Can you ship a car by train?

Cars are trucked to a rail yard, loaded into enclosed rail cars and moved long distance, then trucked to the destination. Rail yards are secure and the vehicle adds no miles, but schedules are fixed and terminal handling adds steps.

For most people, shipping a car by train means Amtrak's Auto Train, which runs between Lorton, Virginia (near Washington, D.C.) and Sanford, Florida (near Orlando). You ride on the same train as your car, so it works for travelers, not for shipping a car on its own.

It's popular with snowbirds who drive to Lorton or Sanford and want to skip about 850 miles of I-95.

• Only one passenger route for consumer vehicles
• You must travel with the car
• You still need to get to and from the stations
• Vehicle size limits apply

Freight railroads move huge numbers of new cars from factories to distribution points, but they don't take individual consumer vehicles.

For almost every other route, a car carrier is faster and door-to-door, and you don't have to travel with the car. If you're a snowbird heading between the Northeast and Florida, compare the Auto Train with snowbird auto transport and routes like New York to Florida.