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As part two of my planned trip, I'm getting a sleeper (first time for everything in 20 years of foaming) on the westbound Capitol Limited all the way. Once again, I'm an Empire Corridor person, so the best experience I've got (and the latest, not to mention) with Superliner equipment was in 1992 on the Texas Eagle/Sunset combination. First, the assumptions. I'm assuming a Superliner I sleeper that hasn't been overhauled yet, because when I travel I always expect the worst. Having been ground down to the western Empire Corridor over the years, my expectations are not that high. Secondly, I don't expect very much room. They don't call it a Roomette for nothing. What kind of storage space is available? I plan to bring a medium-sized suitcase to check and a small carry-on bag because traveling light is the best way to travel. On individual legs of my journey I'll swap used items (clothing and the like) for fresh items at connecting station stops. Is there any storage available? Under the seats maybe? The virtual tour on the website is not all that specific. What's the floorplan like? I know the family room is one end of the lower level, the accessible room is on the other end, but how are all the rest of the rooms and bathroomettes and shower laid out? It's been a while since I was twelve. Trip reports mention some kind of button setup on the shower. Is there any rhyme/reason to how Superliner II sleepers are assigned to the system, or is it going to boil down to 'whatever rolls?' Are the S2 cars really that much better, or is it just that the walls aren't neon orange and green? (I'm not much of a fashion critic myself. I'd rather sleep comfortably.) And finally, is one side of the westbound Capitol better than the other, scenerywise? Keep in mind the last time I was in a Sightseer Lounge I was watching Star Trek 6 as Texas rolled by. Thanks again! This trip (Northeast Clockwise) is going to be fun.
Posts: 391 | From: Schenectady | Registered: Jan 2002
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You'll find that your overnight bag ought to fit nicely on the 'step' beside one of the seats in your superliner roomette. It will look like a big armrest but it really is the step for anyone who might be using the upper berth.
Your idea of switiching out items between the carryon bag and your larger suitcase between legs is a good one. For your night on the Capitol you might want to bring the larger bag on with you and leave it on the luggage rack downstairs. That way you could get some en-route sorting down after dark.
NOTE: In spite of the Amtrak sales material, the roomette is appropriate for 1 adult, not 2.
There are various floorplans available on-line, perhaps somewhere on the 'Trainweb' site. I'm sorry that I don't have a link handy for you. Esseentially, downstairs in the superliner sleeper you will have a shower, three restrooms, and the accessible bedroom going one direction from the vestibule. These rooms are below the upstairs bedrooms. Going the other direction from the vestibule you will have the communal luggage rack on your left, the staircase on your right, and beyond this a small corridor with two roomettes on either side (#11-14) and the family bedroom on the end.
Always a toss-up as to what equipment runs on any given day. My recent experience with the orange and brown SI sleeper was kind of nostalgic though. Like when the guy redoing our bathroom found a swatch of shag carpet under the sink, stared at it for a full 30 seconds, and said "Huh.... I've heard about this stuff but I didn't think I'd ever really see any!" The main thing you have purchased with your roomette is privacy for a night and I don't particularly care what degree of refurbishment my rolling palace has received......although I didn't care for that corrugated metal wall surface they were using for a while.
Leaving DC westbound on the Capitol I would prefer the left side for the views of the Potomac River until Harpers Ferry, WV. Beyond that the side is pretty much irrelavent on that train.
Enjoy your trip and be sure to tell us about it when you get home!
-------------------- David Pressley
Advocating for passenger trains since 1973!
Climbing toward 5,000 posts like the Southwest Chief ascending Raton Pass. Cautiously, not nearly as fast as in the old days, and hoping to avoid premature reroutes. Posts: 4203 | From: Western North Carolina | Registered: Feb 2004
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I just did this a few weeks ago, except I got on at Pittsburgh at 11:30pm and went straight to bed til early breakfast before Chicago arrival. I agree with the advice to not check the suitcase but bring it on board and leave it downstairs on the luggage rack. There is plenty of room on the unoccupied bunk above your bed to store your carry on bag. I am always able to fit in my back back AND a standard sized carry on bag and still be able to close it back up so I can stand up straight in the roomette. Happy railing!!
Posts: 326 | From: San Antonio Texas USA | Registered: Dec 2003
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quote:Originally posted by notelvis: NOTE: In spite of the Amtrak sales material, the roomette is appropriate for 1 adult, not 2.
David, my husband and I have travelled in the roomette just fine. I don't think it's bad at all.
Posts: 149 | From: Joliet, IL USA | Registered: Aug 2004
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I agree with you ,Vicki. My husband and I traveled in roomette for a numberof years(until we could afford a bedroom)It worked out just fine.He is tall and had enough room to be comfortable.Since I am relativly short ,at night we put one bag the long way at the bottom of my bunk and the other fit right under the seat. I stayed in bed until he got dressed and wandered down the hall to leave me room to dress. No problems.
Posts: 1577 | From: virginia | Registered: Jun 2005
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Yes, a fine F40 (I'll buy pictures of her!) and now a halfway decent P42.
The upper bunk will also be occupied. 20,000 AGR points aren't to be wasted.
I prefer to refer to them as "Three Halves of a Bathroom."
