Rodney, I would be so pissed if I could not get a beer on an Amtrak -- seriously, I know how you feel.
I would go to Holland, where the trains run to the second on time, get you from city to city in nothing flat, and, some Dutch gal comes down the aisle with a cart bearing candy, coffee, papers to read and Heinekens to drink.
And go check out the TGV.
It goes so fast, you can't look out the window sometimes without getting a little queasy.
Smooth, quiet, it would beat a 737 in a race between two cities as far apart as Indianapolis and St. Louis, and anything nearer. No kidding.
Don't bum out because you are seeing Amtrak and imagining that as the future of the American Rail System.
If I believed it were, I would not be arguing my points.
I second that emotion.
Amtrak is the contractor that was hired by the state of Washington's Department of Transportation to run the Cascades Service trains on the Vancouver (BC)--Seattle--Portland--Eugene run. These trains use Talgo equipment that tilts on curves and permits higher speeds than are possible using the standard Amtrak equipment.
In the Bistro Car -- yes, I know it's a sissy name for a bar car, but that's the Pacific Northwest for you -- Amtrak sells our Pacific Northwest microbrews, the micros that made Seattle famous for something other than Microsoft and rain.
If you ever get out this way, take the Cascades, grab a micro, sit down in the business car and watch the scenery as you skip the white-knuckled horror of Interstate 5.