A good friend called tonight (22rd) from New Mexico as train 3 (21) makes its way west. His demeanor was bad as he said "This is NOT fun." Sleeper 32060 (car 0330) has no a/c in one end and the temp was 90 degrees inside his room even with the door open. The bedroom end of the car was comfortably cool. In addition, no hot water for the shower, etc. He returns on 4(23) and has car 0430 so here's hoping Amtrak swaps out or repairs the car in LA. If any LA Amtrak personnel read this Sunday, please pass this info on.
Posted by jp1822 (Member # 2596) on :
I had something similiar happen to me, with family onboard, travelling from Seattle to Chicago. The sleeper had come in with a "bad-ordered" A/C system in the "bedroom section" of the sleeper. Seattle maintenance made no attempt to repair the broken A/C and released the car for the journey back to Chicago. Immediately recognizing there was no air flow in the "bedroom" section of the sleeper, I told our sleeping attendant to call ahead up to Everett and get some fans or something brought onto the train so air could be circulated. I didn't think they would take me seriously, but I guess I made an impression, as fans were brought on and distributed in Everett to the "bedrooms." Granted, it was "rough going" all the way to Chicago, but at least air did get circulated. The roomette section of the car was blasted with cold air. Upon arrival in Washington, Amtrak was ready to turn the equipment and send it out as the Capitol Limited. The sleeping car attendant immediately told the crew on the platform - who were going to clean the consist for the turn - that the sleeper was bad ordered and needed to be swapped out. And it was!
Posted by PullmanCo (Member # 1138) on :
If there were ordinary folk, vice us foamers, aboard, care to bet they will never travel Amtrak again?
Customer Service 1 (not even 101) includes making sure the customer has a satisfactory experience with the vendor.
Posted by Southwest Chief (Member # 1227) on :
According to my list of Superliners, 32060 (would have been Carlsbad Caverns if named) is not one of the total refurb sleepers.
Makes sense something would break down as it likely would have received a new AC system during the complete overhaul...that it never got.
These cars are as old as I am, and if I had anywhere close to the mileage they have, I'd be breaking down a lot too.
Posted by SilverStar092 (Member # 2652) on :
My friend went back the same night on train 4 and the sleeper had been bad ordered. In its place was the "Kansas" with perfect a/c. He was pleased to say the least.
Posted by Southwest Chief (Member # 1227) on :
That's a nice trade off. I'd take a working Superliner II in exchange for bad ordered Superliner I any day.
Wonder if the "Kansas" is from the Sunset's pool of sleepers. Sounds about right since the Sunset/Texas Eagle for some reason mostly has Superliner II sleepers.
Posted by Room Service (Member # 2405) on :
I guess back in the day before air conditioning you could open your window?
Posted by train lady (Member # 3920) on :
yes,you could open a window. The down side? you also got dirt , cinders and whatever else flew by and always felt grimey.
Posted by RRRICH (Member # 1418) on :
Back when I was a kid, my friends and I used to ride the North Shore Line from Waukegan into downtown Chicago. I remember one such trip in which the windows did open, and we used to like to stick our arms out the window to point at things or whatever. Once I stuck my arm out the window to point at something, and as soon as I pulled my arm back in, we passed a brick wall probably within 6 inches of the train -- if I had waited a moment longer to pull my arm back in, it would have cut my arm off!! So I believe another "down side" of having open-able (is that a word?) windows is SAFETY!