Coach seats on LD trains

OK, before anyone suggests upgrading to roomettes, I am on a couple of the LD trains, SWC & CA, I am taking on my US cross-country trip with my 45-day rail pass. But, my question is, has anyone traveled in coach on LD trains. I am trying to save money and will ask about upgrading as I can on the trip, but if coach is OK then I can save money and use it for sight seeing on the days I am staying over. My trip looks like this, yes I know it has changed, but this looks like the final change:



LSLWorcester to Chicago

Southwestchief to LA

Texas Eagle to FTW

Bob'sArrive on Friday and leave on Tuesday

TexasEagle to Chicago

CapitolLimited to Toledo

FFRCArrive on Wednesday and leave on Friday

CapitolLimited to Washington DC

Silver Meteor to Fort Lauderdale

Stayin Fort Lauderdale

SilverMeteor to Washington DC

CapitolLimited to Chicago

CAZephyr to Emeryville

CoastStarlight to Seattle

Stayin Seattle

CoastStarlight to Portland

EmpireBuilder to Chicago

LSLto Worcester

June said:

OK, before anyone suggests upgrading to roomettes, I am on a couple of the LD trains, SWC & CA, I am taking on my US cross-country trip with my 45-day rail pass. But, my question is, has anyone traveled in coach on LD trains. I am trying to save money and will ask about upgrading as I can on the trip, but if coach is OK then I can save money and use it for sight seeing on the days I am staying over. My trip looks like this, yes I know it has changed, but this looks like the final change:

 

LSLWorcester to Chicago

Southwestchief to LA

Texas Eagle to FTW

Bob'sArrive on Friday and leave on Tuesday

TexasEagle to Chicago

CapitolLimited to Toledo

FFRCArrive on Wednesday and leave on Friday

CapitolLimited to Washington DC

Silver Meteor to Fort Lauderdale

Stayin Fort Lauderdale

SilverMeteor to Washington DC

CapitolLimited to Chicago

CAZephyr to Emeryville

CoastStarlight to Seattle

Stayin Seattle

CoastStarlight to Portland

EmpireBuilder to Chicago

LSLto Worcester

Click to expand...

Sounds like fun, out of curiosity, why are you going from Emeryville up to Seattle and then back down to Portland? Why not take the Coast Starlight from Emeryville up to Portland, then the Cascades up to Seattle and the Empire Builder to Chicago?

As per your question: I have taken coach on the Silver Star overnight. It was fine, way better than overnight in coach on an airplane. BUT, a lot rides on how well you sleep. I sleep lightly, so it is not the best situation for me. If you are a deep sleeper that has no problems with sleeping in a recliner, then have at it!

Here are some pictures of the Silver Star coach seating:







Steve

I have read that the route from Portland on the EB is more scenic than the route from Seattle. I would just go up to Portland and stay there, but I really want to see seattle and the area but get the best view on the EB.

Thanks for the pictures, I am usually able to sleep thru anything, and can take Advil PM with me if I need help. I think I will take ear plugs and sleep mask to help too. The seats look much better than the coach of an airplane. I have only traveled Amtrak one time in 2003 and it was by bedroom with my mother-in-law and even though the meals were included, I think I would not get that again for myself. If I find that I cannot sleep on the train, I am visiting my brother in Fort Worth a few days, staying in Toledo a couple days, and have a couple hotel nights build-in and could extend it a second day somewhere if i need more rest.

If you can sleep through anything, I think you will be fine.

June said:

I have read that the route from Portland on the EB is more scenic than the route from Seattle. I would just go up to Portland and stay there, but I really want to see seattle and the area but get the best view on the EB.

Thanks for the pictures, I am usually able to sleep thru anything, and can take Advil PM with me if I need help. I think I will take ear plugs and sleep mask to help too. The seats look much better than the coach of an airplane. I have only traveled Amtrak one time in 2003 and it was by bedroom with my mother-in-law and even though the meals were included, I think I would not get that again for myself. If I find that I cannot sleep on the train, I am visiting my brother in Fort Worth a few days, staying in Toledo a couple days, and have a couple hotel nights build-in and could extend it a second day somewhere if i need more rest.

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Makes sense! If you are a solid sleeper you should be fine. Take a eye mask and ear plugs and you should be even better.

If I were traveling alone I would likely take coach too, but I can be cheap! With two people the sleepers become more economical since they are charged by the room rather than the person.

Steve

The Western train coaches, superliners, are even roomier than the Eastern viewliners, and have better leg-rests. If you sleep well you will be very comfortable on them. When I was younger I rode a lot in coach overnight, and did fine. Also, the sightseer lounge on Western trains is roomy and a comfortable alternative to the coach seating.

Looks like an excellent trip. Have fun!

Maine Rider said:

The Western train coaches, superliners, are even roomier than the Eastern viewliners, and have better leg-rests. If you sleep well you will be very comfortable on them. When I was younger I rode a lot in coach overnight, and did fine. Also, the sightseer lounge on Western trains is roomy and a comfortable alternative to the coach seating.

Looks like an excellent trip. Have fun!

