Superliner (lower level roomette)

I have always had a sleeper compartment on the upper level of a Superliner car, as I assume the ride and view is much better.

For those of you who have ridden on the lower, what is it like? Do you hate it or love it?

Thanks for any info you can provide me.

C&O RR said:

I have always had a sleeper compartment on the upper level of a Superliner car, as I assume the ride and view is much better.

For those of you who have ridden on the lower, what is it like? Do you hate it or love it?

Thanks for any info you can provide me.

Click to expand...

One of the attractions IMHO of the upper level is the better view.

Another one is that you get a lot of social interaction, be it with the attendant or the other passengers. People don't normally go down to the lower level without a reason, so it can get pretty lonesome down there.

However, there are people who like it that way.

I was in a lower level roomette once. I had open lung surgery about a week prior and the stairs would have been hard to navigate. The SCA brought my meals to me. However, it was announced that the dining car would open at a certain time for breakfast the next morning. So I went up the stairs to the dining car at the announced time and was turned back by a very rude dining car attendant. She said they would announce when the dining car was open. It had taken all I could to get up those stairs and then have to go back.

Definitely choose upper level. As stated, the view is better and there is more interaction with others. Also, it is more convenient to the dining car and SSL.

I have been in the lower level roomettes on a few occasions.

I found it convenient to the shower and bathrooms. I could not

tell any difference in the ride, but the view is better in the

upper level rooms.

Not to mention at stops, people can see right into your room windows on the lower level.

I like it because it was quite, it's close to the shower and restrooms, you can get off at the stops easily as you are right by the door and when the attendant is away you can open the dutch door and take some pics.

henryj said:

and when the attendant is away you can open the dutch door and take some pics.

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Shame, shame.

However, having an upper level roomette does not change your ability to do that.

I usually always (except at night) have my upper level roomette door wide open, and noise has NEVER been an issue. The whole idea of the lower level rooms being more quiet is a mystery to me.

WARNING: :giggle: :giggle: :giggle: :giggle:

Advantages of lower floor:

1. If you have to jump out through the window when her husband boards, you don't need a ladder to get to the ground.
2. You can escape by digging a hole and slipping between the rails.
3. You can make faces at people who are boarding.
4. If a 747 falls on the train, you live a little longer.
5. You can mitigate some of the disadvantages below by using the top bunk.
6. You can't fall down the stairs.
7. Nobody parties downstairs.
8. You can charge people for using the showers on your floor.
9. You can look at the headlights of the car approaching the train. Looks cool!
10. If you realize you forgot something, there's a whole lot of people's baggage to search through just down the hall.
11. If the elevator is out of service, you don't have to carry baggage up the winding staircase.
12. You can yell "Abandon Ship" and watch all the fools upstairs fall all over themselves as they try to get down the narrow staircase.

Disadvantages of lower floor:

1. If the people upstairs drop a bowling ball, you hear it.
2. If the people jump off the bed upstairs, they may come crashing down on you.
3. Sewage flows downhill.
4. If the train falls in the ocean, you drown first.
5. If you get the bottom bunk, all the disadvantages become worse.
6. Since almost everyone is upstairs, they might abandon you and you will never know.
7. All the brats are likely to be in the family room down the hall.
8. Nobody parties downstairs.
9. You can't see over the heads of people outside so you miss all the scenery at the station.
10. If a car runs into the side of the train, guess who gets it first.
11. Nobody likes the basement apartment.
12. If the escalator fails, you have to walk up the stairs to get to the diner.

me_little_me said:

WARNING: :giggle: :giggle: :giggle: :giggle:

Advantages of lower floor:

1. If you have to jump out through the window when her husband boards, you don't need a ladder to get to the ground.
2. You can escape by digging a hole and slipping between the rails.
3. You can make faces at people who are boarding.
4. If a 747 falls on the train, you live a little longer.
5. You can mitigate some of the disadvantages below by using the top bunk.
6. You can't fall down the stairs.
7. Nobody parties downstairs.
8. You can charge people for using the showers on your floor.
9. You can look at the headlights of the car approaching the train. Looks cool!
10. If you realize you forgot something, there's a whole lot of people's baggage to search through just down the hall.
11. If the elevator is out of service, you don't have to carry baggage up the winding staircase.
12. You can yell "Abandon Ship" and watch all the fools upstairs fall all over themselves as they try to get down the narrow staircase.

Disadvantages of lower floor:

1. If the people upstairs drop a bowling ball, you hear it.
2. If the people jump off the bed upstairs, they may come crashing down on you.
3. Sewage flows downhill.
4. If the train falls in the ocean, you drown first.
5. If you get the bottom bunk, all the disadvantages become worse.
6. Since almost everyone is upstairs, they might abandon you and you will never know.
7. All the brats are likely to be in the family room down the hall.
8. Nobody parties downstairs.
9. You can't see over the heads of people outside so you miss all the scenery at the station.
10. If a car runs into the side of the train, guess who gets it first.
11. Nobody likes the basement apartment.
12. If the escalator fails, you have to walk up the stairs to get to the diner.

Click to expand...

