Dining cars and snack cars on most routes offer eating while you are moving. Here are some tips for Amtrak Travel Educate yourself on routes and times. Amtrak's online web site shows detailed maps and can give very detailed information about your routes. Consider booking your own travel itinerary directly with Amtrak either on-line or by their toll free number. Amtrak offers several different kinds of fares.
Coach seats are actually fairly nice.
They are generally the width of typical airliner first class seats, two such seats on either side of a center aisle. They have at least triple the amount of legroom as airliner seats and generally have a recliner option with a footrest that raises up. Take a lumbar pillow if you have lower back problems, like most public transportation, the seats have very little lower back support for long rides. You buy a pass for one or more regions and have great flexibility in your train travel within those regions. Typically you can stop over several times at different cities as you travel.