The train operates non-stop between its Virginia and Florida terminals, except for a brief stop in Florence, South Carolina, for servicing and a crew change of the engineers and conductors.

Amtrak's Auto Train is the successor to an earlier, similarly named service operated by the privately-owned Auto-Train Corporation in the 1970s.

The original Auto-Train operated on Seaboard Coast Line Railroad and Richmond, Fredericksburg & Potomac tracks.

It was operated by Auto-Train Corporation, a privately owned railroad carrier founded by Eugene K. Garfield.

Garfield had worked at the U.S. Department of Transportation, which had funded a study of the practicality of an automobile-train service.

Passengers rode in wide coach seats or private first-class sleeping compartments, and meals were served in dining cars.

The company's first autoracks were acquired used, and started life in the 1950s as an innovation of the Canadian National (CN) Railroad.

The CN cars were huge by the standards of the time: each 75-footer (23.86 m) could carry eight vehicles, which were loaded through doors at each end.

[12] Amtrak built a terminal at Poinciana, acquired 20 auto-carrier cars, and ran a test train loaded with rented autos on April 30 – May 1, 1974.

[13][14] The test train damaged the autos; Amtrak delayed and eventually cancelled the AutoTrak service.

On October 30, 1983, it introduced a triweekly version of the service under the restyled name "Auto Train".

In the mid-1990s, Amtrak replaced all these passenger railcars, which were of the conventional single-level type, with its newer, bi-level Superliner I and II equipment.

The passengers leave their vehicles here and take their carry-on bags with them into the station to await boarding.

The passenger car seat backs are flipped to allow everyone in coach to ride facing forward.

The doors between each are opened, and connecting ramps are lowered to allow vehicles to move between cars.

Amtrak's new Lorton terminal opened in early 2000 as a replacement for the original station built during the 1970s, and features a large, modern waiting area with high glass walls.

Lorton was selected as site of the northern terminal because the 20-foot-2-inch (6.15 m) high autoracks were too tall to pass through the First Street Tunnel into Washington, D.C.[15] Sanford, Florida, is the southern terminus and is about a half-hour drive north of Orlando.

Sanford serves as the main mechanical and maintenance location for Auto Train, with diesel and car shops to service the fleet.

The Sightseer Lounge car has wrap-around windows on the upper level and an informal café on the lower.