dunes is also great, and nearby Arrowhead Junction is Fort Ibis - or the little that is left of it. Have a safe travel, thanks for sharing!

I love riding trains. I have stage 4 cancer and a cross country sleeping car my whole life and my sister has tried to get me a last wish ride. I had a medical dog that I trained and he was then verified. We would only ride up to New Jersey for a huge swap meet and he loved riding the train much better than flying. He’s gone now. How much does this ride cost for 2 people please?

My wife and I took Amtrak from D.C. to LA, via Chicago in the spring of 2020 and had a ball. We did a roomette from DC to Chicago and a bedroom from Chicago to LA. It was fun seeing the stations where we took leg-stretch breaks and even seeing individual sights along the track that we remembered.

Best rail trip KZfaq I've seen! Gorgeous shots, fascinating interviews, interesting bits of history. You have a great eye, and a talent for telling a story.

Absolute bucket-list item for me, and i couldn’t agree more on those closing notions 👍

15:20 what I love about (international) trains in Europe, that the dining car serves meals from the country of the operator, and since there are many, it gives a nice variety and is a thing to consider when you are deciding what time you want to go :)

I was lucky enough to take Amtrak across the country (LA to Washington, DC and LA to NY via Seattle). I have also taken VIA(Canada) from Halifax to Vancouver, BC. Alas I've always done it coach but loved it every time nevertheless. Thanks Tom for the video. It was a blast seeing the lovely Mrs. Emma.

Thank you Conductor Matt for your superlative history of the Pennsylvanian. You are what make Amtrak so great…Well Done Sir!

Great. Video. Really like the Amtrak employee explaining things toward the beginning.

My dad and I used to travel cross country by Amrtak when I was younger. We would take the Lake Shore Limited out of Penn Station in NY and head to Chicago where we'd end up either spending a day there and then head back home or we would catch the connecting train to San Fran, Seattle or LA. Trains were my dad's favorite and he loved exploring and riding them. One year we took Via Rail from Vancouver to Toranto. My dad passed back in June and coming across your video randomly tonight was like a sign that he's with me. It made me cry but also brought back so many happy memories I have with him. Thank you for filming this and showing the world how wonderful trail travel is. You gained a new subscriber tonight so thank you.

What a ride. Great video, Tom & Emma. Cheers.

You know as much as people might hate and dislike the guy, it's kinda amazing to know that a guy like Richard Nixon could have founded Amtrak over 50 years ago and have it still exist today. Same with the Environmental Protection Agency.

Thank you for your excellent coverage. I enjoyed the Southwest Chief in March of 2022 and was very thankful the good food was back.

The layover in Chicago was just AWESOME!!! I really enjoyed walking the city, and the sears tower is only like 2 blocks away, so I went up to the top floor viewing area. Great stuff, and great travel experience!

I can't tell you how much I enjoy your channel, you're an outstanding presenter. I really enjoy your style and presentation and your personality, and the content is top-notch. A very intellectual and dignified channel. So well-done. Thank you happy adventuring to you!

I agree with with what your saying and as a frequent Amtrak and rail traveler I have to say rail travel is the way to go especially if you have a bit of extra time. , Thanks for letting us share the train ride. Mark Battista

Thank you for the wonderful journey by train. That was a dream come true for me. I love your channel.

Amazing to see all that history, railroads are still fascinating to me. Beautiful buildings, awesome views of the wide open spaces. Some day we plan on taking a trip on the train. You are a pro at these videos, very entertaining to watch. Thanks.

What a truly great video this is! A traveller's eye informed by an historian's sensibility. Wonderful photography, great editing and very well-written. And the train crew on-cameras really made it sing. Thank you so much for this. (and btw, for a small idea of what rail travel must have been like in its glamour period, Joseph Kanon, a terrific writer, sets the first several chapters of his novel "Stardust" aboard the Super Chief in the summer of 1945 -- Paulette Godard is one of the passengers..)

Can't say I was expecting a interview with *the* Matt Pisani. Had the pleasure of riding with him multiple times as that's my local train.

As someone who loves modeling the Pennsylvania Railroad it was a real treat to see the inside of those two stations you were at, the GG1 which I knew was there but still cool to see. I also really appreciated how in that upper lounge you were in at the start of your journey at all those pictures on the wall including a T1 Duplex steam engine butil for the PRR. Seeing all those amazing sights and rail equipment along the way was just magnificent. Maybe sometime you can ride a train on up to Minnesota and visit some local museums as well as to up to Historical Duluth area. Just a thought when you're on your travels. Wonderful video as always and even though the masks were eh to me. There was a weird charm about how empty everything was during that time. It felt like you had the whole train to yourself so that was cool to see as well. Thanks so much for sharing this journey.

