Old Amtrak Schedules

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-Late Shore-

Train Attendant
Joined
Sep 29, 2002
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35
Hiya All,

Just wanted to inquire on how I can read or get some old schdules of Amtraks from the early to mid 90's. Every link that I seem to scrounge up is either outdated, or no longer exists. Is there a place that does have them, and/or am I just not looking in the right spot? :unsure:

Also, is it possible for a person, such as myself persay, travelling with someone else, to book the Accessible Deluxe Bedroom on my trip, even though I am not disabled?

The reason I ask this is because I think that, while the deluxe rooms themselves may have a lot more room than the standard rooms, my goal is to really have as much room as possible, so that it will eliminate any sort of claustraphobic feeling brought on by the long train trip journey, (or that it will reduce it for both of us some).

If it is booked, I would completely understand though, as well, as I do know that Amtrak does try to keep these rooms available for only disabled people, so that is where my question comes into play. :unsure:
 
I would strongly discourage you from booking an accessible bedroom if you are not handicapped/disabled. These are almost always filled by the handicapped/disabled since there is only one of them in each sleeping car. I understand your concern for space, though. You might want to try booking a regular deluxe room - they're a little better than the standard rooms. Hope this helps. B)
 
Actually, I didn't answer your question though. Sorry. It IS possible for anyone to book these rooms (again, I discourage it) within 14 days of the train's departure. They are reserved exclusively for the disabled up until 14 days before the train's departure date. They are, however, still often booked by the disabled within 14 days of the train's departure and most ticket agents still try to keep them open for the disabled.

I am not sure where you can find old Amtrak schedules. I found the old Desert Wind train schedule (Los Angeles - Las Vegas - Salt Lake City) by going to Google and typing in Amtrak Desert Wind and searching through about 20 links. While this takes some time, it will probably work for you if you know all the route names you are looking for.
 
I'll have to look around for some possible links to companies that sell timetables. You can also sometimes find timetables at local train fares and shows.

As for the handicapped room on trains, unless you are traveling with a handicapped person, then getting the room will be very hard. Amtrak policy is to hold the H room exclusively for the handicapped, until one week before the train’s departure. If it hasn't been sold by then, Amtrak will offer the room to any traveler. It would be hit or miss however for you to try to wait that long to make a reservation, especially during the peak seasons. Worse if you were traveling over the course of a week, you'd have to make your first reservation without knowing if you would be able to get a room for your return trip.

A couple of other things to note: While the handicapped room on a Viewliner is larger than a Deluxe, it's not tremendously larger. It does however have a larger toilet/shower stall as compared to a Deluxe. Also if your trip were to include a Superliner sleeper, take note of two things. One, the H room is on the lower level of the car. Second, there is no shower in the room plus the toilet is only separated from the room by a curtain, there is no door. That's not to say that you can't just walk down the hall to the public bathrooms. Also the shower is right down the hall from the H room.

Ps. One of the nice things about train travel, is that you are free to move about the train. So get out of your room, walk the length of the train, sit in the lounge, take all of your meals in the diner, and jump off the train at the longer stops. This should help to eliminate any caged in feelings. If you do step off the train, make sure you stay close to an open door as you don't want to get left behind. Usually your attendant will know if it's a long enough stop so that you can safely step off the train.
 
If I was to want to take a sneak peek of each city as we go through, can i step off my sleeping car, out onto the platform, just to look around for a second or two to take it all in, or should I just watch from my window?
 
You probably won't be allowed off at every stop, only the longer service stops or at major cities where the train stops for more than 2 - 3 minutes. In fact at smaller stops, if your attendant isn't expecting any passengers to board or de-train, he won't even open the door.

Bring along a copy of the schedule and head up to the door at bigger cities and/or places where you see both an arrival and departure time. Always ask the attendant if it's ok to jump off first.
 
Lake Shore

Check out thr family sleeper. It is very roomy plus you get the windows on both sides. Our lat trip the family sleeper was priced only slightly more than the standard. I guess maybe we got a little lucky. Good luck.
 
Late Shore, about your need to get of the trainand look at every city.....remember it is easy to take very good pictures from trains, even moving trains...Sometimes you might get a good shot of the skyline from farther away than you could from being in the station itself....people more familiar with the route might give you some points on which cities are more photogenic, etc. But do follow the advice already given and be very very careful about getting off....trains can and do leave people behind!! I am an old-timer at train travel and have almost been left behind twice myself!!
 
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