We took the Amtrak auto train from Sanford Florida to Lorton Virginia a short while ago. I guess I can sum up our trip on the auto train as “interesting”. This is why. It’s a long page as we wanted to provide as much info as we could. Hope it helps some folks decide, one way or the other.
The experience we had driving down through the Carolinas to Florida in November, and the online and frequent comments about the state of I-95 in South and North Carolina in March 2022, convinced us that it was time for an alternate route. We had had enough of the bi-annual stop-and-go driving through those two states. We looked at driving other routes to our Canadian home and almost decided on an alternate driving route when friends said why not try the auto train?
On line information was located and booking was fairly easy. So, it was the Amtrak auto train for us.
Amtrak auto train ticket pricing.
When you visit the auto train website page (link shown below) you will find that the cost of the auto train has a number of elements.
Obviously, the number of persons in a party is a factor. You can purchase a:
- Coach ticket – one for each person
- add a Roomette ticket – one for two persons
- or add a Room ticket – one for two persons
Then, you will have to indicate the size of vehicle you have. The larger the vehicle, the higher the price per vehicle. For our full sized car $268 was added.
Arriving at Amtrak station in Sanford Florida.
The process of actually getting to and onto the Amtrak auto train is extremely easy. Drive to Sanford Florida, follow the signs from I-4, and then to the station. The process and the ease of checking in attests to the expertise with the process of all of the Amtrak employees encountered.
The latest check in for a car is 2:00 p.m. on the day of your train, and we made sure to be there in plenty of time. Probably a bit too early in terms of wait time to board the train, but we didn’t know what to expect and did not want to be late.
After a quick check in via the gate shown above, we were directed to one of four lanes in front of the Amtrak Auto Train terminal. There we were handed a ticket, the attendant placed a magnetic number on our driver door and we were asked to get out and enter the terminal.
The photo above shows the actual slip given us when we checked our vehicle into the auto train at the Sanford Amtrak terminal. The attendant put a magnetic, matching number on our vehicle driver’s door. We were directed to proceed into the Amtrak terminal making sure we were taking our carry on luggage as well as the above car number paper, leaving the vehicle behind with the vehicle key in the car.
After we entered the terminal I glanced back and noticed that it appeared as though the staff were videoing the outside of every vehicle afer drop off. That made sense. If someone had a claim of damage caused by the auto train staff, they had proof of the vehicle condition when it was delivered to them. Very thorough.
We had a chuckle a couple of times when the announcement came over the passenger waiting area for the owner of such-and-such a vehicle to please return to their vehicle with the keys. Taking the car keys with us as one exits the vehicle is almost second nature, isn’t it? So don’t do it! 🙂
Once your vehicle is taken from where you leave it in front of the terminal, it will not be seen again until the next day so be sure to take all you need with you.
Each vehicle is either driven up the ramps shown below to get to the top level of the auto car, or when the tops are filled the ramps drop and vehicles then fill up the lower levels. Each auto car holds about 60 vehicles when full.
Inside the Auto Train terminal in Sanford.
In the photo above it’s the far end of the hall under the dark blue wall where the ticket booths are located for check in or for ticket purchase.
Only one person from each party was to be in line to help speed up the check-in process. It took about 15 minutes from the time I lined up until I got to the actual check in window, and the queue was almost full when we arrived. They process folks fast. The train that we boarded this day would have over 500 passengers checked in by the time it rolled out at 4:00 p.m.
I felt the terminal wasn’t big enough to seat everyone waiting for their auto train, particularly for those trying to maintain social distancing. There was some seating outside along the terminal walls, much of that, unfortunately, in full sun. The addition of more sun and rain protected sitting areas outside the terminal would be useful.
Tip: Folks that check in early might get an outside seat in the very limited shaded sitting area beside the terminal front wall. But, after check in if you exit the terminal and walk to the right around past the food truck (if there is one there on the day you are there) there is a small, fenced in playground with benches and tables. Some of those benches are in full shade and we shared one of those with another couple, this about 2 1/2 hours before boarding the train. Boarding takes place at 2:30 pm.
Upon check in a boarding pass is received.
Along with the boarding pass shown below, for those that had tickets that included meals, we were provided photocopies of the menu for the meals available that trip. We also selected a meal time.
In the auto train coaches:
In the coach cars passengers are facing one direction only for the whole trip. There is reasonable leg room which will vary depending on the size of suitcase(s) placed under the seat in front or on the floor. There is reasonable overhead storage for suitcases etc. as well. There are a couple of restrooms in each car, some with showers. I suspect if these W.C.’s are the same as the ones upstairs, having a shower in one would be similar to trying to bathe in a toilet, in terms of space!
Coach chairs tilt to allow a bit more of a lounge feel, needed as passengers will spend the 17 hours – at least it’s supposed to be 17 hours 🙂 – sitting in these chairs.
