Roomettes

[RailFanLNK]

Hello All,

Have been taking people's opinion and checking it twice. I had paid $493.00 for a Family Bedroom for my girlfriend and I and her two kids. Noticed today on the website that I could get TWO roomettes for $116.00 per roomette. Saving us a chunk of change and maybe making the trip more enjoyable for all of us with seperate rooms. We are in roomettes 23 and 24 in car 0520. I can't find them at On Track On Line in their diagrams. Does anyone know where these roomettes are? Upstairs or Downstairs? Any help will be much appreciated. Also, do you think this was the correct move? I did it kinda hastily but the savings was $261.00. I had to pay a little more for coach per seat but I "think" I made the correct move. Especially with how we can and can't all get along as a family "unit".

 

[AlanB]

Hello All,Have been taking people's opinion and checking it twice. I had paid $493.00 for a Family Bedroom for my girlfriend and I and her two kids. Noticed today on the website that I could get TWO roomettes for $116.00 per roomette. Saving us a chunk of change and maybe making the trip more enjoyable for all of us with seperate rooms. We are in roomettes 23 and 24 in car 0520. I can't find them at On Track On Line in their diagrams. Does anyone know where these roomettes are? Upstairs or Downstairs? Any help will be much appreciated. Also, do you think this was the correct move? I did it kinda hastily but the savings was $261.00. I had to pay a little more for coach per seat but I "think" I made the correct move. Especially with how we can and can't all get along as a family "unit".

Those rooms are upstairs in the Transition Dorm car, the car where the on board crew sleeps. So you will find half the car off limits to you, but otherwise it should still be an enjoyable ride and you'll still have all the normal perks available to you.

As for the correct move, only you can decide that, but hopefully it was. I do hope that you setup an AGR account for your girlfriend, such that each of you will get the points for one bedroom.

Finally, something is wrong with your statement about the coach seat. Amtrak rules are hard and fast on this, when you book a sleeper you always get the lowest price for the railfare (coach fare), no matter how full coach is. So if the railfare charge went up, you need to call Amtrak. Something is wrong! There should have been no increase in the railfare, unless Amtrak just raised prices across the board for all bucket levels. Even then, since you already had an existing reservation they really should have honored the old price, if indeed there was a general price increase. But if coach went up by more than I'd say 10 to 15 bucks, then the agent screwed something up and did not give you the lowest bucket price for railfare. I would investigate this one right away.

 

[Chi_Train_Fan]

Hello All,Have been taking people's opinion and checking it twice. I had paid $493.00 for a Family Bedroom for my girlfriend and I and her two kids. Noticed today on the website that I could get TWO roomettes for $116.00 per roomette. Saving us a chunk of change and maybe making the trip more enjoyable for all of us with seperate rooms. We are in roomettes 23 and 24 in car 0520. I can't find them at On Track On Line in their diagrams. Does anyone know where these roomettes are? Upstairs or Downstairs? Any help will be much appreciated. Also, do you think this was the correct move? I did it kinda hastily but the savings was $261.00. I had to pay a little more for coach per seat but I "think" I made the correct move. Especially with how we can and can't all get along as a family "unit".

RailRookie,

Sounds like you made the right move. Maybe the kids will enjoy having their own room and you and your girlfriend will certainly like being able to be seperated from the kids as well. And since the rooms are right across the hall it will be easy to hear if there is a problem. The 520 sleeper is the transition sleeper. 23 and 24 are near the center of the car on the upper level. All the rooms in the transition sleeper are roomettes except for the one handicapped room on the lower level.

[Forward direction of travel]

1 2

3 4

5 6

7 8

T/S Stairs

23 24

21 22

19 20

17 18

O T/S

Where

T/S = Toilet Shower combination

and

O= Office like area with chair, desk, and coffee maker.

There are a few transition sleepers which have one additional roomette making them:

[Forward direction of travel]

1 2

3 4

5 6

7 8

T/S Stairs

23 24

21 22

19 20

17 18

O 16

Hope that helps! You'll be on the upper level, across the hall and it's pretty quiet in the transition sleeper because most of the crew is working and very few people are coming through in the hallway.

Cheers,

David

Chicago, IL

 

[Boxcar]

Hello All,Have been taking people's opinion and checking it twice. I had paid $493.00 for a Family Bedroom for my girlfriend and I and her two kids. Noticed today on the website that I could get TWO roomettes for $116.00 per roomette. Saving us a chunk of change and maybe making the trip more enjoyable for all of us with seperate rooms. We are in roomettes 23 and 24 in car 0520. I can't find them at On Track On Line in their diagrams. Does anyone know where these roomettes are? Upstairs or Downstairs? Any help will be much appreciated. Also, do you think this was the correct move? I did it kinda hastily but the savings was $261.00. I had to pay a little more for coach per seat but I "think" I made the correct move. Especially with how we can and can't all get along as a family "unit".

