Roomette #2

[MiRider]

I was just in room #2 both ways on an EB roundtrip, CHI - SEA last week and I thought it was really convenient.I was in the Portland section westbound and Seattle eastbound and neither SCA slept in #1, we had a crew/dorm car and I think that's where they all were.

No smells from the restroom or anyone hanging out at the coffee station unless they were getting something.

Super convenient to everything, imo and I wouldn't mind getting it again.

Or they were in an empty bedroom - as several AU posters (including me) have observed.

Ah, now that you say that that's probably where my SEA-CHI SCA was because, when we were getting ready to get off, he hauled all of his luggage from that end of the car - never saw him there though.

 

[Everydaymatters]

Room #1 is ALWAYS the room the SCA occupies, since that is the room where the room notices go to. If (s)he does not occupy that room, and uses another unoccupied room to sleep in, they are the ones you can never find. And also is the alarm goes off at (say) 3 am, but they are sleeping in the H-room, how would they know a buzzer sounded in room #1? :blush:

Dave, last month on the TE/SL to LAX, the CS from LAX to SEA, and on the return on the CS to SAC, then on the CZ, the SCA Never occupied #1.

 

[the_traveler]

And they probably were never seen thru the trip either! You're told at the beginning of every trip, if you need the SCA, (s)he will be room #1 on a Superliner or room #14 on a Viewliner. I've never heard them say they'll be in room a from X to Y and then room b from Y to Z!

 

[Tennessee Traveler]

And they probably were never seen thru the trip either! You're told at the beginning of every trip, if you need the SCA, (s)he will be room #1 on a Superliner or room #14 on a Viewliner. I've never heard them say they'll be in room a from X to Y and then room b from Y to Z!

I have traveled in sleepers regularly over many years and have never been told the SCA would be available in ANY room. And I don't recall getting bottle water or soft drinks from a room. Usually such was available in the area where the coffee and orange juices where located in center of the car.

 

[Everydaymatters]

The first SCA we had was Reggie. He was the best. He was always there and was always cheerful and helpful. One of the best ever. The second one was one of the worst. He disappeared for hours and gradually we ran out of coffee, soap, towels, etc., etc.

One of them, I don't recall which train it was on, actually put a sign up on #1 stating he was in A bedroom. Other than that, nobody ever told us which room the SCA would be in.

 

[AmtrakBlue]

As I understand it, the SCA is supposed to be in room #1, but some are known to occupy empty bedrooms. On the CZ I believe our SCA was in Room A for at least part of the trip. I don't think he was "missing in action" during the trip though.

 

[the_traveler]

I personally believe that an SCA who occupies another room during the trip should be reported! That employee could be costing Amtrak revenue since that "unoccupied" room can not be sold as an onboard upgrade, and possibly not online or by an agent either. And (just using the CZ as an example) if someone getting on in Omaha going to EMY decided once onboard to upgrade, but saw all the rooms occupied may not ask the following day in DEN or later if a room was available. So Amtrak may lose 2 nights of revenue.

I doubt the rule book states that an SCA is entitled to 2 rooms per trip!

 

[AlanB]

If they're putting you in #2, it's probably because you're the first to book, and they go sequentially (of course #1 isn't available).

Well, they go sequentially for the first 3 roomettes, as in 2, 3, & 4. But then the next rooms sold, assuming no special requests, will be 10 & 11. Then the computer will return upstairs to sell more rooms up there.

 

[AlanB]

I've not traveled in 2 or 3 since SCA started using the 001 roomette so cannot speak for possibility of people hanging out chatting with the attendant.

The SCA's have always used room #1, it has never been for sale to the public. Or perhaps I should say, that the SCA is always assigned to room #1. Some, if space is available, will change rooms.

 

[AlanB]

I personally believe that an SCA who occupies another room during the trip should be reported! That employee could be costing Amtrak revenue since that "unoccupied" room can not be sold as an onboard upgrade, and possibly not online or by an agent either. And (just using the CZ as an example) if someone getting on in Omaha going to EMY decided once onboard to upgrade, but saw all the rooms occupied may not ask the following day in DEN or later if a room was available. So Amtrak may lose 2 nights of revenue.
I doubt the rule book states that an SCA is entitled to 2 rooms per trip!

