# Trains in America? Amtrak to LA!


![](http://www.dot.wisconsin.gov/travel/rail/images/amtrak-engine.jpg)I
always loved trains, and I have taken my share of them, whether it’s the
beautiful and comfortable intercity from my homecity Hamar to Oslo, the
Norwegian capital, or doing the transsiberian from Moscow down to
Beijing. In China I spent a lot of time on trains, and they are awesome;
the train stations look like airports, with different waiting halls
depending on which train you are taking, and the trains commonly carry
over a 1000 people in sleepers; small moving villages.

But the US is not a country that one associates with trains; not
anymore. Certainly, the great West was conquered by the laying of the
railway (in which about 16,000 Chinese workers gave their lives), but
today one flies, drives or if really wretched takes the Greyhound.
However, there are still passenger trains going, and when we were
planning our trip from Tucson to LA, we found a night train that was
only 35\$ one way (no student discount). Amazing. So we jumped on. The
ticket was reserved online, and purchased at the station. (Nobody in
Tucson knew that there was a train station in the city, let alone where
it was - very different from Europe where the train station often
defines the center of a city). We all lines up at the door, and had our
tickets and IDs checked, and they did look through somebody’s luggage -
there was an impressive array of security personell there. There was
also a list of forbidden items, which included such things as small
scissors and knives. Strange. Then again; in China they have X-ray
scanners at all train stations (but I have never seen anyone not getting
through with their assorted bags of rubble).

The train was surprisingly comfortable, a double-decker with large seats
that could slide out and provide a comfortable sleep. The personell was
also very courteous and professional; quite unlike the Greyhound staff I
usually encounter. Butterfly went straight to sleep, while I watched to
episodes of Feichang Nusheng (a Chinese soap opera), and then drifted
into dreamland as well. I woke up quite early, and looked out the
window. To me, taking the train in the US was so foreign, that I
frequently forgot that I was in the US at all; especially when we
arrived at some station in a small town around 5 o’clock, and there was
a long line of huddled individuals, with disheveled clothes and big bags
waiting on the unpaved platform in front of the train - I could have
sworn I was in China!

We made our way into the dining car, and although the it was slightly
expensive (of course), and not very vegan friendly (I had some fruit),
it is always nice having a good meal while hills are rolling past. We
also met a nice retired professor from Alabama, and a high school
student from Los Angeles.

Finally, we rolled lazily into LA; the greatest irony of it all:
Arriving by train into the car-mecca of the world. The whole trip took
about 10 hours, because of long waits at the different stations, and
frequent stopping to let goods trains pass (I think they have
single-track most of the way). But it was an altogether pleasant and
cheap way of travelling, and I encourage more people to explore their
options.

Stian, in Claremont, CA