I'm now planning to take the Empire Builder from Chicago to Seattle and the Coastal Starlight from Seattle to Los Angeles. Both rides 1 night of sleep on coach. I've read a lot about sleeping on coach class, but as I'm quite tall (2 meters -6.6?) I was wondering if you have any other specific recommendations for these routes. Sleeping on the ground? And how busy will it be in May: packed?
Sleeping on Empire Builder and Coastal Starlight and/or recommendation
- Thread starter TimM
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blanket, pillow, eye mast, ear plugs are essential, especially for that long a trip. The seats at the front of the car have more leg room which might help someone as tall as you are, but the tradeoff is that there is a lot of noise during the night with the doors opening.
Either way, those are my two favorite trains. I hope you have a great trip.
Either way, those are my two favorite trains. I hope you have a great trip.
Everydaymatters
Engineer
I've taken coach twice round trip from Chicago to Seattle. Had a great time on both trips. There's a comraderie in coach that you don't find in the sleepers. Each time I brought a light weight blanket and a neck pillow. They give you a small pillow on the train, but it's not a lot of help.
The first night is always the worst for me. I can manage only a few hours of sleep. By the second night I'm so tired that I could sleep on a picket fence.
My first trip to Seattle was in May and the train was not crowded, but that was around the middle of the month. It would be more crowded closer to Memorial Day. The second trip was in September, also not crowded.
You might try magellans for any travel-related things.
The first night is always the worst for me. I can manage only a few hours of sleep. By the second night I'm so tired that I could sleep on a picket fence.
My first trip to Seattle was in May and the train was not crowded, but that was around the middle of the month. It would be more crowded closer to Memorial Day. The second trip was in September, also not crowded.
You might try magellans for any travel-related things.
Did see a roomette available on the Empire Builder for $433 CHI to SEA. (per Amsnag)
I am also 6'6" and although the seats in coach are comfortable, I have had a rough time sleeping in coach.
Of course now that I am 60 its a bit more difficult that when I was your age
It's been my experience on the EB that May is not a particularly busy month.
What kind of camaraderie? Just curious!
@JayPea: good news. I'm going around the 14th of May, so Glacier is still partly closed (and covered in snow?). What is not busy: only a few seats? 50%? Sleeping on two seats is def. easier.
Ziv
Conductor
Tim, that is a great time to be crossing the Hi Line of Montana!Take a camera! I did the same trip in reverse last September and I am 6'4" so I was in a similar situation. When I had both seats to myself it was pretty chill, I had a neck pillow and the amtrak pillow and I nodded right off. I had a neighbor/seat mate in California so I went to the SSL and slept on one of the couches with my feet on the seat next to it. The conductor was cool with it, he rousted someone who slept blocking foot traffic but left the three of us who were sleeping without blocking the aisle. In my experience, sleeping overnight on Amtrak is pretty comfortable, but the second night I feel kind of grungy, even after a splash using the sink in the toilet area. I really wish the coach passengers had access to a shower. There are cheap motels/hotels halfway between CHI and SEA but if you are on a budget that isn't optimal.
Ziv
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Thanks Ziv. I still need to buy a new camera with good zoom. Hope there is also lots of snow still in Glacier. Have you ever tried Melatonin? I found it very helpful in overnight planes, yet never tried it in a train setting. Another stop wouldn't be possible in my schedule and (indeed) would add up the costs.
There's a Walmart Neighborhood Market just a couple blocks northwest of Chicago Union Station. Not sure what all they have (didn't look closely, but they do have a more limited selection), but it's worth checking out.
http://www.walmart.com/storeLocator/ca_storefinder_details_short.do?rx_dest=%2Findex.gsp&rx_title=com.wm.www.apps.storelocator.page.serviceLink.title.default&edit_object_id=5647&adid=1500000000000036338220
Texan Eagle
Conductor
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Hey Tim, a couple of words (of wisdom?) from a fellow college student who has done two overnight trips in coach in the past one year-
Lower level has very few seats and they will be occupied mostly with older senior folks who have difficulty climbing stairs. It is a matter of personal preference, if you like being in company of senior citizens, take a lower level seat. If you want a more varied crowd around you, take upper level seat. This is not to say that upper level does not have seniors, there will be many of them up there too, just more variety in terms of crowd profile and number of seats to choose from.
I have slept a night on Texas Eagle and a night on Southwest Chief in coach, and I did not even have a neck pillow. I just had a light blanket and used the AmPillow provided. Walk around across the coaches and grab a pair of empty seats, then you can try variety of different positions to sleep until you find a comfortable one. If no pair of seats are available, you can try sleeping in SSL, provided you don't feel awkward sleeping on the floor etc.
