Suggestions for Route and Direction of Travel - East Coast to Seattle or Bay Area?

[F900ElCapitan]

5100 is right next to the dining car and Roomette 1 is in the middle of the car, so I don’t see any reason why you’d want to change that. On the Zephyr, you are correct that 0532 is the third car from the diner, so you may want to call and see if you can get moved to 0530. As to Bedroom D, there’s nothing particularly good or bad about that room, but Bedroom E seems to be the room of choice for manu AUers, as it’s in the middle of the car (which means a nice ride), is right next to the beverage stand and stairwell, and is only adjacent to one Bedroom (instead of two). Room A does have the benefit of being the only Bedroom which is not connected via partition to any other room, which means a solid wall with less noise, however it has less floor space and is at the end of the car, meaning worse ride and more truck noise. So yeah, I would say that you may want to call and see if you can snag Bedroom E in 0530. If that isn’t available, it may be a matter of figuring out if you care more about being in a sleeper close to the dining car or having the best room. Good luck!

So from what I’ve read here and elsewhere, the California Zephyr doesn’t have a 0530/0630 car, and the sleepers start with 0531/0631. So the 0532 would be the second car from the diner. Does this sound correct? This might help me with my upcoming trip. 

Thanks!

 

[AmtrakBlue]

So from what I’ve read here and elsewhere, the California Zephyr doesn’t have a 0530/0630 car, and the sleepers start with 0531/0631. So the 0532 would be the second car from the diner. Does this sound correct? This might help me with my upcoming trip. 

Thanks!

 

[F900ElCapitan]

You see, I find this contradictory to everything else I’ve heard and that the lower car number (0531 in this case) is closer to the diner. 

Thoughts?

 

[cpotisch]

You see, I find this contradictory to everything else I’ve heard and that the lower car number (0531 in this case) is closer to the diner. 

Thoughts?

Turns out I was incorrect about there being an 0530 on the CZ, so sorry about that, but from everything I’m seeing 0531 is closest to the diner, followed by 0532, and depending on the time of year, 0533.

 

[Seaboard92]

The Zephyr is a good route and roomette one on the cardinal will be on the right side. The best place for you to see the New River Gorge will be the lounge car.

From Hinton to Hawks Nest the river is on the left side of the train. After hawks nest the line splits but the westbound generally sticks to the north bank River on the left. After about ten miles apart it jumps across to the south bank. Then the Kanawha and Ohio rivers will be on your right. I doubt you'll see the Ohio River though. It's a pity because it's super scenic.

You are also on the right side to see Cincinnati and Indianapolis skylines.

And in my honest opinion Portland is a better city than its neighbor to the north. And the Portland builder allegedly had the best scenery

 

[cpotisch]

The best place for you to see the New River Gorge will be the lounge car. 

I agree with everything you said except for this. The lounge car on the Cardinal is a Amfleet I Business/Cafe, which means that you’re taking in the views from one half of a small metal tube with the tiniest windows Amtrak has to offer. Meanwhile, not only do Viewliners have a double row of windows, but each window is bigger than that of an AM-I. So I would say that you get a significantly better view from a VL Roomette than from a tiny AmCan “lounge”.

(By the way, in case y’all can’t tell, I’m not a fan of those Amfleets )