Taycan and Amtrak Autotrain

jkjjpc

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I have seen a few posts on the forum about members who have taken their Taycans on the Amtrak Autotrain between Lorton VA and Sanford Fl. I plan to take my Taycan 4S on the train this weekend. I am interested in any advice on prep of the car so that things go well and the car is is good shape when it comes off the train?

Should I raise the car when I drop it off? I can use Smartlift to hopefully keep the car lifted while loaded. I don't know if the Smartlift setting will still be active after the car is turned off and on a couple of times during the loading process. I can activate it when I arrive at the station in Lorton and leave the car "on" for the porters to move it to the lot, but the car will likely be turned "off" and then "on" again for the actual loading (the cars are first placed in a holding lot before loading on the train, which can occur up to a couple of hours later than when the car was dropped off).

Should I deactivate the interior monitoring? Will that selection "stick" through a couple of "of" and "on" cycles as described above for loading and then during the 14+ hour trip?

I read that one member had their driver window left down because of concern the car door may not open at the end of the trip (Amtrak leaves the keys inside each car). Has anyone else had this problem?

Any other prep to avoid any 12v battery issues?
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you should deactivate any alarms or interior monitoring or motion sensors.

you should fold the mirrors and most importantly bring both keys.

if you do not bring a second key they will load the car with the windows partially open, bringing a second key they will have you sign a waiver and keep the windows closed. keeping the windows open could allow dirt/dust/grim inside the car.


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Car is $269 - room from $652 - $1000 - coach seats cheaper but not recommended!
 
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jkjjpc

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Today is our trip from Lorton to Sanford. The incoming train was 2 hours late this morning, so check in for the outbound train was a mess. We waited 2 hours to get to check in. Temp today in Lorton 91F. Car was in eco mode for AC. Kept cabin comfortable with temp set at 70F. Used 6% of battery for cooling for 2 hours. Battery temp was same as air temp, 91F.

I disabled the interior monitoring and pulled in the mirrors. Had to show driver how to engage drive and park. That also gave me a chance to show him how to turn off the car. When parked. Hopefully no 12v issues tomorrow in Sanford. I think they leave the driver window open for all cars, but maybe they close then when they park on train. We will see tomorrow.
 


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Just following this thread because of thinking of doing this for the 4th of July weekend.
 
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jkjjpc

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Finally getting around to posting about my experience on the first leg of our journey on the AutoTrain with the Taycan. We have taken the AutoTrain before, but that was with our BMW X5. I was a bit more nervous taking our 2021 Taycan 4S, but decided to give it a try.

Here are some observations:
1. If available select the priority off loading. Once we arrived in Sanford FL our car was offloaded and available within 30 minutes. On our last trip in March with our X5 we were not able to secure priority off loading and we waited about 90 minutes for our car to be offloaded. Priority off loading is limited to 30 cars. It is not that expensive and well worth the upcharge if available when you make your reservation.
2. There were no problems with the car itself on the train. I turned off the interior monitoring. The minimum ground clearnce for the train is 4” and the Taycan is about 5”, so no need to worry about raising the car. The porters could not figure out how to put the car in gear, but that gave me a chance to not only show them how to put the car in gear, but also to show them how to turn the car off once loaded. The battery was at 86% when loaded and when off loaded.
3. As noted in other posts, they leave the driver’s window open during transport. While the train transport cars are “enclosed” we could see some dust on the interior when we picked it up in Sanford. I wish they would close the windows.
4. Our car was on the lower level of the train and the rear deck area was spotted with dirty water spots when it came off the train. I do not know if it rained somewhere along the way or where the water came from. So, if I could pick I would prefer to have the car loaded on the upper deck, but that is pretty much a play of chance for when you arrive to the station and when they load your car.
5. We did not notice any damage to the car.

Some observations about the train for those who have not done overnight train travel in the US.

