Deluxe Sleeper - California Zephyr

[deoghi]

Just wanted to know if one Deluxe Bedroom was better than another (A-E) and where could I find information on the layout of the car. Could not tell where the car is located in regards to dining car or lounge car.

Any information would be appreciated.

 

[Anthony]

Room A is generally less desirable, because it is a bit smaller... also, the restroom door is on the right as you walk in, instead of back by the armchair. I gather that they had to clip room A a bit because of the proximity to the hallway area, and the door to the next car.

Superliner sleepers are generally placed on the other side of the dining car from the lounge car and coaches, except on trains with special first class lounges (like the Coast Starlight), where sleepers are placed on the other side of that.

 

[AlanB]

Room A is generally less desirable, because it is a bit smaller... also, the restroom door is on the right as you walk in, instead of back by the armchair. I gather that they had to clip room A a bit because of the proximity to the hallway area, and the door to the next car.
Superliner sleepers are generally placed on the other side of the dining car from the lounge car and coaches, except on trains with special first class lounges (like the Coast Starlight), where sleepers are placed on the other side of that.

Anthony is correct; room A is a little smaller because of the bend in the hallway. Room E is located right next to the stairs, so you can sometimes here people bumping into the wall, as they climb the stairs. Other than that, all deluxe rooms are equal.

Normal train order for most Amtrak long distance trains is; Engines, baggage, crew car, sleepers, diner, lounge, and then the coaches.

If you want the actual layout of the sleeper car itself you can click here to see where the bedrooms are located.

 

[deoghi]

Alan & Anthony,

Thank you both for your insight, it will come in very handy as this is our first long distance train adventure.

Since Amtrak has assisned us Bedroom "E", I think I will leave things as they are.............. we're both pretty sound sleepers. Thanks again for taking the time to answer my questions.

Regards,

Mike

 

[Bill Haithcoat]

Bedroom "E" is my preference---I do not really hear much noise from bumping around....and you are next door to the coffee machine, etc and people sometimes gather to chatter, in a good way, at that point and it is a good way to see out both sides, with a little manuering(up and down the steps). I find that when I make my reservations verly early(which is more or less always) I am frequently put in "E" so Amtrak itself must consider that a prime location.

 

[tubaallen]

As far as the order of the consist, I agree that generally one end is the sleepers, then the food service cars, then the other end coaches, but it is not always true that the sleepers are in front, right after the crew car. Sometimes it is the other way around, such as the coaches, then sleepers on the tail. In fact, with my experience on the CZ, I notice that it is somewhat random which order it's in on the way out of CHI, but it is always that it is the opposite on the way out of Oakland yards. I believe instead of wying the whole train, they just wye the engines, baggage, and crew car, so for the main passenger cars, you end up with the exact opposite of the way out.

 

[thedude]

This also helps me alot, as I will be travleing in a Deluxe Sleeper this summer also. (I do not know which one I will be in yet, though.)

The Dude

 

[battalion51]

The other place where consists are messed up are on the Silver Star, Palmetto, and Auto Train. As some of you may know the Star and Palmetto are running with baggage on the bottom. So for the Star consist is: Engine(s), Dorm, Sleepers, Diner, Lounge, Coaches, Baggage. For the Palmetto it goes Engine(s), Business Class, Lounge, Coaches, Baggage. Now we get into the comletely different animal, Auto Train. These trainsets are run push-pull (from a passenger car standpoint). A north bound consist will be like this: 2 P-40's, Crew Dorm, Sleepers (with a lounge and diner wedged in somewhere), Coaches, Coach Lounge, and Coach Diner, followed by your bi's, Van's, and Tri's. Southbound though it's a different story. A SB consist will be: 2 P-40's, Coach Diner, Coach Lounge, Coaches, Sleepers (with Diner and sleeper wedged in somewhere), Crew Dorm, bi's, Van's, bi's, and Tri's. The reason why AT is run on this manner is because of a lack of turning facilities in the ghetto we call Sanford. There are a total of three wye's in the Central Florida area, one on the Aloma spur (which only holds a few cars on the wye), the Deland spur (about 20 minutes north, but is currently out of service), and Stanton Connection about 30 miles south of Sanford. So rather than waste precious idle time they just tun the coach seats around and run the other way when going the other direction.

 

[Amfleet]

Turning the Auto Train would cause havic on the mainline as there is no loop like in Miami or Sunnyside. Also with the dwell time and crew working the train, turning 4 cars worth of seats is not that bad of a task.

 

[Sammy]

I made a reservation today for a Deluxe sleeper and was told all they had left was room A. We will be 2 adults and 1 two year old, so hopefully room A will have enough room to set up a little crib.

By the way, does Amtrak have anything like that to provide for a baby to sleep, or must we bring our own foldable playpen or something similar?

 

[Amfleet]

A playpen or small crib would not fit into a Deluxe Room anyway I would not think. Room "A" should be fine, the chair can always fold up and be stored under the sofa. Now the area were the chair was/is I'm sure you could do something creative with some blankets and stuff to make a little "nest" for the baby.

 

[AlanB]

Sammy,

You would need to bring your own portable Pack N Play, or similar type of portable crib. Amtrak does not provide anything like that at all.

Additionally, there is probably enough room to set it up during the day for the 2-year-old to sleep and play in. However at night, once the beds are down, I think it highly unlikely that you will be able to keep a crib set up. There won't be enough floor space left, once the beds are down. Even if you did manage to squeeze it in, then there would be no place to put the ladder, which is needed to climb into the upper bunk.

So most likely you will find yourself sharing the lower bunk with the 2-year-old. Thankfully the lower bed in a deluxe room is wide enough for this.