How safe are the items i leave in my rommette/sleeper

[cutecreativegal]

I am taking a long trip to SF from NY. I will have a sleeper from Chicago to California I don't have a lot of stuff, but the most valuable thing i own in my laptop and i am very worried about how safe it will be in the sleeper. I don't want to have to carry it with me to get food and so forth for 3-4 days.

So what can i do to keep my stuff safe? Do the rommettes lock?

Help! :unsure:

 

[RRrich]

The roomettes (and sleepers) do NOT lock when you leave them - but we leave our stuff with no problems.

Put the goodies our of sight (On the upper bed, then push it up??) and you should be OK. Thats what we do.

 

[zephyr17]

The roomettes (andsleepers do NOT lock when you leave them - but we leave our stuff with no problems.
Put the goodies our of sight (On the upper bed, then push it up??) and you should be OK. Thats what we do.

I've traveled tens of thousands of miles in roomettes with expensive camera equipment and on the more recent trips, a laptop. I've had ZERO problems. Put your valuables where they aren't obvious (closet, even just under a pillow), and draw the curtain and close the door when you aren't in the room.

Don't leave valuables in the downstairs luggage rack, though.

 

[Gingee]

I say the same. Hide your items. We have done it also. Close the curtains and doors also. Of course you can't lock it but it is better than nothing. We have never had any problems either.

 

[the_traveler]

As said, the rooms do not lock FROM THE HALL, but if you take your valuables (like wallets, purses, etc...) with you and put the other things out of sight and close the door and curtains when you leave, no one will know if you're in the room or not! (It may not seem friendly, but I sometimes even close them when I'm IN the room too!)

Also remember that the only others in the sleeper are others in the sleepers - coach passengers can not go into the sleepers!

 

[sunchaser]

Welcome to the board!

Don't worry. You should not have any problems. When you leave the roomette, just cover things up. We have left things out by accident more than once & never had any problems. Enjoy your trip!

 

[additional ???]

As said, the rooms do not lock FROM THE HALL, but if you take your valuables (like wallets, purses, etc...) with you and put the other things out of sight and close the door and curtains when you leave, no one will know if you're in the room or not! (It may not seem friendly, but I sometimes even close them when I'm IN the room too!)
Also remember that the only others in the sleeper are others in the sleepers - coach passengers can not go into the sleepers!

How does that work for PDX sleeper on the EB, which hangs at the end of the consist behind two coaches? How can you keep coach riders from wandering around with sticky fingers?

 

[cutecreativegal]

Thank You guys!! I am so excited about this trip, but also want to make sure that i am cautious so that i can enjoy the trip without any problems.

Thanks for all your answers.

 

[RRrich]

How does that work for PDX sleeper on the EB, which hangs at the end of the consist behind two coaches? How can you keep coach riders from wandering around with sticky fingers?

Most folks are honest - even if they ride in coach. I've been in that sleeper a couple of times with no problems

 

[the_traveler]

How does that work for PDX sleeper on the EB, which hangs at the end of the consist behind two coaches? How can you keep coach riders from wandering around with sticky fingers?

Nothing's perfect, but there are signs on the door, the coach CA is seated in the back of the car by the door and the SCA watches out too. Most times sleeping car passengers are those that first come out from the sleeping car before they go into the sleeping car. Especially when the train is going 79 MPH! Most CA's can tell if you have previously come out of the car!

 

[dlagrua]

How does that work for PDX sleeper on the EB, which hangs at the end of the consist behind two coaches? How can you keep coach riders from wandering around with sticky fingers?

We've never had a problem and consider most people on Amtrak to be honest. The Amtrak people are also pretty dilligent about keeping coach passengers out of the sleepers. If you close the door to your room and keep the curtains down as suggested , no one will be able to see into or know if anyone is in the room. In all bedrooms there is a small closet that can hold a camera, and a laptop. We use those to store our equipment when we leave the room. I don't believe that the Roomettes have closets so the upper bunk sounds like a good place to stash your stuff.

 

[Zevzec]

The roomettes do have a closet a few inches wide, just wide enough to slide your laptop into.

 

[RailFanLNK]

To me a roomette is alot like your car that you park in a parking lot for an extended amount of time. If you leave a bunch of cool stuff layin' around the window is gonna get bashed in and its gonna be stolen. But if you put the stuff in your car into the trunk where no one see's it, then everything is fine. So, treat your roomette like your car.........out of sight out of mind and most importantly...enjoy your trip!

 

[RRrich]

This is a question that noobies ask all the time - darn reasonable question to ask! luckily most folks are honest and won't steal your goodies if they are in sight - and if you don't leave valuable stuff where it can be seen you are doubly safe.

