Newbie family with questions - riding the Cardinal

[Windyhair]

Till now my only experience with train travel has been with European commuters when I was in my teens and heading out for the day with friends. In the search for a new experience for our 16 year old, hubby and I decided on Amtrak as our transportation of choice for our Spring Break trip to New York city this year.

How I wish I would have stumbled upon this website BEFORE I booked the train! You all have provided a wealth of information. Can't remember the last time I spent so much time at the computer reading like a maniac. After reading so many posts here, we still remain confused on a few things and are hoping some of you may be able to set us straight.

We leave out of Indianapolis on a Saturday night and I've noticed that the train is pretty consistent in it's 2 hour late arrival into Indy. I can handle that, 2 -3 hours isn't that big a deal. Last week, however, the return of that train from NYP into Indy was 9 hours late! When the train is this late does Amtrak explain to passengers what is going on? It seems that this train is always majorly delayed between Indianapolis and Virginia, yet for the most part it arrives at NYP fairly close as scheduled.

I booked this trip by phone as I had some questions. The reservation assistant told me that we could have two bags only in each Viewliner Roomette with a max measurement of 28x22x14. But I just recently read a post where someone said they could only have a tote bag with them. Now we're worried about what we can really have in there with us. I should probably note that there are three of us traveling and we have booked 2 roomettes. We were originally thinking that would give us more space for extra "stuff" but the reservationist said no. So what is really the space situation? Will there be room for our bags if we travel with two that measure 28x22x14 plus a couple smaller toiletry bags or smaller duffles?

Since meals are included but we are due to board around midnight, do we just get up in the morning and head to breakfast or do we tell someone when we want to eat?

Others have noted that they tip their sleeper attendant. Does one tip based on the number of rooms you have or the number of passengers in your group?

The Cardinal says it has a lounge car - is this like an observation area or just someplace to go other than your room?

We are booked in roomettes 7 & 8. I was able to look at room configuration on the Superliner Sleeper at the Amtrak site but I didn't see one for a Viewliner. Did I miss it? I was told that these rooms are across from one another - is that true? I'm curious as to where exactly our rooms are in the car. It seems as though others are able to look this info up somewhere but I'm not sure where.

Last question - there are a lot of stations between Indy and NYP, yet only a few have arrival and departure times listed. Does this mean that the train only stops at the locations that have both times? Some stations only have one time listed and may or may not have that listed in bold type.I'm not sure I understand exactly how to read this train schedule.

Thanks!

 

[AlanB]

We leave out of Indianapolis on a Saturday night and I've noticed that the train is pretty consistent in it's 2 hour late arrival into Indy. I can handle that, 2 -3 hours isn't that big a deal. Last week, however, the return of that train from NYP into Indy was 9 hours late! When the train is this late does Amtrak explain to passengers what is going on? It seems that this train is always majorly delayed between Indianapolis and Virginia, yet for the most part it arrives at NYP fairly close as scheduled.

Sadly it varries from crew to crew. Some crews are very good at making announcements to the passengers and telling them what's going on and why the train is running late. Other crews aren't so good about that. If you're not hearing any announcements, you can try talking to your sleeping car attendant as they may know too. They may not, but usually they do.

Remember though, Amtrak is running on tracks owned by Norfolk Southern at times and CSX at other times. So they don't control the signals.

I booked this trip by phone as I had some questions. The reservation assistant told me that we could have two bags only in each Viewliner Roomette with a max measurement of 28x22x14. But I just recently read a post where someone said they could only have a tote bag with them. Now we're worried about what we can really have in there with us. I should probably note that there are three of us traveling and we have booked 2 roomettes. We were originally thinking that would give us more space for extra "stuff" but the reservationist said no. So what is really the space situation? Will there be room for our bags if we travel with two that measure 28x22x14 plus a couple smaller toiletry bags or smaller duffles?

