Which type bedroom would be preferable?

[racer1735]

Last year I took my young son on Amtrak from Indianapolis to Fort Worth via the Cardinal/Texas Eagle and it was a memorable trip for both of us. Now, I'm planning our Thanksgiving week trip back to the inlaws (southern Pennsylvania) and am looking into flying one way and bringing Amtrak back home. My options (based on current availaiblity) are to take either the Capitol Limited from Washington, DC to Chicago, then the local run from Chicago to Indianapolis, or to take the Cardinal from Washington, DC direct to Indy. I am not concerned about travel time, but about the accomodations for three people. It will be myself, my wife and my six year old son. We have our choice of either a superliner bedroom or a viewliner bedroom. Which, if any, would be most suitable for three people? Amtrak's website say's they will serve three people 'in a pinch'. Would it work or would we be miserable?

Also, how does Amtrak's new 'dining lite' compare with the tray service on the Cardinal?

Thanks in advance!

 

[AlanB]

Last year I took my young son on Amtrak from Indianapolis to Fort Worth via the Cardinal/Texas Eagle and it was a memorable trip for both of us. Now, I'm planning our Thanksgiving week trip back to the inlaws (southern Pennsylvania) and am looking into flying one way and bringing Amtrak back home. My options (based on current availaiblity) are to take either the Capitol Limited from Washington, DC to Chicago, then the local run from Chicago to Indianapolis, or to take the Cardinal from Washington, DC direct to Indy. I am not concerned about travel time, but about the accomodations for three people. It will be myself, my wife and my six year old son. We have our choice of either a superliner bedroom or a viewliner bedroom. Which, if any, would be most suitable for three people? Amtrak's website say's they will serve three people 'in a pinch'. Would it work or would we be miserable?
Also, how does Amtrak's new 'dining lite' compare with the tray service on the Cardinal?

Thanks in advance!

The size of the bedrooms doesn't vary much from a Viewliner bedroom to the Superliner bedroom, so there is no advantage to one over the other. The Viewliner will have more room for luggage inside the room, than would the Superliner, but the Superliner has that nice big luggage rack on the lower level.

The big concern would be, will two of you fit together comfortably in the lower bunk. As I mentioned to Rick above, check out the measurements from Amtrak's website and make sure that some combination of two people can fit into that lower bunk.

I've not tried the tray service on the Cardinal, but I'd have to guess that Simplified Dining Service would still be better than the tray service on the Card.

 

[racer1735]

So the next question would be what route would be more enjoyable? Taking the Cardinal between Harpers Ferry and Indianapolis, or taking a combination of the Pennsylvanian/Capital Ltd. between Harrisburg-Pittsburgh, then on to Chicago and down to indianapolis? Obviously, the Cardinal would be more direct....but we enjoy riding trains.

 

[Sam Damon]

A colleague of mine who takes more Amtrak trips than I do was less than thrilled with the tray service on the Cardinal. OTOH, he found little to complain about on the Capitol Limited, post-SDS. Take this bit of info, FWIW.