Showers.

[dlagrua]

Rather than repeatedly patting Amtrak on the back for besting railroads from a half-century ago, I'd prefer to look for ways to help them catch up with the vastly improved passenger rail networks of today.

Dax: I must take exception to this one comment. Todays rail network is but a figment of what it once was. In years past passenger rail came into or near almost every single town and all the major cities. You no longer have train service to Chattenooga,TN, Louisville, KY, Toledo, OH, Ashville, N.C, Huntsville AL, Augusta, GA, North Dakota, Las Vegas, NV., The Poconos, PA, Western NJ, Scranton, PA, Easton, PA, Allentown, PA and hundreds of other cities. Also consider running times. In the past these trips were hours shorter than they now are. Trains like the SW Chief were running at speeds of 100 MPH. You can no longer go directly from Chicago to Florida or Florida to the West Coast.

As for the trains back then they were far more elegant than they now were, the food and the service far better. The matreeses in the sleepers were thicker, more comfortable,the decor nicer, you dined at a table surrounded by chairs on fine china and not in a booth that you see at the cheap restaurants. You boarded at magnificent trains stations not from shacks or station burried beneath high rise office buildings. Look at the movies on You Tube and you'll see. The only improvement has been the eliminatation of the caustic, irritating, and cancerous cigarette smoke. I'm afraid to say that from my view, all indications are that we have gone backwards and not improved much. However, help is on the way. As gasoline hits $5 per gallon, you will see improvements in passenger rail.

 

[AlanB]

We ALWAYS book 11 months out to guarantee the availability of a bedroom and the low bucket....

Except that it seems that Amtrak's revenue management has also caught on to this and that they aren't always putting low bucket rooms on sale at the 11 month mark. Seems like on some trains & dates that they start out at a higher bucket and then a month or two later drop down if sales aren't going well.

 

[coachseats]

You no longer have train service to Chattenooga,TN, Louisville, KY, Toledo, OH, Ashville, N.C, Huntsville AL, Augusta, GA, North Dakota, Las Vegas, NV., The Poconos, PA, Western NJ, Scranton, PA, Easton, PA, Allentown, PA and hundreds of other cities. Also consider running times. In the past these trips were hours shorter than they now are. Trains like the SW Chief were running at speeds of 100 MPH. You can no longer go directly from Chicago to Florida or Florida to the West Coast.

You boarded at magnificent trains stations not from shacks or station burried beneath high rise office buildings.

I agree with some parts of your post, but it is important to note: Toledo, OH (four trains per day)and North Dakota (2 trains a day cross the entire state) are still served by Amtrak and one can still board an Amtrak train at a variety of the same magnificent stations, many refurbished or well maintained, that you could in the heyday of train travel.

 

[SanFranciscan]

Only trouble I foresee is the demise of the venture much like the movie rental company that came on board with much fanfare only to last a short time.

At SFO they had a conventional movie rental store that charged traditional rental fees and required that you return the movie to the exact same location or pay to ship it there. At several other airports you can find standard Redbox kiosks that are dirt cheap and allow you to return the movie to any of twenty-five thousand other locations. I never used the SFO rental place and for all I know it has closed up shop by now. I've used Redbox dozens of times, including at airports, and never once had any problems. Put a Redbox kiosk in an easy to access location of CUS and I'd use it.

And I'm not saying anything bad about them, but who would use the showers at CHI, LAX or NYP more - Amtrak travelers or the homeless?

So long as they all pay the same cleaning and maintenance fees as anyone else who cares what sort of home they do or don't have? At NRT the folks using the $5 shower rooms are not the high rolling travelers in first class or on chartered flights. Those folks are using the elite status facilities. The folks using the conventional shower rooms encompass a range of semi-frequent to extremely-infrequent passengers who don't have status and are unwilling or unable to pony up a $50-125 entry fee to a frequent flier lounge. Nonetheless the rooms are extremely clean and stocked with everything you'd need for a quick refresh.

As it is now, with just the restrooms, I see many "taking a shower" at the sinks and changing clothes. I may be wrong, but I don't think they're Amtrak passengers. (They could do those things aboard the train!)

Most Amtrak passengers are still not able to use any shower on any train. Full stop. If $5 (or even $10 or $15) shower rooms were available and easy to access then there would be less of a reason to worry about people trying to use restrooms for this purpose. In other words everybody wins, including the sleeper passengers just stopping through a restroom to check their hair or whatever. If the showers were a mere $5 then even a homeless person in Chicago might be able to afford them, although you might have to provide a lot of rooms if you allow unticketed folks to have access to the showers. IIRC I had to show my passport and my ticket to get access to the showers in Japan and maybe that's an important part of keeping their rooms in such good shape.

