Hello! We've been curious about traveling by Amtrak for years, and we're finally going to attempt it with a small trip to Dallas and back.

I've seen some good information, found a well written blog post about this specific leg, but I have some questions.

First of all, we're going coach since it's just a day trip there, and another day trip back. So here are my questions:

1. Is it safe to leave a vehicle overnight at the Austin station? (We would not leave valuables or anything visible in the car, and it would not be long term.)

2. Can we bring our own food on board as coach passengers? (I figure small snacks are okay based on the website, but then I saw someone post a picture recently highlighting a sign showing no food allowed, so I wasn't sure.)

3. Website says masks required, can they be removed for eating/drinking?

4. Do we still get to check a bag even though we're only doing this short leg?

We're hoping we enjoy the trip, but we wanted to try out something smaller scale before booking a big trip!

Thanks!