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I personally cannot sleep while sitting even on this wide and spacious reclining seats with ample leg room. Here you can walk trough the train or jump directly by a folding menu (after initial loading) to the coach car as an interactive 360º panorama

http://www.kaemena360.com/home/amtrak-superliner.html

wkaemena said:

Maine Rider said:

The Western train coaches, superliners, are even roomier than the Eastern viewliners, and have better leg-rests. If you sleep well you will be very comfortable on them. When I was younger I rode a lot in coach overnight, and did fine. Also, the sightseer lounge on Western trains is roomy and a comfortable alternative to the coach seating.

Looks like an excellent trip. Have fun!

Click to expand...

I personally cannot sleep while sitting even on this wide and spacious reclining seats with ample leg room. Here you can walk trough the train or jump directly by a folding menu (after initial loading) to the coach car as an interactive 360º panorama

http://www.kaemena36...superliner.html

Click to expand...

I looked at the tour of the coach car, does all the coach seats have leg rests that come up to rest your legs on besides the foot rests on the back of the seat in front of you?

Also, is there more room in a bulkhead seat or is this not a good seat because of lack of views.

I believe all the coach seats have leg rests *in the long-distance cars*. (They certainly do in Amfleet IIs, used on the single-level trains).

Occasionally Amtrak runs out of long-distance cars and substitutes a "corridor car" -- or attaches one for people travelling short distances. If this happens, demand to be moved to a different car; it's pretty intolerable to be in an Amfleet I overnight.

There's some pics here showing the seats reclining.

The only time I found coach to be absolutely horrible is when the train is sold out.

As long as you can make yourself comfortable, and manage to get some sleep, then the trips will be just fine.

All of the seats do have legrests as well as footrests.

I have ridden in bulkhead seats on Amtrak plenty of times. The view out of that window is just as good as other windows in my honest opinion.

I traveled coach a lot when younger. I am over 60 now, and not as good at curling up, but at 5'2", I could curl up and actually lay down on a pair of seats with both footrests up and my fleece jack for extra padding on the armrest. On the western trains, if traveling alone and coach is not too crowded, you may be allowed a pair of seats to yourself (does this ever happen any more, coach not too crowded?).

I live in Oregon, so I approve of the Portland run on the EB -- but I might suggest the Cascades from Seattle to PDX, it's a lovely train and different/faster than the CS (besides having serviceable if slow wi-fi most of the way). Lots of schedule choices, and better food, too, they have the regional specialties!

I don't like the bulkhead seats because of the noise at night when someone goes through the doors, or up and down the stairs (by the middle bulkhead). Can't say much about the view, I've only been stuck in a bulkhead seat once, and didn't notice the view was any different. Some seats have the wall between windows right beside the seat, and that is worse if you ask me. But if you don't like the view (or lack of it) from your seat, you'll end up at a table in the cafe car.

As of recently, trains are definitely filling up more. Last year I rode coach from LFT to ELP, and I had two seats to myself the whole way, but then again that was the Sunset Limited.

I was recently on a packed LSL, and the CONO was sold out *glad I had a roomette on the CONO!!*

I was also on the Crescent recently, I know it got crowded when we hit ATL, glad I had a sleeper for that one too.

I hear that the Sunset has been pretty crowded lately too though. I notice more people boarding and detraining here at LFT as well.

Amtrak Cajun said:

As of recently, trains are definitely filling up more. Last year I rode coach from LFT to ELP, and I had two seats to myself the whole way, but then again that was the Sunset Limited.

I was recently on a packed LSL, and the CONO was sold out *glad I had a roomette on the CONO!!*

I was also on the Crescent recently, I know it got crowded when we hit ATL, glad I had a sleeper for that one too.

I hear that the Sunset has been pretty crowded lately too though. I notice more people boarding and detraining here at LFT as well.

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Good to know, but do you think the trains I have shown will be filling up in middle April to early May? I figure after spring break and before school gets out. Plus after the skiing is pretty much done.

No one can predict passenger load. I wish we could haha. Then we would all be traveling on the least crowded days, which in turn would make it crowded again

*Admiral Ackbar* ITS A TRAPPPPPP!!!!!

Most of my travel has been on the cross-country LD trains, including all western trains, and almost always in winter (Nov thru March). We started getting roomettes because the LSL was always sold out, and coach was crowded so we couldn't spread out.

I once spent five straight nights in coach and I survived.

Maine Rider said:

The Western train coaches, superliners, are even roomier than the Eastern viewliners, and have better leg-rests. If you sleep well you will be very comfortable on them. When I was younger I rode a lot in coach overnight, and did fine. Also, the sightseer lounge on Western trains is roomy and a comfortable alternative to the coach seating.

Looks like an excellent trip. Have fun!

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I don't understand. There are no Viewliner Coaches, what are you talking about?

Swadian Hardcore said:

Maine Rider said:

The Western train coaches, superliners, are even roomier than the Eastern viewliners, and have better leg-rests. If you sleep well you will be very comfortable on them. When I was younger I rode a lot in coach overnight, and did fine. Also, the sightseer lounge on Western trains is roomy and a comfortable alternative to the coach seating.

Looks like an excellent trip. Have fun!

Click to expand...