The rolling suitcase that I normally travel with is 14 inches wide, stands 23 inches tall, and is 7 inches thick. If I had two of those bags, I could just barely fit both of them side by side in the cubbyhole above the hall. The same sized bag can also fit underneath your seats. One bag could be a little wider than mine by maybe an inch or two, the other I’d say could be approximately 5 or 6 inches wider. They could not be much taller or thicker and still fit underneath the seats. There is also room for a shoulder bag next to the larger of the two seats. If you need anything more than that, then I would recommend checking some luggage and letting it go into the baggage car. Your car attendant will try to accommodate larger bags, but it is very difficult for him to do so. He usually has to store them in the shower room, and in the vestibule of the car. This means that he has to keep moving them around as people enter and exit the train at stations, or if someone wants to take a shower.

Now the measurements that you were given above is the maximum size you are allowed to carry onto the train. You are each allowed two bags of that size. Between the cubbyhole, and the fact that there are only three of you occupying two roomettes, you should be just fine. You'll have two cubbys, an extra seat, and an extra bed to put things on.

The small tote bag reference is for rooms on a Superliner sleeper where there is no cubbyhole. You'll be on a Veiwliner sleeping car.

Since meals are included but we are due to board around midnight, do we just get up in the morning and head to breakfast or do we tell someone when we want to eat?

For breakfast you just show up. If the car is filled, the attendant will take your name and call you when there is room. For the other meals, most likely they'll come around to your room to take a reservation.

Others have noted that they tip their sleeper attendant. Does one tip based on the number of rooms you have or the number of passengers in your group?

Both. You should tip based upon the number of passengers and the number of rooms occupied.

The Cardinal says it has a lounge car - is this like an observation area or just someplace to go other than your room?

In the case of the Cardinal, it's just a fancy cafe car. There are no special big windows for viewing the scenery. It also doubles as the dining car.

We are booked in roomettes 7 & 8. I was able to look at room configuration on the Superliner Sleeper at the Amtrak site but I didn't see one for a Viewliner. Did I miss it? I was told that these rooms are across from one another - is that true? I'm curious as to where exactly our rooms are in the car. It seems as though others are able to look this info up somewhere but I'm not sure where.

The rooms are opposite one another and just past the midpoint of the car. You can view the layout here thanks to Friends of Amtrak.

Last question - there are a lot of stations between Indy and NYP, yet only a few have arrival and departure times listed. Does this mean that the train only stops at the locations that have both times? Some stations only have one time listed and may or may not have that listed in bold type.I'm not sure I understand exactly how to read this train schedule.

Unless the timetable says "flag stop" the train always stop at every station listed. If you see an arrival time and a departure time, that indicates that the train will be in that station for several minutes while the operating crew changes, engines get refueled, and things like that. If there is only one time, that is the time that the train will leave, regardless of when it arrived. If it arrived late, then it leaves as soon as the passenger are done boarding and detraining.

 

[Rafi]

Wow... that's a lot of questions there...

I'll answer these as best I can, one by one:

We leave out of Indianapolis on a Saturday night and I've noticed that the train is pretty consistent in it's 2 hour late arrival into Indy.

Actually, the average arrival time for the eastbound Cardinal in Indy since March 1, according to AmtrakDelays.com, is about 77 mins. Hopefully you'll be on board before 1 AM.

Last week, however, the return of that train from NYP into Indy was 9 hours late!

Yep, that happens. The good news is that over the past 3 weeks (again, according to AmtrakDelays.com), the westbound Cardinal has averaged 100 mins late into Indy. Now, considering that the train has a 4:44 AM calling time, that may not be such a bad thing for you!

When the train is this late does Amtrak explain to passengers what is going on? It seems that this train is always majorly delayed between Indianapolis and Virginia, yet for the most part it arrives at NYP fairly close as scheduled.

Depending on the time of night, most conductors will make announcements as to what's going on, especially if you're sitting still for any prolonged period of time. At night, however, they won't make announcements on the loudspeaker so people can sleep. You're always welcome to ask a conductor or your room attendant for information, however (although the room attendant probably won't know more than you). The reason the train makes it into NY fairly close to the scheduled time is because there is a large amount of "padding" added to the schedule between Alexandria, VA and New York, which makes it easier to "recover" time between those cities. If the train's running on-time into Alexandria, you'll almost assuredly arrive an hour or so early into New York.

