boxing bikes and a bent on amtrak

[bbkesc]

Our family is taking Amtrak from Spokane, Wa to Everett, Wa, this July, biking to Anacortes to start leg 1 ( back to spokane via the northern tier)of a west to east self-supported trip across the country. ( leg 2 will start in spokane in june 2009). We plan to amtrak back from the east coast in august 2009.  So my question for discussion is for suggestions regarding traveling with your bicycle on amtrak. A bonus would be experiences with boxing a recumbent on amtrak.

Thanks

[bogiesan]

search crazyguyonabike for AMTRAK and see what comes up.?

Aside from that, you need to talk to Amtrak directly.
Now.
If you start early enough, you can find your way to someone who can
offer legitimate information and issue waivers. But, as bureaucracies
go, I can imagine Amtrak is one of the more obtuse. You want stuff in
writing from someone in authority when you obtain ticketing and
boarding and luggage clearances. You want it greased and you want it
long in advance.

david boise ID



go, ristretto, FCP/AE
"Read the manual."

[don quixote]

If you are not going to br using the bikes on the return trip, I suggest you ship them home by FedEx Ground and avoid the hassle.

George
San Diego

[whittierider]

We have found Amtrak quite accommodating, as they don't want to turn away paying customers.  It does depend however on which individuals are working at the particular time and station.  The first time we took the tandem on, they just let us wheel it into the baggage car ourselves, set the drag brake as a parking brake, and tie the stoker's bars to a luggage rack to keep the whole thing in place.  A few times after that, they said it had to be boxed, bla, bla, bla.  Every time, I was able to say, "Last time we just wheeled in into the baggage car and... Let me show you how," and they did, and there was no problem.  That was for a shorter trip though, not across the country.

[taylornate]

They do no always have a baggage car, so don't count on that.  All we got from one ticket agent was a firm "no bikes on the train".  I asked if we didn't get on the train if we would get a refund.  He said yes, minus 10%, so we decided to chance it.  We broke down our bikes, found a spot to put them, and nobody said anything.  There was a good chance that we would have had to start our tour from that train station.

Check to see if that particular train specifically allows bikes.  If they do, it will cost you like $10 per bike but you won't have to worry about it.

[bbkesc]

Thanks to all for the replies... yup, it really depends on who you are talking with... I've got the names of some individuals who are supervisors in the Amtrak baggage areas that we're going to, so i'll try to get some answers...before we get to the train station!