I don't understand. There are no Viewliner Coaches, what are you talking about?

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If you had to make one guess what he means, what would it be?

May not be Viewliner coaches but many people call the Easten trains "viewliners" colloquially.

Swadian Hardcore said:

Maine Rider said:

The Western train coaches, superliners, are even roomier than the Eastern viewliners, and have better leg-rests. If you sleep well you will be very comfortable on them. When I was younger I rode a lot in coach overnight, and did fine. Also, the sightseer lounge on Western trains is roomy and a comfortable alternative to the coach seating.

Looks like an excellent trip. Have fun!

Click to expand...

I don't understand. There are no Viewliner Coaches, what are you talking about?

Click to expand...

While we all know the coaches as Amfleet I or II, or Horizon for that matter, Amtrak also refers to the whole train as a "Viewliner Train" on their website. I know, it is odd and frankly incorrect, but they do. For an example, go to the Amtrak website and click on : Plan > Onboard > Seating Accommodations > Reserved Coach Class Seat

Then it will show a table with "Short/Medium Distance Train," "Viewliner Train," and "Superliner Train" and show the amenities on each train type in a coach class seat. There are some other references on their website too, but that is the most visible one as anyone that clicks on the reserved coach seat description will see that page.

Here is a link to the page: Amtrak Seating Table

Steve

Shortline said:

Swadian Hardcore said:

Maine Rider said:

The Western train coaches, superliners, are even roomier than the Eastern viewliners, and have better leg-rests. If you sleep well you will be very comfortable on them. When I was younger I rode a lot in coach overnight, and did fine. Also, the sightseer lounge on Western trains is roomy and a comfortable alternative to the coach seating.

Looks like an excellent trip. Have fun!

Click to expand...

I don't understand. There are no Viewliner Coaches, what are you talking about?

Click to expand...

If you had to make one guess what he means, what would it be?

May not be Viewliner coaches but many people call the Easten trains "viewliners" colloquially.

Click to expand...

**LIKE**

I would avoid the bulkhead seats, if possible. While the extra room is nice, there are two main drawbacks. One is that there is no tray table for you to use. The biggest drawback, though, is listening to the door opening and closing all night everytime someone walks through your car. With stops in the middle of the night and passengers boarding and leaving, and with conductors checking the train, there will be traffic through your car all night. I made the mistake of sitting there once for an overnight in coach and will not do it again. The view is not as good, either, which may be important to you.

Hope you have a great trip.

I think the coach vs sleeper decision rests solely on the depth of your pockets. A sleeper will help insure you arrive fresh and rested, but only you can decide if that is worth the hefty price tag? Some trains are certainly more costly than others. So you may want to mix it up.

I traveled on a 30 Day Rail Pass in April and May of this year - exclusively in coach and it was absolutely fine.

I enjoyed it so much that I plan on doing it again next year.

Even though Spring Break was over at that point, all of my trains were full but it was never a problem.

We picked up groups of chaperoned students on two of my trips and that made for a lot of action in the SSL and Diner but it was never too crowded and I was always able to get a seat/reservation in both places.

Spring Break 2013 Dates

As a female traveling alone, my suggestion is to ask for an aisle seat, every coach attendant I encountered had no problem with that.

Since you have no control over your seatmates, being seated next to a male seat hog or character of either sex while you're hemmed in at the window is not pleasant.

It happened to me a couple of times and I'll never sit there again, having a wall to lean on isn't worth it and I can see out the windows just fine from the aisle.

I can also get in and out of my seat at my convenience.

Just my experience, to each their own.

If you have compression bags for packing, you can actually compress a full size pillow (cheap type, not feather or memory foam) and fleece blanket small enough to roll up and pack in or attach to your carry-on.

Easy enough to compress and re-pack while at your seat too.

I have these from Target so I can vouch for their quality, there are a lot of choices on Amazon too.

3 large and 2 medium compression travel bags from Target for $21.99



I also found this neat travel pillow and used it on a couple of trips, not as comfortable as a real pillow but not bad at all.

It's super easy to inflate and doesn't take up much room in your bag at all.

You can supplement it with the dinky Amtrak pillow.

The cover they sell for it is not worth the $ though, I just put part of my blanket on it as the material it's made from hurt my ear.

Travel Rest Pillow - $26.95 on Amazon



I also agree on the bulkhead seats, sat there once on the CONO and the constant door action was awful and I really missed my tray table.

I had the loveliest, most elegant seatmate ever so that made up for it.

Coach seats are very comfortable with a lot of leg room, here are a couple more pics.





I really enjoyed planning my Rail Pass trips, your itinerary looks like a real adventure.

Have fun!

JoanieB has provided a great photo of "Superliner" long-distance seats (I think) and the "Amfleet II" seats are *very* similar.

If the attendant places you overnight in a car which has different, more closely spaced seats, without footrests, move to a different car immediately. The cars with more closely spaced seats ("corridor seating") are intended for people travelling short distances, and the attendant will have made a mistake. I failed to correct this error once, and that was my only truly unpleasant trip on Amtrak.

(The corridor seats are fine if you're not trying to sleep, though; they're like business class seats on a good airline.)