1. The train is scheduled to leave at 5 pm from Lorton and to arrive in Sanford at 10 am the next day (17 hours). That is 811 miles per Apple Maps with a drive time of 11 hours and 28 minutes. So, the train is “slow” assuming you would drive straight through without spending the night somewhere to break up the trip.
2. We have only traveled on the AutoTrain using the bedroom cabins, not the other options. The bedroom cabins are nice since they include a sofa and a separate chair along with a sink, toilet, and shower. We have never tried to use the shower as the toilet room is very small. At night there is a lower bunk made by lowering the sofa and an upper bunk that folds down from the ceiling. The lower bunk is pretty spacious for one. The upper bunk requires climbing a ladder and is a bit tight and claustrophobic for one. There is not much room to sit up in the upper bunk, so you have to watch your head. Once the cabin is configured for sleeping, there is very little room for anything else, but you can still access the single chair and the bathroom.
3. Dinner is delivered to your cabin in the bedroom due to COVID restrictions. The cabin attendant said they would probably return to dining car offerings soon. The food is OK, think domestic airline first class food. The meal includes one glass of wine.
4. It is very hard to sleep on the train if you are a light sleeper unless you take a sedative. The tracks are very rough. Sometimes you will be startled by how rough a crossing or bridge is and think the train has derailed. Amtrak uses CSX tracks and freight cars and coal cars do not complain about the lack of a smooth ride.
5. WiFi is weak since it is cellular based. We mainly used our phones as hot spots, but there are many areas where there is very limited to no cellular service.
6. The AutoTrain is best suited for families traveling to the Orlando area. If you are traveling further south, say to Fort Lauderdale or Miami, you still have a 4-5 hour drive once you arrive the next day.
7. The train is frequently delayed. Amtak is at the mercy of CSX for track utilization and maintenance. On the way down we were delayed about an hour due to a draw bridge that had a faulty signal after it closed. We had to wait for CSX maintenance to check that the bridge was OK.
8. The train is expensive. Our round trip for 2 adults in a sleeper bedroom with a standard car and priority off loading was $3468. We are staying for about 2 weeks, so we would have needed to rent a car for that time. We also are working remotely, so we brought computer monitors and a printer with us to make work easier than just using a laptop. That would not have been possbile if we had flown Even so, given the hassles of waiting in the station, delays, rough ride a night making sleep a challenge, we are thinking we will probably drive and spend the night in a hotel half way in the future.

Let me know if you have questions if you are considering the AutoTrain.
 


Genau

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Here are some observations:
3. As noted in other posts, they leave the driver’s window open during transport. While the train transport cars are “enclosed” we could see some dust on the interior when we picked it up in Sanford. I wish they would close the windows.
They will close the windows if you follow the process in the prior thread on this topic that I linked above and here again:
 

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Finally getting around to posting about my experience on the first leg of our journey on the AutoTrain with the Taycan. We have taken the AutoTrain before, but that was with our BMW X5. I was a bit more nervous taking our 2021 Taycan 4S, but decided to give it a try.

Here are some observations:
1. If available select the priority off loading. Once we arrived in Sanford FL our car was offloaded and available within 30 minutes. On our last trip in March with our X5 we were not able to secure priority off loading and we waited about 90 minutes for our car to be offloaded. Priority off loading is limited to 30 cars. It is not that expensive and well worth the upcharge if available when you make your reservation.
2. There were no problems with the car itself on the train. I turned off the interior monitoring. The minimum ground clearnce for the train is 4” and the Taycan is about 5”, so no need to worry about raising the car. The porters could not figure out how to put the car in gear, but that gave me a chance to not only show them how to put the car in gear, but also to show them how to turn the car off once loaded. The battery was at 86% when loaded and when off loaded.
3. As noted in other posts, they leave the driver’s window open during transport. While the train transport cars are “enclosed” we could see some dust on the interior when we picked it up in Sanford. I wish they would close the windows.
4. Our car was on the lower level of the train and the rear deck area was spotted with dirty water spots when it came off the train. I do not know if it rained somewhere along the way or where the water came from. So, if I could pick I would prefer to have the car loaded on the upper deck, but that is pretty much a play of chance for when you arrive to the station and when they load your car.
5. We did not notice any damage to the car.

