Just made an on-line reservation for the Southwest Chief from Fullerton,CA to Kansas City. I’m assigned to Roomette #012 in car #430. Does anyone know if this roomette # is on the upper or lower level?? Also, how are the car numbers placed within the train? I understand that the “4” in the car number is actually the train number with the “30” being the sleeper number. Are the sleepers numbered consecutively front to rear ie: 430,431,432??
Found this website while looking folr info on our trip to PGH. Hope this helps on room location.
Safe ride and have a great trip. Snarkaz
The best way to see what you are in for is to go to Amtrak.com, click on Traveling with Amtrak, click on On Board - Sleeping Accommodations, click on the Superliner Sleeping car icon, and take the visual tour of the car.
Roomette #12 is on the lower level. Or it least it is on the Sunset Limited, Texas Eagle, and Capitol Limited, which are the trains that I have ridden over the past year or so. In fact, on my last trip on the Sunset, which was in February, I had Roomette #12 from El Paso to Austin.
The first number is the train number followed by the car number. Thus, the numbers for the Eagle sleeper are 2130 and 2230. The Eagle only has one sleeper, unless it sells out, in which case passengers may be booked in the transition sleeper, or at least I think that is what happens.
I don’t know the order of the sleepers on the Southwest Chief. I suspect that they differ depending on whether train is the westbound version or eastbound version.
Thanks for the speedy replies!
Roomette #12 is one of the four on the lower level (11-14). 1-10 are upstairs.
There usually are only 2 sleepers on the Southwest Chief, with 0430 being the first and 0431 the second (0330 and 0331 on the westbound). As you suspect, the first sleeper is the normally the “30” car. But this is not always the case. On my last trip this August, the 30 car was the second sleeper.
Currently the Chief is running with sleepers up front. So when boarding at Fullerton, you’ll board near the pedestrian bridge.
If you have any more specific questions about the Southwest Chief, just ask. I probably have an answer [;)]
Hi Matt,
Since you offered, I’ll ask a few more questions. Sleepers up front? Is this an exception rather than the norm? I thought the coaches were up front with a transition coach first in line behind the baggage car?
Is the diner open on departure from LA? The Amtrak website says reservations are required for dinner, but with a 7:20pm departure from Fullerton, will I be out of luck for a sit down meal that evening?
I’ll be travelling during a peak period(the day after Christmas)so, I expect the train will be at full capacity. How difficult is it to snag a seat in the lounge car?
My last Amtrak trip was in 1978 on the old “National Limited” from Kansas City to North Philadelphia. I rode in an ex Union Pacific 10-6 sleeper(Pacific Waters) the lounge was(I believe) a converted ex army hospital car(possibly one of the Monon rebuilds) and the diner was the ex California Zephyr(Silver Platter).The power was an SDP40F and an E-8(GG1 east of Harrisburg). Compared to that hodge-podge of a train, this will be a new and hopefully better expierence for me.
John
I don’t know. What I’d give to ride that “hodgepodge” of a train today!
Glad to answer your questions John.
By the way, Fullerton is my local station so I’m super familiar with it.
Sleeper Position
The Southwest Chief used to be unique in that it always had the sleeping cars on the rear of the train. This practice seemed to change around the time it turned into a run through consist with the Capitol Limited, late 1990s or so? It went back to sleepers on the rear in the 2007 and this can be seen on a video I shot of the train arriving into Albuquerque New Mexico. Here is a link to the video:
But as of my last trips (July and August 2008), and starting around October 2007, the sleepers were once again up front.
So the typical consist is as follows:
- 2 P42 Locomotives
- 1 Heritage Baggage Car
- 1 Superliner II Transition Dorm
- 2 Superliner Sleeping Cars (could be either Superliner I or II cars)
- 1 Superliner II Dining car (could be a Superliner I, but very often)
- 1 Superliner Lounge (could be either Superliner I or II)
- 3 Superliner I Coaches (never seen a Superliner II Coach in the Chief)
- (often one of the three is a Coach Baggage)
Dining Car
The diner is open shortly after departing Los Angeles. Depending on the number of passengers already onboard, getting on at Fullerton can get you a dining car seat right away, or could be as late as the last call to dinner (typically around 8:30 PM). But you’ll get a dinner, it just depends on the time. If you are traveling alone, parties of one typically can get a seat quicker then larger parties.
Lounge Seating
Lounge seating availability varies a lot during the journey. One thing you’ll want to check is what type of lounge is on your train. Some of the newer refurbished cars have half lounge seating and half d
Matt has done a good job of providing details regarding travel on the Southwest Chief. I have a few additional comments regarding the subject.