Unless the SCA is working in cahoots with a ticket agent, which would probably be a fireable offense, that isn't true. The room must be blanked out in ARROW in order to prevent its sale further down the road. No SCA can access ARROW to do that. So any SCA occupying the last Bedroom to be sold, normally A, would be risking having someone show up along the way with a ticket to that room and he/she would have to quickly vacate the room.

Onboard upgrades these days are more or less moot, since Amtrak no longer encourages that practice. In fact, someone asking for an upgrade is as likely to be told by the conductor to just call the 800 number, whereupon the agent having no idea that the SCA is improperly occupying A, would proceed to sell it.

 

[Gingee]

On our next trip on the train we have roomette number two both ways. Have had it before without any problem. Only problem that I am concerned about on ours is that we have a one level train which means a toilet in our room. No privacy.

 

[the_traveler]

Just for clarification, Gingee's trip is in a Viewliner (single level car), which does have a toilet in the room. The Superliners (2 level cars) do not have toilets in the roomettes.

 

[Blackwolf]

I know the Viewliners have a different style of attendant call than the Superliners, and here are the comparisons between the two:

Viewliner:

• The "bell" only goes off in the attendant's room.
• There is (usually; one Viewliner I traveled aboard had it removed and a featureless plastic board in its place) an annuciator panel in the attendant's room that lights up which accommodation has rung their call button.

Superliner:

• The "bell" rings loudly through the entire car, on both levels, which makes every single passenger (and employee) inside it very aware that someone has used their call button. All all hours of the day and/or night. :angry:
• There is no annunciator board to tell which room has called the attendant, instead the doorbell button (the orange square on the light outside each room) of the calling accommodation illuminates to summon attention.

 

[MiRider]

Okay, this is a little OT but why would anyone use a call button in the middle of the night?

Outside of a toilet overflowing (don't see that happening) what could you possibly need that you wouldn't/couldn't take care of yourself?

I've had a couple of SCAs that asked me to use the call button for turndown but I don't see any purpose for it unless you're in trouble.

Someone on by westbound EB trip used that dang button all night!

I didn't want to walk the whole car but I looked to see if it was someone in one of the roomettes - I was getting ready to take care of them myself :angry:

They're sleeping car attendants, not personal assistants or servants.

Anyway, if you've used the call button, why? Enlighten me.

 

[jimhudson]

Joanie: Nice Post! I've only used the Call Button One Time and it was when I got Locked in my Roomette when the Lock Malfunctioned and the SCA and Conductor had to Break the Door to get it Open! I too have heard High Maintenance Passengers Constantly Pull the Call Button and once had to tell a Really Rude, Demanding Person @ Midnight (from Boston! :giggle: ) that She was Disturbing the Car and that the SCA had 19 other Rooms to take Care of, so Patience was a Virtue and Could I Help her with Something since she seemed really Needy! Turns out she was one of those People who called the SCA "Porter" and "Boy" and also got into it with the Diner Crew and the Conductors! If Id been the Conductor she would have been Looking @ the Markers from the Next Stop as the Train Highballed into the Night! !

 

[Linda T]

On our next trip on the train we have roomette number two both ways. Have had it before without any problem. Only problem that I am concerned about on ours is that we have a one level train which means a toilet in our room. No privacy.

I adore the viewliner roomettes, and will be sorry to see them go. But the way my husband and I handle it is we close all the curtains, lock the door, and the other one steps out into the aisle way or into a vacant room for a few minutes. Since Amtrak raised the points on bedrooms, that's the next best thing, imho. I'm just hoping that all my travel this year (and hopefully in 2014) will be before they get (or at least begin using) the new viewliner order. My last trip this year is mid-September.

 

[Linda T]

Joanie: Nice Post! I've only used the Call Button One Time and it was when I got Locked in my Roomette when the Lock Malfunctioned and the SCA and Conductor had to Break the Door to get it Open!

I would have needed to do the same thing in October when I had a bedroom to ATL. I was in the bathroom when the door handle fell off. The key piece was on the outside. Lucky for me, my husband was with me on that trip and he knew what to do. After he got me out we just put the handle on backwards so the person in the bathroom always had the key element to get out. Bathrooms need call buttons too.