I booked this trip by phone as I had some questions. The reservation assistant told me that we could have two bags only in each Viewliner Roomette with a max measurement of 28x22x14. But I just recently read a post where someone said they could only have a tote bag with them. Now we're worried about what we can really have in there with us. I should probably note that there are three of us traveling and we have booked 2 roomettes. We were originally thinking that would give us more space for extra "stuff" but the reservationist said no. So what is really the space situation? Will there be room for our bags if we travel with two that measure 28x22x14 plus a couple smaller toiletry bags or smaller duffles?

Others can speak more authoritatively about the dimensions than I can, but I can tell you this: you'll probably be just fine. The "cubby hole" above the hallway fits a carry-on sized roller suitcase, and since there's three of you, the top bunk in one of the rooms can double as storage space as well.

Since meals are included but we are due to board around midnight, do we just get up in the morning and head to breakfast or do we tell someone when we want to eat?

When you board, your sleeping car porter should greet you at the door. It's best to tell him or her at that point what time you'd like to have breakfast. He or she should make sure to relay the message to the dining car staff so that they can have the table set for you and the places available.

Others have noted that they tip their sleeper attendant. Does one tip based on the number of rooms you have or the number of passengers in your group?

I usually tip based on the number of people, but that's just me.

The Cardinal says it has a lounge car - is this like an observation area or just someplace to go other than your room?

Unfortunately, the lounge on the Cardinal is also the dining car (it's called a Diner-Lounge), and the windows aren't much bigger than the windows in coach. Frankly, you have better windows in the sleeper, and the only advantage the lounge has over the sleeper sight-wise is that you can see out of both sides of the train.

I was told that these rooms are across from one another - is that true? I'm curious as to where exactly our rooms are in the car. It seems as though others are able to look this info up somewhere but I'm not sure where.

I dug up this map from Friends of Amtrak some years ago and modified it for my purposes to include the Transition Sleeper layout. For your trip on the Cardinal, pay attention to the Viewliner diagram, as that's the car you'll be in. Feel free to save it to your desktop:

there are a lot of stations between Indy and NYP, yet only a few have arrival and departure times listed. Does this mean that the train only stops at the locations that have both times?

The single time simply means that's when the train will depart. Since it's not a major stop, there's no "dwell time" at the station, which means people can't step out to smoke or walk around the platform. Stations that have dwell time show up on the timetable with an arrival and departure time. Note, however, the the train may or may not stop in Thurmond or Alderson, as those stations are "Flag Stops." A flag stop is a small station where the engineer may not stop the train if he doesn't see anyone on the platform and if the conductor doesn't have anyone on board that needs to get off.

-Rafi

 

[GG-1]

Aloha Rafi

Mahalo for the car layout of the Heritage car. That was my first long distance ride/sleeper for me. Way back when. Jackson, FL to Washington DC. The rest of the sleeper for me were the Superliners. Used roomettes, bedroom and family room. As a single I prefer the upstairs roomettes.

Anyway again Mahalo for the Car layouts

 

[Joel N. Weber II]

Did the heritage sleepers all come from a single railroad? Or was it the case that Pullman made some standard design that was sold to many railroads? I'd somehow assumed that when Amtrak got equipment from many railroads, that they would have gotten sleepers with multiple layouts.

Also, what's the ``empty'' space on the lower level of a Superliner sleeper used for?

 

[AlanB]

Did the heritage sleepers all come from a single railroad? Or was it the case that Pullman made some standard design that was sold to many railroads? I'd somehow assumed that when Amtrak got equipment from many railroads, that they would have gotten sleepers with multiple layouts.
Also, what's the ``empty'' space on the lower level of a Superliner sleeper used for?

I'm far from the best expert on this, but Amtrak got many different types of sleepers from the freight RR's. Although even then by and large there were only maybe a dozen or so different types of cars, thanks to some standardization by Pullman. Most of the other types were retired years ago, leaving only the Heritage 10-6 that you see in the Friends of Amtrak layout above. And even the 10-6 finally saw its retirement almost 4 or 5 years ago now. I believe that the 10-6's were the only sleepers converted from steam to HEP.

As for the "empty" space on a Superliner car, it's not unique to the sleepers either, you'll find water tanks (both drinking and waste), water heater, AC units, and a few other things.

 

[John Bredin]

Also, what's the "empty'' space on the lower level of a Superliner sleeper used for?

