Obsolete Superliner Features

[Shortline]

I miss that stereo volume/channel control-As far as I can remember, every roomette and bedroom I've been in, had that, but last week had a newer refurbished car with the LED lights, touch light controls, etc, and no volume-Channel control. Bad deal....I despise those near constant announcements, especially starting at 6:30 in the morning. I can usually ignore the hallway PA, but when it's blasting in your room, with no volume control....Not. A. Fan. Give me an old room any day, just to be able to tune that out!

I rode the Broadway Limited in a heritage sleeper, first overnight trip, back in 92, and remember the shoe door, thought that was kindof cool, I had heard of them, and seen them in old movies. Surely they were no longer in use, and as an 18 YO kid, wouldn't have done me any good anyway, only shoes I had at that time, were nike's. A few months later though, I could surely have put my brand new combat boots in there, would have saved me some time!

 

[SarahZ]

I for one hope Amtrak never puts in Satellite TV on trains. A train trip is relaxing and you can get up and move thru out the train. On a plane you mainly stay in your seat. To me, the best show on a train is out the window. And on a train your much more likely to talk to other travelers !

I agree. In the Words of the Wise, with modern punctuation added-- "Be. Here. Now."

No better place for that than a long-distance train!

I will never understand why people care two bits about what I do with my time on the train. I don't care if people talk and enjoy the scenery, so why do people care if I choose to catch up on a TV series? Everyone relaxes in their own way, and that's okay.

 

[SarahZ]

 

[Shortline]

Love. That. Pic. And, I for one, load up the ipad with movies before I board. Live TV option would be fantastic, like Southwest has, just connect and watch. I travel frequently in the winter....dark looks a lot like dark, to me....Give me a movie any day!

 

[Allypet]

On my AT trips on Superliners the radio did contain 2 music channels. They were Sirius/XM radio channels, I guess picked by someone on board, as they were different each trip. It was nice to go to sleep with a little background music playing. I just could never figure out which channels gave me the announcements and which didn't (don't want to miss breakfast). I assume that in an emergency they could override the channel choice, even if its set to off (I hope).

 

[Henry Kisor]

Several ex-newspapermen and I (also a retired journo) think that photograph of people reading the papers on the train was staged for an advertisement. Not a single one of the passengers has folded his paper lengthwise the way commuters used to do (and some still do) so that they wouldn't intrude on the space of the folks sitting next to them.

Now of course you don't have to fold your iPads or your iPhones . . .

 

[SarahZ]

Several ex-newspapermen and I (also a retired journo) think that photograph of people reading the papers on the train was staged for an advertisement. Not a single one of the passengers has folded his paper lengthwise the way commuters used to do (and some still do) so that they wouldn't intrude on the space of the folks sitting next to them.

Now of course you don't have to fold your iPads or your iPhones . . .

It's just a joke to get a point across. I didn't know about the lengthwise thing. That makes sense.

 

[7deuceman]

I enjoyed the Superliner Movie feature and remember seeing "The Firm" and "The Pelican Brief" on two separate occasions.

 

[Devil's Advocate]

The use is legal in the state of Colorado, by state law, but is still illegal by federal law. Since Amtrak is an interstate carrier, federal law is enforced. It is illegal to carry it out of state - that's the reason it's sale is banned at Denver International Airport.

According to the federal government marijuana still remains illegal to posses in Colorado. However, there are dozens of drugs that are far more harmful and addictive than pot which the federal government considers to be perfectly legal in Colorado and every other state. So far as I can tell current US drug policy makes little if any sense to anyone outside of the fermentation, distillation, and pharmaceutical industries.

And see a view from a camera in the front of the train? Wouldn't that be nice.

It's been many years since US airlines removed all their cameras but I still enjoy seeing the view when I'm on an Asian or European airline. Some foreign airlines even have multiple angles and/or locations to choose from. Finding personal fee based content on US airlines is rare while free AVOD remains virtually unknown in the main cabin.

trains are subject to the laws of the States they are in at the time....

I've been reading this forum for years and it's still not clear to me when the state law applies and when it doesn't.

I wonder if even high-end players such as Pullman Rail Journeys offer shoe shining these days. I guess not.

I'm still shocked to see them in airports.

I miss that stereo volume/channel control-As far as I can remember, every roomette and bedroom I've been in, had that, but last week had a newer refurbished car with the LED lights, touch light controls, etc, and no volume-Channel control. Bad deal....I despise those near constant announcements, especially starting at 6:30 in the morning. I can usually ignore the hallway PA, but when it's blasting in your room, with no volume control....Not. A. Fan. Give me an old room any day, just to be able to tune that out!

Hear Hear!

 

[trainman74]

Not a single one of the passengers has folded his paper lengthwise the way commuters used to do (and some still do) so that they wouldn't intrude on the space of the folks sitting next to them.

Not that you really need to fold newspapers anymore, given how small the page size has gotten.