Roomette info (when boarding at 2am)?

[ehbowen]

Consider yourselves lucky. Back in the days of open sections, standard practice was to change from day attire to night clothes and back while lying in your fully made-up berth. And some folks shared their berth (with a traveling companion) to save a few bucks....

Two people would actually share a single berth? I get that open section berths were slightly wider than that of a roomette, but that still sounds absolutely miserable.

Oh, yes, it was done. Not by strangers (at least, not outside the context of troop trains, as bratkinson notes), but if you wanted to save the cost of an extra accommodation by sharing with your son or daughter or significant other, you could. As with Amtrak, you still had to purchase a rail fare for them, though, and in relative terms the rail fare was much higher than the accommodation charge by today's standards.

It is said that one of General Palmer's motivations for creating a transcontinental narrow-gauge rail system (which was never completed) was that the loading gauge for narrow-gauge rolling stock was less generous than for standard-gauge; enough so that you could not share berths. General Palmer was apparently one of those personalities who got uptight at the thought of husbands and wives doing what husbands and wives occasionally do behind closed doors (or drawn curtains)....

Also, even if people did change clothes in their berths back then, there's no reason why both people would have to change at the same time. I'm just wondering why two people sharing a berth would make any difference when changing...

It can get a little tight in there....

(But, you're right. One of them could run to the restroom lounge or similar.)

 

[PVD]

Next time anyone goes to Chicago, walk through the U-505 , that really brings home the shared berth idea.....Racks (berths) in subs are still often shared (someone else is sleeping in it while you are on duty) today, based on crew complement vs available berths. Mercifully, they are somewhat longer.