ROTFL!

me_little_me said:

WARNING: :giggle: :giggle: :giggle: :giggle:

Advantages of lower floor:

1. If you have to jump out through the window when her husband boards, you don't need a ladder to get to the ground.
2. You can escape by digging a hole and slipping between the rails.
3. You can make faces at people who are boarding.
4. If a 747 falls on the train, you live a little longer.
5. You can mitigate some of the disadvantages below by using the top bunk.
6. You can't fall down the stairs.
7. Nobody parties downstairs.
8. You can charge people for using the showers on your floor.
9. You can look at the headlights of the car approaching the train. Looks cool!
10. If you realize you forgot something, there's a whole lot of people's baggage to search through just down the hall.
11. If the elevator is out of service, you don't have to carry baggage up the winding staircase.
12. You can yell "Abandon Ship" and watch all the fools upstairs fall all over themselves as they try to get down the narrow staircase.

Disadvantages of lower floor:

1. If the people upstairs drop a bowling ball, you hear it.
2. If the people jump off the bed upstairs, they may come crashing down on you.
3. Sewage flows downhill.
4. If the train falls in the ocean, you drown first.
5. If you get the bottom bunk, all the disadvantages become worse.
6. Since almost everyone is upstairs, they might abandon you and you will never know.
7. All the brats are likely to be in the family room down the hall.
8. Nobody parties downstairs.
9. You can't see over the heads of people outside so you miss all the scenery at the station.
10. If a car runs into the side of the train, guess who gets it first.
11. Nobody likes the basement apartment.
12. If the escalator fails, you have to walk up the stairs to get to the diner.

Click to expand...

I enjoyed your reply. You have a LOT of time on your hands. :giggle:

Good joke chain! :wacko: Anyway.....

I personally prefer upper level significantly, better view and easier to get around.

I will take a moment to defend the lower level, for certain situations. Specifically...

- if traveling with two in a room and you have lots of luggage, you can keep more in your suitcase and strategically bring things into / out of your room easier.

- shorter hike to the rest room and you'll know first when the shower is open.

- if your windows are dirty, at least you can get to them to clean them at station stops.

- generally less rocking - nice on the jointed rail of the Kansas SWC route.

- less through traffic, if you book two economy rooms across from one another, you can keep your doors open and chat across the hallway with less interruptions.

With all of that, you do loose some headroom in the upper bunk, I think, and you become an exhibit at station stops if your blinds are open - don't forget to pack pj's if you sleep with open windows. If you get a family fully packing the family bedroom, it can get a bit noisy if the kids are active. I do like upstairs generally better, but being on the lower level isn't necessarily the worst fate to befall a passenger on a train.

Downfall if you happen to have room #13 or 14, and there are young/loud kids in the family bedroom, it's not quiet...

On our trip back home from Whitefish, the couple that went with us, they had 13, and there was young kinds in the room, and they were somewhat loud/annoying, so they come up and visit, us and we also spent a lot of time in the loung car.

TraneMan said:

Downfall if you happen to have room #13 or 14, and there are young/loud kids in the family bedroom, it's not quiet...

On our trip back home from Whitefish, the couple that went with us, they had 13, and there was young kinds in the room, and they were somewhat loud/annoying, so they come up and visit, us and we also spent a lot of time in the loung car.

Click to expand...

The thing is, on my last trip, the Family Room was packed and the kids kept coming upstairs to chat with the SCA, but not all the time, of course. I can only imagine how loud it would been to stay on the lower level! The SCA even spilled food because he was distracted by kids! :huh:

I just finished a trip (2 hours ago) on a lower level roomette. closer to toilets, less noise. I don't care about the views because I was in the SSL

C&O RR said:

For those of you who have ridden on the lower, what is it like? Do you hate it or love it?

Click to expand...

Loved reading the responses to this question.

We just finished our 7-day train trip (got home on Thursday). We had a lower level room twice. Once on the Empire Builder, the other on the CONO.

I liked the lower level because we were closer to the luggage rack, and if I need to take something out of my pullman case, I didn't have to traipse up and down the stairs. Also, there's not a lot of foot traffic going past the roomette because to go through the car to another one, you have to be on the upper level.

It also doesn't sway as much on the lower level like it does on the upper.

What I don't like about it is that the coffee pot is at the top of the stairs. On our last leg on the CONO, I didn't get any coffee from that pot. The only coffee I had was from the dining car for breakfast.

Me personally, I sleep better on the upper-level. I think there is less track noise and when it's late and everything else around has gone quiet the track noise is more prominent on the lower-level.

MikeM said:

With all of that, you do loose some headroom in the upper bunk, I think,

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Actually I believe that there is about an inch more headroom in the lower level roomette than the upper level roomette for the upper bunk. Additionally, the lower level upper bunk doesn't lose headroom near the wall due to the curve of the roof like happens with an upper level roomette.

AlanB said:

MikeM said:

With all of that, you do loose some headroom in the upper bunk, I think,

Click to expand...

Actually I believe that there is about an inch more headroom in the lower level roomette than the upper level roomette for the upper bunk. Additionally, the lower level upper bunk doesn't lose headroom near the wall due to the curve of the roof like happens with an upper level roomette.

Click to expand...

There is, indeed, more head room down stairs.