Coach vs Roomette, different in how you socialise?

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Have just travelled on the Australian Ghan from Adelaide to Darwin, about the same length of time on board as the Zephyr. We travelled Red Service which is coach and found it remarkably comfortable and quite sociable.

In February we are booked on the CZ west bound and then the South West Chief NE bound but in roomettes.

After coach on The Ghan, our first very long distance train ride (more than 1 day in my book), it occurred to me would it be more difficult to meet fellow passengers by having a roomette as the opportunity to remain in your compartment is there where it's not in coach?

It's not a problem just an idle thought, wonder what others opinions or experiences are.
 
What a great trip, Australia is a fantastic place and as you found out, very big just like the US

When you are on a LD Train in a Sleeper you will still meet folks in the Diner ( communial seating), sightseer lounge/cafe, while waiting in the station lounge to board your trains when you have a room ( similar to aan airport lounge) and even in the sleeper as you run into your neighbors.

In a way its like being on an ocean cruise, some even call riding a LD train a " land cruise".

I've met people from all over the world on Amtrak trains while riding in Coach and Sleepers!
 
I would say no. Myself personally, in coach I would only "socialize" with the person in the seat next to me in coach. All others, I met in the Sightseer Lounge or Dining Car at meals - the same as when I'm in a room.
 
If you want to socialize, head to the SSL (lounge car). Plus you'll have the opportunity to socialize at meals.

I've had a couple of trips where I met strangers that I ended up hanging out with either in the lounge, diner or sleeping car.
 
I traveled in coach on LD trips many, many times until 2008. Since then I have traveled in roomettes.

In coach there is a better opportunity to socialize. There are no walls to separate you from those around you. On the upper level, there is a sense of camaraderie, but on the lower level it sometimes turns into a party. I wish I could go back to riding in coach, but as time goes on it gets harder to try to sleep in a coach seat.
 
Well, many folks book sleepers for their privacy and space. Roomettes are easier as they are all across the hall from each other. You can keep your curtains and door open. That usually invites socializing with perhaps the occupant across from you. No such capability with the bedrooms.

That being said, on one trip between WAS and CHI on the CL, I sat across from an extremely beautiful young woman who kept her door and curtains open. I left her alone because she didn't seem to want to engage, and enjoyed her space and her book. The LSA, though, a young man, came by at least a half dozen times to take her dinner reservations over and over again, and without invitation would sit in the other seat in her roomette. He handed me a card and said "Here's your dinner time". After that, she kept her door and curtains closed until just before Chicago where we had nice chatter and enjoyed the ride into the big city. But she was quite put off by him.

In other occasions that I've been in Sleeper, I find my time socializing in the lounge car to be enjoyable. This is easier on a Superliner than in the cafe care of a single level train by all means, as there is more open space. After dark, it can be a fun place to engage in card games, philosophy, and I can't tell you how many flavors of religion are brought up. Sometime more by the time last call is announced.

Finally, of course, there is the diner. I do like to take full advantage of the inefficiency of service and will enjoy my allocated time to the fullest. Usually try to get dinner around sunset - first seating in the Winter, last seating in the Summer, etc. Met most interesting people during that time. The conversations tend to be a bit more reserved while dining, 'cause no matter how awkward your dining mates may be, they usually don't want to get too controversial when you're stuck with a 4-some at a dinner table. Most folks are pretty courteous. In the Lounge, you have the option of leaving if the conversation gets too weird.
 
My fiancé, the Tejanita, has a knack of being able to talk with anyone, both in English and Spanish. When we travel together on LD ( more than one day) trips we try to go sleeper. She will have conversations with two or three other room pax by the end of the first day. In coach, we meet people in the station while waiting to board, around us in our seats, and in the SSL.
 
Being somewhat of an Aspie, I tend to stick to the roomette and if I talk, it's mainly with the people across from me and the SCA. My husband, the social butterfly, is all over the train - observation car especially, but he really loves talking to the trsin staff, and they always seem to like talking to him.
 
