There is no reason to cross the U.S. by train, but I did it anyway
My (now) wife and I took the Empire Builder from Seattle to Chicago about 10 years ago.  We purchased a private cabin.  We were 8 hours late leaving Seattle and couldn't get into our cabin until we got to Spokane because of some sort of merge of trains coming from Portland and Seattle.  Got to Spokane, got our cabin, another 6 hour delay.  By the time we reached the upper Midwest, they were rationing food, literally cutting every meal (that we had already paid for) in half.  We eventually arrived in Chicago about 22 hours late.The train was disgustingly dirty and the employees were surly and unhelpful.Having taken dozens of train trips in Japan since 2001 I was incredibly excited for the American train experience.  It was shit and I will never take an Amtrak again.