 

[oregon pioneer]

I would have needed to do the same thing in October when I had a bedroom to ATL. I was in the bathroom when the door handle fell off. The key piece was on the outside. Lucky for me, my husband was with me on that trip and he knew what to do. After he got me out we just put the handle on backwards so the person in the bathroom always had the key element to get out. Bathrooms need call buttons too.

Linda, I am sure I've seen call buttons in the bathrooms! Seemed like a really good idea at the time, as medical emergencies can occur in bathrooms, and a person might need help from the Attendant. Alan, can you set us straight on this? Are there call buttons in the bathrooms, if so, on which (or all) equipment?

Also, I think I used the call button once when the SCA asked us to call him that way to put the beds down, and one other time before I realized that an if an SCA was nowhere to be found, said SCA was not (insert British expletive here) likely to see the light outside my door.

 

[the_traveler]

I'm not Alan, but I play him on TV! :giggle:

I've seen call buttons in the public rest rooms on Superliners, in the shower rooms - and I think in the bedroom bathrooms too!

 

[MiRider]

I would have needed to do the same thing in October when I had a bedroom to ATL. I was in the bathroom when the door handle fell off. The key piece was on the outside. Lucky for me, my husband was with me on that trip and he knew what to do. After he got me out we just put the handle on backwards so the person in the bathroom always had the key element to get out. Bathrooms need call buttons too.

Linda, I am sure I've seen call buttons in the bathrooms! Seemed like a really good idea at the time, as medical emergencies can occur in bathrooms, and a person might need help from the Attendant. Alan, can you set us straight on this? Are there call buttons in the bathrooms, if so, on which (or all) equipment?

Also, I think I used the call button once when the SCA asked us to call him that way to put the beds down, and one other time before I realized that an if an SCA was nowhere to be found, said SCA was not (insert British expletive here) likely to see the light outside my door.

I'm positive that there are call buttons in the Superliner restrooms - a little too close to the flush button if you ask me.

Probably why you pull the call button, harder to make a mistake.

 

[Rail Freak]

I would have needed to do the same thing in October when I had a bedroom to ATL. I was in the bathroom when the door handle fell off. The key piece was on the outside. Lucky for me, my husband was with me on that trip and he knew what to do. After he got me out we just put the handle on backwards so the person in the bathroom always had the key element to get out. Bathrooms need call buttons too.

Linda, I am sure I've seen call buttons in the bathrooms! Seemed like a really good idea at the time, as medical emergencies can occur in bathrooms, and a person might need help from the Attendant. Alan, can you set us straight on this? Are there call buttons in the bathrooms, if so, on which (or all) equipment?

Also, I think I used the call button once when the SCA asked us to call him that way to put the beds down, and one other time before I realized that an if an SCA was nowhere to be found, said SCA was not (insert British expletive here) likely to see the light outside my door.

Yeah, there are definitely Call Buttons in the restrooms, I've mistaken them for the Flush Buttons! :giggle:

 

[JayPea]

One time while on the CS, our car had the call button in the bathrooms. The car was a refurbished one, in which to flush the toilet, one simply lowered the lid. No flush button. People were constantly using the call button to flush the toilet despite repeated announcements by our SCA, Toni, on how to flush the toilets. At one of the fresh air stops in the Bay area, just before bedtime, I was talking with Toni and reminded me to use the call button in the room if I needed anything. I replied that if I did need anything, I'd just flush the toilet. :lol: She got a big kick out of that.

 

[AlanB]

When the Superliner's were first introduced, in the Bedrooms, the button to flush the toilet was very close to the button that operated the shower. Many, many people took an unexpected bath until Amtrak fixed that issue. :lol:

 

[Linda T]

I'm not Alan, but I play him on TV! :giggle:
I've seen call buttons in the public rest rooms on Superliners, in the shower rooms - and I think in the bedroom bathrooms too!

Oops, this was the Crescent, a viewliner, bathroom in the bedroom. There could have been a call button in there, but since I had my husband in the room I just called out and he came to my rescue. I think I looked after the incident and still didn't recall seeing one, but my eyes ain't what they used ta be. :giggle: