10 Things Nobody Ever Told Us About Amtrak's Auto Train

I'm Tim Cruz here in Lorton, Virginia and today we're going to learn all about Amtrak's innovative way to travel from Virginia to Florida on the auto train. Stay tuned. Out of the 30 plus routes Amtrak runs throughout the United States, you'd be surprised to find that only three are profitable. One of those routes includes trains numbered 52 and 53, the world-famous auto train. This route carries passengers and their motor vehicles between Lorton, Virginia, about 20 miles from Washington, D.C., and Sanford, Florida, about 25 miles outside Orlando, just a short drive from Disney World, the Kennedy Space Center, and Cocoa Beach. With those two popular destinations, it's easy to see why that route is so well traveled. Out of the 30 plus routes Amtrak runs throughout the United States, you'd be surprised to find that only three are profitable. One of those routes includes trains numbered 52 and 53, the world-famous auto train. This route carries passengers and their motor vehicles between Lorton, Virginia, about 20 miles from Washington, D.C., and Sanford, Florida, about 25 miles outside Orlando, just a short drive away from Disney World, the Kennedy Space Center, and Cocoa Beach. With those two popular destinations, it's easy to see why that route is so well traveled. The auto train is the only motor rail service in the United States, and to some, it might seem like an unlikely contender to be a moneymaker for Amtrak. It operates on one single route in the southeastern United States, only once per day, and makes no additional passenger stops along its 855-mile journey. Only one quick stop to fuel or change staff in Florence, South Carolina. Passengers must allot extra time to load their vehicles onto and off the train. Amtrak suggests arriving at the auto train station between two to four hours before departure time, which means a whole lot of standing around. A minor inconvenience, but most people don't seem to mind. Passengers ride in coach seats or private sleeping car rooms, while their vehicles are carried in enclosed two-story automobile-carrying freight cars called auto racks. The train can carry up to 650 passengers, along with 340 vehicles, and our train was almost full at 334. The train also includes lounge cars and dining cars. Auto train allows its passengers, who dread driving Interstate 95 through highly policed southern states, while carrying their own vehicles with them. It's a 17 and a half hour ride that requires spending the entire night on the train. Amtrak's auto train keeps chugging along profitably, while other routes struggle. Why? Let's hop aboard and take a trip back in time to uncover the secrets of this unique train. Back in the day, railroads were the lifeblood of America, connecting families, friends, and businesses across a growing nation. But as cars became more popular and interstate highways began to crisscross the country, train travel took a back seat. Airplanes also soared in popularity, offering faster travel for long distances. This led to a decline in passenger rail service. By the 1970s, private railroads were eager to hand over the responsibility and costs of carrying a declining number of passengers. The Rail Passenger Service Act of 1970 relieved the private railroads of the expensive responsibility of people moving. In response, Congress created Amtrak in 1971, a clever combination of the words America and track, to provide passenger rail service. Amtrak was a hybrid model, run as a for-profit company, with the federal government as its majority stockholder. Amtrak received equipment, funding, and track rights. Also in 1971, a man named Gene Garfield, an attorney and government official who commissioned a study while working for the Transportation Department, founded the Auto Train Corporation. Now this was an innovative idea, a train that could transport both passengers and their cars. The privately owned Auto Train Corporation launched service between Lorton, Virginia and Sanford, Florida, and it quickly became a very popular route. In May 1974, service began over a second route between Florida and Louisville, Kentucky, and the company was considering other routes between Chicago and Denver, and yet another to Mexico. In the early days of the Auto Train, there was a disproportionate share of elderly travelers, many taking along their Cadillacs, the vehicle that accounted for as much as 60 percent of the Auto Train's car load. Auto Train passengers traveled in opulence, complete with amenities including a wine and cheese greeting, domed cars for stargazing, first-run movies, a nightclub with live entertainment, and costume performers dressed up as Disney characters to entertain children of all ages. The first five years were highly profitable. Afterwards, losses mounted, as competition from discounted airlines and car rentals began to consume market share. Coupled with an unsuccessful expansion into the Midwest and liability from two derailments, the company finances stretched to the breaking point. Service ceased in April 1981, and the Auto Train Corporation went out of business. Recognizing an opportunity, Amtrak reintroduced a tri-weekly version of the service, running between the original popular destinations in Florida and Virginia under the name Amtrak Auto Train in 1983. Daily service was introduced a year later. Amtrak focused on providing an affordable and reliable service without overextending themselves, and it has become a very profitable venture. While the