posted
I would like to know in your opinion, what would be the best time to use the shower facilities on the train and your reasons for your answer.
IMO, I would think that the best time to shower on the train is around 4:30 or 5:00 AM
Here are my reasons for this time of the morning.
1. It is the most quiet time in the AM when the majority of the fellow passengers are fast asleep.
2. Since most of the people are sleeping at that time, the hot water heater would have the greatest supply of hot water than at any other time.
3. It would be less likely that you would have to hurry it up due to the fact that other people are waiting for you to finish so that they may take their showers
4. Youi are less likely to run into other passengers or crew members while walking between your sleeper room and the shower room in your bathrobe and slippers.
5. You can do your usual morning routine (shower, Btrushing your teeth ETC) in a more relaxing pace.
posted
I don't think I've ever actually seen the public shower occupied. I don't think it is used all that heavily. The average rider goes only one night, so folks can usually plan a shower the day of departure and the next day at their destination, so the on-board shower isn't a necessity for most.
------------------ Trust God, love your neighbor, and never mistake opinion for truth. -Mr. Toy
posted
KA6BGJ, I agree with Mr. Toy's comments. For trips lasting two or three nights (SL), I think your right on the money with your reasons. Of course, it requires the passenger to be an early riser.
Posts: 218 | Registered: Mar 2001
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posted
The "public" showers on both Superliners and Viewliners don't really seem to be used very much. Most passengers don't seem to want to bother. Or perhaps some just feel too self-conscious.
From what I've experienced, those who take the plunge tend to do it before breakfast. Wait until after breakfast and you'll probably have the shower to yourself right up until bedtime.
But definitely give it a try. Taking a shower while traveling at 60 miles an hour isn't something you get to do everyday.
[This message has been edited by dilly (edited 10-25-2003).]
posted
I, too, have found that showers are not used much on eastern trains....more so on the western long distance runs. It seems to depend a lot on where the passengers originated. If most of them started their trip the previous day on an eastern train, the shower is likely to be heavily used the first night. Eastbound trips seem to have heavier shower use the second or last day.
Most seem to like to shower before tackling their other routine wakeup cleanup routine and mornings tend to be busy. Afternoons are least busy but I have had no problem using the shower in the evenings, either.
Check to be sure there are towels in the shower before you get wet...there is always the chance someone just used the last one.
As dilly says, try it, it's a unique experience. Oh, and I've never seen a shower run out of hot water. If it hasn't been used for recently, you'll have to let it run for awhile before it gets warm.
posted
Only once had to wait for the shower. Never run out of water. I did have to ask for towels once though. I tend to breakfast first and then shower mid-morning.
I don't do 4 or 5am, does not equate, divide by zero error, critical failure, ctrl-alt-delete time etc.
Geoff M.
Posts: 2426 | From: Apple Valley, CA | Registered: Sep 2000
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quote:Originally posted by KA6BGJ: IMO, I would think that the best time to shower on the train is around 4:30 or 5:00 AM
Then you get there and 5 others have the same idea. I dont think Ive ever seen a person use the shower facilities on a train. I guess most just shower before they leave for the train, freshen up on the train, then shower after they get home.
Posts: 547 | From: St. Louis, MO, USA | Registered: Nov 2002
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posted
I have often seen the showers in use on my multi-day multi-train trips. I think they are used quite a bit. As far as the best time to take one, I usually do it at 6AM or so in the morning, and rarely have to wait.
Posts: 2428 | From: Grayling, MI | Registered: Mar 2002
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posted
This is kind of silly...But who would wake up at 4:30 AM to take a shower! On my recent first long distance Amtrak trip, I had a deluxe sleeper so it was much easier. But, I have never seen these "public" showers for everyone before..SO I dont know much..Anyway this is kind of silly to talk about!
Posts: 1082 | From: Los Angeles, CA. USA | Registered: Aug 2003
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posted
To date, I'm "batting a thousand" with the showers. There has always been hot water, soap, and towels.
You may wish to consider bringing a pair of shower thongs, but that is good practice even walking about a hotel room.
The showers are truly the greatest inovation Amtrak has come up with for long distance travel. Why they were not 'standard equipment' aboard the "great trains" of my youth, I know not. The only "railroad days" shower I had was aboard the Crescent, when two "twentysomething" fans, one being myself, booked the Master Room in "Crescent Moon' Atl-NY - and broke the bank in the process.
Other pre-Amtrak showers, circa 1962:
Broadway Ltd Master Room (PRR Harbor--) Crescent as noted (SRY "Crescent--) California Zephyr Drawing Room ("Silver--") Canadian Drawing Room ("--Park").
