Sleeping in coach?

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This past summer I took coach from Boston to Seattle with a friend of mine. I'd say I got maybe around 4-5 hours of sleep a night. The first night on the Lake Shore was the least comfortable since the seats are a lot smaller. On the Empire Builder the second night I slept on the floor in front of the seats while my friend slept on the two seats. You can't stretch your legs out all the way, but at least you are in a horizontal position.

I think when I arrived in Seattle I slept for about 12 hours straight! Overall, I'd say it was a lot better than I expected. I'm also 18 years old so maybe I have a higher tolerance for this type of stuff.
 
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My wife and I do Cleveland - Washington D C three to four times a year.Always in coach. We leave Cleveland in the middle of the night. So a sleeper is not a good financial move. Coach seating is just fine for us. We both get some good sleep. 4-5 hours. I am 6 feet even and have no trouble at all. My wife could sleep in the middle of a herd of buffalo so its ok for her. We have done one way Cleveland to Seattle in coach when no sleepers were to be had and one way Cleveland to Emeryville for the same reason. Coach sleeping was not a problem. However bathrooms were. Maybe it was the car attendant, but the Chicago to Emeryville trip would have been better if the bathrooms where cleaner. We sit side by side and never take up two full seats . We always take a blanket and use jackets for pillows in addtion to the ones given out by the car attendant. As of yet we have never had a bad coach trip. We do some Chicago day trips and again leave in the midle of the night. Same deal 4-5 hours of rest.

Just so you know we are both over 60. Growing older but not up. :p :p :p
 
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Several years ago when weekly specials were more abundant, I did a trip Cle-Seattle-Emeryville-Cle all by coach. The only night I was off the train wan one night in Seattle. The only difficulty I had the entire trip sleeping was one night on the Coast Starlight after an entire football team boarded in the car behind ours and they pranced through my car all night.
 
I've slept in coach a few times between Washington DC and Tampa (and return) years ago and have had mixed experiences - some good nights and some not so good nights. I remember my first coach overnight experience to Tampa when a fairly boisterous young girl boarded the train in Jacksonville. She was very excited about her "first train trip" and she made a point announcing this to me as she sat down in the empty seat adjacent to mine. I would not have minded so much except for the fact it was really late, I was asleep and she had no apparent awareness of the fact that most people in the car were trying to sleep or sit quietly. She was in the seat a grand total of 3-5 minutes when she announced she was going to "the bar" and that she would be back later. As she walked down the aisle towards "the bar", the woman sitting behind me tapped me on my shoulder and said "whatever you do - don't encourage her!". What's really weird is this girl was on the same train as me on the way home! She recognized me when I stopped in the cafe car to purchase something to eat and asked where I was sitting. I politely mentioned that I was sitting a few cars forward and then crossed my fingers that she would remain occupied until she arrived at her destination.

Over the years, and as I have grown older, I have decided that I can splurge for a roomette on long overnight trips - especially if I make reservations early to get the cheapest fare bucket. I'll consider spending the night in coach on relatively short trips that include an overnight, but not on necessarily on long trips between Chicago and California, for example.
 
When you ride Coach, you do get the luck of the draw as to who sits next to you.

I remember about 20 years ago (oh God, I'm getting old!) when I took my Sister with me to Disneyworld. We ended up sitting next to a family of 4: Mom, Dad, and 2 girls who ended up sitting across from and behind us. While thier parents slept at night, we quietly played Hearts with them and boy those 2 little girls were card sharks...I always came out on the losing side! As I think about it, I've had many more pleasant experiences with seatmates or neighbors, than not! :lol:
 
About my prior post..........some did get it! ;) Just know there are yungin's on here! I've only had 1 clod I met in coach and then I sat right by a guy who had just been released from San Quentin. The whole time he thought I was a doctor and I couldn't figure out why. Then it dawned on me, that I had been wearing a hospital scrub suit to sleep in. (they are real comfy for pajama's) Finally figured out why he thought I was a doctor.
 
I agree with rohr turbo regarding those 15 hour flights to Asia. I lived in Hong Kong for 7 years and I nearly always flew Business Class, but the coach seats on Amtrak are far more comfortable that the upper deck on a 747!!

When my mother was living, I used to travel from NYP to IND, usually on the Cardinal. There were a couple of times that I could not get a roomette so I was forced to travel coach. It was not bad depending on the others in the car. On one occasion, I had a nearly drunk fellow sitting beside me, and a lady sitting behind him (he was on the aisle seat) was chidding him. It was unpleasant for all of us in that portion of the car. Finally, it was his stop to detrain. I made certain he knew it was his stop (WAS) and he detrained - with some assistance from other passengers. Not only was the noise bothersome, but the smell of beer was rampant as well. I don't know why the lounge attendant kept selling him the beer.

Most of my coach trips were fine and comfortable. I do get sleeper accommodations if they are available.
 
I rode the Lake Shore Limited R/T from South Bend, IN to New York in coach. It was a fun trip and I didn't sleep well going to NYP, but I did manage to sleep better coming back. I learned that next time I should get one of those neck pillows and bring my own blanket. I took that trip in March. I'd like to do it again when the trees still have leaves on them.
 
NapTown Jim said:
I rode the Lake Shore Limited R/T from South Bend, IN to New York in coach. It was a fun trip and I didn't sleep well going to NYP, but I did manage to sleep better coming back. I learned that next time I should get one of those neck pillows and bring my own blanket. I took that trip in March. I'd like to do it again when the trees still have leaves on them.
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You could always buy an "Amtrak" blanket from the Cafe car for $70, or so....

peter
 
I'm never taking coach on an Amfleet again, I'll tell you that much. The bouncing and such managed to make both me and my g/f have back aches for days. And there was some imbecile who somehow thought it was acceptable to talk at full volume and SING at around 2 AM. I was thinking about showing him the rail-fan window, how to open the back door, and the physics of being kicked in the arse with my shoe, at the same time, naturally.
 
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