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Auto Train to FL?

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Will Brink

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Im planning to go to FL for an extended stay and looking for best way to get myself, stuff, vehicle there. Really don't fancy driving it from MA. I could ship vehicle and fly and rent a car till mine gets there but all that starts to get expensive. A decent option I'm considering is the auto train which leaves me with a drive to DC area (7-8 hours), then train takes it the remaining 1,000 miles. With sleeper car costs are doable. I read conflicting feedback online.

Any one done that?
 
i would road trip it. if you can plan your trip so you can make rest stops along the way its is not a bad ride at all
 
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With the auto train you still have the worst part of the drive to deal with. Once you get past DC it's smooth sailing and actually kind of an enjoyable ride. I've done the Florida drive probably a dozen times over the years, it's really not that bad.
 
I drove to Louisiana for the Pats first Super Bowl win. We did it in a day. We switched off driving... It was horrible. But if we had the time and could make rest stops at night it would have been great. Overall it wasn't a bad drive aside from us pushing to go straight through non-stop.
 
jasons said:
With the auto train you still have the worst part of the drive to deal with. Once you get past DC it's smooth sailing and actually kind of an enjoyable ride. I've done the Florida drive probably a dozen times over the years, it's really not that bad.
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Absolutely. The worst part of any drive from this part of the country is the first 500 miles. After that it is smooth sailing.
 
when i did it it was me and two other people and I split the driving with one other person, I left overnight and breezed through NJ and NY and switched driving at DC smooth sailing once you get past DC
 
I have driven to Daytona many times. We usually split it between 3 drivers in rotation. 2 four hour shifts each, not bad at all.
 
If you are going to drive to DC, that is about 1/3 of the way. Drive a bit longer, spend a night at a motel, then finish the next day. Take the MA pike and the I-84 into PA, then I-81 south and then back over to I-95 around DC.It does add some miles, but misses the NYC, Philly, and Baltimore areas.
 
This is still a thing? I thought it died with the 1970's gas lines. Dad thought it would be a great deal back when I was a kid. The train was slow, late and boring. Unless things have changed, and given the fact it is still Amtrak I probably hasn't, I wouldn't do it on a bet
 
Can you hire a driver and then just fly down there? Or aren't there trucking companies that will take your car. When i was in the Army i had to go to Ft. Hood for a couple of months of training. I wanted my car there and looked into some auto haulers. I didn't do it as we just rented cars when we needed them...but I believe you can get a company to pick your car up at your house...
 
jasons said:
With the auto train you still have the worst part of the drive to deal with. Once you get past DC it's smooth sailing and actually kind of an enjoyable ride. I've done the Florida drive probably a dozen times over the years, it's really not that bad.
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I hate long drives and the thought of 7-8 hour drive to the train makes me un happy. Lounging in a sleeper car on the train with lap top and a beer sounds like a far better option to me and once you factor in gas, food, hotel etc of the drive, not a big cost difference.

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S&W45 said:
I've done it once. Won't do it again.
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Details? What was the issue?
 
Will Brink said:
I hate long drives and the thought of 7-8 hour drive to the train makes me un happy. Lounging in a sleeper car on the train with lap top and a beer sounds like a far better option to me and once you factor in gas, food, hotel etc of the drive, not a big cost difference.
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To each his own. I can't imagine being stuck on an Amtrak train for 17 hours (each way.) If you do it let us know how it works out.

FYI, it's 17 hours on the Auto Train and only 11 1/2 to drive.
 
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My parents split the year between Florida and DC. They auto train it every time

They like it. But they're in their 80's. So driving that distance isn't too enjoyable for them.

They seem to think it's smooth and efficient.



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When I was about 10, my folks took us to Florida but my Dad refused to fly. We took Amtrak from Penn Station in NYC to Orlando. It was a 24 hour train ride each way, and we didn't have no fancy sleeper car. It was like sitting in a coach airline seat for 24 hours. This was in the 1970's, so everybody got to smoke in their seats. Good times.
 
We used to drive down years ago. 1st day would be to Fredericksburg VA, 2nd to Savannah GA and we were in Vero beach by noon on the 3rd day.
 
Miamivice said:
The train is miserable, 45mph stops every few hours, takes forever
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On a good day.

Mom was a snowbird and took the autotrain once. It was right after a hurricane and the power was out all along the way. They had to slow down the train at every intersection and send out a flagman to stop the cars. He'd jump on the back after the train passed. I think she told me it took 36 hours.
 
My neighbor used that a few times when he wasn't really able to handle the long ride anymore and he liked it.
 
I think it depends on your age, your attention span, and your bladder capacity. Your biggest problem is going to be if you are driving alone.
A couple of years ago a friend of mine and I drove to western Iowa. We drove straight through, stopping for food, gas, bathroom only. We split the driving into 2-4 hour shifts depending on how we felt. It took about 24 hours out and 21 hours back.

I've also driven from BWI to southern AL, splitting the driving with my son. 21 hours straight through.

Boston to Austin with my daughter was a three day trip, but part of that was because of an issue with her truck and part was because of an issue with her cell phone. I could probably shave 6-8 hours off that trip now. In that case, I did all the driving, 12-14 hours the first two days, 8 the last.

I happen to enjoy driving, so it's not a big deal for me. If you don't enjoy it, it's torture.

I'd advise against having your car shipped by truck. Depending on exactly where you are going, it could take up to three weeks for your car to actually be in your hands. The car will go to the trucking company's depot, will sit there until they have a full truck to your area, and then will be delivered to you. That happened to my daughter in law when they moved from NJ to AL. They let the moving company handle the car move, they subbed it out to some car transport company, and it was three weeks before she had her car. In the end, the trucking company paid for her rental, but it took a lot of phone calls and yelling to get that done.
 
We rode the autotrain from FL to DC a couple of years ago. Worked out pretty well as the north-bound direction is an overnight trip, while the southbound is mostly in the day-time, I think. Got a sleeper car, and we pretty much had the whole car to ourselves. Kids had fun, and we could walk through most of the half-mile long train. Cost was only a little bit more than the cost of gas plus a hotel night. Gas is much cheaper now though.

When we drove down to FL, we pretty much drove the whole way down to GA, and then to FL the next day. Could have done it in one shot, but we were meeting up at a large family gathering as soon as we got there, and wanted to be rested for that.
 
My grandparents (snowbirds who head from PA to FL every winter) like to do the auto train and get a sleeper cabin. It's a lot more relaxing and comfortable for them than driving.
 
Miamivice said:
The train is miserable, 45mph stops every few hours, takes forever
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IF you are going 45 the whole way, might as well have some fun and take the skyline drive/blue ridge parkway down instead! One of the best drives in the country
 
Furthest I've driven was to Myrtle Beach and that was about a month ago.
I would do it again.
I would definitely drive to FL before I thought about getting on a train....with my car lol eff that
 
My son did it in reverse coming home from college. Drove from South Florida up to the Orlando area (I think), boarded the train late in the afternoon, ate dinner, surfed the web, slept, and woke up someplace near DC and drove the rest of the way to Boston.

He liked it, but then again he has low expectations.
 
I don't mind the driving. Did it twice this year with my son to Melbourne, FL and back. Breaking it up into 3 hours shift and keeping conversation up helped quite a bit with making the drive workable. Did about 2/3 of the drive on day 1 and the rest on day 2. Driving during the day is much better at night IMO.

As mentioned above taking the long way around - 84 through Scranton - down 81 all the way to Roanoke and then 77/26 through Charlotte until you hit 95 is the way to go - maybe 90 minutes longer if all was equal, but you miss all of the major cities and traffic (and save $50 worth of tolls)
 

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