Train Expert

[kevin_standlee]

In the last 24 hours, two people, one of whom reads this LJ (waves at redneckotaku) have asked me for advice about traveling in Amtrak sleeping cars. Fortunately for me, because of how the trip to Montreal worked out last year, I have now traveled on all four major types of Amtrak sleeping accomodation: Viewliner roomette, Viewliner bedroom, Superliner roomette, and Superliner bedroom. (The other "outlier" types are the Superliner family bedroom and the respective two families' handicapped accomodations.)

(Viewliners are the single-level cars used on most routes east of Chicago, while Superliners are the double-deck cars used on the rest of the system. Viewliners operate on those routes where Superliners don't fit due to bridge and tunnel clearnce restrictions. See Amtrak's sleeping accomodations page for details, maps, and 3D tours of the equipment.)

My opinion overall: bedrooms are always better than roomettes (more room), and Superliner rooms are better than their Viewliner equivalents (less headroom but more usable space). The fact that Viewliner roomettes have a toilet and sink so you don't have to use the toilet down the hall is, in my opinion a bug, not a feature, because it uses up precious floor space in the compartment. On the other hand, the "attic" on the Viewliner cars (the area near the top of the higher-ceiling single-level Viewliner bedrooms) is quite handy if you don't have a problem hefting luggage over your head.

Any sleeping compartment of any size or configuration is superior to a coach seat. Oh, and any Amtrak coach seat is superior to any airline coach seat, while most airline first/international business class seats are comparable to a Superliner coach seat.

Comments

[jcbemis.livejournal.com]

we've only done the viewliner roomettes and handicapped room on the east coast; the HC room was lovely though

[redneckotaku.livejournal.com]

I would love to do a Bedroom, but I don't want to spend $300 plus bucks on a sleeper for a single overnight trip. Thank you again for the thoughs on Roomette's versus Coach today.

[howeird]

I'd disagree slightly about the seats - for me the coach seat is a lot more comfortable than the smallest Superliner sleeper seat, especially traveling with a friend. In the non-bed mode, the small sleeper seats are a little hard and they don't recline, and if you are with a friend, unless you are much smaller than me you'll be sitting facing each other, which can become a leg room issue. The coach seats are tall, well padded, recline, and are all facing forward, so you can sit side by side. Lots of leg room, too. Of course it's nicer to sleep in the sleeper bed than in the coach seats, especially since all the sleepers have an outlet to charge your electronics and not all coach seats do.

[petrea-mitchell.livejournal.com]

I've travelled in the Superliner family bedroom. It's neat in that it's got the most open space of all, and windows on both sides of the train, albeit on the lower level.

However, I note that once my little brother and I were deemed old enough to be let out of direct sight for extended periods, my parents seemed to prefer getting two roomettes (them in one, us in the other). :-)

[rono-60103.livejournal.com]

Hopefully I'll remember this advise getting ready for either July 2011 or 2012 when I'm hoping to take The Coast Starlight at least as far as San Jose and back, and with two of us I think a sleeper of some sort would be preferable (especially if we go all the way to Seattle).

[trinsf.livejournal.com]

By the way, I have a different preference in compartments. I like the family bedroom, then the roomette, and then the bedroom. I have a sensitive nose and don't care for the toilet facilities being in the compartment. I've had a couple of bad experiences with that just not being as clean as I would like, and it's even more an issue when you join a train for the second half of the trip, as we do when taking the Starlight from SJC. For short trips -- like SJC to LA -- I do a roommette, which we have made up as beds so that we can nap. For overnights, I pretty much insist on the family bedroom. It's just so much nicer to be able to sleep in the same bed, and to be able to nap while someone else enjoys the other seating in the compartment.