ABOARD THE TEXAS EAGLE – Time stops when the conductor yells, "All aboard!" at the station, and we step up onto a yellow stool and into the silver coach of the Texas Eagle.

Passengers have roughly 10 hours and a lot of track between Dallas and San Antonio. But the long trip turns out to be forced relaxation, similar to what happens on a cruise ship. Left with intermittent e-mail on the iPhone and no Wi-Fi, the only remaining choices involve being where I am. And then the options become easy.

The observation car, the Sightseer, has swivel chairs and tables for relaxing. It's a good change from the dark, quiet coaches.

The seven-car Eagle slices south through brown winter prairie, slowing and blowing its whistle at crossings and towns. I play a game of guessing each town's name by the mascot painted on the water tower. At the beginnings and ends of cities, the tracks run through gritty neighborhoods and rusting industrial areas. These are, after all, working freight rails, so they don't sweep over disrepair and disuse the way freeways sometimes do.

Rail travel feels curiously opposite to flying. The ticket lines are short (two people deep at the longest), the boarding lines nonexistent the days I rode. The safety announcements urge passengers to leave their shoes on, unlike at airports, where travelers must take them off. Shortly after boarding, anyone can get up and walk around, even as the train leaves, and there are no seat belts to fasten in the big, reclining seats.

San Antonio Convention & Visitors Bureau

The San Antonio River Walk is a $6 trip by cab from the train depot.

A gaggle of preteen girls traverses the Texas Eagle's coaches from front to back, giggling their way south. A few more kids join them around a table in the observation car, a glassed-in gem near the front, and they play cards or games. Their only complaint I hear is when the conductor makes them use straws instead of spoons to keep score, explaining that it's possible to run out of spoons for people to eat with before San Antonio.

The sunny Sightseer car is a good change from the dark, quiet coaches where most people are watching personal DVD players or napping. Sociable types are meeting people from all over – the Eagle travels to Chicago, St. Louis, Little Rock and Los Angeles, as well as Dallas and Fort Worth. (I boarded in Fort Worth, which is closer to my home.)

On my return trip, a couple returning home to Virginia are chatting with other passengers about their two-week train journey to Arizona, an adventure they've clearly relished. They chose the train because the husband has a painful health condition that would have made driving difficult or impossible.

Lead service assistant Joe McGinnis walks through the coaches, asking passengers if they want to make dinner reservations. He later returns to announce that the dining car is open. Even less-social types get to meet people if they eat in the dining car, because passengers share tables, much as they do on cruise ships.

There are two seatings on the Eagle in the evening. If you're really hungry, you'd better make it to one, because on my trip, at least, the dining crew got off in Austin. (The snack bar remained available.)

The dinner menu, if not the ambience, lends an air of old-style elegance. Among the offerings were a flatiron steak ($22.50) and a Caesar salad ($14). I had quesadillas ($7) on the way to San Antonio, the Caesar en route back, and both were decent. But the service is more than decent; it's lovely, efficient and kind.

"You gotta have some of my iced tea I just made up," says my server on the return trip. All of the employees, most of whom seem to have worked at one railroad or another for decades, use the possessive a lot, as in, "You're not going to be causing trouble on my train, are you?"

And no one does, that I see. But because the train is a public conveyance with no way to lock up valuables, I don't leave any at my seat and wander away for long. (If you want to use a laptop or other electronics, each seat has a power outlet.)

After dinner, the rails rock you to sleep as night falls on the way to San Antonio. (I won't lie: The southbound trip got a little long toward the end, although the return trip during the day to Fort Worth seemed much quicker. Both trains departed and arrived on time or even a little early.)

At San Antonio, the conductors announce telephone numbers for calling a cab. I snag a taxi to the River Walk and my hotel, a $6 trip from the depot. It's 10:30 p.m., and I spend an hour or two plotting a San Antonio itinerary for the next day.

Yes, for most people, flying is faster, and so is driving. But neither leaves me walking away feeling refreshed and ready for my destination the way the train did.

The route

The train leaves Dallas at 12:20 p.m. and Fort Worth at 2:40 p.m. daily, with stops in Cleburne, McGregor, Temple, Taylor, Austin and San Marcos before arriving in San Antonio at 10:25 p.m. Most stops are a minute or two at most – enforced by the conductors. San Antonio departure is at 7 a.m. daily; Fort Worth arrival, 2:20 p.m.; Dallas, 3:20 p.m.

Arriving

At San Antonio, a taxi is the best way to get around, and train conductors announce a phone number (210-222-2222) before you get off. Some taxis may be waiting without being called, and you can share with other passengers.

Eating and drinking

The Eagle has two seatings for dinner on the route to San Antonio and a menu that ranges from New Mexico pork tamales ($5.50) to flatiron steak ($22.50). Adults may bring aboard alcoholic beverages to consume in the sleepers and at your seat, but you must keep it to yourself.

Details

Bags can be checked, and the Eagle has Superliner sleeper cars, with rates that include meals. Book: www.amtrak.com.

Staying

Hotels abound in San Antonio at a variety of prices and styles. You'll need to catch a cab from the train station. Staying near the River Walk will ensure that you can reach most places on foot.

Seeing

Resource

San Antonio Convention & Visitors Bureau: 1-800-447-3372; www.visitsanantonio.com