southwest chief

[BillVas]

I have traveled so often on the Southwest Chief and doing so again very soon.. But have they updated the sleepers where the bathroom in the bedrooms have more room as they did for the capital limited??? Often they were small and stopped working over the mountains...

billvasi

 

[Acela150]

The sleepers are basically the same on the CL and SWC. They run with SL's I's and II's. The I's have been rehabbed recently and there are more of them.

 

[amamba]

I think it is sort of luck of the draw if you get a rehabbed S1 or an old SII. When I rode the SWC this past March, there were two sleepers and they were both the un-renovated Superliner II cars.

 

[Trogdor]

There are also a few unrehabbed Superliner Is. Not quite so fun if you get one of those.

 

[SarahZ]

Is there a reason the SWC doesn't use Viewliner sleepers? How do they determine which routes use Viewliner and which routes use Superliners?

Just curious. I think it would be nice to have a window for the top bunk.

 

[Trogdor]

There are only 50 Viewliners in the entire fleet, and they are needed in the east where clearance issues prevent Superliner equipment from operating.

A Superliner sleeper has higher capacity than a Viewliner does, so it's cheaper to operate Superliner equipment where you can, and only run Viewliner equipment where you must.

 

[SarahZ]

There are only 50 Viewliners in the entire fleet, and they are needed in the east where clearance issues prevent Superliner equipment from operating.

A Superliner sleeper has higher capacity than a Viewliner does, so it's cheaper to operate Superliner equipment where you can, and only run Viewliner equipment where you must.

Thanks! I didn't realize the cars had different dimensions/capacity ratings.

 

[wayne46385]

I am kind of confused, I just booked the SWC from chi to lax to replace the cancelled CZ I was supposed to take to Emeryville. Well anyways it is my brother and I and we were assigned roomettes number 18 and 19 in car 0340. After looking at a diagram of the superliner sleeper layout it only goes to 14. Where would the roomettes in that car be at?

Thanks for any replies in advance, you guys and gals are great for answering questions

Wayne

 

[OlympianHiawatha]

I am kind of confused, I just booked the SWC from chi to lax to replace the cancelled CZ I was supposed to take to Emeryville. Well anyways it is my brother and I and we were assigned roomettes number 18 and 19 in car 0340. After looking at a diagram of the superliner sleeper layout it only goes to 14. Where would the roomettes in that car be at?

Thanks for any replies in advance, you guys and gals are great for answering questions

Wayne

You're in the Trans Dorm just behind the Baggage. Because half that car is Crew Quarters, it tends to be quieter and has an extra public shower as well.

 

[PerRock]

#18 & 19 are in a Transition Sleeper not a regular Sleeper. (Diagram here: http://www.craigmashburn.com/amtrakcardiagrams.html ). Transit Sleepers have their advantages & disadvantages, they tend to be quieter due to less people walking thru, you typically get a "better" SCA; but that SCA usually has to also handle the next car (and would be found there) so you would see him/her less, they tend to be further away from the Diner & Lounge.

peter

 

[zephyr17]

I have traveled so often on the Southwest Chief and doing so again very soon.. But have they updated the sleepers where the bathroom in the bedrooms have more room as they did for the capital limited??? Often they were small and stopped working over the mountains...

billvasi

SWC doesn not have a dedicated consist, so it is luck of the draw. The Superliner I rebuilds will still probably have problems in the mountains whether rehabbed or not, as the basic technology (vacuum toilets) haven't changed, to my knowledge.

 

[Lazy Z]

Does this mean that the toilets don't flush when in the mountains? Yikes! When is that anyway? I have not studied maps yet for our trip from Calif to Chicago!!

I have traveled so often on the Southwest Chief and doing so again very soon.. But have they updated the sleepers where the bathroom in the bedrooms have more room as they did for the capital limited??? Often they were small and stopped working over the mountains...

billvasi

SWC doesn not have a dedicated consist, so it is luck of the draw. The Superliner I rebuilds will still probably have problems in the mountains whether rehabbed or not, as the basic technology (vacuum toilets) haven't changed, to my knowledge.

 

[Bob Dylan]

Does this mean that the toilets don't flush when in the mountains? Yikes! When is that anyway? I have not studied maps yet for our trip from Calif to Chicago!!

I have traveled so often on the Southwest Chief and doing so again very soon.. But have they updated the sleepers where the bathroom in the bedrooms have more room as they did for the capital limited??? Often they were small and stopped working over the mountains...

billvasi

SWC doesn not have a dedicated consist, so it is luck of the draw. The Superliner I rebuilds will still probably have problems in the mountains whether rehabbed or not, as the basic technology (vacuum toilets) haven't changed, to my knowledge.

As has been said, it's the luck of the draw as to whether or not you get a rehabbed Superliner I or a II. The IIs seem to have more problems at High Altidtude with toliets not flusing correctly! In my experience sometimes one car might have this problem, the next sleeper wont, and everytime Ive ridden in the Transdorm (the crew car) the bathrooms worked fine! A good SCA will reset the breakers as often as they can if this happens, a poor one will disappear or tell you to go to the next car!

The two Routes that this has happened on that I was riding were the CZ and the SWC, it did not happen on the Empire Builder or the Coast Starlight!! YMMV!! Good Luck!

 

[The Davy Crockett]

The toilets usually work okay on the trains. One thing that you should do is to NOT bring your own T.P. h34r: :excl:

DO use the Amtrak supplied toilet paper, as it is designed to not clog the system on the trains. ^_^

 

[amamba]

I didn't have any problems with toilets clogging in my sleeper on the SWC. However, my bedroom did have sort of a methane/poop smell that would waft in and out on occasion. If it it got too stinky, it would dissipate if I opened the door to my bedroom into the hallway.

 

[spot1181]

We once had a senior group on The Empire Builder. They jammed all the toilets when they tried to flush their Depends. What a mess.