Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
should it happen to you, especially if it's flagrant, I would encour-
age you to report the individual. It's not that the sin is so great;
it's just a pretty good indication of a bad employee who should be
weeded out. So when you get home, call Amtrak at 1-800-USA-
RAIL and ask to be connected with a customer relations agent.
Give them the date, the train number, and, if you have it, the
employee's name.
Taking Photographs
If you enjoy taking photographs on your vacation, traveling
across the country by train will provide you with a limitless num-
ber of photo opportunities, both inside and outside the train. I
carry a medium-quality digital camera when I travel; with it, I'm
able to cover almost any photo opportunity.
Interior shots on a train are no more difficult than photos
taken indoors at home. For shots of a party in the lounge car or
of that nice couple from England you met over dinner, set the
camera on automatic and blaze away.
Unfortunately, it's not as easy to get really first-rate shots of
the scenery passing by outside. Shooting through the tinted train
windows is the biggest obstacle to good pictures. Unlike Euro-
pean railroads, the windows in American coaches and sleeping
cars cannot be opened (although they can be pushed out in an
emergency). Final results may not be perfect, but there are a few
things you can do to improve the quality of those important sou-
venir photos.
• Because the train is moving, slower shutter speeds can result
in blurry photographs. Switch to the “TV” setting on your
digital camera—or, if your camera is so equipped, switch
from automatic to “selective shutter speed”—then set the
shutter speed to at least 250.
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