Rookie....I hope you take your own advise and bring heavy duty earplugs.

I talked to a fairly new diner attendent and her room was in the trans/dorm. She said the train horn was very very loud plus disturbing and hoped to get use to it quickly....

 

[AlanB]

Rookie....I hope you take your own advise and bring heavy duty earplugs. I talked to a fairly new diner attendent and her room was in the trans/dorm. She said the train horn was very very loud plus disturbing and hoped to get use to it quickly....

Well it also depends on which train you are riding. In this case he'll be on the Zephyr, which might help a bit. The Z usually gets 3 or 4 engines, add in a baggage car, and if you're lucky there might even be a mail car, and that starts to give one distance between the horn on the first engine and the trans/dorm.

On the other hand, ride the Eagle and at most there will be 2 engines and a baggage car between you and the horn.

 

[RailFanLNK]

Alan,

When I booked originally, the price was $71.00 coach fare per person to Glenwood Springs. Its now $88.00. Coming back its still $71.00. It sounded as though I was going to have an increase of $17.00 per seat but save $261.00 overall. When I pick up the tickets tonight at the station, will they be able to tell me then? Will that be too late? So, I should also have my girlfriend be getting points as well with AGR? With AGR do you have to have the Credit Card?

 

[RailFanLNK]

CHI Amtrak Fan,

So is there a shower on the upper level for ALL of us to use or is it for the crew only? Or is the shower downstairs like the other sleeper cars? Is there a luggage rack upstairs or will the one we will be using downstairs like the last lower level roomette we stayed in? Thanks everyone for the info. I really appreciate it.

 

[Chi_Train_Fan]

Rookie....I hope you take your own advise and bring heavy duty earplugs.

I talked to a fairly new diner attendent and her room was in the trans/dorm. She said the train horn was very very loud plus disturbing and hoped to get use to it quickly....

Well it also depends on which train you are riding. In this case he'll be on the Zephyr, which might help a bit. The Z usually gets 3 or 4 engines, add in a baggage car, and if you're lucky there might even be a mail car, and that starts to give one distance between the horn on the first engine and the trans/dorm.

On the other hand, ride the Eagle and at most there will be 2 engines and a baggage car between you and the horn.

Alan,

In four recent rides on the California Zephyr all this year, it has had 2 locomotives and one baggage car ahead of the transition sleeper. I suppose that I could clearly hear the horn on the one trip where I was in the transition sleeper but it did not bother me.

As a frequent traveler of the Texas Eagle to St. Louis once a month... it now operates with only one locomotive and no baggage car. The consist is now:

Texas Eagle

P42

Transition Sleeper

Dining Car

Sightseer Lounge

Coach Baggage

Coach

Coach

Sleeping Car

Coach (Chicago to/from St. Louis) (is is added and removed at the St. Louis station)

Cheers,

David Z

 

[MrFSS]

Alan,
In four recent rides on the California Zephyr all this year, it has had 2 locomotives and one baggage car ahead of the transition sleeper. I suppose that I could clearly hear the horn on the one trip where I was in the transition sleeper but it did not bother me.

As a frequent traveler of the Texas Eagle to St. Louis once a month... it now operates with only one locomotive and no baggage car. The consist is now:

Texas Eagle

P42

Transition Sleeper

Dining Car

Sightseer Lounge

Coach Baggage

Coach

Coach

Sleeping Car

Coach (Chicago to/from St. Louis) (is is added and removed at the St. Louis station)

Cheers,

David Z

Here is the Eagle the first part of June, leaving CUS.

 

[Chi_Train_Fan]

CHI Amtrak Fan,So is there a shower on the upper level for ALL of us to use or is it for the crew only? Or is the shower downstairs like the other sleeper cars? Is there a luggage rack upstairs or will the one we will be using downstairs like the last lower level roomette we stayed in? Thanks everyone for the info. I really appreciate it.

The Shower on the upper level is free for the passengers to use... It is very unique.... You open the door and there's a standard Superliner II bathroom and then to your right there is a shower... changing room is reduced from a standard Superliner II change/shower room. The toilet takes up much of the floor space in the combined shower/toilet room. You'll see when you get there. Just like all other sleepers... on the lower level there are three bathrooms and a normal combination changing room / shower on the lower level, along with the normal handicapped room. In place of the usual 4 lower level roomettes and family room on the transition sleeper there is a crew only lounge with a couple of tables for the conductor's paperwork and a few seats with arm rests. There is a luggage rack in the normal location across from the stair case.

