"Amtrac has a basic fare rate to which they add the cost of a roomette or whatever they're called, and food which we are told is not the greatest." JohnSC

In recent years I have traveled coast to coast and north to south on Amtrak, plus travelled from Toronto to Prince Rupert on Canada's west coast.

I had a (mostly) great time. My main complaint was that I wished the trains would stop for the night so one didn't miss so much spectacular scenery; travelling by night is kind of like flying from airport to airport and considering one has travelled around the world.(On the other hand, I feel the same way about ships and ferries.)

Whenever and wherever I could I took a stateroom. Since all food is included it would be hard to figure that it costs a lot more than sitting up in coach and paying for your own (junk) food. The food in the dining room is tasty and the meals are well balanced.

In addition, wherever there is a stop at a hub, you are entitled to rest in a 'first class' lounge where you not only have free coffee and munchies but they see to it that you don't miss your train.

There is one serious problem in US current train travel: not only are the tracks owned by the freight lines but they are old and rough. Their negotiated agreement stipulates that the freights take precedence, so you find that you spend a good deal of time on a side track waiting for the freight to arrive and to pass. This happens frequently and the later you become the more frequent the stops become.

And the tracks are so rough that you can get seriously thrown around, even off your feet. The worst that I found were the tracks between Portland and Chicago; tracks between Los Angelos and Chicago were much better; tracks were rough between Salem, Oregon and Santa Ana, California.

The Canadian tracks are in much better shape, but the trains appear to be older and less well heated.

One little journey that I have alerted friends and family to is the day run between Seattle and Salem, Oregon. You can easily travel both ways in the course of one day and you travel through towns, forests and fields and farms. That is my favorite thing about trains: they don't follow the highways.

By the way, the Amtrak fare between Seattle and Portland, Oregon, if you are a "senior", is $23.00.