Riding on the lower level of the Superliner is not as good a deal as riding on the upper level. But you might be able to switch your room. Check periodically with Amtrak to see if an upper room becomes available. If it does, you will be able to change your room assignment. Also, if you are not successful in changing your room before your departure, assuming that you want an upper level room, ask the conductor when you board the train if there is an upper level roomette available. Sometimes people cancel at the last minute and the room becomes available.
I have traveled frequently on Christmas Day or the day after, which is known as Boxing Day in most English speaking countries. The train may not be as crowded as you expect. Most people travel prior to Christmas to get home for the holidays. Or away from home! And many of them don’t start the return trip until after the New Year. This is especially true for people traveling by train. Many of them are students and retired persons.
I have ridden on the Texas Eagle, Capitol Limited, Sunset Limited, and Empire Builder over the past two years. The sleepers were on the front of the train. One of the conductors on the Eagle told me that Amtrak puts the sleepers up front so the first class passengers don’t have to walk through the coaches to get to the dinning and lounge cars. Apparently some first class passengers complained about having to walk through the coaches, which can be in a state of disarray in the early morning. I don’t know whether this is true. Take it for what it is worth.
Interesting thought. May make sense on the Eagle, not familiar with it’s consist. But that conductor’s logic makes no sense to me about the Chief. If the sleepers are on the rear of the Chief the consists is as follows:
- Locomotives
- Baggage
- Dorm
- Coaches
- Lounge
- Diner
- Sleepers
So not sure what that conductor was thinking of [%-)]
However, I heard the change to up front sleepers was done in case Amtrak needed to sell a few extra roomettes in the Dorm car. Thus, all sleeping car passengers would be together in the same general area. Perhaps this is what that conductor meant.
I believe the issue is the transition sleeper. It has been on the front of the Eagle for as long as I can remember. Amtrak has been selling the roomettes in this car when the regular sleeper sells out. On one of my trips four of the transition roomettes on the Sunset Limited were occupied by what appeared to be paying passengers.
The roomettes in the transition sleeper did not appear to be as attractive as those in the regular sleeper. I would hate to pay a first class fare and get an accommodation that does not appear to be as good as what I would have gotten in the regular sleeper.
Samantha,
I will certainly call Amtrak & try to have my roomette switched to the upper level, thanks for the tip!
As far as sleeper positions in the train, I thought the Amtrak transition cars were coaches(could be I’m mixed up with the SantaFe Hi-Levels…didn’t they have transition coaches?).
Thanks to everyone for all the good information, I appreciate you efforts.
John
The transition sleeper is a sleeping car. It is intended primarily for the on board service crew. However, since the crews on the long distance trains have been reduced substantially, there is sufficient space in the car to sell the roomettes if there is a demand for them.
Don’t hesitate to call Amtrak every couple of week’s right up to your departure date. The call is toll free if you use the 800 number. I have found that persistence pays.
Samantha is right. The Superliner II Transisiton Dorms are essentially sleeping cars. Here is an upstairs floorplan:
You’ll notice the first few rooms continue the numbering of the regular sleeping car roomettes (17-24). The rooms 1-8 are reserved for crew members.
On shorter consist trains, like the Eagle, the Trans Dorm will serve as extra sleeping capacity. Not too likely on the Southwest Chief though, at least I haven’t seen it utilized that way yet.
The Santa Fe Hi-Level Coach-Dorms are now off the Amtrak system. The Superliner II Transition Dorms replaced those cars starting around 1994. Like the “Step-Up” Hi-Levels, they also have one lower level end door to mate with single level cars. That’s why it’s placed next to the single level baggage cars.
On rare occasions another Transition Dorm may be placed on the rear of a Superliner train to connect with single level cars placed on the rear. However this is extremely rare and I’ve only seen it done once on the Southwest Chief. This was a few years ago when then Amtrak president David Gunn traveled to the west coast on the back of a regularly scheduled Southwest Chief using the single level business car Beech Grove. It also occurred on the special Good Morning America train of Superliners and a few single level private cars.
When booking trips I always book a room NOT adjacent to the wash room. I was told that at nite when people use the toilets there is that loud s w o o s h when the toilet is flushed and it mite disturb your sleep? I always forget… are the even or odd numbers on the right side of the train. It is disturbing when stopping at stations, and there’s a freight on the other side, it blocks the scenery.
Swoosh could get annoying, but typically the room right next to the upstairs toilet (#1) is used by the car attendant. Room #2 is open to passengers and would be the closest to, but not actually touching the toilet wall.