Considering that a Superliner is a pretty low-floor car, I would say the trucks, with the storage space mentioned by AlanB above them.

 

[PRR 60]

Did the heritage sleepers all come from a single railroad? Or was it the case that Pullman made some standard design that was sold to many railroads? I'd somehow assumed that when Amtrak got equipment from many railroads, that they would have gotten sleepers with multiple layouts.

While Amtrak originally got a wide variety of sleeping cars from the prior owning railroads, the "Heritage" sleeping cars were the ones Amtrak chose to equip with electric heat and they decided to only convert a standard car configuration, called a 10-6 (for 10 roomettes and 6 bedrooms). It actually ended up being a 10-4 since one roomette became a shower and another became the attendant's room.
The sleepers Amtrak chose to convert came principally from three railroads: the Union Pacific, the Burlington, and the Santa Fe. The names of the cars identified the source railroad of the car (with some minor exceptions). The cars that used "Pacific" in the name were of Union Pacific heritage. The cars with "Silver" in the name were former Burlington cars. The cars with "Pine" in the name were former Santa Fe cars. Most of the cars were made by Budd, not Pullman.

And, to spice things up a bit, the car layouts varied a little. The bedrooms of most cars had the beds arranged perpendicular to the car like today's Superliner and Viewliner bedrooms. But some of the former Union Pacific cars had the bedroom beds oriented parallel to the car along the window like a roomette. I rode one of those in 1991 on the old Montrealer and liked that arrangement.

 

[jackal]

How about the lower level of the Transition Dorm?

 

[AlanB]

How about the lower level of the Transition Dorm?

Well I'm not quite sure what info you want, but on the off chance you want the layout, here you go. The accessible room still exists, as well as the three bathrooms and the shower. On the roomette/family room side is a crew lounge instead.

 

[Rafi]

There is also room for a shoulder bag next to the larger of the two seats. If you need anything more than that, then I would recommend checking some luggage and letting it go into the baggage car. Your car attendant will try to accommodate larger bags, but it is very difficult for him to do so. He usually has to store them in the shower room, and in the vestibule of the car. This means that he has to keep moving them around as people enter and exit the train at stations, or if someone wants to take a shower.

Just a quick clarification, Alan:

She's taking the Cardinal, which means no baggage car, unfortunately. But I figure they'll have plenty of room between the two cubbies and the unused top bunk in one of the two roomettes.

Rafi

 

[AlanB]

There is also room for a shoulder bag next to the larger of the two seats. If you need anything more than that, then I would recommend checking some luggage and letting it go into the baggage car. Your car attendant will try to accommodate larger bags, but it is very difficult for him to do so. He usually has to store them in the shower room, and in the vestibule of the car. This means that he has to keep moving them around as people enter and exit the train at stations, or if someone wants to take a shower.

Just a quick clarification, Alan:

She's taking the Cardinal, which means no baggage car, unfortunately. But I figure they'll have plenty of room between the two cubbies and the unused top bunk in one of the two roomettes.

Rafi

You are quite right and I just wasn't paying attention when I put that in. I have an entire MS Word document where I keep paragraphs of standard answers to commonly asked questions, rather than retyping everything all the time. When the question of bag sizes came up, I just cut and pasted that paragraph without even thinking about the reference to the baggage car.

 

[Windyhair]

Thank you all so very much for your quick and helpful responses. We sure are looking forward to this trip!

 

[NapTown Jim]

The reservation assistant told me that we could have two bags only in each Viewliner Roomette with a max measurement of 28x22x14. But I just recently read a post where someone said they could only have a tote bag with them. Now we're worried about what we can really have in there with us. I should probably note that there are three of us traveling and we have booked 2 roomettes. We were originally thinking that would give us more space for extra "stuff" but the reservationist said no. So what is really the space situation? Will there be room for our bags if we travel with two that measure 28x22x14 plus a couple smaller toiletry bags or smaller duffles? Thanks!

It sucks not being able to check bags in Indianapolis doesn't it? I'm thinking about riding the Cardinal R/T Indy to Washington DC next year in a roomette like you're getting and I'm a little concerned about the luggage storage situation since the wife doesn't know the meaning of packing light. Someone mentioned the Cardinal does not have a baggage car. This can't be true, can it? I would have thought people riding Chicago to Washington or NY would be able to check bags.

