Sleeping Car: What should I expect?

Well just 18 days and counting until my long awaited first sleeping car trip. I have a few more questions..

1. What should I expect at Kissimmee? I’ve been told they will direct me as to where I board. Will I be given a tour of my sleeper (i.e Where’s the shower, who my car attendant is, etc)?

2. I read on my previous posts that a staff member will come around for dinner reservations in the diner. Do they give a specific time, or do they give me a choice of times? Just curious, I don’t care when I eat.

3. When will they “make up the room?” That is, covert the seats to a bed. I would assume this is done sometime in the evening hours or at the passenger’s discretion.

4. I am supposed to disembark the Meteor at PHL. Though this is highly unlikely, would they wake me up in time so I don’t end up in New York?

If I have more questions, I will post them..

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A good SCA will introduce him or herself, give you a quick rundown on the features of the room, and tell you the shower is at the end of the hall with towels and soap laid out. Number and times of dinner seatings vary by crew and how crowded the train is. Also, what the people who boarded ahead of you may have picked.The SCA should ask you what time you want the room done, depending on your dinner time during dinner is not uncommon. The single level trains lack the SSL which makes a nice after dinner hangout, so perhaps more folks go back to their rooms for a while.

As soon as the train departs, the SCA will come by your room to go over all the features of the room and the Sleeping car. Dinner Reservations are at specific times, which the LSA will announce over the PA. To take reservations the LSA will start with the Sleepers before moving to the Coaches. If the LSA has already taken reservations, your SCA may have already secured a reservation for you, especially if the train is busy. In the morning you can have the SCA wake you at a specific time. If you want breakfast you will need to be up early since the DC fills up quickly, then a wait list is started. The shower is first come first serve, towels, wash clothes, soap are provided.

Hope you have a great trip.

On the Silver Meteor, depending on the LSA, dinner reservations will generally be taken when you finish lunch in the dining car or in the mid to late afternoon when the LSA walks through the train taking reservations. You should be able to get your first choice of dining times. I routinely board in Orlando and have always been able to choose my dinner time (usually around 6ish). If the train is on time, you will be stopping in Jacksonville for an extended service stop around 5pm. I like getting off the train in JAX and walking along the platform, so I try to choose a dinner time that does not conflict with that fresh air stop.

Most sleeping car attendants will come by in the evening and ask when you want your bed made. A few will expect you to press the call button to alert them.

It is very unlikely that you will sleep through PHL. Your sleeping car attendant will certainly make sure you are awake and ready to detrain. Announcements will start around 7am, which is around the time the Meteor (if on time) will arrive in WAS for the engine change. Passengers will be detraining and your surroundings may be a bit noisy.

On the Meteor, they start serving breakfast at 6:30am. However, if the train is running early and is in WAS at 6:30, breakfast will be delayed until after the engine change and power is restored.

I have traveled on the Silver Meteor more than any other train. I am happy to answer any questions. I hope you enjoy your trip. I am excited for you.

Thank You. I’m assuming my assigned car, 9811, is either next to or one car away from the diner. Where’s the lounge? Does it have casual seating or is it just like the cafe on the Pennsylvanian (which, by the way, is the train I’m taking for the leg to ELT)? I’m assuming overnight trains have the fancier lounges.

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The Cafe Car should be next to the Diner with the Coaches after. One side is the DC and Sleepers and the other is the Cafe and the Coaches, with the two food service cars next to each other.

And the cafe car is pretty much the same as the one on the Pennsylvanian.

Double deck Superliner trains have fancier lounges (Sightseer Lounges), but single level eastern LDs do not.

Oreius said:

Thank You. I’m assuming my assigned car, 9811, is either next to or one car away from the diner. Where’s the lounge? Does it have casual seating or is it just like the cafe on the Pennsylvanian (which, by the way, is the train I’m taking for the leg to ELT)? I’m assuming overnight trains have the fancier lounges.

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9810 is next to the diner. The cafe car is on the other side of the diner. 9811 will be behind 9810, assuming the sleepers are still on the rear of the train. As mentioned above, the cafe car is not a "fancy" lounge.

We have road the Silvers for years. I will admit, I kind-of grinned a bit at the thought of a "tour", though such might be skipped because the SCA realizes I am seasoned passenger.

As to boarding, most times, the SCA for my sleeper is at the VL vestibule, waiting for me. He checks my ticket (I assume mostly to ensure I am at the correct car... the conductor does a more formal check-in later) and offers to take my luggage (which I usually decline). This is also my opportunity to give any special instructions to my SCA (I'll make the room myself).

The LSA will come by to assign dinner times. You get to choose from which times are still left. One thing I learned is that many LSA's will insist that you don't come to the dinning car until he/she announces they are ready for your seating time. If you have a 6pm time, don't go to the dinning care simply because it is 6pm. You have to wait until you hear the announcement that they are doing the 6pm seating (which might not be until 6:30 or so).

On a SL train you can sit in the SSL and wait for dinner, on the VL of course, there is no good space, and it makes sense not to have the vestibule access blocked by waiting standing passengers.

Cho Cho Charlie said:

We have road the Silvers for years. I will admit, I kind-of grinned a bit at the thought of a "tour", though such might be skipped because the SCA realizes I am seasoned passenger.

As to boarding, most times, the SCA for my sleeper is at the VL vestibule, waiting for me. He checks my ticket (I assume mostly to ensure I am at the correct car... the conductor does a more formal check-in later) and offers to take my luggage (which I usually decline). This is also my opportunity to give any special instructions to my SCA (I'll make the room myself).

The LSA will come by to assign dinner times. You get to choose from which times are still left. One thing I learned is that many LSA's will insist that you don't come to the dinning car until he/she announces they are ready for your seating time. If you have a 6pm time, don't go to the dinning care simply because it is 6pm. You have to wait until you hear the announcement that they are doing the 6pm seating (which might not be until 6:30 or so).

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The Conductor may not always come by to check your ticket. When I rode the Crescent Thanksgiving and Christmas, the SCA verified me by name as I got on. Then he/she radioed the Conductor saying "my XXX is on board". I was puzzled why the Conductor had not come by, so asked him later. That was his answer.

Having retired from computer development, I initially assumed that a technique had been developed to read my phone's Amtrak app, specifically the ticket image, and mysteriously pass this information to the master database in the sky.....!

Cho Cho Charlie said:

One thing I learned is that many LSA's will insist that you don't come to the dinning car until he/she announces they are ready for your seating time. If you have a 6pm time, don't go to the dinning care simply because it is 6pm. You have to wait until you hear the announcement that they are doing the 6pm seating (which might not be until 6:30 or so).

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I have been on the Silver Meteor when the seating has been announced by the LSA and have been on it when the LSA just expects you to show up at the reservation time (generally for earlier seating times). When your reservation is taken, you may want to ask if the LSA does not inform you. However, almost always, a dining car crew member when seat you when you enter the dining car. It is recommended that you wait upon entering until a crew member either tells you where to seat or indicates you can sit anywhere you choose (if the train is not full).

In regard to equipment, think of the Silver Meteor as basically a Pennsylvanian plus a diner and some sleepers. The Cafe is the same, the coaches are the same. When passing time, you’ll probably just be chilling in your roomette. That said, during non-dining hours the diner staff (if they’re nice) might let you chill in the dining car. The Viewliner diners have the double row of windows, so it actually works pretty well as a Sightseer Lounge. If the car isn’t really in use busy you just sit quietly there looking out the window or on your phone, they probably won’t have a problem with it.

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cpotisch said:

That said, during non-dining hours the diner staff (if they’re nice) might let you chill in the dining car. The Viewliner diners have the double row of windows, so it actually works pretty well as a Sightseer Lounge. If the car isn’t really in use busy you just sit quietly there looking out the window or on your phone, they probably won’t have a problem with it.

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I tend to disagree with you. I think most Silver Meteor LSAs will not permit passengers to hang out in the dining car between meals. They may be busy setting up for the next meal or the tables may already be set and for sanitary purposes, do not want people sitting at tables where others soon will be eating.

pennyk said:

cpotisch said:

That said, during non-dining hours the diner staff (if they’re nice) might let you chill in the dining car. The Viewliner diners have the double row of windows, so it actually works pretty well as a Sightseer Lounge. If the car isn’t really in use busy you just sit quietly there looking out the window or on your phone, they probably won’t have a problem with it.

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I tend to disagree with you. I think most Silver Meteor LSAs will not permit passengers to hang out in the dining car between meals. They may be busy setting up for the next meal or the tables may already be set and for sanitary purposes, do not want people sitting at tables where others soon will be eating.

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In my experience (which I recognize is just MY EXPERIENCE), I have found that if you say “Excuse me. Is there any chance I can sit here and look out the window for a little bit?” when they’re not busy or prepping for lunch, they’ve generally been ok with it. Not to count on that, but if you ask nicely and are reasonable about it, they might not object.

All excellent advice above.

I have always found the Meteor crews professional and helpful. Also, unless you are a really late riser, you should be awake before Philly, but the SCA will most likely come and check on you right after the stop before (Wilmington, Delaware).

Make sure you go to the PHL lounge, since you can go in for free coming off the sleeper. Even just to get coffee and freshen up, it's a nice place to relax for a little while. And if you are getting another train later in the day, even if it's not a sleeper, they are nice about letting people just hang out for several hours.

The absolute worst thing that could happen, if you missed Philly, is to get off at the next stop (Trenton, NJ) and take SEPTA right back down again. You wouldn't have to go all the way to New York.

Mystic River Dragon said:

The absolute worst thing that could happen, if you missed Philly, is to get off at the next stop (Trenton, NJ) and take SEPTA right back down again. You wouldn't have to go all the way to New York.

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And I would second that there’s virtually no chance of that happening anyway. And even if it does, it’s 100% the crew’s fault/responsibility that they just let a passenger stay on past their stop. Thus, Amtrak would probably comp you for your trouble and cover any travel costs to get back to Philly.

I should be okay. I’m now booked on the Pennsylvanian for the trip to ELT, so I have two hours to kill at Club Acela. Of course, that depends on what time the Meteor gets into Philly. Hopefully it won’t be late getting in..

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One thing I won’t have to worry about is luggage. I’m taking just a duffel bag and my computer case. So, I can walk on the train and walk off.

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cpotisch said:

Mystic River Dragon said:

The absolute worst thing that could happen, if you missed Philly, is to get off at the next stop (Trenton, NJ) and take SEPTA right back down again. You wouldn't have to go all the way to New York.

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And I would second that there’s virtually no chance of that happening anyway. And even if it does, it’s 100% the crew’s fault/responsibility that they just let a passenger stay on past their stop. Thus, Amtrak would probably comp you for your trouble and cover any travel costs to get back to Philly.

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Yep. A passenger missing their stop is known as a 'carry by'. The service manual notes OBS (On Board Staff) are expected to prevent a carry by.

A word of advice. In the dining car, do not seat yourself, unless you just particularly like getting fussed at by the attendant. Unless you are a party of four, you will most likely be seated with another party. This can be good or bad, depending. (There are a few weirdos riding Amtrak.)

I usually get to the DC at 6:30 am before the first breakfast announcement 7. Someone usually seats me immediately, sometimes by myself since there are few people at this time of the morning, but by 7:30 there is a wait list and every seat is filled. For lunch, if they do reservations, listen for your time to be called, then proceed to the DC and wait to be seated.

Good advice. I will definitely try to be at the diner at around 6:30. But here’s a what if: Will I fit on the booths of the dining car? I am a large person. I board at 12:56 PM (provided the train is on time); this is during lunch hour. Maybe if I ask, they will let me “try out” to sit if it is doable. I might want to wait until between the meal times so as not to embarrass myself.

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A friend of mine is 6 foot and approx. 300 pounds who fits in the booths ok with no discomfort.

Remember that you can have your SCA bring your meals to your room, just suggest tipping them for doing this extra service.

The booths may be a little tight for very large people. You could ask your attendant his or her opinion as to whether you will fit comfortably. If 98 is more or less on time, you should get lunch (either in your room or in the dining car) after you board.