Boarding Long Distance Trains

[ColdRain&Snow]

I don't get all worked up when boarding a sleeper. The room is reserved so what's the huge rush? Relax.

Putting general travel preferences aside, perhaps you're also missing the point to some degree as boarding order can sometimes have practical implications. For someone with luggage traveling by roomette on a completely sold out train, the lower level luggage racks can fill up quickly. When boarding the Starlight with a full house in the sleeper lining up to get on in LA, I have seen the luggage space fill up completely with a dozen or more people still waiting to board.

 

[tnrkitect]

If no one has chimed in by then, I can verify / give info on the following locations in a few weeks after we are done with our trip:

BHM northbound for the Crescent

WAS for the Capitol Limited

CHI for the Empire Builder

WGP for the Empire Builder*

PDX for the Coast Starlight*

LAX for the Sunset Limited

NOL for the Crescent

* these station / train combos are highly dependent upon no bustitutions / extreme lateness events taking place on the 3rd & 4th of July respectively (disclaimer needed due to recent OTP / cancellations for the EB across the northern plains)

Updated list due to loss of the EB as feared.

BHM northbound for the Crescent

WAS for the Capitol Limited

CHI for the California Zephyr

SAC northbound for the Coast Starlight

SEA for the Coast Starlight

LAX for the Sunset Limited

NOL for the Crescent

 

[DET63]

Best Practices for Boarding Sleepers

I believe the best practice is to go the correct car, find the door, step up as needed till you are inside the car, then go find your room.

 

[Devil's Advocate]

I believe the best practice is to go the correct car, find the door, step up as needed till you are inside the car, then go find your room.

LOL! That only works in Europe. And Asia. You can't let American passengers think for themselves and find their own way, don't ya know? You need to corral them and walk them single-file to the door to make sure nobody gets lost crawling around underneath the cars and running across active tracks and diving in front of moving trains. :lol:

 

[ColdRain&Snow]

Best Practices for Boarding Sleepers

I believe the best practice is to go the correct car, find the door, step up as needed till you are inside the car, then go find your room.

Ahh, if it were only that simple. At some of Amtrak's larger stations, it just ain't so.

 

[trainman74]

A couple years ago at Fraser-Winter Park, CO, I was the only one getting on or off, and the conductor had the engineer stop the CZ with the door to my sleeper at the exact spot where I was standing on the platform.

That is the best way to board a sleeper.

 

[jis]

Looking at the schedules, looks like the morning line was for Crescent (#20) and the evening one was also for the Crescent (#19).

Why would there be a line for #20 in WAS? It is a discharge only stop for #20. I also doubt that even #19 would have as long a line as a regular Regional or even Acela would at WAS.

 

[ColdRain&Snow]

I haven't boarded from Philadelphia yet, but seem to remember reading here that boarding from the Club Acela involved an elevator. Am I remembering this correctly?

 

[jis]

I haven't boarded from Philadelphia yet, but seem to remember reading here that boarding from the Club Acela involved an elevator. Am I remembering this correctly?

Yes.

 

[AmtrakBlue]

Looking at the schedules, looks like the morning line was for Crescent (#20) and the evening one was also for the Crescent (#19).

Why would there be a line for #20 in WAS? It is a discharge only stop for #20. I also doubt that even #19 would have as long a line as a regular Regional or even Acela would at WAS.

Sorry. I'm a newbie. I was just taking a guess.

 

[lthanlon]

I've ridden the Southwest Chief three times in the past two years and have always felt as if I'm on my own in deciding when and where to board my sleeper in Los Angeles. Coach passengers will start lining up at that little table at least an hour or more ahead of time -- and when Amtrak personnel do show up to check them in, the process can be confusing. If they've ever made any announcements specifically about sleeper passengers, I've always missed them.

I either walk down the corridor to where the SWC is boarding or get a Redcap ride. The last time, a nice Redcap spotted me limping, slowed her vehicle and shouted, "Hey, cowboy! Old rodeo injury? Saddle up!" I didn't have the heart to tell her I'd twisted my ankle coming down the Superliner stairs on the first part of my trip. I gave her a generous tip.

 

[AlanB]

A couple years ago at Fraser-Winter Park, CO, I was the only one getting on or off, and the conductor had the engineer stop the CZ with the door to my sleeper at the exact spot where I was standing on the platform.

That is the best way to board a sleeper.

I once got to experience the worst way to board a sleeper. The conductor failed to stop the sleeper on the usable platform. So after walking halfway down the open section of the platform only to watch my sleeper roll past where I could walk, I had to run all the way back to the other end of the platform, board the coach section, and then walk through the entire train carrying my luggage.