getting off sleeper in middle of night

[northnorthwest]

I'll be taking the EB from CHI to FAR, which is scheduled to arrive about 3:30am but could be hours late.

How does it work with getting off the train in the middle of the night when you're in a sleeper? Can I count on being woken up by the attendant before my stop regardless of how late we're running? I'm hoping we will be running a few hours late by the time I go to sleep and can therefore plan to sleep until a reasonable hour, but there's no telling what will happen.

 

[neroden]

I'll be taking the EB from CHI to FAR, which is scheduled to arrive about 3:30am but could be hours late.

How does it work with getting off the train in the middle of the night when you're in a sleeper? Can I count on being woken up by the attendant before my stop regardless of how late we're running?

I never, ever rely on that. You're supposed to be able to... but you're counting on an attendant who has been working for more than 12 hours and may be sleep-deprived. Think about it.

 

[the_traveler]

Sometimes your SCA (attendant) will wake you. Sometimes on routes that include 2 nights (like the EB) the SCA from 1 sleeper handles both sleepers overnight while the other SCA sleeps. On the other night, the SCA will switch so the opposite sleeps all night. Either way, the Conductor will knock on your door to wake you - usually 30 minutes or so before arrival.

 

[fairviewroad]

IME it's the conductor that knocks on your door at o-dark-hundred, not the SCA. Ultimately, it's up to the conductor

to see that people don't score free rides either on purpose or by accident by staying on board longer than they should.

It's the conductor who is going to have to deal with the fallout of an "over carry" or whatever the term is.

Of course, if someone is set to board in FAR and they are assigned to your sleeping compartment, that changes the

equation a bit. In that case, a SCA is probably more likely to be up at that hour to make sure you vamoose.

And yes, I'd set an alarm if you have one (cell phone, for example). But use your head...if the train leaves

MSP 3 hours late, there's no way it's going to make much time up before FAR.

 

[getbent]

I'm so glad you posted this! I was wondering how that worked, since we'll be coming from CHI-DEN and the DEN arrival is 7:15. Not middle of the night, but still morning. I was wondering how it all worked with getting off the train. When we were in coach on the same stretch the conductor would come and wake people up. I was hoping there was a similar safety with a roomette. We'll set an alarm, but I don't want to miss that and wake up in SLC. Mostly because we'll have missed the scenery and breakfast.

 

[fairviewroad]

I'm so glad you posted this! I was wondering how that worked, since we'll be coming from CHI-DEN and the DEN arrival is 7:15. Not middle of the night, but still morning. I was wondering how it all worked with getting off the train. When we were in coach on the same stretch the conductor would come and wake people up. I was hoping there was a similar safety with a roomette. We'll set an alarm, but I don't want to miss that and wake up in SLC. Mostly because we'll have missed the scenery and breakfast.

7:15 is a whole different case. That's outside of "quiet hours" so there will be a PA announcement coming into DEN. Also, the train is scheduled to be in Denver nearly an hour (could be less if it's running late). Plus, there's a very good chance someone will be boarding in DEN to occupy your roomette, so the SCA will want you out of there as quickly as possible in order to prepare the room for its next occupant.

I mean, if you want to shower and grab some coffee before you get to DEN, then obviously you'll want to set an alarm. But the chances of simply sleeping through DEN are pretty remote, IMO.

 

[the_traveler]

Also consider that with a room, breakfast in the Dining Car is included. Thus if you want to eat the included meal, I would not get up at 7:00 for a 7:15 arrival!

 

[jebr]

In my case of getting off in SCD, the SCA woke me up right as we were arriving (or at least that's when I noticed the wake-up call.) Talking with the conductor they suspect she simply forgot, but I've also been known to sleep through many a wakeup call, so I won't blame the SCA for that.

 

[getbent]

I am a fan of early wake-ups and breakfast. Motivating the kid for a 6AM breakfast might be another story!

 

[EB_OBS]

As stated by fairviewroad, at FAR, it's generally the conductor who will wake you up for your stop. Most conductors wake up sleeper passengers about 30 minutes early.

 

[oregon pioneer]

MOST conductors. Please don't depend on it. Please DO set an alarm of some sort.

Hubby and I were woken up as we arrived at Topeka, and the train was beginning to slow down. The SCA had promised we'd be woken up, but whoever was on duty for the sleepers at that hour was Missing in Action. The conductor woke us by banging on our door and yelling "Get up, get up, this is your stop." We made it off the train with almost all of our stuff (Hubby left a hat), but it was really good that we're fast dressers.

 

[Railroad Bill]

In agreement with Traveler and others.. we are always getting off our trains in CLE in the middle of the night. The SCA will usually knock on the door but the conductor has always knocked at least 20-30 minutes before the stop to make sure we are up. I am sure they do not want to leave anyone on the train even if someone is not going to occupy the room right away.

 

[SarahZ]

All that said, I live by the "Trust No One" philosophy. If I absolutely HAVE to be somewhere or do something, I set my phone alarm. Humans make errors all the time, so I take personal responsibility just in case I'm subject to one of those human errors.

 

[steve smith]

for a 7:15 arrival, take the advice above and get to the diner by 6:15! Don't miss the Railroad French Toast and turkey sausage!!!

 

[rusty spike]

I am sure they do not want to leave anyone on the train even if someone is not going to occupy the room right away.

