Thought this would be an interesting thread to start, so for starters here are my suggestions:
Conductor override for sleeping compartment settings for PA announcements.
Touch glass / Glass turns Opaque, like they have on the Boeing 777, instead of drapes or shades…much more efficient and lets face it, curtains do take up some space. I would do it with the external window only. Would still keep curtains on the windows to interior hallway.
Information panel in each sleeping car compartment on train speed, outside temperature, current GPS Location by town or city name, car number, compartment number, Y or N flag if there are open seats in dining car for the current seating time, next station and arrival time for the 20 min stretch your legs outside break, flashing porter call status indicator…if porter call button pushed which can be reset by pushing the button a second time. Ability to tap payment your CC for car attendent tip and/or incidentals like running a tab for mixed drinks, IPAD rental, etc.
Restore the Ice Drawer in the center service area of the car for ice water.
Small Refrigerator in the center service area of the car for complimentary water and breakfest juice / milk.
My pillow dot com, matteress padding and pillows.
Restore the small enclosed closet with hangers.
Sanitary wipes in individual envelopes in the welcome presentation.
Higher quality wash clothes and towels that are thicker and more plush.
Restore the paper route guides and timetables.
Decent and high bandwidth Wi-Fi throughout the sleeping car. Extra IPads that can be rented from the sleeping car attendent in case passenger did not bring one on board. Sleeping car attendent also has special store of extra soap, shampoo, toothpaste, tooth brush, extra towels and wash clothes
Will stick to using personal auto for the near term if not longer. Have a niece who is a pulmonary nurse practitioner at a large San Antonio hospital. This virus is not something to fool with.
I would implement #3 and #10 with a webpage connected with the improved Wi-Fi in #11. High speed internet connection would be tricky as a good portion of the LD route does not have access to truly high speed wireless internet.
This just in, with only one precinct reporting, projections show facetiously leading sarcastically by a margin of 1 to 0. At this time, networks are predicting a win for facetiously. [}:)]
Yes, what happened to the closets in Superliner bedrooms? The last time I rode (last fall), they were there. Also, the last time I rode in a Viewliner (a year ago), the closets were there.
Let’s look at these in a bit more detail and context.
In my opinion this ought to be a passenger override, not a conductor override (with the tacit understanding that what a passenger wants is a passenger’s responsibility). There are likely to be priority levels, or time-based levels, of ‘override’, as well as ability to reduce volume shy of full ‘muting’ at various times.
Problem I see is that most of the solutions that would work ‘properly’ involve a great deal of expensive modification or addition to the existing PA systems. About the simplest alternative is an individual ‘soft kill switch’ for each compartment, which would shut off the audio while starting a countdown timer – there are commercial switches that do this for bathroom lighting, where the user can click the equivalent of radio buttons for certain times, from a few seconds to eight or ten hours. You could easily rig up something with a knob and a digital display showing the mute time (like the timer on many radio alarm clocks) that would be intuitive for customers to run.
A good solution would have a ‘conductor override’ for important messages… but what the conductor thinks is important, like impending stops all through the night, might not be what the passengers think is. So there need to be some understandings and procedures about what will be broadcast and what won’t.
Possibly ‘channeling’ the memory of pillow speakers on the C&O, I have to wonder whether at small incremental cost the “PA” could also be arranged to stream music programs selectable by the user – or, better still, to pair easily with Bluetooth or the like, and allow the user to easily play their preferred
Did you know that every single railroad microwave tower is part of the wireless cell phone network? That’s how someone like Verizon has so much coverage in what’s considered rural America without building their own towers, could easily handle wifi as well to increase that coverage, or use statelite wifi services.
You guys adding in all these restrictions because of the current virus outbreak are completely insane and apparently don’t know the human brains capacity for forgetting. I predict within 12 - 18 months(if not as soon a
As to observing “wet/dry” while traveling on Amtrak, I have had the impression that this is not observed on Amtrak trains. I have not requested any such beverage while between Harper’s Ferry and Cumberland (except wine with my dinner westbound) and I have not seen restrictions on such there.
I do remember seeing mention, in the distant past, of trying to order such when the train darted across Maryland briefly.
The Superliner Is had/have the small closets. Dark, deep, and very easy to leave something behind shoved all the way to the back. Superliner IIs and Viewliner Is (and IIs?) use an ‘open’ closet with a U shaped tube and a couple of hangers, and a strap to keep everything from swaying into your face while sitting up. However, I WOULD add a small shelf above the U-hanger to put the towels and face cloths on.
If it were up to me, I’d nearly replicate the Viewliner I ‘control panel’ at the top of each seat. And the volume control would actually be more than a simple ‘decoration’.
And, of course, PUT THE LIGHT SWITCH IN THE DOOR JAMB! The light switch on Superliners is in the most ridiculous position possible. And anyone with arthritus or simply groggy and needs to turn on the light needs to be able to access it with the least amount of bending, twisting, whatever.
And lastly, refit the restrooms in Superliner IIs to match the refits in Superliner Is where the toilet is in the corner at a 45 degree angle. MUCH more open space for overweight folks! The original perpendicular-to-the-hall toilet design in both Superliner Is and IIs is great for anyone under 200 pounds. But I’m not one of them.
Oh man, load up the train with all kinds of little things. Other than the NEC and a few other commuter lines, train travel is leisure travel, not efficient travel. Especially sleepers. I have to wonder, how many extra travellers will be lured in by all these little tweaks that wouldn’t train anyway?
On the Capitol, I’d sure like simply to have cell phone reception east of Pittsburgh. In the mountains we get zero bars most of the time. Touch screen windows? So in a roomette when I am trying to dress or undress in that 3/4 of a square foot floor space, every time I lean agains the door window it clears or darkens? Print up a bunch of paper timetables so they can be discarded soon after? Why not just post the schedule on the door? No wasted paper, no waste on the floor.
Just my opinion, but it sounds to me like thousands of dollar added to the cost of each car for no net increase in ridership.
This really is an interesting idea. It’s fun to forget about costs, and just think of the great things that would be on a wish list.
If you were to think of everything you could get in a four-star hotel, make that available on the train. Hire dozens of dedicated and well-paid attendants who are never more than a few seconds away from fulfilling every need that may arise.
Cut down the number of rooms per car so room space is not an issue.
I agree about cell reception–it is not there; and as you cross Iowa there are dead spots.
As to windows, it was suggested that only the exterior windows would darkened or lightened by a touch; the curtains would stay on the vesitbule door.
As to timetables, I have not been able to find them on Amtrak’s website–I tried “Schedules” (which used to have all the schedules) and got something similar to “Train Status.”
Sometimes it seems that if Amtrak is trying make its site easier to use it makes it more difficul