Sleeper accommodation discussion

[Bonser]

No. Nothing is slightly larger on Amtrak. Only the non shared wall room is the Superliner A.

VIA has different set up, so you might be thinking of there sleepers.

But E does have one wall that is next to the stairs. Non shared

 

[Just-Thinking-51]

But E does have one wall that is next to the stairs. Non shared

Me bad.

 

[Sauve850]

Bedroom A looks a bit smaller by about a square foot but I guess that we will get by. The two beds and the bathroom are essential at this point in life. The only concern is that the bathroom door appears not to swing open fully but probably at about 70%. This is our first bedroom A trip ever. Thanks for the photos.

The bathroom door does not open fully. You are correct as its only about 70%. It could be a tight squeeze for some folks.

 

[lordsigma]

E is the most popular because it’s at the center of the car (so smoothest ride) and you don’t have a neighbor on both sides. It’s usually the first room to go through.

 

[Shanson]

I believe that Amtrak reservation system assigns E to the first Bedroom reservation received. Another advantage: it's close to the coffee stand!

 

[Debifred]

A roomette is fine for one person for one night. I generally go for a bedroom (E is my pick if possible) when traveling 2 nights. The cost is crazy these days compared to even a year ago. Try booking a roomette then doing a bidup to a bedroom to save a few dollars. I'm currently on the CZ..leaving Denver in 3 minutes. The train is far from fully booked. Several empty roomettes and bedrooms. The minimum Bidup from roomette to bedroom price for CHI to GSC was $275 each way. I took a pass. Roomette is fine

Why bedroom E please?

 

[Eric in East County]

E is the most popular because it’s at the center of the car (so smoothest ride) and you don’t have a neighbor on both sides. It’s usually the first room to go through.

It usually must be reserved well in advance of when you plan to travel. 11 months (which is about as far in advance as you can make an Amtrak booking) might work (but not always!) Be sure to talk with a live agent and then specifically request E. While you're at it, request that it is the E in the first or prime sleeper; the one that isn't likely to be removed from the consist if there is an equipment shortage.

 

[basketmaker]

Over the years I've done all the bedrooms mainly when traveling with my late husband. "E" is good barring an occasional thump of some bumping the wall while negotiating the steps. "A" is a smidgen tighter at least utilizing the restroom. I'm scrawny so it's not an issue. The only drawback for me is that you can't watch the scenery go by while doing your business. If you are traveling with someone that most likely that wouldn't be an problem. The ride is a bit rougher since you are over the trucks. Room "D" would be my preferred room if I had the choice. More recently I have used Roomettes for cost savings.

 

[Eric in East County]

Room "D" would be my preferred room if I had the choice.

We usually end up in D (after having first requested E) and we've always been very happy with it.

 

[EchoSierra]

Having never traveled in a sleeper before, but looking to do so in the near future, I have a question about the roomette.

Is changing the seat to bed mode and back something that I am allowed to or can do myself, or do I need to ask the attendant every time? I feel like I would spend a lot of time lying down and relaxing, but sometimes I may want to sit up. I will be traveling alone, and probably wouldn't want to climb up to the top bunk at all.

 

[Sullen Maximus]

I have booked a trip through the Rockies and have room 4 going and 7 for the trip back. They are on opposite sides.
Here's my question, and I hope it makes sense: Will I sit on one side of the train on the way out and another on the way back? In other words, do they turn the cars around at the end of the line? I don't want to sit on the same side for both trips.

The best way to ensure you know what side you're on is to book a room on the transition car. This is the car that runs directly behind the luggage car. Since it's the only superliner that has a "standard level" door, it will always have the side with the stairs pointed forward. The only exception is if the train is run "backwards" where the luggage car is at the rear. I put those in parenthesis because technically, there is no front or rear to the cars, and on rare occations, they will run with the luggage car at the rear. however, 90% of the time on the zephyr the luggage car is right behind the locomotives.

The rest of the cars though do not have a front or rear. Over the last several trips I have taken, they USUALLY run with the hall way of the bedroom units on the left side. But this is not necessarily standard. As such, there is no way to really know what side your room will be on until the day of.

 

[greatwestern]

I have always changed my roomette seat to and from the bed mode myself. Out of courtesy I have advised the attendant that I wished to deal with it myself.

 

[railiner]

Having never traveled in a sleeper before, but looking to do so in the near future, I have a question about the roomette.

Is changing the seat to bed mode and back something that I am allowed to or can do myself, or do I need to ask the attendant every time? I feel like I would spend a lot of time lying down and relaxing, but sometimes I may want to sit up. I will be traveling alone, and probably wouldn't want to climb up to the top bunk at all.

You can do it yourself.

 

[UhClem]

You can do it yourself.
It involves releasing a pedal on each seat and pushing the backs down. The mattress is kept on the bunk, and you lay it over the seat cushions. The SCA will ask what time in the evening he could do it for you, or if you want to take that on yourself. Typically they'll do it during dinner, and undo it during your breakfast.