Here’s a floor plan to help better explain:
The noise may be one factor, but not to get too gross here, but I think the smell would be the deal breaker for me if I was assigned room #2. But actually due to the proximity of the air intake and toilet retention tanks, you’ll pretty much be smelling it for a while no matter where you are [xx(] Although some cars tend to be worse than others.
The toilet flush noise reminds me of a time wasting game my sister and I came up with during one of our countless trips on the Southwest Chief. We like to imitate the varying sounds heard aboard a Superliner sleeping car. You can easily get bored on long distant trips and have to come up with something funny to pass the time. So after drawing, playing cards, etc… we came up with the sound game. And one of our favorite sounds we like to imitate are the different sounds a Superliner I flush makes vs. the sounds a Superliner II flush makes. Goes something like this:
Superliner I: Vrrrrrt krrwoooshhhh
Superliner II: Chsss ktshhhhhh
Another of our favorites
These Superliner roomettes seem to be set up almost as private-door versions of a section: one seat riding forward, one back.
“Back the the day” roomettes were for one person, bedrooms for two.
Is there no longer a way to get a solo sleeper berth on Amtrak’s western routes? Sounds like a dumb question, I guess, but I haven’t really figured that out. Amtrak’s printed system timetable left me just as much in the dark. - a.s.
Al, there is no public sleeping accommodation on an Amtrak train that has but one berth. All have at least two berths; an upper and a lower. There are some similarities between the Amtrak “roomette” and the old open sections (there were some, but not many, closed sections; I have seen little information on them)-an upper and a lower berth, but the similarity ends there. The old section berths (and seats) were wider, the porter had to make the berths down (I have made my own Amtrak berth down, both in a “roomette” and in a deluxe bedroom), there was no closet to hang your coat.
Also, the old roomette had a wider berth which had to be raised if you needed to use the toilet in the night (I well remember having to leap out of bed and raise it one night when my stomach became unhappy with its contents-I was successful). A Viewliner roomette has a basin and toilet by the inside wall, and the berth is really narrow, but you do not have to raise the berth in the night. Last year, my wife and I had a roomette from Washington to Jacksonville, and found it really cramped, especially when both berths were made down; we had to take turns dressing and undressing. We’re too old for that night accommodation now. Going back north, we tried for a bedroom, but had to settle for two roomettes-one in each of the two sleepers on the train. From Raleigh on, we did have the use of the room across the aisle from mine. A roomette is not really bad for day travel for two people.
VIA does have open sections on most of its overnight trains; the exception is on the two sets of Renaissance equipment that are operated between Montreal and Halifax. Currently, if you leave Montreal on Sunday or Thursday, or Halifax on Wednesday or Saturday, you can get a single berth.
The three sections are at the end of the car, whether it is a Manor or Chateau series sleeper, and the two restrooms are at the very end of the car. Section four has been replaced by the shower/dressing room. The only sleeping accommodat
[quote user=“Deggesty”]
Al, there is no public sleeping accommodation on an Amtrak train that has but one berth. All have at least two berths; an upper and a lower. There are some similarities between the Amtrak “roomette” and the old open sections (there were some, but not many, closed sections; I have seen little information on them)-an upper and a lower berth, but the similarity ends there. The old section berths (and seats) were wider, the porter had to make the berths down (I have made my own Amtrak berth down, both in a “roomette” and in a deluxe bedroom), there was no closet to hang your coat.
Also, the old roomette had a wider berth which had to be raised if you needed to use the toilet in the night (I well remember having to leap out of bed and raise it one night when my stomach became unhappy with its contents-I was successful). A Viewliner roomette has a basin and toilet by the inside wall, and the berth is really narrow, but you do not have to raise the berth in the night. Last year, my wife and I had a roomette from Washington to Jacksonville, and found it really cramped, especially when both berths were made down; we had to take turns dressing and undressing. We’re too old for that night accommodation now. Going back north, we tried for a bedroom, but had to settle for two roomettes-one in each of the two sleepers on the train. From Raleigh on, we did have the use of the room across the aisle from mine. A roomette is not really bad for day travel for two people.
VIA does have open sections on most of its overnight trains; the exception is on the two sets of Renaissance equipment that are operated between Montreal and Halifax. Currently, if you leave Montreal on Sunday or Thursday, or Halifax on Wednesday or Saturday, you can get a single berth.
The three sections are at the end of the car, whether it is a Manor or Chateau series sleeper, and the two restrooms are at the very end of the car. Section four has been replaced by the shower/dressing room. The
Al, don’t worry–if you pay for a roomette, it’s yours, and is not shared with anyone else who is not traveling with you. When my wife and I travel, my ticket gives the space number and car number; hers simply reads “bedroom.” I do let her share the bedroom with me.