Former transition car customers - did you like sleeping in this car

[KrazyKoala]

I have a question, just out of curiosity. Is the transdorm roomette cheaper because it's in the transdorm, or did she just get it at a lower bucket price? Just wondering...

All the times I've got it, it was at the standard rate. Unless...I noticed on my trip CHI>SAC just this last week that 2-3 days from departure, roomette upgrade was $485 and the day of departure it was $283. I was on the phone with Amtrak for a lengthy amount of time demanding they match the price (obviously with no success.) Looking at this situation from another view now, could it be possible all the actual roomettes had sold out, and they drop the price because they started selling rooms in the transdorm? So maybe they are cheaper...

 

[KrazyKoala]

I have a question, just out of curiosity. Is the transdorm roomette cheaper because it's in the transdorm, or did she just get it at a lower bucket price? Just wondering...

The last time I was in a transition sleeper roomette it cost me nearly $600 one way simply because it was the last roomette available a couple hours before departure. The fact that it was in the transition sleeper made no difference to the cost.

This however, sounds about right...especially if you order the room online, it's all automated and just keeps raising the price. I'm sure the computer can't tell it's booking you in a crappy room.

 

[Shortline]

http://discuss.amtraktrains.com/index.php?/topic/53355-21-near-mutiny-in-the-transdorm/ You can read about my experience here. I prefer t be left alone more or less, so I wasn't bothered by the lack of a SCA coming around all the time, but others definetely were. There was coffee, juice and water just like the others, and, though I wasn't supposed to, I used the Conductors office at the forward end of the car for about 3 hours, working on the laptop. Nice big desk space in there with a window. I've never seen that room used on any train before, so.....I used it. No one ever bothered me, so I got my work done where I could work spread out on something bigger than a tray table in the roomette. Tried the tables in the SSL, but it was loud in there, tables were mostly taken, and were sticky and nasty, one of which was taken up by the Conductor and crew. So, I used the office. Having a (reasonably) large room, with a desk to work, was an amazing luxury! I wish they would rent that space out, by the hour even, I know I'd use it just about each trip!

 

[amamba]

Okay I checked the prices to rebook this whole trip and it would cost $88 more dollars. It's like it has gone up each day since Sunday. What's the deal? This is a long time away.

I repeat - it shouldn't cost anything extra to change your room. If you don't want the transdorm, call 1800 USA RAIL and say you want to switch your roomette.

 

[Gingee]

Right now I have a tentative reservation on hold until Sunday so I do have the price locked in right now. Anyway if I asked to be switched to another part of the train (which was more expensive when I booked it) I bet I would pay more. Prices have gone up on Monday and Tuesday for this train.

 

[Gingee]

Wow Sounds like it is a fifty fifty on service. So you do use the showers upstairs? How about downstairs? Is that off limits? This is on Texas Eage.

 

[zepherdude]

Downstairs is usually off limits as crew space. I was told that by someone once and never went down the steps. I have stayed in that car twice. One barely hears any traffic in the hall. I think you will be happy!

 

[Shortline]

Downstairs is usually off limits as crew space. I was told that by someone once and never went down the steps. I have stayed in that car twice. One barely hears any traffic in the hall. I think you will be happy!

I used both upstairs and downstairs. They had a sign on the upstairs lav saying "Crew Only", but, I used it more than any other, since it was the closest. I also spent some time downstairs, as I get tired of sitting, and sometimies like to stand in the door area. Again, no problems. Remember, except during the 11 PM-6 AM time frame when the OBS crew is sleeping, the car is generally empty, except for paying passengers. As long as you don't mind not having an attendant handy, it wasn't that big of a deal, and, as some have said, I found it to be much quieter in terms of traffic, and never was hassled by the crew for using the wrong bathroom, going downstairs, using the conductors office etc. Hey, it's not like there was a SCA around to tell me no! (the Conductor Office is also off limits, by a sign that says "Crew only past this point" at the halfway point of the car, that separates the revenue side from the crew side, but, I figured if the Conductor is going to use a SSL table as his office, I'll use his for mine. Your expereince may vary here....and, I'm not condoning it necessarily, just sharing my experience) It was almost like my own private personal car after some stops in the early morning, I had the thing almost to myself to FTW.

 

[njulian]

I'm confused..sorry..is there where the attendants usually sleep and they sometimes sell them as roomettes? How would you know on the AMTRAK site that this wasn't a 'normal' roomette?

 

[AmtrakBlue]

I'm confused..sorry..is there where the attendants usually sleep and they sometimes sell them as roomettes? How would you know on the AMTRAK site that this wasn't a 'normal' roomette?

You don't know. The computer will assign you to a room(ette) and it may be on the upper level or the lower level of a Superliner car or in the transdorm. You won't know until you make your reservation and the car/room # that you have been assigned to is provided to you.