Thank you so much for taking us along.

A very lovely piece with beautiful background music!

Excellent video. Enjoyed very much!

Great video! One of my dreams is to cross the country with Amtrak

I am a huge fan of your adventure videos. So exciting! 🎉

Love your travels. Awesome video. 👍

Went on the Empire Builder + 1 other route myself. Seattle, WA to Rochester, NY. If you've got extra days to get to your destination, it's a great low-key way to go.

Came across this video today. Very glad I did. I thought it was very well done and fascinating to watch. Great job and you better believe I subscribed!!

I really appreciate the time you took in the video for the viewer to actually see the great stations you passed through.

Excellent video! Thank you!

Thank You for sharing this Amazing trip!!!!

great content loved every minute. keep up the hard work

Olá. Parabéns pelo ótimo vídeo. Sou apaixonado por ferrovia , principalmente por trem de passageiros. Um grande abraço. Desde São Carlos SP Brasil.

Your on foot videos, and adventure vlogs, best on youtube, and my highlights of your channel. Very happy to see this upload 😁

I cannot wait to do this some day. Thank you for the your great work.

I take the train often to New York from Baltimore for work. I always enjoy the ride. One day I want to take the "Vermonter" which goes, well obviously, to Vermont. This trip also looked fun. I might add it to my bucket list.

Really liked this video, relatively new sub, the lost Franklin expedition was recommended to me a couple weeks ago and since then I’ve binge watched about all the maritime vids, really enjoy your content, I’ve learned a lot

I would take Amtrak as a regular option but that 1100 price tag is prohibitive

This was dope. Love some of the architecture you featured.

Excellent video. You display a fantastic sense of composition and timing, and your choice of music is superb.

This is one of My dream journeys and I hope one day , I can do it . Ty for such a great video . .. again.

Thank you so much for this great cross country rail trip. Heres a few points of interest. Lucky for me, back in 1978, I ran GG1 #4857, in a N. Jersey service facility yard. What a thrill !! I grew up next to the ERIE RR in Paterson, NJ. The Erie Limited passenger train, I think, used the same terminal as did the Santa Fe in Chicago. To close my comments. I heard you mention a name of Bill Sauter. I worked for a Bill Sauter of Elliot - Lewis corp. But at a corp. division in SW Fl. I knew Bill was a RR enthusiast. Was this the same person? Sorry for the long post. thanks again. BTW, I'm a 1 1/2 inch scale 'live steamer'. (papasmurf7597)

Thank you, really love interviews of the staffs

This was outstanding! I watched a documentary a month or so back on the Travel channel or Discovery channel, heck one of those channels anyway the train traveled across Canada. I think from Quebec to Vancouver. Much like your video which showed all the landscape traveling across the country it was just so beautiful. Once again a great video thank you for taking us along for the ride.

Good clip ,I want to go from Dallas to LA . I love trains.Good background music.

always wanted to go to an Amtrack its so cool and also your videos

There's something romantic about taking trains and ships.

Another excellent video and to be very honest, it is as if you are reading the minds of some of your audience by choosing to do content like this. Clearly, trains fascinate a lot of people at the grassroots level. I'm a resident of Canada, and I've often thought about crossing the country on trains as well. I had not considered how it might translate as video content though. *very well done!*

What a lovely journey. Lucky you !!!!!!

Amazing video, really. It makes me happy to see more railfans to make story/videos how great Amtrak can be if we act together. Props to you!

This was such a beautiful video - please do more train-related content!

Another fine report...Thank You.

Absolutely wonderful!! Thank you!!!

You mentioned the Eastland~~ Just watched an excellent documentary about it on channel named Ask A Mortician. Don't let that channel name deter you.🙂 P.S. Thanks for your video.

I saw this and thought of you immediately! So i sent it to mum to send to you!

I do appreciate your "trains in the movies" references. I remember that scene from the "Untouchables" movie inside Chicago Union Station, and I've been down that staircase, too.

Very nicely done. What fabulous architecture, especially the grand stations in the capitals. Journeying by rail is a unique way to experience a country. As well as sweeping vistas as you drift through the landscape, you peer into the backyards of a culture. TFP