- David Z

Chicago, IL

 

[AlanB]

Alan,When I booked originally, the price was $71.00 coach fare per person to Glenwood Springs. Its now $88.00. Coming back its still $71.00. It sounded as though I was going to have an increase of $17.00 per seat but save $261.00 overall. When I pick up the tickets tonight at the station, will they be able to tell me then? Will that be too late?

Well it's up to you, but I would certainly question either the agent tonight or call the 800 number to find out why there is an increase. Especially if you still have the print out's showing that the original price was $71. that's a hefty increase per seat. It certainly is possible that Amtrak raised it's coach prices since you first booked, but if they did that, I haven't heard about it.

But barring that possibility, there is no way that the coach prices should have gone up! Again, Amtrak rules are that one always gets the lowest bucket price for railfare/coach fare when one is in a sleeper. So either you didn't get the lowest bucket for some very odd reason, or there was a general across the board price increase that you got caught up in. If the latter, then consider that you still did save some big bucks. If the former, I'd certainly be fighting for that 17 bucks times 4.

So, I should also have my girlfriend be getting points as well with AGR? With AGR do you have to have the Credit Card?

I certainly would, as you guys seem to like riding the trains with or without the kids. And you don't get points for her tickets anyhow. So if she gets an AGR number, she'll get points for her railfare when ever she travels with you. And in this case, she'd get points for her railfare and one of the sleepers, since Amtrak can't put both rooms on your ticket. You'll have one room on your ticket, along with one of the kids being assigned to your room. She'll get the other room charge on her ticket, along with the other kid's ticket having the same room # as her's.

Of course you guys can put whom ever in which ever room you like, but the computer must assign things like this. So let her collect the extra points, they don't expire as long as she takes at least one Amtrak trip every three years.

And no, she does not need to apply for the credit card to get an AGR number. Just point her to the AGR website here, and do it today. She'll get a number right away and write it down, even though she won't get the membership card for a few weeks. But if you bring that number with you and get the agent to put it onto her ticket info, she'll get the bonus points for signing up and taking a ride within 90 days, she'll get her coach points, as well as the points for one of the roomettes.

 

[AlanB]

Alan,
In four recent rides on the California Zephyr all this year, it has had 2 locomotives and one baggage car ahead of the transition sleeper. I suppose that I could clearly hear the horn on the one trip where I was in the transition sleeper but it did not bother me.

Wow, I'm shocked. I would have figured that the Z would get more locos for facing the mountains out of Denver, than does the Chief for facing Raton and the Cajon pass. We had 3 locos for the Chief back in June, so I'm kind of shocked that the Z doesn't have at least that many, if not more.

 

[PRR 60]

Wow, I'm shocked. I would have figured that the Z would get more locos for facing the mountains out of Denver, than does the Chief for facing Raton and the Cajon pass. We had 3 locos for the Chief back in June, so I'm kind of shocked that the Z doesn't have at least that many, if not more.

On my CZ trip last summer the train had two P42's (8400 hp). Back in the olden days, the old CZ typically used five F units on the DRG&W. That was about 9000 hp for a train longer and likely heavier than today's Amtrak version. I'm not sure why the SWC would have three P42's unless the Chief is used as a means of transporting units from heavy maintenance to the LA terminal.

 

[AlanB]

Wow, I'm shocked. I would have figured that the Z would get more locos for facing the mountains out of Denver, than does the Chief for facing Raton and the Cajon pass. We had 3 locos for the Chief back in June, so I'm kind of shocked that the Z doesn't have at least that many, if not more.

On my CZ trip last summer the train had two P42's (8400 hp). Back in the olden days, the old CZ typically used five F units on the DRG&W. That was about 9000 hp for a train longer and likely heavier than today's Amtrak version. I'm not sure why the SWC would have three P42's unless the Chief is used as a means of transporting units from heavy maintenance to the LA terminal.

I'm not sure either, but they weren't transporting the engines, they were all working. And remember that I got to ride on two different consists thanks to the derailment and the bus swap, as well as passing the incoming Chief shortly after we left Chicago. All three consists were running with 3 motors, so I don't think that it was just Amtrak shuffling equipment around.

 

[PSurfliner]

On my CZ trip last summer the train had two P42's (8400 hp). Back in the olden days, the old CZ typically used five F units on the DRG&W. That was about 9000 hp for a train longer and likely heavier than today's Amtrak version. I'm not sure why the SWC would have three P42's unless the Chief is used as a means of transporting units from heavy maintenance to the LA terminal.

I believe a month or so ago, BNSF required the SC to run with three units over Cajon, because if it runs with only two units and one fails, then the train can't make it up. UP made a similar demand for 3 units on all CS trains.