 

[Devil's Advocate]

I'm confused..sorry..is there where the attendants usually sleep and they sometimes sell them as roomettes? How would you know on the AMTRAK site that this wasn't a 'normal' roomette?

Half the car is for revenue tickets and half is for staff. Staff are also able to use bedrooms in other cars when no customers are ticketed in them, so it's not that different from any other roomette in that regard. The main differences are the increased noise from the locomotive's horn, a lack of larger bedrooms, a slightly different lavatory setup, a lack of passenger foot traffic, and sometimes a lack of staff attention. Other than that the rooms are basically the same.

 

[OBS]

http://discuss.amtraktrains.com/index.php?/topic/53355-21-near-mutiny-in-the-transdorm/ You can read about my experience here. I prefer t be left alone more or less, so I wasn't bothered by the lack of a SCA coming around all the time, but others definetely were. There was coffee, juice and water just like the others, and, though I wasn't supposed to, I used the Conductors office at the forward end of the car for about 3 hours, working on the laptop. Nice big desk space in there with a window. I've never seen that room used on any train before, so.....I used it. No one ever bothered me, so I got my work done where I could work spread out on something bigger than a tray table in the roomette. Tried the tables in the SSL, but it was loud in there, tables were mostly taken, and were sticky and nasty, one of which was taken up by the Conductor and crew. So, I used the office. Having a (reasonably) large room, with a desk to work, was an amazing luxury! I wish they would rent that space out, by the hour even, I know I'd use it just about each trip!

Just to clarify (or maybe confuse the issue), The room at the forward end of the car is/was not the conductor's office, but rather the OBS Chief's room and office. It did not get alot of use, especially after the first few years, partially because the bed in the chief's room was located approx. 5 feet off the ground, with no designed way to enter/exit the bed. There were several chief's that incurred injuries either accessing the bed and/ or falling out of it as there were no safety devices built into it either. Thus the room quickly became a room for storage for linen, mattresses, etc. The actual conductor's office was the first room on the left as you enter the car. this room is the one that sometimes has coffee/water set up for passengers. Most Conductor's rooms have had both the chair and the desk removed from them over the years.

 

[KrazyKoala]

I'm confused..sorry..is there where the attendants usually sleep and they sometimes sell them as roomettes? How would you know on the AMTRAK site that this wasn't a 'normal' roomette?

You don't know. The computer will assign you to a room(ette) and it may be on the upper level or the lower level of a Superliner car or in the transdorm. You won't know until you make your reservation and the car/room # that you have been assigned to is provided to you.

You know if you purchase a roomette and your room number is 15-20. Standard sleepers only go to 14. The three times I have had this, I've been in rooms 17, 19, and 20. Is there anyone out here that has ended up getting a room in the transdorm and had a room number 1-14?

 

[rickycourtney]

http://discuss.amtraktrains.com/index.php?/topic/53355-21-near-mutiny-in-the-transdorm/ You can read about my experience here. I prefer t be left alone more or less, so I wasn't bothered by the lack of a SCA coming around all the time, but others definetely were. There was coffee, juice and water just like the others, and, though I wasn't supposed to, I used the Conductors office at the forward end of the car for about 3 hours, working on the laptop. Nice big desk space in there with a window. I've never seen that room used on any train before, so.....I used it. No one ever bothered me, so I got my work done where I could work spread out on something bigger than a tray table in the roomette. Tried the tables in the SSL, but it was loud in there, tables were mostly taken, and were sticky and nasty, one of which was taken up by the Conductor and crew. So, I used the office. Having a (reasonably) large room, with a desk to work, was an amazing luxury! I wish they would rent that space out, by the hour even, I know I'd use it just about each trip!

Just to clarify (or maybe confuse the issue), The room at the forward end of the car is/was not the conductor's office, but rather the OBS Chief's room and office. It did not get alot of use, especially after the first few years, partially because the bed in the chief's room was located approx. 5 feet off the ground, with no designed way to enter/exit the bed. There were several chief's that incurred injuries either accessing the bed and/ or falling out of it as there were no safety devices built into it either. Thus the room quickly became a room for storage for linen, mattresses, etc. The actual conductor's office was the first room on the left as you enter the car. this room is the one that sometimes has coffee/water set up for passengers. Most Conductor's rooms have had both the chair and the desk removed from them over the years.

I've always been curious about this... I've seen the inside Conductor's office in the transistion sleeper... but never the Chief's room. Does anyone have any pictures of the inside of the Chief's room?

 

[crescent2]

If you do decide to call and try to change your room assignment, be sure to tell them not to cancel and redo the whole thing, but only change your room. Some agents don't know how, or don't want, to do that. If they cancel your room instead of only changing it, the price will probably go up, and the new room could possibly be sold to someone else in the few seconds before it got rebooked. I hope that doesn't add to the confusion!