Auto Train might not be the cheapest option compared to driving or flying between the Northeast and Florida, it does offer a unique experience that most travelers find well worth the price. Plus, there's the added convenience of your luggage and whatever else you can fit into your car or SUV, plus the car itself loaded right onto the train. Before you jump online and book your own auto train adventure, here's what you need to know about Amtrak's Auto Train. In its entirety, the Auto Train averages nearly three-quarters of a mile in length. We're the longest passenger train in the United States. Today we have eight sleeping cars, and in between the 41 and 40 is where you'll find the dining car and the lounge car for the sleeper portion of the train. Today we have four coach cars, and next to the 10 car is where you'll find the cross-country cafe where you can purchase a variety of entree items, snacks, and beverages. We have a total of 489 passengers on board today. This equates to 288 in our coach section and 201 in our sleeping car section, and in our auto carriers today we're carrying a total of 334 of your vehicles. 30 of those are priority vehicles, which may be the first vehicles off tomorrow, and we have four motorcycles today. Our crew today consists of 18 onboard service personnel, two conductors, and two engineers. We will change out our conductors and engineers at our halfway point in Florence, South Carolina, but the onboard service crew will be with you throughout the trip. For our guests needing to dispose of used needles, lancets, razor blades, or other sharp medical objects, Amtrak does offer free personal shark trap containers. They are usually located at a self-service area at the top of the stairs in each car. If you go there and don't find one, please ask an attendant. We'll be happy to get one for you. When using our restrooms, we ask that you only use the toilet tissue provided by Amtrak. Our facilities are a vacuum suction system that is very sensitive. Other objects such as paper towels and diapers will stop them up, and if one toilet stops up in a car, it has a tendency to take out all the toilets in that car, and we have no way to clear them in route. This means you'd end up having to use the facilities in another car, so please use only the tissue that we provide. The auto train is a non-smoking train, and this includes e-cigarettes and vapors. Smoking is not permitted anywhere on the train to include restrooms and sleeper accommodations. We again ask that all children under the age of 13 be accompanied by an adult for their safety and no running on board, and again, shoes must be worn whenever leaving your seats or your accommodations. Meal service for our sleeping car passengers tonight is scheduled for 5, 7, and 9 p.m. Please wait for an announcement for your dinner seating before coming to the dining car. As the attendants, we'll be busy getting things ready prior to inviting you in. Our seatings are usually called on time, but just in case of a delay, please wait for that call. At this time, we'd like to ask you to sit back and relax, or better yet, you could visit Bonnie in the Pricing tends to be seasonal. During spring and fall, a large contingent of what's become widely known as snowbirds, mostly octogenarian baby boomers, who can still afford to own a residence in both the northern states and as well as Florida. The Cadillacs are still there, but they're a little less prominent as passengers of all ages travel between the two destinations, creating a huge demand during those times of year. Unfortunately for most, Amtrak has recognized this opportunity and has adjusted prices accordingly. In the fall, train number 53 from Virginia to Florida can cost several hundred dollars more than train number 52 traveling the opposite way. In the spring, that reverses as boomers return to their homes in the north to avoid hot Florida summers. Book early, as some dates in April and October sell out quickly. Gone are the good old days of on-train movies and a wine and cheese welcome. Today, bring your own portable entertainment, cheeses, and you can buy wine on all three classes of the rooms you can book on the auto train. Starting as low as $95 per seat, depending on the season, there is the coach section. These are two side-by-side pairs of fairly comfortable, surprisingly spacious, reclining seats, similar to what you'd find in the first class section of most commuter airline flights. There's no meal or beverages included in this section, but there is a snack car you can walk to and purchase food and limited alcoholic beverages. Next, there is the first class section on auto train, the private rooms. All three private room categories include a full sit-down meal during your trip between Florida and Virginia. First, there's the smaller roomette, two comfortable seats by day transformed into upper and lower beds by night, with shared full bathrooms for each car. For about twice the price, often a little more, you can upgrade to the full bedroom with a slightly larger area and its own private sink, and a bathroom with a shower. We booked this room for our trip from Florida to Virginia since it was off-season in that direction. Finally, for families of up to four people, there's the very limited availability family room, which spans the entire width of the train. It costs a little more than the bedroom. Unfortunately, you will need to pay extra to bring your automobile on the train. Pricing depends on the length of your vehicle and is also affected by