Slumbercoaches

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Does anybody know of a web site that has interior pictures or diagrams of the interior layout of slumbercoaches? I've seen plenty of exterior pictures but I'm curious as to how the rooms in these cars are arranged, both in plan view and section view. Thanks!
 
Guest,

I've looked for the same, and generally have come up "empty handed". My thought is that digital cameras were not too advanced around the time the slumbercoaches were in service, especially since most were yanked out in the late 90s. Thus, any photos of slumbercoaches would be from a film camera, and scanning them would be a chore. I do know that Bill Haithcoat has one photo on (I believe) member Viewliner's site "Amtrak Online", but other than that I can't think of any off the top of my head.
 
They were also probably extremely hard to photograph on the interior. It's hard enough getting a picture of a seat in a standard room, just imagine something half the size with a low ceiling.
 
Amfleet said:
They were also probably extremely hard to photograph on the interior. It's hard enough getting a picture of a seat in a standard room, just imagine something half the size with a low ceiling.
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Excellent point - you'd have to be a gymnast or something to get a good comprehensive photo :D
 
I understand the photo difficulty, although you'd think there might have been promotional pictures taken at one time using either a mock-up or a model. Maybe even "artists renderings". I've seen different sites with plan drawings and layouts of different cars and was wondering if there might be some for slumbercoaches somewhere. Bill H. or anyone else who remembers slumbercoach accomodations, maybe you could describe them in a little more detail? Dimensions? Amenities? Were toilets and/or wash basins in any of these rooms? Was there an actual door or were the room just curtained off? Etc.

I know it would take a lot of money Amtrak doesn't have to build new cars or retro-fit others but I think a larger variety of sleeping accomodations and amenities would benefit Amtrak greatly. Even standard bedrooms are pretty pricey for some who would like a little privacy when traveling overnight.
 
E. T. said:
although you'd think there might have been promotional pictures taken at one time using either a mock-up or a model. Maybe even "artists renderings". I've seen different sites with plan drawings and layouts of different cars and was wondering if there might be some for slumbercoaches somewhere.
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The "promotional" pictures were published by Amtrak as recently as in the 1996 Travel Planner. If you have a copy, you might check in the accommodations section.
 
panamaclipper said:
Is current VIA equipment the same?
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no, they have cars with roomettes, bedrooms, and open berths (sections), but no slumbercoaches
 
I overheard one Amtrak agent reply to a customer inquiry about Slumbercoach accommodations like this:

"Take your sofa cushions and put them on your coat closet floor, climb in, close the door, put the light out and lay down. Now pretend you're moving at 70 MPH...."

:lol:
 
railman said:
I overheard one Amtrak agent reply to a customer inquiry about Slumbercoach accommodations like this:
"Take your sofa cushions and put them on your coat closet floor, climb in, close the door, put the light out and lay down. Now pretend you're moving at 70 MPH...."

:lol:
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Don't forget to mention the challenge of using the in room toilet at 79 mph on jointed rail. At 10 years old, I learned this lesson on the NEC somewhere between Newark and Treton in 1977.
 
railman said:
I overheard one Amtrak agent reply to a customer inquiry about Slumbercoach accommodations like this:
"Take your sofa cushions and put them on your coat closet floor, climb in, close the door, put the light out and lay down.  Now pretend you're moving at 70 MPH...."

:lol:
Click to expand...
Is more like a Japanese hotel with only bed tubes that I saw on TV?
 
Imagine being in one of those Japanese "tube hotels" when a bunch of snorers are in there. I hope those "rooms" come with earplugs... :lol:
 
E.T and guest, I have been recovering from surgery the last few days and just now saw your question. Slumbercoaches did have wash basins, toilets and real doors. A single room was like a broom closet but had all the necessities.A double room was quite adequate for me, a larger person.

One advantage of a slumbercoach over a roomette was the ease of raising the bed, and also of using the toilet during the night. Very tight but possible.

I loved the prices. Let me throw out a wild hypothetical example. Say a coach costs $100. Say a roomette cost $180. In such a case a slumbercoach might cost about $130. What I am trying to say is that the greatly reduced price was more than equal to the reduced space.

I loved them for a one night trip. Would not want to go across the country in a single.
 
Some more thoughts on slumbercoaches. When Amtrak began the thing about meals included in the price of a sleeping car, and free coffee and juice, it did NOT extend to slumbercoaches. Still, slumbercoaches were a bargain by any standard.

But I remember one time when I was slated to ride in a double room slumbercoach from ATl to NYP and the car was bad ordered. Was replaced with two 10-6 heritage sleepers. Guess what I got to ride in? Yep, my double room in a slumbercoach translatered into a double bedroom in the standard sleeper and of course no extra fare on my part since it was not my fault the car was bad ordered.

Reminds me of another trip with the toilet did not work in my roomette and I was put in a double bedroom at no extra cost,as no other roomettes were available.
 
Hi Bill!!

