Another anecdote to throw in. I have travelled the world round, and not once in my many college DC-NYC Amtrak trips, before, during, and after ID and bag check requirements get checked. This over the course of 4 years of college and working in the Beltway area with at least one trip a year.

I expected more serious, but security was as strict as a DC-NYC Chinatown bus.

To quote Saturday Night Live: "Amtrak, the only way to travel ... when you smoke weed!"

http://snltranscripts.jt.org/04/04fupdate.phtml