On one occassion ,in couch, about 10 years ago, while chaperoning a 4H group to the grand canyon, a 20's ish fellow and another young person, began a discussion about the guitar fellow number 1 had brought on board. Before anyone knew it the guitar was being played and passed around to 2 or 3 players. No one objected and it went on for maybe a half hour. When the conductor entered the car he stopped short, looked around, shrugged, and kept going. As he passed by , he just said "not too late" in reference to not playing too late in the evening. This of course was once in 30 years of travel on Amtrak. But it was a memorable event.
 
if I could only tell the unexpurgated roomette stories,,,

plenty of chances at meals, and in the lounge in between ,,,,,to meet and greet

and you picked a winner in the CZ

actually rode it twice with John Madden (in the 80's)

just one of the wonderful folks I have met on Amtrak
 
Whether you travel Coach or Sleeper, the train is the place to meet folks and socialize. Of course I have found the most notorious place to encourage socializing is the PPC on the Coast Starlight as it does not take long for a Parlour Car Gang to form and hold Court, covering everything from Politics to Signal Aspects.
 
wisconsin farmer said:
On one occassion ,in couch, about 10 years ago, while chaperoning a 4H group to the grand canyon, a 20's ish fellow and another young person, began a discussion about the guitar fellow number 1 had brought on board. Before anyone knew it the guitar was being played and passed around to 2 or 3 players. No one objected and it went on for maybe a half hour. When the conductor entered the car he stopped short, looked around, shrugged, and kept going. As he passed by , he just said "not too late" in reference to not playing too late in the evening. This of course was once in 30 years of travel on Amtrak. But it was a memorable event.
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This is one of the many reasons we get a sleeper. ;) I'm non-confrontational, so I wouldn't have asked anyone to stop playing it, but I would have hated every second of it.

We're the ones who close the door and curtain the second we board. We also wear headphones to shut out any remaining noise that might seep through.

Granted, we're both extremely sensitive to noise, so we're bothered by things that most people can barely hear (or are able to ignore). I've combined earplugs with headphones, and I can still hear things outside the door at times.
 
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It's been mentioned already - but plenty of opportunities exist to interact with other passengers if you wish to. I've had mixed experiences with coach, business class, roomette neighbors and diner companions. Diner can be very awkward at times - especially when traveling as a single male. On recent adventure to and from DC enjoyed most of my diner companions. A very religious Asian couple took a bit to decide to be social. And it is always a bit weird when placed with people who choose to practice their belief in prayer before eating. I'm never offended by this - but it can make other diner companions uneasy.

One big benefit of roomette or bedroom is when you come across wild drunks ( who can ruin a trip - one such man did so in Capitol Limited lounge on way to DC for me ) or those that feel a train ride isn't fun without music and partying - you can head to your personal private space away from that. Hopefully it isn't your neighbor in sleeper car causing issues - I've been lucky with that so far. Having choice of when and who to interact with is nice = coach doesn't really offer that luxury.

Personally a concert session or take over of lounge other areas by select groups can ruin a trip.
 
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I've found that trains aren't as social as they used to be. Folks have their heads buried in their phones, laptops or DVD players.
 
We love to socialize but also value our privacy. On LD trips we always have bedroom accommodations and it is reserved as our space only. When you are in a sleeper you are separated from the other passengers so its really not conducive to socialization. When we go to the dining car, it's most often a shared table arrangement and we have dined with some very nice people from all over the USA , Canada and Europe. We've met the same type of folks in the SSL and the conversation can be very informative. On our last EB trip we sat with a an older railroad historian and his wife in the SSL. The stories that he told of the Golden Days of passenger rail were very interesting. We tend to like just about everyone that we meet and seldom cross paths with an occasional bad apple. Point is that if you want to socialize, there is opportunity on the train to do so. .
 
For almost a decade now I've been taking the Crescent to ATL from NYP. Generally I've paid for coach down and AGR points back in a sleeper.

I like both. While I very rarely have talked to anyone else in coach, the general buzz/hum has been enjoyable.

In the sleeper I get a much better night of sleep and a shower, but it can be lonely.

On the Western LD trains, I did enjoy the lounge. It's just not the same in the cafe car on Eastern trains.

As for the diner, I always make a point of going, even when in coach. Almost all my experiences have been enjoyable.

Only one bad one stands out and that as a woman travelling alone who never stopped talking on her phone. Even when the waiter came to take her order, she merely pointed. I didn't mind the rudeness (I had brought a book just in case I was alone) but felt that was very unfair to the waiter.
 
Pretty diverse set of replies, but it appears as though there's a situation for all tastes, and thank you.

We did find on the Ghan that from Adelaide to Alice Springs when there were 27 people in the car people were a little more reserved. When we left Alice for Darwin there were only 8 and people were more relaxed and chatty but by this time too it was everyone's 2nd day of travelling together so that familiarity may have had something to do with it.

We also met people who looked as though they could easily afford a cabin (although ticket prices in Oz are much higher than the US). One lady from the US of a certain age that I spoke with when asked why she travelled coach when from her own admission could afford to travel in a cabin simply said "I like to be with the people". It may be this comment that prompted me to ask the original question ?
 
