That's a great trip, the coast-to-coast; depending on the time on the time of the year (daylight-wise) you can see a tremendous amount of the country and sometimes luck into great wild-life views as well.

Did I mention the showers? You can take a shower on the train when you travel first class, and though the water pressure isn't great the comfort level can be high...

Be aware that the last part of trip -- the part to Maine -- requires you to leave South Station via cab or local transit, get to North Station, and wait in a commuter train envirmnment to make your connection. In really cold weather it gets really cold at North Station....on the other hand the Downeaster's business class is right comfortable.