思考与写作nytimes.com
横跨美国没有理由坐火车，但我还是坐了
There is no reason to cross the U.S. by train, but I did it anyway
2019 — 2022，它一次次回到首页
黑点是上首页（≥ 50 分）的那次投稿，空心点是没冲上去的投稿，点越大分数越高。
导读
这篇《纽约时报》互动文章记录了作者乘坐 Amtrak 长途火车横跨美国的旅程，标题戏谑地宣称“没有理由”却还是出发了。文章结合沿途风景与车厢见闻，呈现美国长途铁路旅行的真实体验。
为什么经久不衰：它捕捉了美国火车旅行既荒诞又迷人的一面：风景壮丽、延误常见、体验两极，是理解 Amtrak 长途线路为何让人又爱又恨的经典文本。
HN 评论精选
负面体验：严重晚点、食物配给、卫生和服务差，对比日本铁路令人失望。
约十年前我和（现在的）妻子坐 Empire Builder 从西雅图到芝加哥，买了私人包厢。从西雅图出发晚点8小时，到斯波坎才进包厢（因为波特兰和西雅图来的列车合并），然后又晚点6小时。到中西部上游时开始配给食物，把已付钱的每餐都减半。最终到芝加哥晚点约22小时。火车脏得恶心，员工粗鲁无用。我在日本坐过几十次火车，本来很期待美国火车体验，结果糟透了，再也不坐 Amtrak。
kyleblarson查看英文原文
My (now) wife and I took the Empire Builder from Seattle to Chicago about 10 years ago. We purchased a private cabin. We were 8 hours late leaving Seattle and couldn't get into our cabin until we got to Spokane because of some sort of merge of trains coming from Portland and Seattle. Got to Spokane, got our cabin, another 6 hour delay. By the time we reached the upper Midwest, they were rationing food, literally cutting every meal (that we had already paid for) in half. We eventually arrived in Chicago about 22 hours late. The train was disgustingly dirty and the employees were surly and unhelpful. Having taken dozens of train trips in Japan since 2001 I was incredibly excited for the American train experience. It was shit and I will never take an Amtrak again.
正面体验：卧铺值得，观景车看风景，意外等待也能变成愉快经历。
几年前我和妻子从纽约到芝加哥再到旧金山，真是一次美妙的经历。但一定要买卧铺包厢，别跟“牲口”一起坐普通座，真的值。尽管我们几乎全程都在观景车看美国风景，很少待在包厢里。亮点之一：犹他州 Helper 附近暴雨冲走路基道砟，我们等了3小时等铁路人员检查安全。等待时观景车里有人弹吉他，大家一起合唱。这是领略美国各地风貌的绝佳方式。
CWuestefeld查看英文原文
My wife and I did this several years back, New York to Chicago to San Francisco, and it really was a wonderful experience. But get a sleeper compartment, don't sit with the cattle. It's worth it, really. And that's even though we spent little time in our compartment almost the whole trip we were up in the observation car watching the American landscape roll by. One highlight of the trip was when storms over Helper, UT, washed out some of the ballast from the tracks. We had to wait three hours for someone from the railroad to come inspect to see if it was safe to pass. While waiting, there was a guy with a guitar in the observation car, and we had a nice sing-along. It's just a great way to see samples of everything America has to offer.
无卧铺的独行体验：中途停留、耳塞眼罩、观景车友好氛围让长途火车依然愉快。
我妹妹2018年6月独自坐 Empire Builder 从密尔沃基到波特兰（两晚近48小时）。她想订卧铺但订晚了，只能坐普通座。她怕两晚没床没淋浴太难受，就在蒙大拿 Whitefish 停留24小时，结果非常好，喜欢那里和冰川国家公园的风景。她大部分时间待在观景车，作为独行旅客觉得大家很友好。她身高5尺2，幸运没邻座，晚上能躺下；耳塞和眼罩是睡觉关键。途中有些延误但她行程宽松不介意。她对这趟旅行赞不绝口，正找借口再坐长途火车。
jackschultz查看英文原文
Last year my sister had a week off and took the Empire Builder across the country out west. Lots of talk about how the sleeper car is worth it and I remembered she didn't, so I asked her her take and this is the response: "I traveled alone on the Empire Builder from Milwaukee to Portland, Oregon (two nights/almost 48 hours) in June 2018. I wanted to get a sleeper car but waited too long to book so my only option was a regular seat. I knew I’d be unhappy if I went straight through two nights with no bed and no shower, so I made a stop in Whitefish, Montana for 24 hours. In the end it couldn’t have worked out better. I loved Whitefish and was happy to spend some time exploring the beautiful scenery I’d seen whizzing by. The sights around Glacier National Park were literally breathtaking. As far as the train itself, I spent most of time in the observation car, and as a solo traveler I was happy to find everyone was very friendly. I’m only 5’2” and luckily didn’t have a seatmate so I could pretty much lay all the way down at night. A lot of people brought pillows and blankets, but I was ok without. Ear plugs and an eye mask were the key to getting any sleep. There were delays here and there which didn’t bother me because I had a very loose schedule anyway. I don’t have enough good things to say about my trip! I’m looking for an excuse to take another long-haul train." People have their own stories, so hopefully this gives another perspective.
实用建议：长途 Amtrak 像陆地游轮，研究票务系统可便宜订卧铺，还能到达偏远目的地。
长途 Amtrak 列车有点像流动酒店或陆地游轮。如果你有时间，强烈推荐；amtraktrains.com 值得研究，因为 Amtrak 的票务系统简直就是70年代的航空公司系统，学会玩的话可以相对便宜地订到卧铺。你还能到达一些原本不太容易去的地方，比如 Empire Builder 春秋季停靠蒙大拿 East Glacier，那是极小的镇子，徒步很棒。有规划的话，在美加两国都能进行有趣的“探索美国”之旅：把行程拆成白天赶路、在芝加哥这样的城市住几天、再夜车去下一城。
bombcar查看英文原文
The long-distance Amtraks are more like a rolling hotel or land cruise-ship in some ways. Highly recommended if you have the time - https://www.amtraktrains.com is worth the research, as Amtrak's ticketing system is literally a 70s airline ticketing system and if you learn how to play it you can get sleeper car reservations for relatively cheap. You can also find destinations that would otherwise be moderately difficult to reach - for example the Empire Builder stops at East Glacier in Montana from spring to fall - extremely small town with wonderful hiking, etc. Here's a song about a similar route in Canada: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXcfRlEGJko https://www.viarail.ca/en/explore-our-destinations/trains/rockies-and-pacific/montreal-to-vancouver You can also have a quite interesting "explore America" trip in both countries with some planning (a travel agent can actually help here if they're knowledgeable) - as you can break the trip up into "daytime travel", stay in a city like Chicago for a few days, and then "overnight" to the next city.
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