 

[MrFSS]

It sucks not being able to check bags in Indianapolis doesn't it? I'm thinking about riding the Cardinal R/T Indy to Washington DC next year in a roomette like you're getting and I'm a little concerned about the luggage storage situation since the wife doesn't know the meaning of packing light. Someone mentioned the Cardinal does not have a baggage car. This can't be true, can it? I would have thought people riding Chicago to Washington or NY would be able to check bags.

I can guarantee that there is no baggage car on The Cardinal. I've ridden it a number of times. Everyone has to pack their luggage up the flight and a half of stairs in Indy to the platform. There is an elevator, though, you can use.

 

[WICT106]

The reservation assistant told me that we could have two bags only in each Viewliner Roomette with a max measurement of 28x22x14. But I just recently read a post where someone said they could only have a tote bag with them. Now we're worried about what we can really have in there with us. I should probably note that there are three of us traveling and we have booked 2 roomettes. We were originally thinking that would give us more space for extra "stuff" but the reservationist said no. So what is really the space situation? Will there be room for our bags if we travel with two that measure 28x22x14 plus a couple smaller toiletry bags or smaller duffles? Thanks!

It sucks not being able to check bags in Indianapolis doesn't it? I'm thinking about riding the Cardinal R/T Indy to Washington DC next year in a roomette like you're getting and I'm a little concerned about the luggage storage situation since the wife doesn't know the meaning of packing light. Someone mentioned the Cardinal does not have a baggage car. This can't be true, can it? I would have thought people riding Chicago to Washington or NY would be able to check bags.

It most certainly is true. The Cardinal has no checked baggage service.

 

[Rafi]

Someone mentioned the Cardinal does not have a baggage car. This can't be true, can it? I would have thought people riding Chicago to Washington or NY would be able to check bags.

Jim,

It is, true, unfortunately. Amtrak stripped the Cardinal of its baggage car not long after the train lost the full service diner (and for a short time after that, it lost the sleeper due to a shortage of viewliners, but thankfully the sleeper came back and the train later got the Diner-Lounge for a much-needed food upgrade). For folks checking bags between chicago and the east coast (Washington up to New York), the bags are handled either on the Capitol Limited or the Lake Shore (and if you're headed to Charlottesville, the bags go onto the Crescent from Washington). If you're destined for a Cardinal-only station, however, you're out of luck on checked baggage and have to carry it with you.

Amtrak is woefully short on baggage cars, unfortunately, and the Cardinal feels that hurt. The best way to get a baggage car back on there (if they have them to spare) is to basically write letters to Amtrak and see if you can get Robert Byrd's office from West Virginia to make some calls to Amtrak as well. In talking to Amtrak folks, I get the feeling that while they know people want to check baggage on that train, they just haven't seen a big enough cry-out for the service to come back to really warrant it.

Rafi

 

[had8ley]

From the condition of the remaining baggage cars that I have observed they will soon will in the same category of the single level domes~history. One major thing that disturbs me is the mechanical condition of these cars; they ride the head end and if they drop a journal or derail account of a thin flanged wheel the rest of the train is going to follow. I know it's no consolation to not having checked baggage privileges but I'd rather be safe than sorry and take a chance on a mega-million mile grimy baggage car at the head end of any train I ride. Let's be honest; they are all as old or older than the heritage diners and probably do not get the shop attention that the diners do. Kinda reminds me when Budd came out with the RDC's; they even had half and half cars. Half pax; half bags, mail. I don't know when the last combine car (half coach, half bags was built but I'd bet it was almost 50 years ago. I'm assuming the present Superliner coach/bags were converted by pulling the seats out of the lower level. Someone please correct me if I am wrong.

 

[NapTown Jim]

I can guarantee that there is no baggage car on The Cardinal. I've ridden it a number of times. Everyone has to pack their luggage up the flight and a half of stairs in Indy to the platform. There is an elevator, though, you can use.