 

[amamba]

Right now I have a tentative reservation on hold until Sunday so I do have the price locked in right now. Anyway if I asked to be switched to another part of the train (which was more expensive when I booked it) I bet I would pay more. Prices have gone up on Monday and Tuesday for this train.

No. All the roomettes with the same train number were the same price when you booked. If an agent told you otherwise, she was wrong. Now the difference is if there are separate train numbers like 7/27 or 449/49. But you should be able to switch to a different roomette wtih the same train number for no additional cost. The agent didn't know what she was doing.

 

[KrazyKoala]

I would suggest going in to the station to do so. I have always had success requesting a different room there. However, I have always done so in the metro lounge or ClubAcela. If that is an option for you, take it, otherwise see if the standard ticket agent can help.

 

[Gingee]

Okay I just called and to switch from 21 to 421 Texas Eagle (not transdorm) it will be $60 more. Gad, decisions decisions.

So to summarize, fifty fifty service, maybe you can use the bathroom and shower in the same car, noisy horn, what else?

 

[Gingee]

Oh no the prices were different for the transdorm when I booked versus the non transdorm. That is why I took it. I saw it online too so the agent wasn't telling me anything different.

 

[AmtrakBlue]

Oh no the prices were different for the transdorm when I booked versus the non transdorm. That is why I took it. I saw it online too so the agent wasn't telling me anything different.

I think the difference in price was between 21 & 421, not between type of car.

 

[dart330]

When the TE runs the 421/422 through sleeper 3x a week, there is no other sleeper car on the train. On these 3 days the website shows 21/22 as an option with 4 roomettes available. These are the roomettes they sell in the transdorm.

On the 4 days a week it is only 21/22, the 4 roomettes in the transdorm are lumped into the regular list of rooms like all other trains. So if you want to avoid the transdorm, always book 421/422 on the days it is available.

One more thing to note is that the transdorm is at the front with the CCC behind it. The sleeper is at the rear of the train. You can not simply go to the next car for the complementary beverages.

My next trip involves taking the in-laws on their first train trip and we are taking the TE. I wanted to avoid the transdorm in case there wasn't coffee, juice, and water available as should be. If it was just my wife and I, we wouldn't mind the privacy of the transdorm and we are more interested in ice than the juices and such

 

[MiRider]

Oh no the prices were different for the transdorm when I booked versus the non transdorm. That is why I took it. I saw it online too so the agent wasn't telling me anything different.

I think the difference in price was between 21 & 421, not between type of car.

More than likely it's just because the price went up.

Anyone with more knowledge can correct me, but I've found that - on the days they run together - the sleepers on 21/22 are always more expensive than 421/422.

A quick trip to AmSnag can give you more price info for specific dates.

 

[AmtrakBlue]

Oh no the prices were different for the transdorm when I booked versus the non transdorm. That is why I took it. I saw it online too so the agent wasn't telling me anything different.

I think the difference in price was between 21 & 421, not between type of car.

More than likely it's just because the price went up.

Anyone with more knowledge can correct me, but I've found that - on the days they run together - the sleepers on 21/22 are always more expensive than 421/422.

A quick trip to AmSnag can give you more price info for specific dates.

Still, it's more likely based on either the train # (21 vs 421) or the normal rise & fall of prices due to supply & demand. Not on the fact that it's a transdrom or not. She seems to think the price difference is because one is the transdrom.

 

[MiRider]

AU member Donctor has an updated list of train consists here: Line Numbers/Consist Listings

It was last updated on 1/14/13

He shows the current consists on the Texas Eagle as:

TEXAS EAGLE (SUNSET DAYS)

2132|2232 [CHI-SAS] Superliner Dorm/Sleeper
2130|2230 [CHI-LAX] Superliner Sleeper
----|---- [CHI-SAS] Superliner Diner ("Cross Country Café")
----|---- [CHI-SAS] Superliner Lounge
2110|2210 [CHI-SAS] Superliner Coach Baggage
2111|2211 [CHI-SAS] Superliner Coach
2115|2215 [CHI-LAX] Superliner Coach
3210|3220 [CHI-STL] Superliner Coach*

* seasonal


TEXAS EAGLE (NON-SUNSET DAYS)

2132|2232 [CHI-SAS] Superliner Dorm/Sleeper
2120|2220 [CHI-SAS] Superliner Sleeper
----|---- [CHI-SAS] Superliner Diner ("Cross Country Café")
----|---- [CHI-SAS] Superliner Lounge
2110|2210 [CHI-SAS] Superliner Coach Baggage
2111|2211 [CHI-SAS] Superliner Coach
2112|2212 [CHI-SAS] Superliner Coach
3210|3220 [CHI-STL] Superliner Coach*

* seasonal

 

[Shortline]

Sleepers are on the head of the Eagle. Last 4 times it was transdorm sleeper CCC SSL and 4 coaches at the rear. When I was in the dorm, coffe water juice and ice were available in the dorm, didn't need to go to another car, but if I did it would have been the next car back.