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I have been on both trains and they are both GORGEOUS for scenery, so if you do TOO much socializing, you'll miss out on the scenery. If you do like to talk, though, head straight to the observation car so you can watch the scenery as well. The biggest problem I have on the observation car, though, are people who come there and stay all day reading a book or watching something on their phone or tablet, without once looking at the scenery. It's called an "observation" car - let people who want to look have a seat please.

When I'm on a train, it is all about the scenery, but it also doesn't stop me from socializing. Two years ago, I went from SLO to CLE via the Coast Starlight to The Empire Builder to the Lakeshore Limited. Ended up sitting and talking to a mother and daughter on the Empire Builder during the wine tasting (something I think only done on the EB) who were on their way all the way to Boston to take the daughter to college. Ended up having such a good time talking to them that in between trains I took them on a little walking trip/dinner in Chicago and am now friends on Facebook with the mom.

Another time, had a very interesting conversation with an older Amish couple in the diner on the westbound Southwest Chief. Was worried conversation would be little or awkward, but they opened up about how this was their annual trip to Mexico for cancer treatments that the wife could not get in the US and that were saving her life. So you never know how the socializing might go.

PS - as to the trains you're on, on the CZ westbound at Denver, you'll get there about 6am and have a bit of a wait for a departure. Definitely get out and stretch your legs and see a bit of downtown. Hopefully your roomette will be on the right side (if you're facing toward the front of the train) of the train for the climb up the Rockies out of Denver. If not - go to the Observation car and stay there because westbound out of Denver is amazing scenery. On the eastbound SWC, hopefully you'll be on the left side of the train because from about Santa Fe all the way up through Northern New Mexico, the views are out to the west, while the right side of the train stays mostly close to the mountainsides.
 
PPS - if you're looking for fun socialization, on most trains, the conductor or the Lounge Car attendant (don't know the "real" term for the person who sells the booze/snacks in the Lounge car, forgive me) will usually announce if something gets started, such as "So and so from this place has their guitar and we have quite the sing-along going on downstairs in the Lounge car right now, if any of you like that kind of thing!" There's always great fun to be had if you want on an Amtrak train!
 
I have been in Sleepers where the whole car has turned into a literal Rolling Lounge, Cocktail or otherwise with pax coming out into the hall to chat and visit and find out about one another. Likewise I have had great SCAs who make it a point to encourage folks to introduce themselves and mingle if they want, while at the same time respecting the privacy of those who want to stay stashed away.

More often than not when I travel Coach, you quickly develop little communities with your neighbors.
 
BigRedEO said:
Another time, had a very interesting conversation with an older Amish couple in the diner on the westbound Southwest Chief. Was worried conversation would be little or awkward, but they opened up about how this was their annual trip to Mexico for cancer treatments that the wife could not get in the US and that were saving her life. So you never know how the socializing might go.
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Interesting. Last May on the Sunset, there were quite about 8 Amish people going to Mexico for medical care. We got to talking with a couple who had never seen the southwest and were shocked at seeing the empty space in west Texas. We talked about the water lack and acres per cow vs cows per acre. Wonderful, friendly people. Great time for us.
 
VentureForth said:
The conversations tend to be a bit more reserved while dining, 'cause no matter how awkward your dining mates may be, they usually don't want to get too controversial when you're stuck with a 4-some at a dinner table.
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Oh, I've been at table with a man from suburban Chicago who wanted to argue gun control with Kansans. A guy who kept going off about his ex-wife, the fairytale witch (who I never knew was Filipino!) And, then, there was the poor Brit who made the mistake of asking the nice alcoholic lady who bought me dinner to explain why she was separated from her son. When he stated, "I should ask you why," I just wanted to put my head down and shake no. It proved every bit as disastrous as I expected. And when she got nervous about missing the smoke stop, nearly was removed from the train.

Indeed, I find most dinners to be fairly engaging. That said, I'd prefer to sit with some new and different people at each meal as it does tend to create opportunity for fresh discussions.
 
My experience on ling distance trips is that coach, indeed, becomes something of a communal experience. Sleeper can be much more reserved, as it doesn't naturally foster or require as much interaction due to the individual quarters and passengers who may prefer privacy.
 
NorthShore, you have to excuse us as we are a curious lot and prone to regular faux pas
 
Oh, I've always enjoyed my conversations on the train with the British riders. He just had no idea of what I already knew from an entire day of sitting with her as my seatmate and in the lounge.
 
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