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SRB8184

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We (dear wife and I) are taking cross country trains in a couple weeks and I have just discovered this forum.

We will take the Southwest Chief from Chicago to L.A. with a 2 day stopover in Albuquerque, and then a week of more later, we will take the California Zephyr from Emeryville to Chicago (straight thru). We have reservations for the Superliner Bedroom on all segments.

I have several newbie questions, as we have not traveled overnight trains in the US.

  • Are we allowed / is there room to take 2 full size suitcases, and 2 overnight bags into the Superliner Bedrooms?
  • Are there limits on the electrical outlets in the bedrooms (cell phone chargers, IPad chargers, hair dryers, flat irons, etc.)?
  • Does anyone have any photo's they can post of the Superliner Bedrooms? I see the animation on the Amtrak web site, but pictures can show so much more.
  • Are the meals served at set times or do we just wander into the dining cars anytime in the hours they are open?
This is all that comes to mind right now, but I am sure I will have more. Thanks in advance for your help.
 
SRB8184 said:
We (dear wife and I) are taking cross country trains in a couple weeks and I have just discovered this forum.

We will take the Southwest Chief from Chicago to L.A. with a 2 day stopover in Albuquerque, and then a week of more later, we will take the California Zephyr from Emeryville to Chicago (straight thru). We have reservations for the Superliner Bedroom on all segments.

I have several newbie questions, as we have not traveled overnight trains in the US.

  • Are we allowed / is there room to take 2 full size suitcases, and 2 overnight bags into the Superliner Bedrooms? Hmm, not sure if you can fit all of that in the bedroom, but there is a storage area downstairs that you can put the two big bags and still access the during the trip.
  • Are there limits on the electrical outlets in the bedrooms (cell phone chargers, IPad chargers, hair dryers, flat irons, etc.)? There's only one outlet so most of us take a power strip and/or extension cord. The hair dryer and flat irons may require too much "juice".
  • Does anyone have any photo's they can post of the Superliner Bedrooms? I see the animation on the Amtrak web site, but pictures can show so much more. http://tour.amtraktrains.com/ and http://discuss.amtraktrains.com/index.php?/forum/40-car-layouts-virtual-tours/
  • Are the meals served at set times or do we just wander into the dining cars anytime in the hours they are open? Breakfast is come whenever (within a certain time frame). Lunch may be by reservation. Dinner is always by reservation. The LSA (dining car attendant) will come by your room to take reservations.
This is all that comes to mind right now, but I am sure I will have more. Thanks in advance for your help.
Click to expand...
 
Put your larger bag in the lower level storage area...you can access them during the trip. Just take your essentials up to the bedroom.

There are usually 2 outlets in the bedroom - one by the sink, one by the "couch" seat/bed. Probably no hair dryers, etc. but phone and laptop chargers should be ok.

See my link for some Superliner bedroom photos.

Meal times are announced and the dining car attendant will come through (sleepers first) the train and take/assign reservation times for lunch and dinner. Breakfast is "open".

https://www.flickr.com/photos/frensicpic/albums/72157632301104486
 
We leave our big suitcase in the lower level storage area and take a small duffle or backpack to our room with just what we need for the trip. The large suitcase is available if you need anything from it during the trip.

Sounds like a good trip. Have fun.
 
Be aware that to get luggage to the bedrooms (which are on the upper level), you must carry them up a narrow stairway that has two 90° turns in 1/3 of the car width. As others have mentioned, I would leave the excess luggage in the lower level storage area - where you can access at any time during the trip - and only bring a small bag with you to your room.
 
I pack a backpack with the things I want to use in my room, like a surge protector to plug in cell phones, GPS, etc, book, music, Downstairs, I leave my larger bag which I access when taking a shower.
 
The question about luggage space reminds me of a time many years ago when a mother, father, and four year old boy arrived at my sleeper door, just as final boarding call was being made. They were booked into bedroom A, and had three full-size military style duffle bags. One of the duffle bags contained nothing but toys for Junior!

I quickly got them onto the train, closed the door, then addressed the (almost literal) elephant in the room: what to do with all that stuff.

Fortunately, I had an empty room in my car where we were able to put the excess, but this is rarely the case. Since we were traveling on the Auto Train, I suggested that they take advantage of their car's trunk space on future trips, and only keep with them the things they would need for the overnight trip.

Your trips will be more than one night, so you may need more than the bare essentials; but if you allow your belongings to take up too much space, it will subtract from your own comfort space.

Tom
 
Based on the stations you will be using, you can elect to pack everything you might need in the overnights, and check the larger suitcases, although most of us probably just leave them on the racks downstairs. It is very easy to pack a change of clothes at the easiest point of entry to a suitcase, and access when going downstairs to shower. Remember, if you do check a bag, you will not have access during the trip, even if delayed, so always pack stuff you might need (like meds) in the bags you take to your room.
 
We are too old to get into the upper bunk,, so we book two roomettes across from each other,,, cheaper than the bedroom,,,, We also do not like the toilet in the bedroom ,,,,

you might be interested in my CZ vids,,,, you can view them here

Our baggage strategy is to check two big rollers (check to make sure there is checked baggage) then one bag for the rack downstairs,,,, one carry on for the meds, my backpack and the KYSS bag (really unique locking bag) we don't use the lock on Amtrak,, in all my journeys I have never had an issue with leaving items in the sleeper but use the KYSS bag all the time in lodging. I also use zip ties on the checked luggage to close the zippers, just make sure you have something to remove them with at arrival.

Roll about two feet of duck tape around a pencil,, if you rattles or and overpower HV vent you will know why.

I have a nifty Belkin adapter that has three 110 plugs and two USB plugs plus a multi tap extension cord,

I always have a hoody to deal with the usually arctic conditions in the sleeper.

I am jealous. Yesterday we would have returned from almost exactly the same journey - excepting stopping in Flagstaff for three days at the grand canyon. We then were going on the Coast Starlight to Sacramento for three days at Yosemite and a day at Hearst Castle and returning on the Zeph. Unfortunately I found out three weeks ago I have to have heart valve replaced and cancelled, I have already rebooked the rooms in GC and Yosemite (you need to do this 13 months out to insure availability) and will my trusty Travel Agent Candy is doing the same for my Amtrak reservations - they have an 11 month window.

enjoy the ride you are traveling the two of the three most scenic routes !!
 
My father and I recently went two weeks round trip cross country (Boston to Seattle, Seattle to Sacramento, Sacramento back to Boston) with some stops in cities between. Point is, we had two weeks worth of stuff in our luggage plus a backpack each. On the Viewliners (single level cars) they have storage areas above the hall (but accessed from inside the roomette) that fit the suitcases perfectly and the backpacks always fit under the seats. On the Superliners (Bi-Levels like the SWC and CZ) they have lower level storage racks (that are very safe and no one ever bothered our stuff) for the large suitcases and then we kept the backpacks under the seats again. I would recommend a suitcase lock just for good practice, but I never worried about my stuff being downstairs for two days. Also consider the bedrooms are larger than the roomettes so you should be able to fit more than we did. And yes, the stairs are tricky with nothing in hand, let alone a giant suitcase. If the suitcase is really large, I wouldn't plan on it going upstairs.
 
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