Years ago I tried to book a train from San Francisco to Chicago as part of a trip I had planned but found it to be more expensive and, more significantly, a multi-day journey instead of a few hours. If you happen to be an American living near one of the useful passenger rail lines, and desire to go to one of the few destinations it can take you to quickly and affordably, more power to you. But most Americans live nowhere near a useful rail system.

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JKCalhoun 3 hours ago | parent [-]

Taking days to get to Chicago from Emeryville is all part of the fun of it. Enjoy the journey…

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standardUser 3 hours ago | parent [-]

Spoken like one of the small percentage of Americans who can afford to tag on extra days to their PTO to enjoy a nice view.

	▲	JKCalhoun 2 hours ago \| parent [-]
		I guess so. We took the girls when they were young to Omaha a few times from the Bay Area. I wasn't even sure passenger trains would be around when they were adults so wanted to give them that experience. I took a train between Kansas City and Chicago as a kid and found it magical. So, yeah, the train ride was actually a significant part of the experience for those particular vacations.