Posted on 07/13/2010 5:07:45 PM PDT by Willie Green
BROOKLYN — Planning an end-of-summer trip? Traveling by train with kids can be awesome. Nothing beats watching the country slowly unfold right outside the window. Unexpected history and geography lessons lie around every curve.
Trains beat airplanes in countless ways: there are fewer hassles, more legroom and overheard storage, and you can walk the kids around the train to the snack bar or lounge car. You can get out at various stops and stretch your legs, or even get off the train and spend the night in a new place. If you plan ahead, you may even save enough to spring for a roomette in the sleeper car for long journeys — an experience your child will remember always.
Trains can be more economical as well. According to Cliff Cole, manager of media relations for Amtrak, with its Kid’s Half Off fare, children ages 2 to 15 receive 50 percent off most Amtrak rail fares anywhere in the U.S. when accompanied by a full-fare paying adult. (Up to two children may travel at half-price with each full-fare paying adult.)
Check the Amtrak web site (www.amtrak.com) for fares and availability as soon as you know your travel dates. The early bird gets the cheapest fare. And often by adjusting your departure and return dates by just one or two days, you can save tons of money.
Tips for Traveling With Kids
Here are a variety of tips from experienced travelers for maximizing your train time with kids.
* Bring books, games and toys, along with CD and DVD players. Parents Zachary and Sun Captain recently traveled from San Francisco to Denver in a sleeper car with their son Tristan, age 26 months. “We just wanted to see if it would work. The baby loves trains and we thought it would be a fun vacation,” said Zachary, adding that Tristan was “a high energy kid.”
An acquaintance told Sun that a DVD player would make things easier, and the parents said they were going to buy one for the journey home. “A pre-loaded laptop would be good, too.” If you are traveling in coach, make sure to bring headphones.
Bring story books to read out loud, like Goodnight Moon, Where the Wild Things Are and Freight Train for younger kids, Dr. Dolittle and Charlotte’s Web for a little older, Little House on the Prairie, The Secret Garden, and The Time Machine for older still, and Flowers for Algernon, The Hobbit and Girl with a Pearl Earring for everyone else.
* Talk about what you see out the window. Count how many water tanks, birds or cows you come across. Read the route guide and try to find the landmarks Amtrak points out as you ride by.
* Bring snacks. Lynn, mother of four kids ages 1, 3, 8 and 9, was recently traveling by coach from San Francisco to Salt Lake City. “Bring refreshments,” she advised. “It can get expensive.”
Amtrak supplies typical kid food. “We have food that kids like best such as pizza and hot dogs in the café car or macaroni and cheese and chicken tenders in the dining car,” said Amtrak’s Cole.
Even if you plan on taking advantage of the snack bar or dining car, bring extra food and water. The snack bar closes at odd hours; the train may be late or some unexpected power problem may close down the dining car. Also, fruit is in short supply.
* Bring a first aid kit and meds. Start with Band-Aids and antiseptic, acetaminophen, travel sickness pills and something to put on itches. Make sure your kids wear their shoes on the train – not flip-flops. Always hold their hand when walking from car to car, while you tightly hold one of the grab bars. Don’t forget their insurance cards.
* Bring Binky. Whatever it is.
* Exercise. Some stops are designated “smoke breaks.” Parents know these as “get the kids outside, far away from the smokers, and jump up and down breaks.”
* Ask to be seated together when traveling by coach. Bring pillows and blankets. (These are supplied in sleeper rooms.)
* Sleeper rooms (or roomettes) include all meals. Travelers in coach can pay per meal. These are real meals with white tablecloths and great-tasting food, with something for every appetite. Families with younger children usually request the earlier dinner hours. Tip your server, even if meals are included. Bring sweaters for the dining car! It is always cold, even in a desert in the dead of summer.
* Depending on route, roomettes may or may not have bathrooms. If they are not in your roomette, they are right down the hall. Amtrak supplies towels and soap.
* Book sleeper rooms far in advance – they go early. Make sure to check for special deals on the Amtrak web site, where you can also plan your trip.
* Charge up your electronics wherever you can. Lounge cars have a number of outlets. Sleeper cars have one outlet per room. Bring a three-prong to two-prong converter in case your laptop or cell phone plug shape is not compatible with the outlet shape.
* Socialize. Different routes have different amenities, but all the long-haul trains have a lounge car and dining car for at least part of the trip. Many folks who travel by train look forward to meeting and socializing with others.
Take a deck of cards or a board game to the lounge car and hook up with another family for a friendly game, or let the kids spread out their coloring books and crayons on the oversize tables while you chat with the grownups.
The double-decker trains that travel west of Chicago supply an observation car, with big curving windows up to the ceiling, comfortable chairs and even narrated tours by park rangers near many of the scenic areas. Don’t miss!
* Trains are slower than planes and often experience delays. Never book connecting trains too tightly – it’s not unusual for a train to arrive two or three hours late. Or four. Or five. Call Amtrak (1-800-USA-RAIL) before setting off for the station so you don’t have to wait around with cranky kids for hours.
* Be flexible. Expect the unexpected. If you plan for the train to be delayed because of an avalanche (happened last trip), the dining car closing because of a power problem (ditto), or a missed connection because of a delay (yep), you and your kids will ride on in serenity.
Sounds like the Trans-Siberian Railroad in 1980.
It’s a good idea to try. The wife and I checked into it on a recent trip. It ended up costing about the same as a plane ride, and the hourse were worse. So we opted for the hassle of air travel.
BYOB & GPS
Your still gonna get, “Are we there yet Daddy?”.
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