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Joined
Mar 18, 2022
Messages
14
Location
Garden City, Kansas, USA
We will be riding the California Zepher in June and have been automatically assigned roomettes as follows: Car 540 Room 22 (Train 5)and Car 631 Room 12 (Train 6). Is there any way to determine if these roomettes are on the upper or lower level of the car? Thanks a lot!
 
I am in car 640 room 022 is this also a transition sleeper and what is a transition sleeper

It is a car that has sleeper room for passengers on the upper level and for the crew. Please see the link provided in an above post for the Amtrak Car Diagrams.
 
I am in car 640 room 022 is this also a transition sleeper and what is a transition sleeper
The Transition Sleeper( aka Crew Dorm) only has Roomettes Upstairs, with half for the Crew and the other half being Revenue Rooms for Passengers.

Downstairs has a Crew Lounge/Work Area open only to the Crew that replaces the Family Bedroom and 4 Roomettes.

The H Room is sometimes occupied by a Crew Member and the Restrooms ( there are 2 Upstairs combined with a Shower, 1 for the Crew and 1 for Passengers)and Shower Downstairs are Open only to the Crew.
 
Is the Transition Car decent to travel in? We have a roomette on the upper level. Checked with Amtrak and they wanted almost $300 to change us to another car. Thanks for the information...
 
There are some who prefer the Transition car, and some who do not like it. It is always a Superliner II, so the ride is better than a Superliner I; and there is no enclosed closet in the Roomettes, so the storage space is more versatile. Also, room 22 will be on the north side of the train, which I think has better scenery and definitely has better lighting.

(The Transition cars are so named because there is a stairway at one end for transition to single-level cars, so Transition cars are always oriented in the same direction and one can predict the side on which one's Roomette will be).
 
If you do want to change cars however, it shouldn't cost you anything. Now, others on here are better at explaining how to change without a cost so I'll leave it to them...
 
If you do want to change cars however, it shouldn't cost you anything. Now, others on here are better at explaining how to change without a cost so I'll leave it to them...

would you happen to know what time the dining car opens for breakfast?
 
would you happen to know what time the dining car opens for breakfast?
6:30 on most trains I believe. However, on the westbound Southwest Chief (and probably other trains too) it began at 5 due to the early arrival time into LA, It ended around 6.
 
would you happen to know what time the dining car opens for breakfast?
I seem to recall some western trains start breakfast at 6am. The Silvers start breakfast at 6:30am (usually), unless the Meteor is in Washington Union Station at that time and the power is cut for the engine change.
 
I just booked my trip across country (San Diego to Boston) for the end of July, and I have an odd question about my roomette location on the SWC. I'm in Car 430, Room 10. From what I can see from Googling around, I'll be at the end of my car, and then the dining car is next. Does this mean I'm going to have folks lining up outside my door waiting to be seated at meal times? In theory that shouldn't be a big deal, but I am medically disabled and will be trying to avoid crowds as much as possible to keep from catching anything (COVID or otherwise). I just had this vision of people hanging around outside my door and me not being able to exit until they're gone. Someone please tell me I just have an overactive imagination and that it won't be a problem at all. I'm sure I'm just being silly, but would feel better if experienced folk would confirm it.

On the plus side, I think this means I'll be located near the middle of the consist which means a little distance between me and the horn. I'm definitely happy about that. Also, since I will be having all my meals in my room, at least the attendant doesn't have far to go to deliver them to me. So, yay for them?

Oh, and in case anyone is wondering, on the LSL, I'm in car 4820, Room 4. I saw something earlier on here that said the Boston portion still uses the Viewliner I cars, so that means a toilet in my room. I'm not sure if that's a good or bad thing. Convenient, yes, but it also seems kind of gross.
 
First of all…great trip planned! As far as people lining up, it depends on which way the car is oriented so the bedrooms might be next to the dining car. Also, the dining car staff doesn’t really let people line up, they page people at their assigned time and get them seated pretty fast although it could happen. I usually keep my door closed so I don’t notice people walking by anyway and if it feels warm and I want it open I still pull the curtain across. I usually eat my meals in my room too.

On the viewliner, I think having the toilet right there is great, it doesn’t seem gross to me but I know it does to some people. But to me, it’s so much easier than trudging down the hall in the middle of the night.
 
I don't recall ever having to line up in a sleeper waiting to enter the dining car. If the crew is not ready to seat me when I arrive, I have been asked to wait in the adjoining Lounge Car and I would be paged.
 
Roomette 10 is right at the end of the car, so there could be noise from the end of car door opening frequently as people pass through. But it is on the upper level (better for viewing scenery) and isn't near any toilet so you won't smell those nasty odors (unlike Superliner Room 2, or even 4 in my experience!)
 
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I don't recall ever having to line up in a sleeper waiting to enter the dining car. If the crew is not ready to seat me when I arrive, I have been asked to wait in the adjoining Lounge Car and I would be paged.
Like was posted earlier, it depends what end of the dining car your sleeper car is located. I’ve never had the lounge located between my sleeper car and the diner. Usually had to wait in the adjoining sleeper car.
 
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