If I recall what I have heard (and I certainly do not have first hand knowledge), the Orient Express does not have private showers in their pricey rooms. Of course, Europeans have different attitudes than Americans regarding aspects of daily life.

Last I saw the original and longest-lived Orient Express had gone bankrupt.

We ALWAYS book 11 months out to guarantee the availability of a bedroom and the low bucket.

That's great advice for retired folks. How about some advice for those of working age/class who can't plan everything anywhere near that far out?

Actually the Orient Express is running and has an upcoming trip that they e-mailed me about. Check out the Society of International Railway Travelers for information on some really neat trains. Yes, they are expensive trains. I think that you may find the web site entertaining regardless of your budget because they have information about international routes which I have never heard of anywhere else.

I can see that I have stirred up a hornet's nest with my inquiry about showers on the train and in the station. First of all homeless people are sometimes train passengers. Secondly public showers are for the public good. Is there anyone here so secure in your job that you think that homelessness could never happen to you? I went through it in the 1980's and tried so hard to be responsible and keep clean and keep looking for a job and met others doing the same so I don't go along wit the view that the homeless are bums. I used to sneak into showers at community colleges and stuff like that. I was not the good-for-nothing filthy pig that those who have never been homeless wished to believe that I was.

I am moving to Orlando from San Francisco. I have lived in this same apartment with the same landlady for 23 years, the only one that I have had since my time in the homeless system. I am going by Amtrak partly because I want to see the changing of the terrain and the changing of the climates and wrap my mind around the fact that life as I have known it for the past 23 years is over. I have been working for the Disney Museum here in San Francisco and am glad that my supervisor is recommending me for the corporate part of Disney because I have a great deal of affection for Disney, but that does not mean that I am not leaving a part of my heart here in San Francisco.

I love trains and wish that I had more opportunity to ride those I have dreamed about and would just like nice memories of Amtrak taking me from my old life to my new life.

By the way, my name is Mary; and I am glad that I found this site.

 

[hello]

Enjoy your train ride Mary ... and welcome!

 

[pennyk]

Hi Mary. I hope you enjoy Orlando, which is very different from San Francisco. The Disney employees tend to be a bit different from the downtown Orlando work force.

I traveled across country last year from Orlando via Amtrak and the scenery was priceless. Enjoy the journey.

Penny from Orlando

(BTW, I have lived in Florida all my life and in Orlando since 1979)

 

[PaulM]

And to the OP, if you think you're gonna net a sleeper compartment only a few days out from your trip, you're even more delusional than Peter. We ALWAYS book 11 months out to guarantee the availability of a bedroom and the low bucket....

Be nice Bierknappe! There is a large, vocal faction of the public who hate Amtrak (or commuter rail, public transportation of any kind, shuttles in National Parks, bike lanes, side walks, park benches, etc). One of the things they do to justify their phobia is to trot out the old chestnut "No body rides the trains anymore. You can't fault San Fran for thinking anyone would patronize such ancient relics.

 

[PaulM]

All the sleepers on Europe's City Night Line trains have nice showers and sinks in a separate compartment for each sleeper room; the room size is between an Amtrak roomette and bedroom. There's also a nice breakfast buffet for all passengers with eggs, bacon, salads, fruits, waffles, juices, cereals, yogurts, the works. The coach seating is plusher than Acela First Class and fully reclines, ala a First-Class sleeper bed on airlines. Those cars far surpass anything Amtrak offers.

Things may have changed in the last couple of year, or there may be variations between CNL trains, or maybe you were in the equivalent of a bedroom and I in a roomette. But I have ridden the CNL between Vienna and Dortmund; and I don't recall showers at all, much less in the room. And there definitely wasn't a breakfast buffet, only coffee and a pastry served in the room. But then there really is much less need for showers on European overnight trains because they generally depart around 10:30 PM and arrive before 8:00. Doesn't even leave much time for night cap in the restaurant car.

I've also been on the other overnight trains (EN's and D trains); and coach, which was referred to as a sleeperette, was merely reclining seats with very little leg room.

 

[ColdRain&Snow]

...There are showers on the train . IF you are a sleeping car pax or a employee .
the free shower is one of the 2 reasons I do roomettes on long trips .

That and the free grub.

Peter KG6LSE

That really made me laugh....if you think the "grub" is free on Amtrak just because you book a sleeper, you're delusional...

And to the OP, if you think you're gonna net a sleeper compartment only a few days out from your trip, you're even more delusional than Peter. We ALWAYS book 11 months out to guarantee the availability of a bedroom and the low bucket....

Can someone remind me how the Ignore User feature works?

