Superliner Transition Sleeper

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With a Superliner roomette, do you prefer traveling in a standard sleeper or in a transition sleeper

  • Total voters
    73
Big Green Chauvanist said:
A propos this discussion, do SCA's normally sleep in the transition dorm? On a superliner sleeper, is rommette #1 (which is reserved for the SCA) empty at night? I usually see them crammed with supplies, towels, boxes, etc.
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Yes, Roomette #1 is always the assigned Room for SCAs on the Superliner Sleepers! Since Storage Space is at a Premium on Rail Cars, they have to store their supplies etc. wherever they can! Occasionaly, when there are empty Rooms you will see OBS in Bedroom A or the H or Family Room, but they dont sleep there, just use it for storage etc. Since the Call Board for the SCA is in Room #1 they Do Not Sleep in the Transdorm! All the other OBS do have their Roomettes (Nop Bedrooms in the transdorm) their, and the Conductors office is downstairs in the Staff "Lounge", but most Conductors hang out in the Cafe/Lounge or the Diner Car!!
 
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I am heading to south Texas (via the Texas Eagle) to visit family over Christmas. This will be my first time in the Transition Sleeper. After reading all of the pros and cons on here, I am looking forward to it -- something new and different!
 
I too am self-sufficient, as far as operating my bed, retrieving coffee, etc.

My main concern with having no 'resident' attendant occupying a room within the transdorm, would be maintaining cleanliness in the public restrooms. Sure, it's someone's job....but....if the attendant has to come over from another car, I wonder just how much attention it would get....

I haven't ridden in one, but still I wonder....
 
railiner said:
I too am self-sufficient, as far as operating my bed, retrieving coffee, etc.

My main concern with having no 'resident' attendant occupying a room within the transdorm, would be maintaining cleanliness in the public restrooms. Sure, it's someone's job....but....if the attendant has to come over from another car, I wonder just how much attention it would get....

I haven't ridden in one, but still I wonder....
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Since the crew also uses the 2-3 restrooms and showers in the Transdorm they are generally kept cleaner than the ones in the Revenue Cars!
 
jimhudson said:
railiner said:
I too am self-sufficient, as far as operating my bed, retrieving coffee, etc.

My main concern with having no 'resident' attendant occupying a room within the transdorm, would be maintaining cleanliness in the public restrooms. Sure, it's someone's job....but....if the attendant has to come over from another car, I wonder just how much attention it would get....

I haven't ridden in one, but still I wonder....
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Since the crew also uses the 2-3 restrooms and showers in the Transdorm they are generally kept cleaner than the ones in the Revenue Cars!
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Glad to hear that.......
 
My last sleeper journey was in May on the SWC - in the transdorm.

Didn't use the shower.

SCA treated me like a noob, offered help I didn't need, and was really good and heard my needs.

Very good service.

Very good transport.
 
Aloha

Just realized a third choice, I do not care about which sleeper I am in because I am on a train going somewhere.
 
Personally I have no problem with the Transition Sleeper myself. The issues I and other folks have experienced from time to time are almost entirely due to lack of staff effort and are not related to the car itself.
 
I've been learning about the joys and perils of traveling as a passenger on cargo ships. There is a whole subculture around this, I've found, and several regular YouTubers with a lot of miles under their belts who take viewers along for their trips via video.

I'm actually thinking of doing a trip like this in the Mediterranean, and having ridden in a Superliner trans-dorm a couple times -- and being offered a vacant space normally used by crew back when "heritage" cars were still plentiful, I'm thinking those experiences might have been similar in some small way to travelling with the crew on cargo ships. Anyone have a thought on this?
 
Really, a trans-dorm roomette is indistinguishable from one in a regular Superliner sleeper. The main differences are that there are additional showers and restrooms on the upper level and that you need to get your coffee, etc. from the regular sleeper next door...most of the time. Also, you're closer to the engine (exhaust/whistle) noise. If you weren't already aware of the differences, you'd probably never notice them.
 
I prefer the trans dorm for some of the reasons others don't. i'm not a high maintenance type, i'm told anyway, and don't mind the extra walk to the diner. The SCA was non-existent till bed turn down time. Perfect! The horn didn't bother me at all being a train fan. I assume this car is the last to fill up so i had few neighbors using facilities. East of Denver west bound i may have been the only occupant in the roomettes. The staff that was in the other end of car were never really evident as they were very quiet.
 
Skyline said:
I've been learning about the joys and perils of traveling as a passenger on cargo ships. There is a whole subculture around this, I've found, and several regular YouTubers with a lot of miles under their belts who take viewers along for their trips via video.

I'm actually thinking of doing a trip like this in the Mediterranean, and having ridden in a Superliner trans-dorm a couple times -- and being offered a vacant space normally used by crew back when "heritage" cars were still plentiful, I'm thinking those experiences might have been similar in some small way to travelling with the crew on cargo ships. Anyone have a thought on this?
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I have always wanted to do that. When I separated from the Air Force, in Germany, I booked my return to the US on a cargo ship out of Rotterdam to New York. Was really looking forward to it. But I got picked up by CSX and had a conductor class start date, that I had to make, so had to cancel, and fly to be sure to make the class, wasn't a lot of buffer, and as you know, ships can get rerouted to other ports en-route. One of these days......
 
PVD said:
Way less options for that than there used to be...Not gone completely, but the way the cargo business runs today, it is way less available, and more difficult to arrange.
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I haven't done it. If you have, I'll defer to you, especially if comparing to some sort of "good old days." But there seems to still be a lot of people travelling by necessity AND/OR adventure via cargo ships. The guy in the YouTube has done it a lot with both good and bad experiences, even references a travel agency that can make arrangements. It's cheaper than traditional ocean cruising, but not dirt cheap by any means.




Train travel via "Side Door Pullmans"--which I did just once in 1978 in Utah and California--now that is dirt cheap. And a lot more dangerous.
 
Are you referring to being a hobo in a freight car? If so, EXTREMELY dangerous.

Sent from my iPhone using Amtrak Forum
 
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dlagrua said:
Why are passengers being put in the crew car in the first place?
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Because it turned out the crew doesn't need eighteen roomettes. So the transition dorms got modified (and some were originally built) with another bath+shower; now they have eight roomettes plus two bath/shower combos for passengers. The remainder of the car (eight roomettes plus the downstairs) is for crew. (Not including the on-board chief's "apartment" at the end of the hall - I don't know who gets that now.)
 

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