Southwest Chief Consist

[ThayerATM]

Would someone please give me the consist for the Southwest Chief (Trains 3 & 4) in and out of Chicago?

We had to get tickets from Rochester (ROC) to Fort Madison IA, (FMD) then back, in April. I did have to settle for a roomette (09/4920) on the way to CHI in the Boston end of train 49. On the LSL thats a 6 day journey to the diner, :lol: but what could I do? We would have preferred a bedroom. We did snag a bedroom (B/4811) on that train (48) back from CHI to ROC.

I have no clue where our car (0330 & 0440) is going to be on the Southwest Chief, although judging by the number, it's going to be adjacent to the diner.

 

[gswager]

Usually, baggage, 2 1/2 sleepers (half are in transition dorm), diner, sightseer and 2 coaches (3 in summer). Most of the time, 2 locomotives are used. I've rarely seen 3 locomotives.

Yes, your sleeper will be in front of the diner car.

 

[ThayerATM]

Usually, baggage, 2 1/2 sleepers (half are in transition dorm), diner, sightseer and 2 coaches (3 in summer). Most of the time, 2 locomotives are used. I've rarely seen 3 locomotives.
Yes, your sleeper will be in front of the diner car.

Thanks! That pins it right down. I know that "usually" is an operative word, judging from the weather the country has been having, but at least I now have a starting point to consider.

Train 49 (Lake Shore Limited) got out of NYP last Wednesday on time, but the Empire Service just ahead of us had been cancelled. They must have tacked a couple of extra coaches on to our train cuz the train was extra long, and sold out. Our car attendant called us for a smoking stop in Syracuse, and had a fit 'cuz our car was nowhere near the platform. Four cars up we did get off for a minute, but that's all. :lol:

 

[AlanB]

Al, call Amtrak and put yourself on the waiting list for a bedroom for the LSL. That way if there is a cancellation, you get first dibs at the upgrade.

 

[ThayerATM]

Al, call Amtrak and put yourself on the waiting list for a bedroom for the LSL. That way if there is a cancellation, you get first dibs at the upgrade.

Thanks, Alan. I thought of that at the onset. We want to try something. I would like (and Carolyn agrees) to try a roomette, and set just the upper berth for sleeping, and keep the lower for riding. Carolyn is able to sleep on a rock if she has to, and we kind of thought that leaving the lower berth in the daytime configuration might give us enough room to store our carry-on, leave her enough room to move around a littlle bit, and give me a place to sleep, out of her way. My real concern is getting UP into the upper berth. It's appeared to both of us that it requires the agility of a trained monkey to get up there, and you know that I don't have that agility. We thought we'd give it a try once. Oh yes... and there's also that concern about walking half way around the earth to get to the diner. :lol: With six cars between us and the diner, I figure if we set out somewhere around Toledo, we'll get to the diner in time for an early breakfast, and get back to our room shortly before we get to CHI. :lol: Does that sound like an overly ambitious plan?

On that leg between CHI and FMD, we figured from the start that we'd use a roomette anyway, and not even ask for a bedroom, 'cuz if a bedroom was even available, somewhere along the line somebody might want a bedroom the whole distance on the SWC, and there's be little point of the two of us tying up a bedroom for a 3 hour leg out of CHI.

 

[AlanB]

My real concern is getting UP into the upper berth. It's appeared to both of us that it requires the agility of a trained monkey to get up there, and you know that I don't have that agility. We thought we'd give it a try once.

Well if you're going to try the upper in a roomette, then the Viewliner cars on the LSL are the ones to do it. Much easier to get into the upper bunk on a Viewliner by comparison to the Superliner cars. Not only do you have more clearance between you and the ceiling, the taper at the foot/toilet ends of the beds makes it much easier. Finally, the quasi steps are better and higher. You step first onto the toilet, preferably with the lid down. :lol: Then there is shelf that the sink rests on when in the down position, this makes up the second step to assist you into the upper bunk. There is also a nice grab handle on the wall to help you both maintain balance and pull yourself up as needed.

You may have to get your attendant to help you get the luggage into the cubby over the hall, but if you try it on your own, then I highly suggest the following. Lower the upper bunk to the halfway position. You do that by grabbing the big silver handle on the bottom of the bed and turning it, then gently pulling the bed down. Once the bed starts moving, release the handle and pull down until the bed locks. Now put your suitcases on the upper bunk while standing on the floor. Then slide the suitcases from the bed into the cubby. You'll still need to life them up a bit, but it's easier than trying to go from the ground to the cubby in one motion.

 

[ThayerATM]

My real concern is getting UP into the upper berth. It's appeared to both of us that it requires the agility of a trained monkey to get up there, and you know that I don't have that agility. We thought we'd give it a try once.

Well if you're going to try the upper in a roomette, then the Viewliner cars on the LSL are the ones to do it. Much easier to get into the upper bunk on a Viewliner by comparison to the Superliner cars. Not only do you have more clearance between you and the ceiling, the taper at the foot/toilet ends of the beds makes it much easier. Finally, the quasi steps are better and higher. You step first onto the toilet, preferably with the lid down. :lol: Then there is shelf that the sink rests on when in the down position, this makes up the second step to assist you into the upper bunk. There is also a nice grab handle on the wall to help you both maintain balance and pull yourself up as needed.

You may have to get your attendant to help you get the luggage into the cubby over the hall, but if you try it on your own, then I highly suggest the following. Lower the upper bunk to the halfway position. You do that by grabbing the big silver handle on the bottom of the bed and turning it, then gently pulling the bed down. Once the bed starts moving, release the handle and pull down until the bed locks. Now put your suitcases on the upper bunk while standing on the floor. Then slide the suitcases from the bed into the cubby. You'll still need to life them up a bit, but it's easier than trying to go from the ground to the cubby in one motion.

I appreciate your helpful hints. As for the luggage, I'll probably give the car attendant a chance to work his/her tip up to $20. I tried lifting our bags into that cubby from the floor once, and ended up having to ask for help. That was when we decided on a bedroom only. I'll follow your suggestions first this time, and we'll see how it turns out. I don't know if you noticed, but my luggage (roll along) consists of two pieces. Each one separately meets Amtrak's specs, but fastened together the weight and length exceed those limits. The larger one weighs in at about 35 pounds, and contains my laptop, as well as my clothes, Kindle, and tolietries etc. The small one weighs in at about 17 pounds, and contains my misc stuff like rainjacket for spring travel, and all my Amtrak necessities like masking tape, safety pins, cell charger, power bar, etc.

We'd do this much differently if FMD had checked luggage. Short of that, we've got to improvise. Keep the suggestions coming!!