Yeah, it's known as a "carry-by"---not a good thing for the conductor who has the reponsibility to see that pax leave the train at their ticketed destination.Carry-bys result in more paperwork to do, (like issuing a return ticket) plus detrain the passenger at a station that is "convenent and safe" for the next-train retrun to the intended destination. But it's a no-win situation for everyone involved.

 

[FreeskierInVT]

I am sure they do not want to leave anyone on the train even if someone is not going to occupy the room right away.

Yeah, it's known as a "carry-by"---not a good thing for the conductor who has the reponsibility to see that pax leave the train at their ticketed destination.Carry-bys result in more paperwork to do, (like issuing a return ticket) plus detrain the passenger at a station that is "convenent and safe" for the next-train retrun to the intended destination. But it's a no-win situation for everyone involved.

What do conductors do if there's no train to take them back to their ticketed destination?

For example, when I was on the northbound Vermonter last month a man slept through the station stop in SPG, and the conductor woke him up (again) before AMM but he didn't get off until BRA (2 stops and roughly 2 hours past SPG). The southbound Vermonter had already passed at that point, but I don't know what the man did.

On the same trip, a large family got on the northbound train in BLF though they had tickets for the southbound train. The conductor seemed pretty stressed at this point having now seven people riding without tickets. I don't know what ended up of this situation but they were still on board past WRJ.

 

[tomfuller]

I don't know how this happened but it did on my last trip on the CS. The CS was stopped in KFS for over 10 minutes (crew change+fuel). I was in the Lounge car when the train made an unscheduled stop in "downtown" Chiloquin. A coach passenger got off with his bag. I'm sure he had an expensive taxi ride back to K-Falls.

I was ready downstairs with my bags at least 5 minutes before I got off in Chemult (CMO).

 

[chakk]

I'm so glad you posted this! I was wondering how that worked, since we'll be coming from CHI-DEN and the DEN arrival is 7:15. Not middle of the night, but still morning. I was wondering how it all worked with getting off the train. When we were in coach on the same stretch the conductor would come and wake people up. I was hoping there was a similar safety with a roomette. We'll set an alarm, but I don't want to miss that and wake up in SLC. Mostly because we'll have missed the scenery and breakfast.

7:15 is a whole different case. That's outside of "quiet hours" so there will be a PA announcement coming into DEN. Also, the train is scheduled to be in Denver nearly an hour (could be less if it's running late). Plus, there's a very good chance someone will be boarding in DEN to occupy your roomette, so the SCA will want you out of there as quickly as possible in order to prepare the room for its next occupant.

I mean, if you want to shower and grab some coffee before you get to DEN, then obviously you'll want to set an alarm. But the chances of simply sleeping through DEN are pretty remote, IMO.

Also note that Denver is on Mountain Time, so 7:15 in Denver is 8:15 in Chicago and 9:15 in Detroit. I suspect that you will be awake long before Denver arrival -- probably in time to have breakfast in the diner before your arrival in the Mile High City.

 

[choochoodood]

When taking #48 (LSL) from CHI to CLE, I've asked the SCA to awaken me at the ELY stop, which gives me about 25 minutes to get ready. They've never missed it. However, I do set my phone alarm for the scheduled arrival time "just in case."

 

[fairviewroad]

I was in the Lounge car when the train made an unscheduled stop in "downtown" Chiloquin. A coach passenger got off with his bag. I'm sure he had an expensive taxi ride back to K-Falls.

Or saved himself a very expensive taxi ride from K-Falls to Chiloquin.

 

[ALC Rail Writer]

A lot of it depends on the crew. Sometimes I've been woken up right before arrival, sometimes they wake me up and I end up sitting awake, ready to go, for fifteen minutes (a half-hour if there is an unexpected hold at the last minute) ALC's calling times are 1:39AM and 3:05AM, so when I have a sleeper I'll usually get a knock from a conductor about ten or fifteen minutes before we arrive. One time when we were running late that meant I got to sleep until 5AM. Sometimes though the knock can be a bit last-minute. Once I only had three minutes before they stopped. I'd advise that before you go to bed you have your bags already packed, shoes laid out, etc. so you will be ready to go when they come knocking. Also you'll stand less chance of leaving an item behind, sleepers can have lots of places for things (including bags and clothes) to hide when you only have a few minutes in the dark after you just got woken up.

 

[iggy]

A few months back on the City of New Orleans coming into Memphis - no early warning - no knock etc - I was up well in advance - exited the train at the open sleeper car door - no Amtrak employee there. I've seen both sides of this - where staff are more than on the ball late night early morning with getting passengers alerted - seen the exact opposite where passengers are left to figure it out.

Best option set an alarm - have what you need to exit prepared as best you can. A last minute rush to de-board is never fun for anyone.

 

[northnorthwest]

Follow-up:

I was indeed woken up by the conductor (knock on the door) about 30 minutes prior to getting off in FAR. Unfortunately the train was only running about 30 minutes late, so I was out of there about 4am with no breakfast and not a full night's sleep. Oh, well!

 

[ALC Rail Writer]

Follow-up:

I was indeed woken up by the conductor (knock on the door) about 30 minutes prior to getting off in FAR. Unfortunately the train was only running about 30 minutes late, so I was out of there about 4am with no breakfast and not a full night's sleep. Oh, well!

Been there, done that, did it again, refused to learn lesson, still do it today.