Some observations about the train for those who have not done overnight train travel in the US.

1. The train is scheduled to leave at 5 pm from Lorton and to arrive in Sanford at 10 am the next day (17 hours). That is 811 miles per Apple Maps with a drive time of 11 hours and 28 minutes. So, the train is “slow” assuming you would drive straight through without spending the night somewhere to break up the trip.
2. We have only traveled on the AutoTrain using the bedroom cabins, not the other options. The bedroom cabins are nice since they include a sofa and a separate chair along with a sink, toilet, and shower. We have never tried to use the shower as the toilet room is very small. At night there is a lower bunk made by lowering the sofa and an upper bunk that folds down from the ceiling. The lower bunk is pretty spacious for one. The upper bunk requires climbing a ladder and is a bit tight and claustrophobic for one. There is not much room to sit up in the upper bunk, so you have to watch your head. Once the cabin is configured for sleeping, there is very little room for anything else, but you can still access the single chair and the bathroom.
3. Dinner is delivered to your cabin in the bedroom due to COVID restrictions. The cabin attendant said they would probably return to dining car offerings soon. The food is OK, think domestic airline first class food. The meal includes one glass of wine.
4. It is very hard to sleep on the train if you are a light sleeper unless you take a sedative. The tracks are very rough. Sometimes you will be startled by how rough a crossing or bridge is and think the train has derailed. Amtrak uses CSX tracks and freight cars and coal cars do not complain about the lack of a smooth ride.
5. WiFi is weak since it is cellular based. We mainly used our phones as hot spots, but there are many areas where there is very limited to no cellular service.
6. The AutoTrain is best suited for families traveling to the Orlando area. If you are traveling further south, say to Fort Lauderdale or Miami, you still have a 4-5 hour drive once you arrive the next day.
7. The train is frequently delayed. Amtak is at the mercy of CSX for track utilization and maintenance. On the way down we were delayed about an hour due to a draw bridge that had a faulty signal after it closed. We had to wait for CSX maintenance to check that the bridge was OK.
8. The train is expensive. Our round trip for 2 adults in a sleeper bedroom with a standard car and priority off loading was $3468. We are staying for about 2 weeks, so we would have needed to rent a car for that time. We also are working remotely, so we brought computer monitors and a printer with us to make work easier than just using a laptop. That would not have been possbile if we had flown Even so, given the hassles of waiting in the station, delays, rough ride a night making sleep a challenge, we are thinking we will probably drive and spend the night in a hotel half way in the future.

Let me know if you have questions if you are considering the AutoTrain.
Wow! - prior poster priced the trip with bedroom + car at from $900-$1300 - your price almost 3X that!! Am I missing something - time year, single cs double or what - sorry have not priced on Amtrak site as yet.

EDIT- just priced a trip with priority offloading and bedroom at $2200 for two in early Aug - still a lot cheaper than your trip - perhaps time of year but suspect prior poster was referencing one-way!
 
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jkjjpc

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My post was for round trip. I checked our records since we have used the train three times so far this year.

In January we had two sleeper cabins plus a standard car and priority offloading for $1440. In hindsight that appears to have been a great deal. That trip was one way traveling north. We were traveling after the holiday season ended for most school age children, so that may explain the lower rate.

In February we had one sleeper cabin and one standard vehicle without priority unloading, that was $3,388 round trip. Our return trip was during the traditional spring break time for school age and college kids.

Our most recent trip was $3468 for one sleeper cabin and one standard vehicle with priority unloading round trip. The conductor on this trip said the train was “sold out.”

So, the last two trips have been pretty consistent, the first appears to have been an outlier. All these trips were purchased no more than 2 weeks before travel, the first one was purchased just a couple of days before travel.

Seems. Amtrak has dynamic pricing like the airlines.
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