Amtrak blanking crew cars and protecting revenue space for crews

[annoyed]

am i the only one annoyed by this practice?

crew cars are being blanked on trains like 19/20, forcing rev space in the viewliners to be given to the crews. obviously the staff need a place to sleep, but what it's doing is taking away available rooms for paying passengers, and forcing the few rooms that are available into higher buckets, translating into higher fares for us. the crews hate it too, they all have to share one shower in each car along with numerous other pax while trying to get ready for the morning workday. but really, on a popular train that already only has two sleepers, for example, taking six or seven rooms out for staff isn't helping things. that's a quarter of the available roomettes!

 

[battalion51]

Well unfortunately the Heritage Fleet is falling apart at the seams. They are having trouble getting parts for these cars, which means when there's a failure the car is blanked. They have to provide rooms for the crew to sleep in, so unfortunately the company's hands are kind of tied on this issue.

 

[had8ley]

unfortunately the Heritage Fleet is falling apart at the seams. They are having trouble getting parts for these cars, which means when there's a failure the car is blanked. They have to provide rooms for the crew to sleep in, so unfortunately the company's hands are kind of tied on this issue.

That's not all that's falling apart. Why do you think they "stole" the lounge off of the Sunset? Also, the reverse is in effect on 58/59; the crew car sleeping (transistion dorm car) space is being sold to revenue passengers when the one sleeper fills up. It is on the end of the train and gets cut off for the Texas Eagle; no wonder they're falling apart. The brake shoes don't even get time to cool off Does anybody have any info on just what is being fixed, repaired or refurbished at Beech Grove ??? It sure would be interesting to know.

 

[AlanB]

Also, the reverse is in effect on 58/59; the crew car sleeping (transistion dorm car) space is being sold to revenue passengers when the one sleeper fills up. It is on the end of the train and gets cut off for the Texas Eagle; no wonder they're falling apart. The brake shoes don't even get time to cool off Does anybody have any info on just what is being fixed, repaired or refurbished at Beech Grove ??? It sure would be interesting to know.

Actually space is being sold into the crew dorms on 1/2, 5/6, 7/8, 21/22, and 58/59. Something that was always supposed to happen in the first place, but it took David Gunn to wake Amtrak up to the lost revenue, not to mention helping to run the cost of those cars in the first place. To my knowledge, at least so far, they are not selling into the dorms on 3/4, 11/14, and 29/30.

As for the brake shoes, most trains into Chicago go right back out within a few hours. I know that the westbound Capitol becomes the SW Chief, as I rode in the very same sleeper on my June trip.

As for Beach Grove, I haven't checked the latest updates, but you can see what has come out of BG over at OTOL.

 

[National Limited]

I just checked the link to OTOL and am very curious to see what the various Amfleet I club dinette, coach dinette and full dinette car layouts look like. Is there a site somewhere that has floor plans of the various food service cars?

 

[The Metropolitan]

It could be worse. In looking at prices for possible upcoming trips, I see that sleeper space on the Crescent runs about HALF of what the Florida services charge for a comparable amount of time on board (I'm looking at Spring bookings, so I assume I'm in the lowest bucket on each).

I've never quite been able to figure out the prices on Sleepers. I can ride from Seattle to Chicago for 48 hours on the EB in Roomette for as low as $190, but to take an 18 hour ride on the Capitol runs me a minimum of $153 from what I see. 24 hours from NOL to BAL is $150 on the Crescent but a tad more on the Silver service from Orlando seems to start at $306.

 

[Guest]

It's not about "time on board," but about "supply and demand." Spring is a busy travel time to many destinations.

 

[Guest]

yes they are selling rooms in 29/30 and the worse part is the sleep car attendant who working the 01 car is also working the dorm/sleeper car

Also, the reverse is in effect on 58/59; the crew car sleeping (transistion dorm car) space is being sold to revenue passengers when the one sleeper fills up. It is on the end of the train and gets cut off for the Texas Eagle; no wonder they're falling apart. The brake shoes don't even get time to cool off Does anybody have any info on just what is being fixed, repaired or refurbished at Beech Grove ??? It sure would be interesting to know.

Actually space is being sold into the crew dorms on 1/2, 5/6, 7/8, 21/22, and 58/59. Something that was always supposed to happen in the first place, but it took David Gunn to wake Amtrak up to the lost revenue, not to mention helping to run the cost of those cars in the first place. To my knowledge, at least so far, they are not selling into the dorms on 3/4, 11/14, and 29/30.

