mr. mick wrote:Is it standard practice for the car attendants to provide blankets and pillows on Long Distance trains?
Yes.
mr. mick wrote:Speaking of which, how does one know if a train is a long distance train anyway? By definition: length? time/distance between start and stop? the train has a name? Only runs once a week/day? Has sleeping cars?
It is designated by Amtrak as such. Ultimately the distinction is meaningless for the passenger as the classes of service are generally uniform and as long as their train gets them where they want to go at whatever level of service they paid for then everything should be "hunky-dory".
On the other hand....there are some distinctions to keep in mind.
For example: if I had to choose between the
Carolinian and the
Silver Star I would pick the
Silver Star any day of the week for the purposes of comfort. Why? Because the
Carolinian is basically operated as a corridor train, paid for the State of North Carolina using Amfleet I (high density seating) cars and running only with a cafe car for meals. The
Silver Star of course is a federally supported train running with the previously discussed cafe
and dining car which almost always gives coach passengers the option of getting a nice fresh cooked meal as opposed to something out of the microwave/fridge in the cafe. It also runs using Amfleet II cars (low density seating) which are perhaps mildly more comfortable. Having Car Attendants doesn't hurt either (which I don't believe are present on the
Carolinian. So in short for the purpose of traveling to RGH from points north the
Silver Star is the better option of the two (in terms of comfort).
In administrative terms, very plainly, the Long Distance trains are all federally supported trains run without state appropriated support funds. They are sometimes described as being part of the "Basic Network". States can then add on to this network should they choose to do so, which lately many have been doing in every greater numbers but administration of the "Basic Network" is outside their purview. The
Northeast Corridor is also operated in large part as a "Basic" service with full federal ownership and operation of most of the trains on the corridor (including specifically the
Acela).
Some other answers:
1. Named trains: Named trains are not necessarily Long Distance trains. The
Downeaster of course most certainly isn't a Long Distance train, nor is it part of the "Basic Network". A better example would be the
Pennsylvanian (or yet again the
Carolinian) which might
look like a Long Distance service based on points of origin and perhaps even trainsets, but once again both of these trains are state supported (one by PennDOT the other by NCDOT).
2. Sleeper Cars: This is actually a pretty good approach as all trains with sleeper cars are in fact Long Distance services and presently there are no state supported routes running sleeper car service (I happen to think this could change and that Maine would be a good place for it - service POR - NYP, but that's just an idea).
3. Schedule: Trains that only run once a day are one way of looking at things and in general the "Basic Network" is designed to do exactly that, which is often referred to as "once a day, each way". But again, the
Pennsylvanian and the
Carolinian are outliers here (and possibly other state supported trains as well). A good rule of thumb might be "once a day, each way, (or less!)" which would apply to the
Cardinal and
Sunset Limited both of which are currently running only three times a week.
Regardless there's no real hard and fast "rule" per se other than "as designated".