So there are both types of rooms upstairs? Maybe a half and half setup? Or is it a 10&6/Viewlineresque setup with a jog in the hallway? I know I'll go wherever they put me, but preparation is always a good idea. Since I've only traveled in coach before, I know how much is too much, especially when you get home and unpack and discover a dozen things you never got around to using. I'll just be happy to have a separate bed, and if I want space to stretch out, will hit the lounge. They have lots of tables and big windows on these! (Nothing against Amfleet II ex-smoker lounges, but I do miss the extra tables.) Thanks for your input so far.
Posts: 391 | From: Schenectady | Registered: Jan 2002
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Yes. Upstairs in the superliner sleeper are 6 bedrooms and 10 roomettes......the dividing line being the top of the staircase. The corridor is along the side of the car by the bedrooms and down the center of the roomettes.
And I recommend the roomette for 1 because.....well......because after a mere 24 hours my wife gets absolutely stir-crazy. It's a leg-room issue as much as anything else. When we travel together we spring for the bedroom these days! In cases roomette is fine for two.
-------------------- David Pressley
Advocating for passenger trains since 1973!
Climbing toward 5,000 posts like the Southwest Chief ascending Raton Pass. Cautiously, not nearly as fast as in the old days, and hoping to avoid premature reroutes. Posts: 4203 | From: Western North Carolina | Registered: Feb 2004
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If you're using 20K AGR points, I think you have a bedroom not a roomette.
Posts: 326 | From: San Antonio Texas USA | Registered: Dec 2003
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On our upcoming summer Am-trip, I'm not even going to think about making my wife share a tiny cramped roomette with me -- we are going in bedrooms on all legs of our trip.......
Posts: 2428 | From: Grayling, MI | Registered: Mar 2002
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20 kilopoints gets me the entire length of the Capitol Limited, not just the first two-thirds of it. And I have to say no to bedrooms because I don't get my raise until September. Leg room is never an issue for me on the train because it has something an airliner or bus doesn't have. Among other things, it has the "quarter-mile aisle."
Posts: 391 | From: Schenectady | Registered: Jan 2002
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I took my first trip in a Superliner roomette in July '04, on my way to Michigan and back via Chicago and the Texas Eagle. We had a Superliner II sleeper northbound and a Superliner I southbound. There were a few minor differences between them--the Superliner IIs make a bit more efficient use of the limited space--but nothing really significant. Both legs were enjoyable.
As I'm sure you're aware, by day the roomette is basically two facing seats. The seats recline, a little, by sliding the base out (at the expense of knee room). There is a fold-out table between and a couple of steps for the occupant of the upper bunk which make handy shelves during the day. A damper controls air conditioning, a thermostat adjusts heat in winter, and there is a single standard 120V outlet. A sliding door and privacy curtain partition the compartment off from the aisle. Two full-sized adults would probably find it a bit tight, but our experience was that one adult and one child is a comfortable fit.
About storage space: There is room under each seat for something about the size of a small tote bag. Be advised, however, that when the beds are made up anything stored under the seats is inaccessible, so take your toiletries, medicine, and pajamas out of the bag before the beds are made up. You can set these and other small items on the steps which are intended for the occupant of the upper bunk to use when climbing into bed. Superliner I sleepers have a narrow enclosed closet, full height and depth but only about five inches wide. It's not big enough for a garment bag, but it is big enough to hold your daytime clothes while you sleep. Amtrak normally provides hangers. The Superliner II cars do away with the walled in closet and simply have an exposed hanging rod (with hangers) in the same space. You probably could hang a garment bag in a Superliner II. The main storage for your "luggage" luggage is in the communal storage rack downstairs; it's big enough that there should be adequate room for your carry-ons.
With two occupants (especially two adult occupants) in the space you will find that basically one will need to exhale whenever the other inhales. Well, it may not be quite that bad, but in preparing for bed and arising there will need to be some juggling of space. Being a rather large (Okay, FAT) individual, I found that getting ready for bed was a little bit of a problem. One thing I tried on the southbound leg which worked a little better for me was changing into pajamas while the room was still made up for day use (and still had room in which to maneuver) and then calling the porter to make up the bed. You'll find your own solutions, I have no doubt.
Enjoy your trip!
--------Eric H. Bowen
(Who is entrusting eleven family members to the tender mercies of Amtrak and Union Pacific on the Sunset Limited from Houston to L.A. in a little over two weeks!)
-------------------- --------Eric H. Bowen
Stop by my website: Streamliner Schedules - Historic timetables of the great trains of the past! Posts: 413 | From: Houston, Texas | Registered: Mar 2006
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quote:Originally posted by Amtrak207: 20 kilopoints gets me the entire length of the Capitol Limited, not just the first two-thirds of it. And I have to say no to bedrooms because I don't get my raise until September. Leg room is never an issue for me on the train because it has something an airliner or bus doesn't have. Among other things, it has the "quarter-mile aisle."
And those same 20,000 guest reward points could get you on to San Antonio, Albuquerque, Denver, or Wolf Point, MT!
You are correct that it will take 20,000 in roomette from DC to Chicago BUT that central zone extends well west of the Windy City. If you're going to burn 20,000 points try to get two nights on-board!
-------------------- David Pressley
Advocating for passenger trains since 1973!
Climbing toward 5,000 posts like the Southwest Chief ascending Raton Pass. Cautiously, not nearly as fast as in the old days, and hoping to avoid premature reroutes. Posts: 4203 | From: Western North Carolina | Registered: Feb 2004
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