seasonal price adjustments. Plane cars, most SUVs, and even motorcycles are welcome to board and travel behind the passenger cars. And yes, you can still take the auto train even if you don't have a car with you. For those who get motion sick, you'll be happy to know the attendants on the auto train always switch the coach seats in the direction that the train is traveling. In both the coach and private room areas, there are multiple 110-volt AC ports, great for charging your phone or portable electronic devices. And Wi-Fi is free throughout your trip with just enough bandwidth for checking email or surfing the web. We did drop connection a few times during the evening, but our train to Florida was completely sold out. If you need more bandwidth, it turns out the cell services along this line seem fast and reliable with most major carriers. The coach food car serves fast food like hamburgers, hot dogs, grilled cheese, and even a Bring your credit card because it's not free. There also was a good selection of beer and a full bar pouring mixed drinks. You can bring your own liquor, but you can't consume it unless you're in a private room. Beginning at 6 a.m., there is a free continental breakfast featuring a few kinds of dry cereal like Cheerios, bananas, and some sort of wrapped pastry. But coffee and bottled water is extra. There are a few tables in the snack car, but they're first come first served. We noticed experienced travelers tend to snap them up quickly and might dominate them for several hours playing board games or watching movies on their iPads. The coach bathroom facilities located on the lower level of our two-story coach car were clean and adequate with two of those rooms that had plenty of room to change your clothing. Coach seating reclines well with no worries about bumping the knees of the person seated behind you. It seemed very comfortable for sitting upright during daylight hours. But even with the reclining seats and footrests, they're really not very comfortable for sleeping. Felicia and I had a terrible night's sleep due to the reclined position of the headrests. Many people brought their own pillows and blankets, and they seemed to be pretty cozy. The only downsides of the coach cars are a constant flow of passengers walking to the snack car or to the bathrooms on the lower level. They might tug on the back of your seat as they're navigating through a shaky rail car at all hours of the morning, which can wake you if you're a very light sleeper. Headphones are recommended when watching or listening to streaming media on your portable electronic device, and also for taking phone calls. Unfortunately, some passengers didn't heed that advice. In some stream, there's sometimes offensive language quite loudly on our Florida-destined train. The private bedrooms weren't very spacious, but it is nice to have your own space to stretch out. Your room attendant will assist in getting your room sleep-ready by setting the tiny top bunk along with converting the seating into a twin-sized bed. Pillows, sheets, and blankets are included. There is a curtain and an actual door that affords complete privacy. Our train pulled into Sanford, Florida at about 10.30am, about a half hour late. We were finally permitted to leave the train at about 11am. Our car finally drove off the auto rack at 12.28pm, almost two hours after our train arrived at the station. We could have paid an additional $105 for priority offloading for our car along with 29 other people, but this option had been sold out for months. Priority offloading began at about 11.09am. For those with service animals, they are permitted on board with advanced arrangements. For the auto train, there is only one stop in Florence, South Carolina, which is a service stop that we've heard may be used as a relief stop for service dogs. Notify the conductor and on-board personnel well in advance to determine if there is time for this. It will probably be very late at night, so keep that in mind. Now, we did notice one major issue Amtrak really should address. Although their terrible sounding and hard to understand robotic voice warns of random security checks over the public address system at both the Virginia and Florida locations, there seem to be zero passenger security checks on the auto train. It is nothing like the TSA security you'll encounter at any American airport. When you drive up to the admission gate a few hours before your train departs, you simply give them your name and they'll look it up on a paper printout. I could have used the name Mickey Mouse and passed through the checkpoint with no problem. You don't need to present any identification when reserving online, or at the vehicle entry point, or at the check-in counter to get your handwritten tickets. In a sense, it's a nice return to more trusting days. However, since there is zero apparent screening or x-rays of people, carry-on bags, or the contents of any vehicle, we do worry this mode of transportation is ripe for drug smugglers, human trafficking, and other assorted lawbreakers and troublemakers who could create problems or even dangerous situations for good, honest, law-abiding citizens like you and me. I'm thankful it hasn't yet happened and truly hope it never will, but it is a crazy world out there. Overall, Amtrak's auto train is still a fun and convenient way to travel between Virginia and Florida that eliminates the need to drive if you're traveling or returning home with your car, SUV, or motorcycle. I'm Rick's, I mean, I'm Tim Cruz.