 

[1702]

Hello All,

Have been taking people's opinion and checking it twice. I had paid $493.00 for a Family Bedroom for my girlfriend and I and her two kids. Noticed today on the website that I could get TWO roomettes for $116.00 per roomette. Saving us a chunk of change and maybe making the trip more enjoyable for all of us with seperate rooms. We are in roomettes 23 and 24 in car 0520. I can't find them at On Track On Line in their diagrams. Does anyone know where these roomettes are? Upstairs or Downstairs? Any help will be much appreciated. Also, do you think this was the correct move? I did it kinda hastily but the savings was $261.00. I had to pay a little more for coach per seat but I "think" I made the correct move. Especially with how we can and can't all get along as a family "unit".

Finally, something is wrong with your statement about the coach seat. Amtrak rules are hard and fast on this, when you book a sleeper you always get the lowest price for the railfare (coach fare), no matter how full coach is. So if the railfare charge went up, you need to call Amtrak. Something is wrong! There should have been no increase in the railfare, unless Amtrak just raised prices across the board for all bucket levels. Even then, since you already had an existing reservation they really should have honored the old price, if indeed there was a general price increase. But if coach went up by more than I'd say 10 to 15 bucks, then the agent screwed something up and did not give you the lowest bucket price for railfare. I would investigate this one right away.

We may be saying the same thing here, AlanB, but here's a quote from amtrak.com, as it applies to the rail fare for sleeping car passengers, "The term 'rail fare', as used above, is equal to the lowest cost seat AVAILABLE <my caps> on the train (typically, this is the fare for a coach seat)." I would take the "available" to mean the lowest coach fare bucket to be had at the time of booking.

To use the term "coach fare" or "coach seat" in connection with sleeping car accomodations can be confusing to some. I have encountered sleeping car passengers who believed they were entitled to coach seats also. I would have to explain to them that their total fare included the rail fare (their cost of transportation) & the accomodation charge, but that coach seats were not part of the equation. Of course, no one is going to mind if a sleeping car passenger wants to spent some time in coach (some folks get a bit of "cabin fever" in the roomettes) providing the coach passenger load allows it.

To "railrookie", having spent many a night in rooms 19, 21, or thereabouts in the transition sleeper listening to diesel horns, by all means bring top quality earplugs for all. You may find that you don't need them, but better to be prepared.

Not that it will make much difference, but there were two different floorplans used in the Superliner II transition sleepers. In the first series, there's no "handicapped" bedroom, but additional restrooms including a ladies' lounge/shower. At the top of the stairs is a large storage locker. Can't recall if there is an upper level restroom/shower at the "A" end of the car, but I don't think so. The second series of cars features the handicapped bedroom on the lower level, a restroom/shower at the top of the stairs, & a restroom/shower on the "A" end. Hopefully, "railrookie" will get a car in the first series, that way there'll be no restroom adjacent to one of their rooms.

 

[Trogdor]

We may be saying the same thing here, AlanB, but here's a quote from amtrak.com, as it applies to the rail fare for sleeping car passengers, "The term 'rail fare', as used above, is equal to the lowest cost seat AVAILABLE <my caps> on the train (typically, this is the fare for a coach seat)." I would take the "available" to mean the lowest coach fare bucket to be had at the time of booking.

As I've understood it (and I can ask someone that works at Amtrak dealing with this sort of thing to confirm), "available" in this case means the lowest bucket published and applicable for that train on that date, regardless of whether any inventory in that bucket is still unsold. An example might be that if the lowest coach bucket (D) on a train during the summer is $100 and the D bucket on that train during winter is $80, then a sleeper ticket during the summer should have a rail fare of $100, and during the winter, the sleeper ticket should have a rail fare of $80.

But, rail fare for sleeper passengers is not dependent on the load in coach.

 

[AmtrakFan]

Wow, I'm shocked. I would have figured that the Z would get more locos for facing the mountains out of Denver, than does the Chief for facing Raton and the Cajon pass. We had 3 locos for the Chief back in June, so I'm kind of shocked that the Z doesn't have at least that many, if not more.

On my CZ trip last summer the train had two P42's (8400 hp). Back in the olden days, the old CZ typically used five F units on the DRG&W. That was about 9000 hp for a train longer and likely heavier than today's Amtrak version. I'm not sure why the SWC would have three P42's unless the Chief is used as a means of transporting units from heavy maintenance to the LA terminal.

The reason why that is the case, is BNSF told them to run with 3 since they were sick of bailing out Amtrak, after a rash of Breakdowns. BNSF ordered it Dec of 04. The plan is they usually run with 2 between Chicago-La Juanta turn the 3rd on to Albaquruqe turn it off to Barstow then turn it back on again for the final trip to LA.