Plan Now for Holidays

Dear Dr. Gridlock:
Here's a tip for travelers planning their Turkey Day trip: Either leave two days before the holiday, or leave on the holiday itself. Take the train on either side of the busiest holiday travel days of the year: the Wednesday before Turkey Day and the Sundays/Mondays following that weekend.
Shep C. Willner
Arlington

That sound advice is also my reminder to remind you that if you are planning to take the train during the upcoming holidays, Amtrak fills up pretty quickly and it's best to go for reservations now.

Here's the reservations page on Amtrak's Web site.

That page contains other useful information for planning, but here's a couple of things I'd like to highlight:
-- Sold out trains may become available if there are cancellations, so if you don't get the train you want, keep checking back to see if seats become available.
-- Even during the holidays, the carry-on luggage policy is the same. You'll be limited two carry-on items per person.