Bummer. For some reason I thought it was just Indy that had no baggage service either because Amtrak didn't want to staff people for it or maybe there's no freight elevator in that part of Union Station. I guess Amtrak also needs to buy some new baggage cars too. Those should be cheaper than a coach, diner or sleeper car. Seems like it wouldn't take much to modify a typical freight box car to carry luggage. Its frustrating Amtrak lacks the funding for this very basic service.

 

[AlanB]

Maybe not Jay. Amtrak has budgeted to overhaul 36 baggage cars this fiscal year. So far three months into the year, December being the latest numbers published by Amtrak, they have done 3 cars. On the other hand the plan was for 9 to be done by now, so they are six behind on production. I don't know if that's due to problems with the overhauls, a late start on the work, lack of money, or just too much other work going on in BG.

As for the Superliner coach/bags, I could be wrong, but I believe that they were built that way. The smoking coaches, snack coaches, and the kidde cars on the other hand were converted after the fact.

 

[Green Maned Lion]

I'm far from the best expert on this, but Amtrak got many different types of sleepers from the freight RR's. Although even then by and large there were only maybe a dozen or so different types of cars, thanks to some standardization by Pullman. Most of the other types were retired years ago, leaving only the Heritage 10-6 that you see in the Friends of Amtrak layout above. And even the 10-6 finally saw its retirement almost 4 or 5 years ago now. I believe that the 10-6's were the only sleepers converted from steam to HEP.

Why is everyone forgetting the 24-8 Slumbercoaches? They had two layouts, basically, once they consolidated: the 10-6 "sleeper" and the 24-8 "Slumbercoach". The Slumbercoach had this layout: Slumbercoach Diagram

Also, the last single-level Pullman sleepers, I'm pretty sure, didn't make it to Amtrak HEP service. The streamlined Pullmans were either painted carbon-steel (not all that great) which may have made it to some later Amtrak usage, but I'd bet they were gone by 1990, or carbon-steel overlaid with stainless-steel covering which was a massive heap of crap. Basically, the overlay created a rust trap. Pullman didn't want to pay Budd for their shot-welding patent. Budd built their cars primarily out of stainless steel using shotwelding, and I'm pretty sure almost all of the 10-6s in Heritage service were Budds. Certainly, all the heritage cars currently in service are Budds.

It actually ended up being a 10-4 since one roomette became a shower and another became the attendant's room.

8-6. 8 Roomettes, 6 double bedrooms.

From the condition of the remaining baggage cars that I have observed they will soon will in the same category of the single level domes~history. One major thing that disturbs me is the mechanical condition of these cars; they ride the head end and if they drop a journal or derail account of a thin flanged wheel the rest of the train is going to follow. I know it's no consolation to not having checked baggage privileges but I'd rather be safe than sorry and take a chance on a mega-million mile grimy baggage car at the head end of any train I ride. Let's be honest; they are all as old or older than the heritage diners and probably do not get the shop attention that the diners do. Kinda reminds me when Budd came out with the RDC's; they even had half and half cars. Half pax; half bags, mail. I don't know when the last combine car (half coach, half bags was built but I'd bet it was almost 50 years ago. I'm assuming the present Superliner coach/bags were converted by pulling the seats out of the lower level. Someone please correct me if I am wrong.

I am pretty sure none of the baggage cars currently in Amtrak operation were originally baggage cars. I think some of them were originally Mail cars, but I think most of them were originally coaches. I think when they took the coaches out of service, they took the best ones and made them into baggage cars.

That being said, except for the disadvantage of losing the Railfan Window, they would be wise to put the baggage cars on the back of the train.

Bummer. For some reason I thought it was just Indy that had no baggage service either because Amtrak didn't want to staff people for it or maybe there's no freight elevator in that part of Union Station. I guess Amtrak also needs to buy some new baggage cars too. Those should be cheaper than a coach, diner or sleeper car. Seems like it wouldn't take much to modify a typical freight box car to carry luggage. Its frustrating Amtrak lacks the funding for this very basic service.

I suspect the primary reason is really the not wanting to staff it. In anycase, using taller, less aerodynamic freight cars for baggage has a distinct disadvantage: it creates another overlap between cars, cutting aerodynamic efficiency and, thus, fuel economy.

 

[jackal]

In anycase, using taller, less aerodynamic freight cars for baggage has a distinct disadvantage: it creates another overlap between cars, cutting aerodynamic efficiency and, thus, fuel economy.