Being a fellow college student, I know the kind of tight budget we usually travel on, and I found the Dining Car meals pretty expensive, but just for the experience have one or two meals in the Dining Car, preferably breakfast. The cafe menu is also quite overpriced, I'd recommend carrying some snacks, water, soda etc along when you board from Chicago and Seattle.
Finally, as others have suggested, carry a camera along! If you are planning on buying a new one, check out at Walmart, these days you can get a good point-and-shoot camera of good brand (Canon, Nikon) for under $100. Have fun!
Lower level has very few seats and they will be occupied mostly with older senior folks who have difficulty climbing stairs. It is a matter of personal preference, if you like being in company of senior citizens, take a lower level seat. If you want a more varied crowd around you, take upper level seat. This is not to say that upper level does not have seniors, there will be many of them up there too, just more variety in terms of crowd profile and number of seats to choose from.
I have slept a night on Texas Eagle and a night on Southwest Chief in coach, and I did not even have a neck pillow. I just had a light blanket and used the AmPillow provided. Walk around across the coaches and grab a pair of empty seats, then you can try variety of different positions to sleep until you find a comfortable one. If no pair of seats are available, you can try sleeping in SSL, provided you don't feel awkward sleeping on the floor etc.
Being a fellow college student, I know the kind of tight budget we usually travel on, and I found the Dining Car meals pretty expensive, but just for the experience have one or two meals in the Dining Car, preferably breakfast. The cafe menu is also quite overpriced, I'd recommend carrying some snacks, water, soda etc along when you board from Chicago and Seattle.
Finally, as others have suggested, carry a camera along! If you are planning on buying a new one, check out at Walmart, these days you can get a good point-and-shoot camera of good brand (Canon, Nikon) for under $100. Have fun!
6'6" in a roomette bed?
Everydaymatters
Engineer
I have traveled in both coach and sleepers.
In sleepers, unless you already know some of the passengers, people tend to stay to themselves.
In coach there is usually more talking to eachother, helping eachother out, offering suggestions, etc. Some of them have actually become good friends. Coach, obviously, isn't as comfortable and I suppose fellow sufferers just have more in common.
Not all trips are the same, but if you like to meet new people, odds are you will.
RRUserious
OBS Chief
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- Oct 31, 2011
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Or you can find camaraderie with either ticket in the lounge car. Some people seem to hole up in the coach, but I like to roam the train.
OlympianHiawatha
Engineer
I am always amazed how much more friendly and interactive folks are in Coach or even Sleeper on a train versus a plane. Even on a short run, train folks quickly engage in conversation and form a local community. Plane folks, even on long haul international tend to stay to themselves or keep any interactions with fellow pax to a minimum.
Swadian Hardcore
Engineer
Welcome, Tim! I am glad to see that you have chosen the EB for your trip. Note that the CS has "enlarged pillows" for Coach. I also found $433 for the EB roomettes on days flnking 14 May. Also found plenty of $295 for the CS. That is not very bad. A roomette bed is actually exactly 6'6''.
BTW, the CS is the Coast Starlight, not Coastal!
BTW, the CS is the Coast Starlight, not Coastal!
George Harris
Engineer
Tim:
If you haven't got there by now, here are a few quick handy conversions:
An inch is exactly 25.4 mm, by definition, which gives you right at 3.28 feet per meter. Yes, 2 meters is right at 6 feet, 6 inches. Don't attempt to decimalize feet. For the most part, use feet and inches. If exactly 2.000 meters, then call it 6 ft, 6 and 3/4 inches. Don't know where you are coming from, but the use of commas and periods in dividing numbers is exactly backwards between US and Continental Europe. In other words, if writing 24 thousand 350, in US style it would be 24,350, not 24.350 or 24 350. Likewise, the 25 and 4 tenths millimeters per inch is 25.4 American or 25,4 Continental.
Think of a mile as 1.6 kilometers and you will be very close. A kilogram is 2.2 pounds. Thus, if you weigh 100 kg, that would be 220 pounds. We have never used the British style "Stones" in calling weights.
Standard US electricity is 110 volts, 60 cycles, so any electronics you bring best have adapters for the current, or you will need to get them here. That may be hard to find. You may be more likely to find the things you need in this line before you leave whereever you are coming from.
