No water in CZ sleeper car

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CTANut

Service Attendant
Joined
Oct 29, 2019
Messages
170
Location
USA
I am currently on the CZ, and a SCA just announced there was no water in the 531 sleeper, which I am in. What has been your experience with this.
 
The water is not working: faucets, showers and toilets. That what the announcement was.
 
Also, the dining car dragons at it again. They strictly limit you to 2 pieces of meat.
 
The water is not working: faucets, showers and toilets. That what the announcement was.
That happened on my trip once when I was in the Texas Eagle sleeper eastbound from LA to Chicago. The car ran out of water in Arizona so evidently it had not been filled in LA. It was a bit tough on the woman who was in the shower at the time. It wasn't a big problem for me and I simply used a toilet in the next sleeper. We got water in El Paso. Since we did not have any other water problems all the way to Chicago, it was not due to a leak or malfunction but just hadn't been filled in LA.
 
That happened on my trip once when I was in the Texas Eagle sleeper eastbound from LA to Chicago. The car ran out of water in Arizona so evidently it had not been filled in LA. It was a bit tough on the woman who was in the shower at the time. It wasn't a big problem for me and I simply used a toilet in the next sleeper. We got water in El Paso. Since we did not have any other water problems all the way to Chicago, it was not due to a leak or malfunction but just hadn't been filled in LA.
I had a similar experience on the CS when the entire plumbing system went down. The SCA told us we needed to use what facilities were available in the adjoining sleeper. We were just coming up to Emeryville... I called customer relations and told them to get it fixed cause the smell and etc was really effecting folks in bedrooms and the H room. I was pleasantly surprised to see a crew ready to work on the problem when we arrived... we continued on to LA with problem solved!

If there's a problem enroute do call Amtrak... they are usually very responsive :)
 
I had a similar experience on the CS when the entire plumbing system went down. The SCA told us we needed to use what facilities were available in the adjoining sleeper. We were just coming up to Emeryville... I called customer relations and told them to get it fixed cause the smell and etc was really effecting folks in bedrooms and the H room. I was pleasantly surprised to see a crew ready to work on the problem when we arrived... we continued on to LA with problem solved!

If there's a problem enroute do call Amtrak... they are usually very responsive :)
Don't you think the crew already called ahead for someone to be at EMY to fix the issue? I doubt your call was needed.
 
Your words suggest that Amtrak is competent 😂

There is general agreement, I believe, that Amtrak has been earning low grades in the subject of competency. But, please don't forget, not all of Amtrak's employees are incompetent. Most of us have experienced Amtrak personnel that are not "just competent", but do an excellent job for their customers.
 
There is general agreement, I believe, that Amtrak has been earning low grades in the subject of competency. But, please don't forget, not all of Amtrak's employees are incompetent. Most of us have experienced Amtrak personnel that are not "just competent", but do an excellent job for their customers.
That’s fair, but I find it very believable that the water tank was not filled prior to departure
 
Ok, that clears things up a bit. The tank may have water, but the pressure system that allows it to flow may have quit, or the electrical circuit powering it.

If that did happen the whole train would be out of plumbing because that comes off the MR line and if the sleepers are in the front of the train and there is an issue there is no air getting back to the rest of the cars. So I would strongly doubt that would have occurred.

Now there is no excuse to leave a terminal without water. I always top off before we depart anywhere. Even on a tourist railroad with a 30 mile run you never know when you will get water again or when you might run out. So I plan ahead and top her off.
 
If that did happen the whole train would be out of plumbing because that comes off the MR line and if the sleepers are in the front of the train and there is an issue there is no air getting back to the rest of the cars. So I would strongly doubt that would have occurred.

Now there is no excuse to leave a terminal without water. I always top off before we depart anywhere. Even on a tourist railroad with a 30 mile run you never know when you will get water again or when you might run out. So I plan ahead and top her off.
I am sure what happened in our case was that a dog had eaten the checklist.
 
There is general agreement, I believe, that Amtrak has been earning low grades in the subject of competency. But, please don't forget, not all of Amtrak's employees are incompetent. Most of us have experienced Amtrak personnel that are not "just competent", but do an excellent job for their customers.
Every employee should be at least competent. If not, the managers aren't. And, yes, I have met those that go above and beyond at Amtrak. But they stick out so far from others, it's embarrassing. I still remember the SLA from the next car who helped us when our agent just stood there while we were struggling while boarding (she-who-must-be-obeyed had knee problems). He just walked over and said nothing. When our SLA also watched us leave, I walked over to the other SLA and gave him the tip that our agent would normally have gotten if he was worth anything at all.
 
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