 

[duke_gal_05]

my husband being Navy retired mentioned USO's but I don't think that would be an acceptable place for 2 unaccompanied ladies to go to shower

I don't know of any USOs in train stations, but I've been in plenty in airports and wouldn't worry a bit about my wife and daughter (if I had one) being alone in one.

He didn't know for sure about the USO's in or close to the train stations... his experiences were in airports as well.... I am also the daughter of a Navy retired CPO... Being from the south I guess my dad instilled in me about 2 young ladies being alone in a "strange big city" to be cautious better to ERR on the side of CAUTION... Nothing against anyone utilizing the USO's since I also have 2 step daughters that are in the military as well....I guess I have a lot to learn hboy: and upon my return flight from California I will "check out" the USO in the airports for future reference .... Thanks

 

[Bierboy]

We ALWAYS book 11 months out to guarantee the availability of a bedroom and the low bucket.

That's great advice for retired folks. How about some advice for those of working age/class who can't plan everything anywhere near that far out?

Still a working man, thank you...

 

[RailFanLNK]

San Fran, all is not lost, you can try and upgrade onboard and keep checking with Amtrak prior to your arrival. I travel alot and I have been able to "sponge bath" quite easily anywhere there is a sink. Yes, a shower on a train is definately a plus, but I have found that I can go long periods without a shower. Do I like it? No, but I can live with it. I know your new to Amtrak travel, but this site can help you with alot of things/questions. Is the date you are departing set in stone? Can you move your trip up or back a day? Just some thoughts on trying to make your first trip go a tadbit better.

 

[Sis]

*** JUST A REMINDER, THIS THREAD IS OVER 2 YEARS OLD, BUT IS STILL RELEVANT ***

Well, this is an old discussion but still relevant today. I was hoping to find out CHI had showers. ugh All the rooms are booked and I have a very long ride from SPK to CHI to WAS and then a car on to the coast. I am gonna stink to high heaven! :wacko:

 

[AmtrakBlue]

Baby Wipes!

 

[Ziv]

I still say if the larger changeover stations such as Chicago offered pay per use showers like truck stops do there could be a market.

It's a great idea and probably would have a market. Only trouble I foresee is the demise of the venture much like the movie rental company that came on board with much fanfare only to last a short time. Which brings up an interesting thought~ what would today's traveler prefer? A movie or a shower ???

A shower! Or a sink in a clean room sans toilet where you could 'freshen up' and feel comfortable brushing your teeth. Those coach toilets get pretty funky and going there to clean up seems a bit "oxymoronic", for lack of a better word.

 

[June the Coach Rider]

Have any of you ever heard of sponge baths? You can actually get almost as clean with a sponge bath in one of the larger restrooms in coach as a shower. Sure you cannot shampoo your hair, but they have dry shampoo if you need it. Do you really think that people who are unable to shower on a train is that filthy? Just because it is coach does not mean we are filthy stinking people. Most of the people I have encountered go and freshen up with baby wipes or the fresh disposible wipes that are available at any store.

As far as the coach toilets betting funky, then SAY SOMETHING to the attendant. If it is bad, they are required to clean it or lock it. Complaining about coach and making it seem like torture to travel by coach is not helping keep Amtrak around. Remember, without coach, the sleepers would not be running either.

 

[the_traveler]

Also remember that 60 years ago, a train had (if lucky) one shower on the entire train. And that was in a super deluxe private room, only used by the occupant(s) of that room. Even other sleeping car passengers could not use the shower on the train.

Yet, somehow people survived. And we all even got born. Not having a shower available to you for a few days is not the end of the world.

 

[VentureForth]

I'm still trying to get the Venture(forth) Capital to get attended or coin showers installed in DC, NYP, CHI and LAX. Ok. Not trying. But hoping. Maybe thinking. Maybe thought of...

 

[PaulM]

All the sleepers on Europe's City Night Line trains have nice showers and sinks in a separate compartment for each sleeper room; the room size is between an Amtrak roomette and bedroom. There's also a nice breakfast buffet for all passengers with eggs, bacon, salads, fruits, waffles, juices, cereals, yogurts, the works.

Whoa! Are you sure you aren't talking about delux rooms analogous to Amtrak's bedroom. Not too long ago my wife and I booked sleeping car (not couchette) space in 2 CNL trains (Vienna to Duisburg and Munich to Berlin) in rooms that were about the size of Amtrak's roomettes. There were no toilet or shower in the room; and I didn't see any Dousche sign in the corridor. Also, there wasn't any breakfast buftet, just packaged muffin, yoghurt, etc. delivered to our room by the attendant, IMO not up to #27's much maligned breakfast.