As for the brake shoes, most trains into Chicago go right back out within a few hours. I know that the westbound Capitol becomes the SW Chief, as I rode in the very same sleeper on my June trip.

As for Beach Grove, I haven't checked the latest updates, but you can see what has come out of BG over at OTOL.

 

[Anthony]

On train 11 and 14 I'm not sure what they do with the extra space in the dorm, but on 3 and 4 they designate it as non-rev rooms for company business travel. They used to do this on numerous trains until they started selling it for revenue.

 

[AlanB]

yes they are selling rooms in 29/30 and the worse part is the sleep car attendant who working the 01 car is also working the dorm/sleeper car

While I realize that makes it tough on the attendant in the 01 car, that at least is a better idea than having the cafe attendant being responsible for the dorm car, which I believe was the original plan. Frankly I would think that the dorm should be split between the two sleeping car attendants, at least on trains that actually run with two regular sleepers.

 

[EmpireBuilderFan]

Actually space is being sold into the crew dorms on 1/2, 5/6, 7/8, 21/22, and 58/59. Something that was always supposed to happen in the first place, but it took David Gunn to wake Amtrak up to the lost revenue, not to mention helping to run the cost of those cars in the first place. To my knowledge, at least so far, they are not selling into the dorms on 3/4, 11/14, and 29/30.

Alan,

I admit that I've been away from the board for many months (darn dial-up Internet access...). How long have rooms in the Trans Dorm been sold on the Empire Builder? I thought they still had the two sleepers to Seattle, so this would be the equivalent of two and a half sleepers to SEA, but still only one to PDX.

 

[AlanB]

Actually space is being sold into the crew dorms on 1/2, 5/6, 7/8, 21/22, and 58/59. Something that was always supposed to happen in the first place, but it took David Gunn to wake Amtrak up to the lost revenue, not to mention helping to run the cost of those cars in the first place. To my knowledge, at least so far, they are not selling into the dorms on 3/4, 11/14, and 29/30.

Alan,

I admit that I've been away from the board for many months (darn dial-up Internet access...). How long have rooms in the Trans Dorm been sold on the Empire Builder? I thought they still had the two sleepers to Seattle, so this would be the equivalent of two and a half sleepers to SEA, but still only one to PDX.

EBF,

I honestly don't know and I didn't even think to check it out when I rode the train in June. I'm simply basing my statement on a post from someone who was wondering where his room was since he had a number too high for a regular sleeper. Based upon that info it seemed clear that his room was in the trans/dorm.

 

[AmtrakFan]

EBF,

They still Currently they have 2 Seattle Sleepers plus 1 Portland Sleeper. Plus the Dome Space.

 

[AlanB]

EBF,They still Currently they have 2 Seattle Sleepers plus 1 Portland Sleeper. Plus the Dome Space.

Hmm, I haven't noticed any domes on the EB lately. :lol:

 

[AmtrakFan]

EBF,

They still Currently they have 2 Seattle Sleepers plus 1 Portland Sleeper. Plus the Dome Space.

Hmm, I haven't noticed any domes on the EB lately. :lol:

DOH!!!!!!!!! I meant to say Dorm Space. Would be nice if it had a dome. I didn't spell check again <_<

 

[JAChooChoo]

DOH!!!!!!!!! I meant to say Dorm Space. Would be nice if it had a dome. I didn't spell check again <_<

Spell Check (nor Grammar Check) would catch that. Maybe Microsoft is working on "What I Meant To Say" Check 2007 (which will be released late as usual )

 

[AmtrakFan]

DOH!!!!!!!!! I meant to say Dorm Space. Would be nice if it had a dome. I didn't spell check again <_<

Spell Check (nor Grammar Check) would catch that. Maybe Microsoft is working on "What I Meant To Say" Check 2007 (which will be released late as usual )

:lol: I sure could use one of those.

 

[Guest]

how would and why the cafe car attendant work the dorm car and why would any want to put more work on the 2 sleeper car attendant?

yes they are selling rooms in 29/30 and the worse part is the sleep car attendant who working the 01 car is also working the dorm/sleeper car

While I realize that makes it tough on the attendant in the 01 car, that at least is a better idea than having the cafe attendant being responsible for the dorm car, which I believe was the original plan. Frankly I would think that the dorm should be split between the two sleeping car attendants, at least on trains that actually run with two regular sleepers.