Hope your feeling better soon! :D

Got a question!! :eek:

How could a toilet go bad on a sleeper in the "good old days?" Wasn't it just a dump pedal to the ground?

Just a thought,,,, but the only defect I could think of was the tube getting clogged. <_<

I've heard that when people were working inside and outside of a car, they would "stomp" on the floor to alert the guy under the car to move! We still have a few guys from those days and they wear it well! :lol: It is hard to believe that the cars would be dumped in the same pit the carmen were working in.

The funny thing is we still have "snake wrestlers" and they still get to wear the "colors." Only now, with high vacumn waste trucks and compressed air to clear clogged waste lines, the blast area is alot bigger, more folks get to join "the club" and you have that fresh air-brushed look!!

:p

Miami Joe B)
 
Miami Joe, thanks for your response. And I am feeling better, every day.

First, though this was a 10-6, I am not sure when the waste-retention toilets were installed, whether any of the old 10-6's got in on that or not.

Perhaps somebody can answer that since I seem to have forgotten at least for the moment.

I am not sure if the designation "heritage equipment" had yet been applied. I do know the Crescent was definately Amtrak at this point, no longer Southern R.R.

What I do know is that a mechanic actually got on, probably in Gainesville (I was en route from ATl to NYP) and actually stayed on the train until the next stop up the line, probably Toccoa, during which time I sat in a not-yet-occupied roomette, or probably also went to the lounge car. He tried diligently to repair it, whatever was wrong with it, but he finally gave up, saying, I guess, it would have to be fixed in NYP.

At which point I was escorted to a lovely double bedroom, my first time to ride in one.

I remember asking the conductor if I would have to go back to a roomette the next morning as people gradually began deboarding up the N.E. corrider and he said, "No, this your room for the rest of the trip".

While I cannot answer your question mechanically,I must say I was impressed with Amtrak's efforts, getting some kind of trouble shooter to board the train and attempt to repair it en route like that.
 
More thoughts on slumbercoaches. As I recall they were never carpeted, thiis one of the cheaper things about them.

Also, those who have seen exterior shots will notice the pattern of staggered windows. Those were the single rooms, and there was a danger of bumping your head., due to the room partly above you.

For the record, some of the old railroads took old sleepers and "dressed them down" and called them names like Thrifty-T Sleepers, budget sleepers, etc, though they were not actually built from the ground up as true slumbercoaches. Similar low price to ride them, of course.

Also, in standard sleeping cars of the past, a few of them had what were called "duplex roomettes" which resembled the single room slumbercoach for the staggered effect. The pre-Amtrak Empire Builder is an example of a train which had some of those.
 
Bill,

Here is a little information that I dug up for you for your enjoyment. I have a 1994 Amtrak tariff book and since you mentioned an example of pricing in one of your post, I looked it up for you to see what the real cost were.

Here is the differences in pricing for slumbercoach, roomette and bedrooms in 1994. These prices are for a trip from your neck of the woods, Atlanta to New York City.

OFF PEAK TRAVEL

SINGLE SLUMBERCOACH $59.00

DOUBLE " $99.00

ROOMETTE $91.00

BEDROOM $176.00

PEAK TRAVEL

SINGLE SLUMBERCOACH $69.00

DOUBLE " $119.00

ROOMETTE $129.00

BEDROOM $250.00

And a regular one- way coach fare (not discounted) was $147.00. A restricted one -way fare could be had for 118.00
 
On the viarail side:

I was on the canadian last week, And I can say that there were definately NOT slumbercoaches on the train. But They DO have Slumbercoach like rooms staggered into upper and lower levels(Chateau cars only, Manors have 10/6 style roomettes), but they are much more spacious.
 
F59 PHI said:
On the viarail side:I was on the canadian last week, And I can say that there were definately NOT slumbercoaches on the train. But They DO have Slumbercoach like rooms staggered into upper and lower levels(Chateau cars only, Manors have 10/6 style roomettes), but they are much more spacious.
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The old PRR used to call those "Duplex Rooms". They were priced higher than a Roomette but less than a single-occupancy Bedroom. They were full-service sleeping car accomodations: not the low cost rooms typically refered to as "Slumbercoaches." As far as I recall, the PRR never offered "Slumbercoach" accomodations.

By the way, the New York Central's tag for the "Slumbercoach" was "Sleepercoach." On the NYC. the Sleepercoach rooms were basically Roomettes with no-frills service. You could get a room New York to Chicago for $7 more than standard Coach fare ($42.15 one way). A full-service roomette required paying the Sleeping Car fare ($67.38) plus the Roomette fare of $16.61, or $83.99. Those were the fares in 1965. That $42.15 one-way coach fare, adjusted for inflation, would be $234.84 today. Amtrak's coach fares NYC to Chicago, as published in the spring/summer timetable, range from $72 to $133.

The Sleepercoach or Slumbercoach was a last-ditch effort by the old railroads to revived the dying overnight passenger business. It did not work.
 
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