You generally cannot sleep of the floor in coach. The seats will be larger than you have on most (all?) European trains. American coaches are somewhat wider.
American track will ride rougher than in Europe. For the most part the norm is that the railroad company, which is not Amtrak owns and maintains the track. Amtrak operates the passenger trains, but the tracks are owned by the railroad company that operates the freight trains. For most of the Empire Builder's route that means BNSF. For the Coast Starlight south of Portland Oregon that means Union Pacific. They are maintained for safety, usually to a better conditions than Federal track safety standards require, but for some parts of the route, not a lot better. The ride gets very rough before you approach the limits of safety. Relax, but remember to be ready to grab something when up and about.
Also, the passenger train loading on the track is far less than that of a US freight train. Am American Superliner car is 4.93 meters high and weighs around (in 1000 kilogram tonnes) 17 to 18 tonnes per axle, depending upon type and loading, the diesel on the front end each weigh in at about 30 tonnes per axle. A fully loaded freight car will weigh up to 32.4 tonnes per axle. Freight trains can be upwards of one mile long (that is 1.6 km) and weigh 10,000 tonnes in total. The top of the top container on a train of double stacks will be at 6.15 meters above the rail. The BNSF line across the the nothwest is a fairly busy piece of railroad, and for the most part single track.
On this line across the the northwest, you will go through the two longest railroad tunnels in the US, the Flathead Tunnel in Montana and the Cascade Tunnel in Washington. The Flathead Tunnel is 7.01 miles (11.28 km) long and the Cascade Tunnel is 7.79 miles (12.54 km long. No electrification. If you were to come back east on the California Zephyr, you would also get to experience the greatest change in elevation in one bite in North America, from just above sea level to over 7,000 feet (2150 meters).
If you haven't got there by now, here are a few quick handy conversions:
An inch is exactly 25.4 mm, by definition, which gives you right at 3.28 feet per meter. Yes, 2 meters is right at 6 feet, 6 inches. Don't attempt to decimalize feet. For the most part, use feet and inches. If exactly 2.000 meters, then call it 6 ft, 6 and 3/4 inches. Don't know where you are coming from, but the use of commas and periods in dividing numbers is exactly backwards between US and Continental Europe. In other words, if writing 24 thousand 350, in US style it would be 24,350, not 24.350 or 24 350. Likewise, the 25 and 4 tenths millimeters per inch is 25.4 American or 25,4 Continental.
Think of a mile as 1.6 kilometers and you will be very close. A kilogram is 2.2 pounds. Thus, if you weigh 100 kg, that would be 220 pounds. We have never used the British style "Stones" in calling weights.
Standard US electricity is 110 volts, 60 cycles, so any electronics you bring best have adapters for the current, or you will need to get them here. That may be hard to find. You may be more likely to find the things you need in this line before you leave whereever you are coming from.
You generally cannot sleep of the floor in coach. The seats will be larger than you have on most (all?) European trains. American coaches are somewhat wider.
American track will ride rougher than in Europe. For the most part the norm is that the railroad company, which is not Amtrak owns and maintains the track. Amtrak operates the passenger trains, but the tracks are owned by the railroad company that operates the freight trains. For most of the Empire Builder's route that means BNSF. For the Coast Starlight south of Portland Oregon that means Union Pacific. They are maintained for safety, usually to a better conditions than Federal track safety standards require, but for some parts of the route, not a lot better. The ride gets very rough before you approach the limits of safety. Relax, but remember to be ready to grab something when up and about.
Also, the passenger train loading on the track is far less than that of a US freight train. Am American Superliner car is 4.93 meters high and weighs around (in 1000 kilogram tonnes) 17 to 18 tonnes per axle, depending upon type and loading, the diesel on the front end each weigh in at about 30 tonnes per axle. A fully loaded freight car will weigh up to 32.4 tonnes per axle. Freight trains can be upwards of one mile long (that is 1.6 km) and weigh 10,000 tonnes in total. The top of the top container on a train of double stacks will be at 6.15 meters above the rail. The BNSF line across the the nothwest is a fairly busy piece of railroad, and for the most part single track.
On this line across the the northwest, you will go through the two longest railroad tunnels in the US, the Flathead Tunnel in Montana and the Cascade Tunnel in Washington. The Flathead Tunnel is 7.01 miles (11.28 km) long and the Cascade Tunnel is 7.79 miles (12.54 km long. No electrification. If you were to come back east on the California Zephyr, you would also get to experience the greatest change in elevation in one bite in North America, from just above sea level to over 7,000 feet (2150 meters).
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