Enjoy your ride

 

[cutecreativegal]

To me a roomette is alot like your car that you park in a parking lot for an extended amount of time. If you leave a bunch of cool stuff layin' around the window is gonna get bashed in and its gonna be stolen. But if you put the stuff in your car into the trunk where no one see's it, then everything is fine. So, treat your roomette like your car.........out of sight out of mind and most importantly...enjoy your trip!

I will remember that, thank you!

 

[dlagrua]

The roomettes do have a closet a few inches wide, just wide enough to slide your laptop into.

Problem solved!! Just keep stuff out of view and you should be fine.

To tell you the truth I've left my laptop on the table in the bedroom on the AutoTrain have gone to dinner and it was untouched when we got back. I would only do that on the AutoTrain as the sleepers are highly segregated, the train makes no stops along the way and most people that travel on it are middle aged or senior citizens, hardly the people who would steal a laptop.

The only time that it can become the train from hell is when its gets flooded with college students traveling at the beginning and end of the college year. During one conversation that we had with the dining car manager in June 2009, he told us many interesting stories about unusual events on the AutoTrain train during those times, included one where the crew had to resort to ejecting people from the train for fist fighting. He told us that Amtrak is not a good place to have a fist fight.

 

[the_traveler]

on the AutoTrain ... included one where the crew had to resort to ejecting people from the train for fist fighting. He told us that Amtrak is not a good place to have a fist fight.

I hope the AT stopped first!

 

[AlanB]

The roomettes do have a closet a few inches wide, just wide enough to slide your laptop into.

Actually not all roomettes have closets. The Viewliners and Superliner II cars do not have closets, only the Superliner I cars have closets in the roomettes.

So don't count on having a closet to hide your laptop in.

 

[MikeM]

The roomettes do have a closet a few inches wide, just wide enough to slide your laptop into.

Actually not all roomettes have closets. The Viewliners and Superliner II cars do not have closets, only the Superliner I cars have closets in the roomettes.

So don't count on having a closet to hide your laptop in.

Good catch, about wrote in on that myself. However, you can also stash things in the upper bunk in daytime hours and they're out of sight, or under the seat. Actually I like the closet-less rooms better, they seem a bit more open and you can hang up an over sized garment bag and then hook it against the wall with the strap neatly.

 

[zephyr17]

The roomettes do have a closet a few inches wide, just wide enough to slide your laptop into.

Actually not all roomettes have closets. The Viewliners and Superliner II cars do not have closets, only the Superliner I cars have closets in the roomettes.

So don't count on having a closet to hide your laptop in.

On the Superliner IIs, you can still slip it down into the little bay beneath the clothes rack where the closet would have been on the Superliner Is and it isn't visible from the outside.

Partly off topic -- I like the Superliner II layout better anyway. That closet was fairly useless.

 

[Tony]

Actually not all roomettes have closets. The Viewliners and Superliner II cars do not have closets, only the Superliner I cars have closets in the roomettes.
So don't count on having a closet to hide your laptop in.

The Viewliner roomettes have that cubby up in the hallway ceiling. A good, out of sight, place to tuck valuables away.

 

[Bill631]

I may be in the minority here, but I would not leave a laptop in a roomette while I was out to dinner or walking around,etc. On several of my trips with Amtrak, the sleeping car attendant vanishes after we depart and we never see him/her again, so there is often no Amtrak employee keeping an eye on the car. And it is definitely possible on some trains for coach passengers to wander into the sleeper car, I have seen it happen.

Whenever I travel, I always take a very small bag to put my valuables in such as cell-phone, wallet, personal electronics, etc., and carry it with me whenever I leave my roomette.

I have often seen people on the sleeper car leave valuables right out in the open when they leave.

On many trips I have seen women leave their purses/pocketbooks right on the seat!

Yes, you might be OK with hiding the laptop somewhere in the roomette. But why on earth would you want to take a chance?

I have also ridden in coach a few times, and people were always getting things stolen.

Theft can and does happen aboard Amtrak.

I wouldn't assume that just because you are in a roomette you are immune from theft.

Remember, the roometttes do not lock from the outside.

Maybe I am just overly cautious about these things....

Bill

 

[Ryan]

Maybe I am just overly cautious about these things....

Pretty much.

 

[sunchaser]

If you are really concerned, buy extra luggage locks & lock your stuff up in your carry on bag(s) when you leave your roomette.

Or, tote the stuff with you.

Remember, you are on a train. There are only so many places someone can go while it is moving.

Our SCA's seemed to hover right by the door of our car during stops.