Russell Williams
Well-Known Member
I have been reading through the thread about flying fat. While I realize that for many trips the train is not an option it is possible that for some people it might be an alternative for some trips.
Last year I bought a 30 day rail pass and used it to travel extensively through the United States and Canada. Therefore I was on a variety of different trains. I was always thinking in terms of how fat friendly is this particular train car that I am in.
Coach seats on trains are wide and comfortable. Many of them not only lean back but also have a leg rest of that comes up to provide further comfort. As best I remember every coach I was in had a place to purchase food.
All of the bathrooms were better than the airplane and bus bathrooms and some of them were large enough to get a wheelchair into. Some of the sleeper rooms had their own toilets. As best I remember, every sleeper car also had a shower. Some, and perhaps all, of the trains carried a ramp that would make them wheelchair accessible. In double-decker cars there were handicapped reserved coach seats on the first floor and handicapped reserved sleeper rooms. Most of the time, when I got on a train, going through security consisted of being asked if I had a ticket and required to show it before I got on the train. I had a CPAP with me, needles, and a variety of medicines. No one ever raise any questions about any of these.
In the United States if you purchase a sleeper room the price for the room is the same whether you have one or two people there and all meals are included in the price. Apparently, the earlier you buy your ticket to lower the price for sleeper cars.
A couple of years ago I had to go to Chicago and I got round-trip train fare with sleeper car one-way for less than round-trip airfare. A friend drove me 15 miles to the train station in West Virginia. I got on the train, found my sleeper room, and got myself organized. I then went to supper came back read for a bit and then let the porter make my bed up. In the morning I got up, went to breakfast, and got off the train in downtown Chicago and about a mile from my hotel.
The air alternative would have been to drive 80 miles to an airport in the DC area, find a parking area for long-term parking for my car, take a shuttle to the airport, go through the hassle that many of you know occurs in airports, and wind up in Chicago 20 or more miles from my hotel.
When I went to the Boston convention I also took the train. The trains in the Boston, DC corridor have the best on-time record and are so fast that there was no need to consider taking a sleeper car.
Since I have always taken the cheapest sleeper rooms I'm not able to comment intelligently on the more expensive ones however, if you go to the Amtrak website you can get interactive video pictures of the various sleeper rooms.
With the cost of airfare going up rapidly anyone thinking of going to the convention, especially those with larger hips might want to seriously consider the possibility of taking the train. Obviously, the further you go the more time you save by taking a plane.
However, if you have enough vacation time the train can be a wonderful and comfortable way to both get where you are going and see the country and not have to worry about paying four or more dollars a gallon to fill your car.
Yours truly,
Russell Williams
Last year I bought a 30 day rail pass and used it to travel extensively through the United States and Canada. Therefore I was on a variety of different trains. I was always thinking in terms of how fat friendly is this particular train car that I am in.
Coach seats on trains are wide and comfortable. Many of them not only lean back but also have a leg rest of that comes up to provide further comfort. As best I remember every coach I was in had a place to purchase food.
All of the bathrooms were better than the airplane and bus bathrooms and some of them were large enough to get a wheelchair into. Some of the sleeper rooms had their own toilets. As best I remember, every sleeper car also had a shower. Some, and perhaps all, of the trains carried a ramp that would make them wheelchair accessible. In double-decker cars there were handicapped reserved coach seats on the first floor and handicapped reserved sleeper rooms. Most of the time, when I got on a train, going through security consisted of being asked if I had a ticket and required to show it before I got on the train. I had a CPAP with me, needles, and a variety of medicines. No one ever raise any questions about any of these.
In the United States if you purchase a sleeper room the price for the room is the same whether you have one or two people there and all meals are included in the price. Apparently, the earlier you buy your ticket to lower the price for sleeper cars.
A couple of years ago I had to go to Chicago and I got round-trip train fare with sleeper car one-way for less than round-trip airfare. A friend drove me 15 miles to the train station in West Virginia. I got on the train, found my sleeper room, and got myself organized. I then went to supper came back read for a bit and then let the porter make my bed up. In the morning I got up, went to breakfast, and got off the train in downtown Chicago and about a mile from my hotel.
The air alternative would have been to drive 80 miles to an airport in the DC area, find a parking area for long-term parking for my car, take a shuttle to the airport, go through the hassle that many of you know occurs in airports, and wind up in Chicago 20 or more miles from my hotel.
When I went to the Boston convention I also took the train. The trains in the Boston, DC corridor have the best on-time record and are so fast that there was no need to consider taking a sleeper car.
Since I have always taken the cheapest sleeper rooms I'm not able to comment intelligently on the more expensive ones however, if you go to the Amtrak website you can get interactive video pictures of the various sleeper rooms.
With the cost of airfare going up rapidly anyone thinking of going to the convention, especially those with larger hips might want to seriously consider the possibility of taking the train. Obviously, the further you go the more time you save by taking a plane.
However, if you have enough vacation time the train can be a wonderful and comfortable way to both get where you are going and see the country and not have to worry about paying four or more dollars a gallon to fill your car.
Yours truly,
Russell Williams