 

[Shanson]

You can do it yourself.

There is a graphic showing how to do it on the underside of the table next to your water bottles. It's not complicated.

 

[fdaley]

Having never traveled in a sleeper before, but looking to do so in the near future, I have a question about the roomette.

Is changing the seat to bed mode and back something that I am allowed to or can do myself, or do I need to ask the attendant every time? I feel like I would spend a lot of time lying down and relaxing, but sometimes I may want to sit up. I will be traveling alone, and probably wouldn't want to climb up to the top bunk at all.

You can also easily put the two lower seats down into bed mode without bringing down all of the bedding if you just want to have a midday nap or rest. Then it's easy to go back to chair mode for the rest of the day. On long trips I have sometimes gone back and forth this way while leaving the bedding for nighttime. I usually leave it to the attendant to haul down the mattress, sheets and blanket (and put them away later), though you can do this yourself too if you prefer.

Toward the end of the run, the attendants sometimes remake the bed with clean sheets for the next departure, so they will want to handle that themselves -- and not have you take the bedding out again after that.

 

[Brian Battuello]

You can do it yourself, and there's nothing wrong with doing it. Here's the trick:

First, use the long bar to lower the seats as far as possible. Then find the small square lever and push on it *hard*. Nothing will happen. While pushing on it, use your other hand to put some pressure on the lower seat piece, or try to pull it toward you. Hopefully it will lower down and click into position. If it doesn't, try releasing the square lever and then pushing it down hard again. It takes a little practice.

I almost alway make my own bed when I want to, and don't bother the attendant. You'll find two sets of bedding in the upper berth, one flat and one folded over. The folded over one is for the lower berth. It usually takes a little re-making to get it the way you want it.

If you want to use the bedding to take a nap on the last day of your trip, ask the attendant to leave it as is. If you come back to your room and find nicely folded up bedding on the top shelf, don't use it. It is already set up for the next customer. The attendants have to get every bed all ready for the next trip before the train pulls into the station. Don't be surprised if they come to you about an hour before you arrive and ask you to step out so they can get it ready for the next train.

And as mentioned above, you can always lower the seats and nap on the cushions with a sweater over you. The pillows are yours right up until the end of the trip.

 

[railiner]

As far as I know, all beds on Amtrak trains can now be operated by passengers, unlike the Pullman era , where it required a special key to unlock the upper berths, or the Porter to make up open sections…

 

[McLeansvilleAppFan]

It gives me something to do so I enjoy it myself,except for the safety straps. Those can be hard to place around the support rods.

In the roomette last summer I did not get the lower chairs all the way out and the SCA asked if I was fine with that I and I was. I had a bit of reclining and I was reading a book while my wife slept on the bunk. It was perfect and I could have gone a few hundred miles more.

 

[Brian Battuello]

On the Viewliners the trick to hooking up the upper bed safety straps is to raise the bed about one inch. The straps are really important, so make sure they are well hooked.

And while we're on the subject, when my kids were roughly 4 and 7 I would book a roomette for three (only an agent can do that) and they would happily play and sleep in the top bunk for the whole trip.

I happened to be awake around 4am on our way toward Chicago and we passed a refinery blasting multiple flames high in the air. I didn't know my daughter was awake and looking out the upper window, but I heard her say to herself "Oh, wow!!!"

 

[Shanson]

As far as I know, all beds on Amtrak trains can now be operated by passengers, unlike the Pullman era , where it required a special key to unlock the upper berths, or the Porter to make up open sections…

Not only can they be operated by passengers, but on the underside of the folding table is a graphic showing the passengers how to set up the nighttime configuration.

 

[Brian Battuello]

Speaking of the folding table, I happened to have my first ride in a Viewliner II sleeper, and the folding table was significantly upgraded from the classic checkers board. In 40 years of Amtrak sleepers, I wonder how many games ever got played on that board.

 

[dcipjr]

I prefer to operate the bed myself. When the room is in nighttime configuration, there's very little room to maneuver, and any bags under the seat are inaccessible. If I put the bed up and down myself, I can choose exactly when I'm ready for a bed, and switch it back to daytime configuration as soon as I'm up.

I usually let the attendant know that I can take care of it.

 

[joelkfla]

I use the Accessible Bedroom. In the Viewliners, the biggest problem for me is getting the mattress down from the upper berth, and, even more so, getting it back up there. Of course, the Bedroom lower berth is larger than the Roomette's, and if they have the proper mattress in there, it's wedge-shaped, so the mattress is larger and heavier.

I usually just let the SCA deal with it.

 

[dcipjr]

For the Viewliners, I usually sleep up top if I'm traveling solo. There's enough headroom and a window, and I can leave the bottom seats in the daytime configuration. I just go double-mattress on the top bunk—helps to add some extra padding.