An hour or so after departure the bar /snack car opens. Though there are multiple lounge cars to allow folks to stretch out and share seating, there was only one lounge car with a bar and attendant. Here’s of those without an attendant:
Tip: Make your coach journey more comfortable. Limit your carry on to one – the smallest size you can manage – preferably a soft bag. Bring a good pillow, eye-blackout shades, ear plugs, and wear loose comfortable clothing and shoes. Leave the dress up clothes and non-essential items in the bags in your car! Maybe pack a decent lunch and a couple of bottles of water or other liquids. 😉 to enjoy during the trip if you prefer not to purchase them during the journey.
In the auto train roomettes:
On the auto train car we traveled in, the roomettes were on the upper floor. If you have walking or climbing issues, these stairs may not be for you:
Though narrow and steep, on good thing about the stairs is if you are going up and down with the train moving, you can easily lean onto one or the other wall as the train lurches back and forth. It’s the same for the hallway between roomettes, shown in the next photo:
In the roomettes there are two opposing soft seats that, essentially, fill the roomette floor space. There is a fairly narrow space between those seats for feet and knees, with little space for anything else. That meant that it was uncomfortable for us to sit exactly across from one another, as our knees would touch. There wasn’t any room to stretch out one’s legs, unless the other person sat to one side. This we did as you can see in the next photo. After a while we changed sides to allow the other to sit closer to the window to improve the view.
You can see that to stretch I had to put my feet up on the seat beside my fellow passenger, and they were doing the same from time to time. Note also that my feet are touching the left side of the roomette wall, and you can see the edge of the seat beside the person to their left.
Aside from the lowering of the seats to turn into a bunk for the night time, the roomette seatbacks do not appear adjustable. If you are uncomfortable with the roomette seat back angle you’ll need to use a pillow (provided) as a back rest.
The big plus for the roomette is that it is a private space on the train. With the sliding door shut the passengers can remove their masks to chat, breathe more easily and to eat or drink in private.
To use the restroom which was located several doors down the passageway means exiting the roomette, however.
The meals in the Amtrak Roomette.
Shortly after we’d boarded and the train was on the way, the car attendent knocked on our roomette door, we masked up, and we were asked what our meal choice was and confirmed the time we selected to have dinner that evening.
The selected meal time is a guide. Your meal will be delivered sometime between the selected hour, and the following hour. Since the restaurant car was several cars back and they have to deliver a bunch of meals, by the time they got to us it was 35 minutes after our selected time. Expect that you won’t get your meal on the hour.
We were surprised at the quality and the quantity of the food. We had selected salmon and white wine for one person (one glass of wine or beer each is complimentary with dinner) and steak and white wine for the other. The food was very neatly delivered in a paper shopping bag with take out containers, utensils, a wine glass (plastic) and a good portion of white wine for each of us, along with napkins and reasonable quality plastic utensils.
Here’s the salmon meal we had:
The portion was ample, the roll was warm and reasonably fresh (real butter was provided) and the vegetable medley was excellent. The salmon and veggies were hot and the fish was not dried out. Next photo, the steak dinner:
The steak was ordered medium-rare. It was actually a little bit on the rare side and that was just fine. It was hot, seasoned, and juicy good. The beans were al-dente, hot and delicious. The roll was fresh and tasty.
After dinner, all containers went back in the shopping bag in which dinner was delivered, and with a mask on it was a quick zip down to the end of the car to dispose of the refuse in the large garbage containers provided there. Dinner was done! Fortunately, we’d brought a little more wine with us, and enjoyed a post-dinner glass, watching the scenery pass, with tummies full.
A roomette on the Auto Train is private, that is, until it’s bed time.
With a small carry on (that’s all that will fit) under each seat, and a soft bag perched precariously on the upper berth steps on the door side, there is not much room to manoeuver! Only one person at a time can be getting changed comfortably into sleeping attire. The other person hunkers out of the way while their partner changes, then vice versa.
Earlier the car attendant had asked when we wanted our bunks set up. We requested it to be done at 9 PM, intending to read for some time after we were in our bunks. Oops! For the berths to be set up, we both had to leave the roomette. Yup, anyone wandering down the hallway – and there were a bunch – got to enjoy seeing the color of your jammies!
We strongly suggest that a passenger wear a sweat suit or similar garments, suitable for lounging as well as for bed with no need to change into other clothes for the night.
With the berths set up, there is no room for two persons to sit together on either bunk, so one gets into the top bunk, the other the bottom. Caution: to change clothes after the berths are set up and climbed into would require the gymnastic ability of a Cirque du Soleil acrobat, which we are definitely not.
The roomette space on the Amtrak car train.
Oh my, with the berths set up there is no room! In this next photo I’m sitting on my bunk looking at the floor.
In the photo above the curtain covers the window in the door. With the door shut there wasn’t enough room for me to take my shoes off. If anything is placed on the floor under the seats, it become almost inaccessible. You will either have to kneel in the corridor to reach under the berth, or you won’t see that item until the morning when the bunks are put away.
Next is a photo of the bottom bunk. I was concerend when I saw it in place since I am 6′ 3″ and am of, shall we say, “ample” girth. I wondered if I could actually lay fully down in the bunk. Answer… yes, but just. Cushioned sections attached to the wall at either ends prevented me from putting my feet under them on one end, or my head on the other, limiting the length a bit. Still, I fit.
No way I could sit upright on the bunk without contortion. Not even close!
The upper bunk is even tighter, and doesn’t have the “benefit” of a window.
Note the straps in the photo. They hold the passenger in. They are not a joke. Based on our overnight experience, odds are that during the night if you fall asleep you will be tossed up against them and they will hold you in the berth and prevent a nasty fall.
To be absolutely fair, the Amtrak website does caution passengers about the limited space and the amount of luggage, but then, really, their site is more about selling the service than in fully clarifying some of the issues passengers may face, space in the roomette being a big one of those.
A bit about amplitude & sleeping in a roomette in the auto train.
What do I mean by amplitude? It’s the swing of the car in this case. The roomettes are on the top floor of the car train and the top berth is at the top of the roomette. It’s about 11-15 feet to the tracks. As the train rolls along the tracks these cars sway back and forth quite a bit. It’s because of the old tracks and sagging rails, I guess.
The sleeping passenger (or trying to sleep passenger) is a long way from the ground, and is lying in line with the train car. The distance the top berth sways back and forth feels quite a bit more than if one was down at ground level, and the gentle swaying of the train car at the bottom becomes amplified into a constant lurching back and forth in the upper floor and berths.
At night I was trying to drift off to sleep I felt I was continuously having someone poke me every time I did as the car rocked so viforously, all night long!
Sure, several centuries ago when I was younger I train traveled right across the country in a roomette and didn’t have any issues. But then, I didn’t hurt myself just by bending over way back then, either. It’s different now, as you may well know.
Breakfast for roomette passengers:
Breakfast was not delivered to the room. An emissary from each roomette would have to stagger back three or four cars to the breakfast car, select and box their breakfast and “coffee”, and return to their roomette to indulge, this at about 6:00 AM. I found it impossible to try to doze in the berth after then due to doors slamming and foot traffic outside the roomette. Plus, the announcer said that breakfast was first come and that it would get very busy later in the morning as the breakfast time came to a close.
I gathered, and boxed, and poured, and then lurched my way back to our roomette, both hands on the carton trying not to spill, and banging elbows off of both sides of the passageway. Fortunately, the between-car doors have a kick-button to open them.
Aside from the cold cereals and the banana, breakfast was horrid. The coffee was more water than coffee and the “hot breakfast” was some sort of mystery meat between two slices of – I don’t even know what it was – dough, wrapped in paper, with the fat leaking through the paper on every side. We opened them, tried one soggy, drippy bite, and turfed them. Both of us. It was a disgusting breakfast offering and a huge disappointment after the quality of the meal the night before!
In the Room in the Auto Train.
The auto train room is just that. A small room, yet much bigger than the roomette. I knocked on the door of one room that was open, and the occupants were kind enough to let me take the following photos:
In the photo above I’m standing in the doorway. The seats, and the upper berth run across the left, meaning that when they are made into beds, they lie across the train travel, not in line with the rain as the berths in the roomettes are.
Not seen to the right in the photo above is the in-room toilet.
This next photo is of the sink in this auto train room. I took this shot for a reason.
I wanted you to see the sink, first to show that it’s inside the room, as is the private toilet and that the general condition of the facilites in the room appear very nicely maintained.
The Roomette restrooms:
Now I’ll show you what the restroom for the rest of the passengers was like on our the auto train car.
Bear in mind that a coach passenger is paying about $150 per person for the trip. The roomette passenger is paying an additional $500 for two for the privilege of having a berth instead of a coach seat.
Both the coach passengers and the roomette passengers enjoy the “benefits” of sharing the same washroom facility. The following photos are of the restroom that the roomette passengers and some of the coach passengers were using. I am standing in the doorway of the restroom to take this next photo.
This is a closeup of the sink counter corner. Before you look, think what the sink in a $500 per-night hotel room might look like, and then see…
This is the wall-hung paper toilet seat cover dispenser, which was empty upon our first restroom use, and was never replenished during our trip. Yup, chrome rusts in Florida. That’s why there’s maintenance. Clearly none had been done on this restroom in a long, long time.
We, and many, many others paid a substantial upcharge for the privilege of having a roomette for one night and being able to lie down to sleep. I feel that with the amount of upcharge to “upgrade” from the coaches, much nicer amenties than these should be the norm; actually for all passengers, not just those that pay more. I can’t help thinking that Amtrak foisted an old, crumbling auto train car on a lot of unsuspecting passengers this trip!
Getting our car back at the end of the journey on the Amtrak Auto Train which was almost on time.
We’d been up since just before 6 a.m. and it seemed a long wait from that horrid breakfast-beginning of the day until the arrival time of 09:00 in Lorton Virginia. Fatigue allowed me to doze repeatedly though, and I feel I had more sleep sittin up on the lower bunk than I did all night lying down.
Whoops! We didn’t arrive at 09:00, we arrived at about 10:30. I can recall lying awake at all hours of the night, bouncing back and forth as the train traveled, and noting that the train had come to a full stop, repeatedly, at least five times during the night if my memory serves, and sometimes the train stopped for long enough that I actually could fall asleep without being shaken awake imediately!
According to the conductor in the a.m., we were late “due to more frequent stops to allow more freight trains to pass by us during the night “. Hmmm. Really!!! They don’t know in advance when the trains are running so couldn’t let us know the night before?
We’ve now arrived in Lorton, the auto cars have been uncoupled, and this video shows the first car with autos being backed into the ramps at the terminal. We’re excitied about getting our car back and expect we’ll be on our way shortly.
Yes, I know it’s a boring video. Nice day in Lorton VA though. 🙂
Here they come…
Inside the terminal the sign keeps popping up advising us that the return of cars is in random order, and that it could take up to 1 1/2 hours for unloading to be complete. It does take that long, except for the 30 or so folks that paid an additional fee for priority car return. The priority folk’s cars were in the first train car to be unloaded as seen in the video.
In the photo above you can see that we’re down to the last couple of cars, and yes, we’re still waiting for ours. 🙂 Expect that it will be 1 1/2 hours to get your car back, and then you won’t be disappointed if yours is in the last car, on the bottom area, as ours was!
Overheard while waiting for our car to be offloaded:
- One partner: “Wonder where our car is”, worriedly, frail, white haired.
- The other: “It’s coming, it just sometimes takes a long time”.
- The first partner, 10 minutes later: “Do you think they lost our car?”, now more worried.
- Second partner: “No, no, it just sometimes takes a long time, and we’re unlucky.” Then , “Why do you think we never buy lottery tickets?”.
We chuckled while we waited 1 hour and 25 minutes for our car to offload, jumped aboard, and hit the road again, northbound.
Does Amtrak Auto Train offer complimentary WiFi on board?
Well folks, they may say they do, but they sure don’t deliver as far as we’re concerned. We got on board the auto train at 2:30 pm on one day, and left the train at about 10:35 the next morning. We tried many times during the trip and not once were we able to connect to the on-board WiFi. Not once!
Want to bid for an upgrade on the Auto Train?
If, for example, you had booked a coach seat on line on the Amtrak site, you might have received an email inviting you to bid for a roomette instead of a coach. The implication is you may pay less for an upgrade than if you simply purchased a roomette from the start.
If you, as we did, purchase a roomette for the trip up front, then you may receive an email inviting you to bid to ugrade to a room instead of a roomette.
The Amtrak software is even kind enough to show you about where your bid should be to maybe “win” an upgrade. In our case all we had to do was offer an ADDITIONAL $450 and we MIGHT have a chance at getting a room. I wanted to see what would happen, so I bid $150. A day later I received an email saying that I was unsuccessful.
A long Amtrak story, I know, thanks for reading! Here are some tips:
- To me it seems that there is more room for passengers and luggage in the coach seating than in the roomette!
- Probably getting to the station at 1:00 p.m. is better than before lunch in terms of waiting.
- If you have little carry on baggage, then Sanford offers a free shuttle into downtown Sanford for a while, and promises you’ll be back before train time. Old Sanford is reportedly worth seeing. Don’t know, we had too much carry on, and there weren’t any lockers at the terminal to leave stuff while you took in Sanford via the shuttle.
- Wear comfortable clothing and light shoes that you can easily kick off.
- We will take the auto train again I expect. We will NOT upgrade to a roomette. It hasn’t sufficient value for the price. If you can afford it, book a room, or stay at the coach level as we will next time, assuming no further pandemics impede our Snowbird travel and make the whole question moot.
- And no, we sure don’t miss driving through South and North Carolina! Rumour has it they are widening I-95 to three lane. Hope we live long enough to see it.
Follow this link which takes you to the Amtrak Auto Train page if you wish more info.
Thanks for posting this. We learned a lot
You are welcome. Glad it helped.
Enjoyed your informational trip
I don’t know where in Canada you are going. But there are other routes to take that are very scenic and less stressful
I don’t think we will be taking the train
Well, thank you for the informative article. Weighing all the options, I think we would drive instead.