Being Big On A Train

[SarahZ]

/me makes a note to schedule a football throwing contest for The Gathering.

Can we have it on Saturday, when my Bears play your Redskins?

 

[Ryan]

Only if you agree to take Rex Grossman back.

 

[Cooley47]

HAHAHAHAHAHA. +1 on that one.

Glad this thread has people talking. I figured if someone started it, others would come and open up too, or at least get help. Great job on the weight loss Sorcha. You look terrific.

 

[SarahZ]

Thank you.

I wish there'd been a thread like this back in the day. I started riding Amtrak because I was too big for one seat on an airplane (and couldn't afford two seats), but I was worried about the train too. I searched around for measurements and found a random thread on this forum. It wasn't about being big on a train, but it listed the seat measurements for Coach. It led me to join up because I found lots of other helpful threads too.

Anyway, hopefully, some other people will find this on Google and have their fears assuaged.

 

[Cooley47]

That's exactly how I found this forum to be honest. Agreed on hopefully this helps those in the near future, whether they are "big" or not.

 

[the Other Mike]

I guess I'll play offense, I've always been told by coaches that I'm a drawback...............( think about it....)

 

[crescent2]

Sorcha, you look great! :hi: My friend was probably proportioned somewhere between your two pictures, but very tall for a female, and she did fine on the train.

I'm not overweight; I'm just 8 inches underheight.

As one who's experienced both sides, it is hard to fight your body. Until my late 20's, I was too too skinny and couldn't gain an ounce even eating like a horse and drinking supplements to try to gain. Now it's hard to lose an ounce although I eat much less. I think I was the right size for about 15 minutes in 1980.

Keep up the good work and get a little nerf football!

 

[Cooley47]

Amtrak eventually got back to me on width in bathrooms. They say they don't have an exact measurement, but estimate the size of a bathroom in a bedroom is about 2ft in width. Just for those of you who might have wondered or want to know.

 

[SereneFury]

Sorcha, you look FANTASTIC!

 

[Cooley47]

Curious, do they search coolers before bringing them on? Reason I ask. I plan on bringing some moonshine, wondering if there would be any issues.

 

[SarahZ]

Liquor is allowed in sleepers but not in coach. All baggage (and coolers) are subject to random searches.

 

[OlympianHiawatha]

Curious, do they search coolers before bringing them on? Reason I ask. I plan on bringing some moonshine, wondering if there would be any issues.

You can bring the liquor on but technically you cannot consume private stash outside of your Sleeper compartment.

 

[the Other Mike]

Curious, do they search coolers before bringing them on? Reason I ask. I plan on bringing some moonshine, wondering if there would be any issues.

The 2 times I rode coach, most people "seemed" to carry their "adult" becerages in plastic Coke / 7-Up / water bottles and were never questioned.

 

[Cooley47]

Okay I should have it well gone before I have to ride in coach nearly three days later. Don't plan on bringing a lot. Thanks.

 

[Cooley47]

Was curious as to whether anyone knew when it's least busy to travel? For instance is it more empty during regular times of the year, verses Holidays? Or are the trains usually more packed no matter what time of the year it is?

 

[SarahZ]

Depends on the train. You can count on them being busy during summer and the holidays, but then various routes might have more traffic at different times of year (City of New Orleans during Mardi Gras, the Silvers and Auto Train during March (spring break), etc).

 

[Cooley47]

Okay that makes sense. I ordered my tickets today. Room D and E in the bedroom. Are those the two closest to the end? Or the beginning?

 

[AlanB]

D & E are in the middle of the sleeping cars.

 

[PRR 60]

Okay that makes sense. I ordered my tickets today. Room D and E in the bedroom. Are those the two closest to the end? Or the beginning?

Car Diagrams

 

[June the Coach Rider]

I assume no one has had problems with the little step stools to get on the train? I guess that's the only thing left that has me paranoid a bit.

the step stool is super heavy weight steel. No problem with it at all. Going into Chicago, if you are on a viewliner, you will have the train stairs.

 

[June the Coach Rider]

What about security with trains? Should I get to the train station a certain amount of time early for searches and stuff (I assume they are like airports?)?

When I was in CHI on Tuesday, they had the Amtrak police dogs going thru the waiting area every hour or so. But that is about all the security there is. Amtrak police are usually visible but not intrusive.

 

[June the Coach Rider]

Can someone break down the whole baggage deal for me. It's one of the things confusing me so far.
Looks like they want smaller handbag style as "carry on" versus typical suitcase carry on. Is this right? Or does that change being I have two sleeper cars? If so, what about when I get in California and will be in coach? Do I have to check those bags in there?

don't worry about luggage, on every one of the trains I was just on in the last two weeks at least one passenger had four very large suitcases with them and each time they had to get back on to get the other luggage when we got to their stops.

 

[Cooley47]

Okay that makes sense. I ordered my tickets today. Room D and E in the bedroom. Are those the two closest to the end? Or the beginning?

Car Diagrams

Thanks. Looked for something like that and didn't come up with anything :hi: I guess even though they are indeed in the "middle," they are the first two after getting off the stairs? Or I guess, going up the stairs. Thanks again.

 

[Cooley47]

Thanks for all those answers as well June :hi:

 

[June the Coach Rider]

In Superliner coach cars the Handicapped restroom is on the right of the right entrance door. The other restrooms are right and left of a hallway. To the left of the door is the heavy luggage storage and the handicapped lower level seating. To the right of the door to the lower level seating is the bottom of the spiral stairway to the upper level coach seats.If you are sitting in the lower level coach seats, a member of the staff will provide a menu and get you meals if you have trouble getting up and down the steps. Please tip if you do this.

Not all of the superliner coach cars have a handicapped restroom I found out on my EB trip two weeks ago. I had seats upstairs and was in a car with no lower level seats, I think they are coach/baggage cars? Anyway, there was no handicapped restroom and I had to go to the car in front of ours to use the larger bathroom as there was no way with my limited mobility I was going to be able to use the regular ones. So if you need the larger room, make sure you know which car has the handicapped restroom in coach, not all of the superliners do.