First Time

[piperdriver]

My wife and I are going to be taking a ride on the CZ from SAC-CHI in late November. This is going to be out first ride. We have booked a bedroom for the trip. I was just informed that we will be in room "E" in car 0632. It seems that we have lucked into the room that is preferred by a lot of the members here. I cannot however find out why that is? Can someone help with that? There is some discussion on what to bring, and looking over some of it a scanner was mentioned. Is there a lot of chatter to listen to? We are very excited about the trip, and want to make it as enjoyable as possable. Any tricks, and tips would be helpful. If there is such a things a "route specific" tips and tricks, we sure would love to have 'em---

thatnks,

 

[Devil's Advocate]

My wife and I are going to be taking a ride on the CZ from SAC-CHI in late November.

Sounds like a good choice. Be sure to come back and post a trip report if you can. The good, the bad, all of it!

There is some discussion on what to bring, and looking over some of it a scanner was mentioned. Is there a lot of chatter to listen to?

Generally there won't be much chatter. The thing about scanners is that they're really useful when things go wrong but not very useful when things are going smoothly. Personally I'd bring mine more often if it was smaller. Everything else in the world of consumer electronics seems to have shrunk drastically over my lifetime, but not scanners for some reason.

 

[Rail Freak]

Welcome aboard. For your 1st trip, just bring a good attitude, no expectations & DUCT TAPE!!! LOL!!!

Have Fun

 

[leemell]

My wife and I are going to be taking a ride on the CZ from SAC-CHI in late November.

Sounds like a good choice. Be sure to come back and post a trip report if you can. The good, the bad, all of it!

There is some discussion on what to bring, and looking over some of it a scanner was mentioned. Is there a lot of chatter to listen to?

Generally there won't be much chatter. The thing about scanners is that they're really useful when things go wrong but not very useful when things are going smoothly. Personally I'd bring mine more often if it was smaller. Everything else in the world of consumer electronics seems to have shrunk drastically over my lifetime, but not scanners for some reason.

They actually have gotten somewhat smaller. (e,g, Radio Shack pro-83, pro-84, pro-99, and pro-444) On the other hand they are FAR more powerful now with ability to scan many more channels in a given time and handle duplexed and trunked signals, search for signals, and handle many more banked channels (1000 channels is common).

 

[skyguy]

My wife and I are going to be taking a ride on the CZ from SAC-CHI in late November. This is going to be out first ride. We have booked a bedroom for the trip. I was just informed that we will be in room "E" in car 0632. It seems that we have lucked into the room that is preferred by a lot of the members here. I cannot however find out why that is? Can someone help with that? There is some discussion on what to bring, and looking over some of it a scanner was mentioned. Is there a lot of chatter to listen to? We are very excited about the trip, and want to make it as enjoyable as possable. Any tricks, and tips would be helpful. If there is such a things a "route specific" tips and tricks, we sure would love to have 'em---

thatnks,

I just returned from a CS experience. We had a roomette but were rubbernecking the rooms and room E is slightly roomy-er than the others, but only because the door to the toilet is positioned differently. Any room is a great room. Our trip to CHI on the EB last year found us in room A and we were very happy with it.

We took my son's scanner on that trip and it was mostly boring to listen to except when, as mentioned, things go sideways. As for things to take; we took advice and brought cloths pegs for the curtains, a power bar for our electronics and duct tape but did not need to use it. A pillow and slippers are good to have, too.

Have a great trip!

 

[alanh]

I'm pretty sure the only room with a different floor plan is the Superliner A room. B-E are all the same (though mirror images).

Some people prefer E because it's in the center of the car, adjacent to the stairs and coffee and away from the end doors.

 

[abcnews]

So why the "cloths Peg" for the curtains? Not sure I understand that? Do you mean clothes pin? To pin the curtains back?

Just curious?

Mike

 

[Long Train Runnin']

So why the "cloths Peg" for the curtains? Not sure I understand that? Do you mean clothes pin? To pin the curtains back?

Just curious?

Mike

yeah a large clothes pin can be used to keep the curtains shut. I've been in rooms where the velcro didn't work so if you wanted to keep the curtains closed a clothespin would have made things easier.

 

[abcnews]

OK - dumb question, why do you want to close the curtains so tight? Is it too bright at night?

 

[rrdude]

OK - dumb question, why do you want to close the curtains so tight? Is it too bright at night?

