Accessible rooms

[ChuckB]

I'm new to this forum, so please forgive me if this is in the wrong place for this thread. I am a 6'2" tall 72 year old paraplegic married man. My wife and I live in the SF Bay Area. One daughter and her family live outside Denver and our son and his family live in Chicago. I can't fly, so we have taken long driving trips to see them. Now, it seems the best option is the train. I'm concerned about the height of the lower bed. I need it to be 24" - 26" above the floor, as my back is fused from T-10 to my pelvis. Does anyone similarly situated have any experience in this? Sorry for being so long winded. Thanks

 

[joelkfla]

West of CHI, you would be traveling on a bilevel Superliner train. I don't have those measurements, but on a single level Viewliner sleeper (which runs east of CHI), I measured the top edge of the mattress in the Accessible Bedroom at 19" above the floor. I expect it would be about the same on a Superliner.

If you have the time to spend a couple of hours on hold, you might try calling 1-800-USA-RAIL and ask to be transferred to Customer Relations, to see if they have more specific info on the Superliners.

Here are a couple of YouTubes of the Superliner Accessible Bedroom:

 

[Saddleshoes]

I'm new to this forum, so please forgive me if this is in the wrong place for this thread. I am a 6'2" tall 72 year old paraplegic married man. My wife and I live in the SF Bay Area. One daughter and her family live outside Denver and our son and his family live in Chicago. I can't fly, so we have taken long driving trips to see them. Now, it seems the best option is the train. I'm concerned about the height of the lower bed. I need it to be 24" - 26" above the floor, as my back is fused from T-10 to my pelvis. Does anyone similarly situated have any experience in this? Sorry for being so long winded. Thanks

I am a 6' 2" 70 year old man and travel the route you would use with some regularity.
Lower bed question ---- I sleep just fine in both the upper and lower beds. However I believe the lower bed is only 16" to 18" above the floor.
Each car has a handicapped room on the lower level. I have traveled in that room once, BUT I cannot recall the bed height.
Good luck.

 

[joelkfla]

I am a 6' 2" 70 year old man and travel the route you would use with some regularity.
Lower bed question ---- I sleep just fine in both the upper and lower beds. However I believe the lower bed is only 16" to 18" above the floor.
Each car has a handicapped room on the lower level. I have traveled in that room once, BUT I cannot recall the bed height.
Good luck.

It would be the same. On the Superliners, the Accessible Bedroom is just a Roomette with a large bathroom stuck on.

 

[bkimball2]

My 96 yr old husband and I are big fans of Amtrak. We enjoyed our Silver Star trip from ALB to KIS last December in a VLII roomette, but Hal had a difficult time navigating the aisle to the restroom. So, for this year’s trip, we opted for an accessible bedroom, which I booked 3 months in advance. We’d had our expectations raised by the Grounded Life YouTube video of the VLII accessible bedroom, and were very much looking forward to our trip last Thursday. To make a long story short, we now recommend that anyone with mobility issues avoid the accessible bedroom on a VL1, which is unfortunately all that was available on that Meteor consist. It was DANGEROUS! The car lurched so violently at speed that we were body slammed around. Getting Hal into the restroom was impossible when the train was in motion. By morning our neatly folded clothes and other belongings were flung all around the compartment. The car needs to be retired, or at the least that “accessible” bedroom taken out of service. On a more positive note, I give high marks to the Red Caps, SCA, ticket agents, and ultimately Customer Service representative with whom we dealt. My frail hubby was handled with care in wheelchairs, lifts, timely boarding, etc. I’m so sorry that personnel have to put up with such inferior equipment. We’ve been upgraded to a “deluxe” bedroom for the return trip today, and issued consolation travel vouchers. Today’s experience will determine whether we ever feel able to use those vouchers!