Current Amtrak Auto Car Transport

I know several people who have taken non-exotic cars to Florida and if you are willing to give up your keys and let a stranger load and unload it then I guess it is okay (and not see it for 30 hours). The only recommendation they gave me was to pay a premium ($50) so that it would be unloaded sooner than waiting an hour for it. Also... per Amtrak you need to have at least 4" of ground clearance.

 

I concur with everything INRange says. My wife takes that train from Lorton down to our place in Florida quite often. She likes the experience, but uses an SUV and always has a lot of luggage, which is convenient to leave in the car.

I don't know how much of the 4" ground clearance Amtrak says is really required. I would imagine the front lip of a car would be the area of concern since the cars are driven up and down ramps. The train cars have two levels for autos and I think the bottom level has the steepest ramp slopes. I have seen some Jaguars and believe some Corvettes have been accommodated (see video below). As far as the priority unloading, it is limited to 5 autos on each of 5 rail cars (total = 25 autos) on the top level. This group of 5 rail cars is the first to be split off the train in Florida. Also, Amtrak attaches a magnetic number sign to the driver's door but I've never seen any damage from that on the wife's car. Once the train departs Lorton, it is a big party all the way down to Florida with a bunch of really nice people. Totally opposite from flying.

 

Amtrak apparently damaged a friend’s 2015 Corvette front spoiler. They did not pay for damages. Caveat Emptor.


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I have taken it several times with my Nissan 350Z fully loaded with my belongings for a move (and sitting pretty low to the ground) and it had no issues. It did get kind of dusty on it. The loading and unloading wasn't an issue either. It was only $330 one way I think with my seat included.

I'm not sure how familiar they are with the paddle shifting stuff, but my car is a manual and it wasn't a problem. The people with motorcycles are allowed to accompany the bike to set onto the pallet that they use, but if you have a car they drive it directly into the train without you. They also video taped the car in a walkaround to document any possible damage.

I think the bigger worry is the train itself running into another train! Amtrak's track record recently is not that good...

 

I haven't utilized their service yet. Last month, a very close friend of mine has got his car moved to an event in CA with the help of Florida Transporter about which he came to know from this site while surfing the internet. He was very much satisfied with their service as he got a safe transportation of his vehicle to the location. If you want to hire any professional service regarding your car transport, you can refer to them without any hesitation.

 

If you decide to ship the car, try these guys. They've shipped Alfa's and Porsches for me.

http://www.applewoodmotorcar.com

Alex in VA