The only Amtrak "negative" I've had was a Lake Shore attendant June 2001 piled passenger luggage in the Viewliner shower room. Was it because he had no room elsewhere, he didn't want the shower used, or presumed no one would use it anyway, i know not.
All I know is I set the crap out in the hall, took my shower, cleaned up the stall, put the stuff back in there, and wondered why can't everyone follow Gil's first rule of travel; namely "If you can't carry it, don't bring it".
Posts: 9975 | From: Clarendon Hills, IL USA (BNSF Chicago Sub MP 18.71) | Registered: Apr 2002
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quote:Originally posted by Gilbert B Norman: The showers are truly the greatest inovation Amtrak has come up with for long distance travel. Why they were not 'standard equipment' aboard the "great trains" of my youth, I know not.
For what it's worth, here's my theory:
The American custom of showering every day (which some have called obsessive-compulsive) is a fairly recent development. Well into the 1950s, the once-a-week "Saturday night bath" was still common.
The sleeping cars you traveled in were built during an era when the railroads would have rightly presumed that "budget" sleeper passengers (i.e. those not traveling deluxe) would bathe before boarding the train -- and not need to do it again until they reached their destination.
Installing, cleaning, and maintaining public showers for section and roomette passengers would have been considered an unnecessary expense. During an era when weekly baths were the norm, they would have been used even less than the Amtrak showers of today.
Then again, I vaguely recall reading somewhere that a few railroads did install public showers in a few cars over the years -- as a marketing tool, if nothing else. But as you suggest, it seems to have mainly been a perk reserved for passengers in the top-of-the-line accommodations.
[This message has been edited by dilly (edited 10-27-2003).]
posted
Seems as though it would be a good idea to put showers for transferring passengers in locations like NYP, CHI, LAX, etc... assuming they don't already have them?
Geoff M.
Posts: 2426 | From: Apple Valley, CA | Registered: Sep 2000
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posted
[QUOTE]Originally posted by Gilbert B Norman:
Other pre-Amtrak showers, circa 1962:
Broadway Ltd Master Room (PRR Harbor--) Crescent as noted (SRY "Crescent--) California Zephyr Drawing Room ("Silver--") Canadian Drawing Room ("--Park").
The drawing room in the "Park" cars on the Canadian and other VIA trains do not and never have had showers. I'm not aware as to why CPR president N.R. Crump allowed that one significant change from the California Zephyr sleeper/dome/lounge car.
A shower room was constructed by VIA in the space formerly occupied by a section in the "Manor" and "Chateau" sleepers. There is no public shower in the Park car, meaning sleeping car passengers in this car have to walk to the front of the adjacent sleeper to find the closest shower.
posted
The all sleeping car Trans-Canada Limited of the mid to late 1920's had "shower-baths" in the solarium-lounge car. I also believe a train called the Sunshine Limited that ran from the eastern U.S. into Mexico (again 1920's vintage)carried a shower or bath. In 1987, in my suite aboard South Africa's Blue Train, I had a very leisurely bath in a real bathtub. It certainly is nice to arrive at your destination sweet-smelling unlike the "good old days" of a once-a-week bath.
Posts: 524 | From: Toronto Ont. Canada | Registered: Mar 2001
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posted
Modern studies indicate that showers generate positive ions. This phenomenon is said to 'wake up' and 'supercharge' the human body.
This 'supercharging' sometimes can lead to manic episodes in some individuals. The 'supercharged' sensation can be amplified especially when combined with the use of Zest, a common hand soap, and/or wearing clothes washed with Shout, a detergent which is known to contain many active cleansing agents.
Persons suffering from mild forms of 'ultra morning supercharging' following topical hydrocleansing are described as being 'hyper.' In more pronounced cases they are said to be 'a bit too wired for this hour of the day.' In extreme cases sufferers may appear to be 'totally whacked out,' or even 'full goose bozo,' depending upon the level of their exposure to the various factors leading to grand mal ultra morning shower-induced supercharging, or U.M.S.
The use of sugar at breakfast can further aggravate the mania and send certain sensitive people even more completely over the top. Also, the intake of nicotine during morning stops at high elevations where the air is thin and cold can compound the symptoms.
I urge everyone to be careful of the hidden dangers which can arise from showering at innappropriate times. Be mindful of what could transpire if you or others around you were confined within the relatively small spaces allotted travelers aboard long distance trains when in the heightened state of mental and physical stimulation which can be brought on by an unexpected attack of U.M.S.
David
[This message has been edited by dnsommer (edited 10-30-2003).]
[This message has been edited by dnsommer (edited 10-31-2003).]
Posts: 284 | From: Ithaca, NY USA | Registered: Oct 2003
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