Rafi,
I wish it were so, but for probably years before I took that trip I have read of this "bathroom" issue on the superliner cars. If we know about it and every attendant is having to flush and reflush the toilets it would seem that someone up the line is well aware of a system wide problem at higher altitudes. In fact the attendants in both directions were throughly sick of the situation and had reported it many times. I mentioned it to the Manager of Customer Service on the CS in person when he talked with us and said it had been and ongoing situation for some time. So obviously there is a lack of will to fix the situation. If they knew when they cut the vacuum pumps from two to one, as at least was explained to my by one attendant, then they have known they don't work since the inception of the situation. It is totally beyond belief that such a basic thing as the toilets working properly could go un repaired for years on end while charging thousands of dollars for a trip.. Any hotel that constantly sold rooms with toilets that didn't work or worked only on someone else's cue, would be out of business. But amtrak is a the only game in town, evidently run by people who haven't a clue! Our round trip tickets for two were in the 5,500 range so one would expect decent service, but then you kind of know what your getting into when you choose amtrak. Unfortunately the string of things that don't match the prices is getting longer and longer.