It "can" be too bright, but to each their own. On a recent trip on the Capitol Limited from CHI to WAS, I was sleeping just fine until the train started pulling into Pittsburgh. Then the lights got very bright, very, very bright. So I simply closed 'em.

But some like them TOTALLY closed. ("Let no light intrude") If you are out of clothes pins, those metal binder clips do the same thing.

 

[abcnews]

Yes - Our recent Auto Train trip I experienced the sun lamp in the middle of the night - when we went through a yard at a slow pace. But I could not bring myself to close the curtain, I like it open at night (and day too). Although I never seem to sleep much either....

 

[Cristobal]

I had to google 'clothes pins' to figure out what the heck y'all were talking about. I think that I've seen those in a museum before...

j/k of course

I do remember having clotheslines in the backyard when I was just a wee lad.

 

[skyguy]

So why the "cloths Peg" for the curtains? Not sure I understand that? Do you mean clothes pin? To pin the curtains back?

Just curious?

Mike

I used 'peg' because my mother, a Scot, called them that. Pin(s) would be the term in the US.

 

[the_traveler]

Bedroom E is preferred by many, because it is (as said) near the stairs and coffee - and also because it is near the center of the car, and thus furthest away from the end doors and trucks (wheels) resulting in a quieter and smoother ride!

I had to google 'clothes pins' to figure out what the heck y'all were talking about. I think that I've seen those in a museum before...

I thought those were the metal screws on a dryer!

 

[piperdriver]

Thanks for all the replys. They are going to be taken to heart. Any room that is close to the coffee pot is automatically my favorite. I think that I will check into the scanners. I know about the required earphones. As I have stated we have abedroom. I am quite sure that we are not expected to stay in the room all of the trip. What other cars, rooms, seats are available to me. Is it permissable for us to go sit in an empty seat? Can we move about the train in freedom, or is there places that we should not go? I am talking about the public places.

 

[piperdriver]

One more thing---someone mentioned some Radio Shack scanners. I can find the pro-444. Someone with some experiance---if you were going to buy a scanner today which one would you recommend. I am looking for the best VALUE, not necessarly the cheapest.

 

[Ryan]

Are you going to want to use it for anything other than railroads? If you're going to want to listen to other stuff then you need to get into gee-whiz-bang digital trunking and all that jazz. If not, you can forgo a lot of those features.

 

[piperdriver]

Ryan, do you have any specific examples of both the Whiz-Bang models and more common model?

 

[Rail Freak]

OK - dumb question, why do you want to close the curtains so tight? Is it too bright at night?

LOL, I used to read posts like this & say why would anyone want the cutains closed. Then, I came out of the shower on the Crescent at the ATL Station. Not sure what they might have seen, with perfect eyesight (lol)but , I have to admit, I was closing the curtains!!!

 

[Ryan]

That and perhaps some adult activities that may or may not happen in a bedroom. h34r:

 

[the_traveler]

I came out of the shower on the Crescent at the ATL Station. Not sure what they might have seen

So THAT'S why they had to call EMS for all those heart attacks at the ATL station!

Now we know!

 

[piperdriver]

I started this thread to ask for ideas for a great first time trip. I have now seen references from clothes pins to duct tape to scanners, to adult activities in the bedrooms. My there is truly a lot to do on these trains----

 

[leemell]

So why the "cloths Peg" for the curtains? Not sure I understand that? Do you mean clothes pin? To pin the curtains back?

Just curious?

Mike

I used 'peg' because my mother, a Scot, called them that. Pin(s) would be the term in the US.

Actually there are clothes pegs and clothes pins. Pins are just a wooden cylinder with a slot cut lengthwise about 7/8ths the way through. Pins are the two piece devices that are held together with a spring.

 

[hhswami]

My sister, who is aware of my penchant to take Amtrak when traveling whenever possible, recently took her first LD trip on the CZ from Denver to Grand Junction. After emailing her a few trip tips, I was surprised to learn she was unaware of the observation seating adjacent to the dining car. This is definitely the seating area you'll want to check out, especially during the daytime hours.

You might want to consider taking a GPS for keeping up with your location and travel speed. I personally prefer using a laptop with a better screen size with a program such as Microsoft Streets & Trips. Be sure you have a GPS locator. IMO, it's way more entertaining (and informative) than watching a DVD.