Not to mention that under most railroads' operating rules (GCOR, timetables, Air Brake and Train Handling manuals, etc.--don't remember which one specifies it), any trains with freight equipment in them are limited to freight speeds--even if it's a passenger train with one freight car. Now, I'm not sure what the technical definition of a freight car is and what is physically different between a freight car and a passenger car, but if a regular box car were included in the trainset, well, the Southwest Chief would be doing 70 across the desert instead of 90.

IIRC, the brake line pressure would be limited to freight pressures (usually 90psi) instead of passenger pressures (110psi), which would marginally reduce available braking power.

I'll need to go back into my old manuals and stuff (and maybe a bit of the CFARs) to see what exactly differentiates a passenger car and a freight car to be sure, though.

Edit: OK, I found a few references. From the Alaska Railroad Air Brake and Train Handling Manual:

Glossary: Passenger Equipment All powered and unpowered passenger cars, locomotives used to haul a passenger

car, and any other rail-rolling equipment used in a train with one or more

passenger cars. Passenger equipment includes:

• A passenger car

• A cab car

• A MU locomotive

• A locomotive that is used to power a passenger train

• Any non-self- propelled vehicle used in a passenger train, including an

express car, baggage car, mail car, freight car, or a private car

This definition does not include a freight locomotive when used to haul a

passenger train due to failure of a passenger locomotive.

So, it appears that a freight car on a passenger train is considered passenger equipment. But that almost contradicts another few sections regarding brake pipe pressure:

101.6 Standard Brake Pipe Pressure The pressure in the regulating valve must be adjusted to one of the following:

• Yard or freight service—90 psi

• Trains consisting entirely of passenger equipment—110 psi

(Emphasis mine)

and

102.12 Standard Air Pressures Ensure that air pressures are adjusted to the following:

• Main reservoir pressure is 130 to 140 psi

• Locomotive brake cylinder pressure is

− 45 psi for locomotives with clasp-type brake shoe rigging

− 72 psi for locomotives with single shoe per wheel brake rigging

• Brake pipe pressure is

− 90 psi for yard or freight service

− 110 psi for trains consisting entirely of passenger equipment

(Again, emphasis mine)

And from GCOR:

5.5 Permanent Speed Signs Permanent speed restriction signs will be placed in advance of permanent speed restrictions. Numbers on

the face of these signs indicate the highest speed permitted over the limits of the restriction.

Two Sets of Numbers

When two sets of numbers are shown, the greater number governs trains consisting entirely of passenger

equipment. The lesser number governs all other trains.

6.31 Maximum Authorized Speed

Conductors and engineers are jointly responsible for knowing and not exceeding the maximum authorized

speed for their train. Passenger speed is applicable only to trains consisting entirely of passenger

equipment.

(Again, emphases mine)

Oh, and unrelated, but I just came across it:

12.1 Required Equipment Except as provided in Rule 12.2 (ATS Device Cut Out, Not Equipped, or Not Working), an engine controlling

the air brakes of a passenger train within ATS limits must be equipped with an operative ATS device.

It was asked elsewhere earlier if all trains must have ATS on ATS territory (i.e. the BNSF Transcon). Apparently, freights are not required to--only passenger trains. ATC, however, has different rules:

17.1 Automatic Train Control Territory ATC territory is specified in special instructions. An engine must not be operated in ATC territory if it is not

equipped with an operable ATC system unless otherwise authorized by special instructions or the train

dispatcher.

OK, enough rules for now!

 

[Acela150]

While riding the Cardinal last june, we were in roomette #4 and yes 7&8 are across fromeach other. These roomettes are the fourth down the roomette corridor. As for your luggage situation they typically use the shower room as a baggage holder.

Hoping your trip is well,

Acela150

 

[AlanB]

While riding the Cardinal last june, we were in roomette #4 and yes 7&8 are across fromeach other. These roomettes are the fourth down the roomette corridor. As for your luggage situation they typically use the shower room as a baggage holder.
Hoping your trip is well,

Acela150

Which creates quite a problem when someone wants to take a shower.

However in the case of the OP, it won't matter as they'll have more than enough room in their two rooms for their luggage and three people.