We had paid extra on top of the ticket ($195) for a sleeper compartment for two – the journey from New York Penn Station is just over 19 hours and the compartment price includes dinner and breakfast. There are choices of a compartment which has two day chairs (which convert into the lower bunk bed), a small fold out table, upper bunk bed which comes down at night, a toilet in the cabin (under a fold-up lid) and storage space up the top over the corridor. The cabins are two across, with a small corridor between them and at one end there is a shower and an area with coffee/juice/water/ice to help yourself to. The other option is a room with your own shower and a double lower bed – this is much more expensive. The rooms have very large windows both at the day chair/lower bunk bed area and the upper bed area when it is folded down. Although it may sound small from the way I have described it, in fact it was very spacious and actually a very relaxing way to travel between the two cities. The train departed on time, and soon after departure the attendant came round and asked what time we wanted to be seated for dinner. We sat back, read the paper, watched our iPads and watched the scenery go past as we headed out of New York and northwards. Since this was February, it got dark an hour or two after leaving, so we couldn’t see as much as if it had been the summer.
Even so, there were lots of different American towns and cities that the train passes through. It heads northwards from New York, through Poughkeepsie and up to Albany. Here there is about a 40 minute or so stop-over and the train is joined with three cars that originate from Boston. From here, it heads through Schenectedy, Utica, Syracuse, Buffalo, Erie, Cleveland, Toledo, Waterloo, Eikhart, South Bend and then finally it arrives at Chicago Union Station. A total of 959 miles which is scheduled to take 20 hours (there is the one hour time difference between the two, so arrival is scheduled for 09:45).
As we headed along, we treated ourselves to a vodka and diet coke – the vodka having been purchased before boarding at Penn Station – we had one of the new Smirnoff flavoured vodkas – Whipped Cream (really nice with just ice). Much cheaper than buying drinks on the train, and in a cabin it was nice to have our own little “mini-bar” to drink from on the journey – great having ice in just down the end of the car.
The meals are served in a dining car which has tables for four, so if travelling on your own or with less than four, you may end up sharing. We were seated as soon as we turned up and the menus were out. Sleeping car passengers get free soft drinks, entree and a dessert. The entrees also all come with a bread roll and a salad. Entree options were:
Floretine style three cheese lasagne
Herb roasted half chicken
Roast rack of lamb
Crab cakes
Sirloin steak
Dessert options were:
Ice cream or sorbet
Chocolate ganache dipped vanilla cream puff
Lemon berry torte
Cheesecake
I had the sirloin which came with a horseradish-chive butter, baked potato and vegetable medley – the steak was cooked to perfection, which was great considering we were on a train. The portion sizes were really good to! This was followed by the vanilla cream puff – ok, but the lemon berry torte looked much better. We shared a half-bottle of wine with dinner, which wasn’t too expensive for both being on a train and in the US ($15 for the half-bottle).
After dinner, we headed back to our compartment to watch some more TV on the iPads and a couple of cheeky nightcaps! The beds were then made up and I had the lower bunk – longer than an inflight bed and very comfortable indeed. The toilet was an interesting concept being in the cabin, so you have to really know the person you are travelling with
I managed to get a good few hours sleep, it was on and off, as I woke a few times as we trundled along or pulled into a station. Looking out on the journey, there was lots of snow falling and it looked very picturesque outside. Having got up around 07:30, I showered and was surprised how good the shower was. Freshened up, we headed off to the dining car for breakfast – it was quieter than in the evening and we managed to get a table to ourselves. The breakfast included the usual American options – scrambled eggs, omelets, eggs and corned beef hash, “classical railroad French toast” and a continental option. Everything came with tea/coffee and juice. Again, good sized portions and the eggs and corned beef hash was really good and tasty! It was then back to the cabin to watch the scenery as we headed along towards Chicago and along the bottom of the lake. As we approached Chicago, we could see the distinctive skylight approaching and we knew we would be there. We arrived a little and then it was off into the chilly morning of Chicago – luggage that was checked in was picked up from an airport style baggage reclaim area.
Overall impression
This was a very relaxing way to travel between New York and Chicago. I would definitely recommend this if you have the time and go for a sleeper compartment – the extra $195 for the journey is pretty good value, as it includes an overnights accommodation and also meals (which we reckon came to around $100 for the two of us).
What a brilliant way to go from city to city! Certainly got me thinking about it 
