# Roomette Here I come! : A Coach Lover's First Time Uprgrading



## kashed (Sep 12, 2008)

***This was originally started in March 2007, I forgot about it, the first leg from EMY to CHI is pretty well documented, I had to write the return trip part tonight, but thought it was worth mentioning a few things since the Sacramento Bridge fire affected this trip****

Roomette Here I come! : A Coach Lover's First Time Upgrading to First Class on the California Zephyr

with photos of the elusive roomette Garmet Rack/Closet space and other little things. ( will find photos and see if I can post them)

First. . .A little historical context-- as in nightmare California Zephyr trip that shows why I have forsaken my beloved coach to try a roomette!

For 10 years I rode the Wolverine btw Chicago and Dearborn and unless I needed the extra quiet of business class to catch up on sleep, I preferred coach for the people watching and the wonderful conversations that can transpire when traveling next to a stranger. So, after I moved to California, I thought that it would be fun to take the train back to Michigan and to check out the gorgeous scenery.

This was May 2006 and even though it would take 2 nights just to arrive in Chicago, I still opted for coach because I can sleep anytime anywhere, and past experience taught me that I would most likely have both seats to myself to spread out a little. Being that it was my first long train trip there were some things that I was worried about: How dirty would the bathrooms get? Could I safely leave my stuff at my seat while I went to the Diner/cafe cars, or would creepy guys trying to sit next to me? I soon discovered that the people around you pretty much form a community and watch over everyone's stuff, although I did make sure to cover my laptop up. But basically there are a lot of people watchers on a train, and there were announcements the whole time for people leaving phones and cameras everywhere, asking them to come and retrieve their stuff. There was one outgoing weird guy on the train, but he was one of those weird guys that wants to be everyone's best friend in the car, the kind that tells tall stories to get others to buy him drinks, even though he owns a 9 room house in Aspen.

So the sleeping wasn't a problem, even when I had an overnight seat mate btw Denver and somewhere in Iowa. Although I will admit that sleeping in 3 to 4 hour spurts does make one a little off kilter by the 3rd day. The bathrooms were kept fairly clean throughout the trip, and the ones on the lower level even had a decent sized dressing area, big enough for 2, maybe 3 women to do their hair and make up and I think 2 outlets that I used to keep my phone charged at various times,

I also met many wonderful people through the random seating in the diner car. For some reason on this trip the Diner car seemed the easiest way to have a natural conversation, I'm guessing it was because everyone was so charged up about the Iraq war and politics. Surprising to me was that people from all over the country, of all ages, seemed to hold the same opinion, and it was not one supportive of the Bush Administration, maybe train riders just roll like that.

This May 2006 trip was a slow trip for the #6, the tardiness would not have been that bad, except for 2 things:

1) For some reason the cafe car did not get stocked up at Denver like it was suppose to--or least that is what the Cafe car attendent said. The cafe car was running out of stuff before we even hit Denver, so by the time we were running 2 hours late, it was nearly empty, And since there was no planned Dinner service, the Diner was not an option. Finally at about the 5 hour tardy mark, they opened up the diner and passed out hot dogs and hamburgers gratis to everyone. I found out later that the First Class riders had eaten a couple hours earlier than us. Hmm. . .

2) The train finally arrived at 10:30 PM some 7 hours late. many of us of course missed our connections. Amtrak seemed to divide us into 2 groups, one group got hotel vouchers, the rest of us got put on buses. A total Nightmare. I got on my Bus at 11 PM, which is Midnight Michigan time, and I knew that the Drive time to Dearborn was roughly 5 hrs at a safe speed limit. Who was going to pick me up at 5 AM? was the station even open? I didn't worry too much because my Hotel was a short cab ride from the station. But then things got really bad. The bus they put us on seemed to be an old airport commuter with nasty diesel fumes that filled the aisles, and it was either boiling hot or freezing cold. We had passengers on our bus that were misdirected and the bus driver left them on a freeway ramp, we left older people stranded at 1 AM at a closed train station, The bus driver kept falling asleep, other passengers took turns going up to keep him awake. He ended up pulling into a McDonalds and sleeping, After 30 mins, a couple of us whom had cell phones called Amtrak, the people answering the calls didn't know what to do, apparently only people who start work at 9 AM eastern time know what to do. So Amtrak called the state police, the bus driver miraculously woke up when he heard this, and guess who had the cell phone in her hand and also had to go the LONGEST distance alone with him? I opted to just get off the bus. But, before that a couple who was in First Class told me that they were offered a Hotel Voucher but needed to be home for work the next day. Hmmmm. . .

An aside, I called my Dad and he took the day off of work and drove out to PawPaw to come and get me, and we had an awesome bonding experience. I would not have gotten to spend this time with him otherwise. But man, was I ever feeling crusty.

So, For THIS trip, I have upgraded to a Roomette with the hopes that if the train runs more than a few hours late, I do not get stuck on a bus again, and get offered a hotel voucher instead. The women who booked my reservation told me that even if I decide to stay in Chicago without a hotel voucher that Amtrak would not charge me for my next days ticket. And really, arriving in Michigan after 2 AM is not an option for me, as both of my parents need to wake up early for work, and they live an hour from the train station.. If I Have to I will pay my own ticket the next day. . .I still know alot of people in Chicago, and a friend of mine just opened up a new club that stays open til 4 AM. Maybe it would be possible to check my stuff in the <Metro Lounge> if it is 24 hrs.

Also, all meals being included with the Roomette is pretty awesome, there are some healtheir choices on the menu than at the Cafe car, and I like the idea of chatting it up over meals, but then going back to the reading of books and site seeing.

So the first thing I did to prepare for my trip was to search google for "Amtrak Tipping Sleeper Car."

I found the sites On-track-Online and trainweb.com, and not only did I find good advice on tipping and many other things, but, a bunch of travelogues with photos and stuff--but no one had a photo of the roomette closet, or the roomette garment rack. I had the particular problem that when I was due to leave Emeryville, CA it would be 70 degrees, while when I arrived in Dearborn Mi it would be around 30 degrees--in the day time. So I had no idea if I had space to carry my Puffy Coat, or, an actual garment bag. In the end I just went with a heavy sweater and no garment bag and decided that I would borrow a coat in Michigan if need be.

CAlifornia Zephyr #6 Emeryville to Chicago. Roomette # 3 ( Which is on the Top)

I had to admit, I wondered what kind of service I would get as a younger woman traveling alone in the sleepers. I worked in the service industry for awhile, and people seem to sense this and give me good service where ever I go. . .But never the less, I was worried that becasue I was younger I may be ignored for those that might tip more.

Emeryville does not have a 1st class lounge, or Red Cap ( I think) so I walked out with the crowd when the train arrived and was directd to my sleeper car, this was my first glimpse of our Attendant "Sid." He said hi and lifted my Suitcase to the train, To my surprise I was on one of the Refurbished Superliner sleepers with the wood paneling, these roomettes had a tall narrow closet--about 6 feet by 6 inches, There were also 2 Coat Hooks that one pulls out from the wall. It would've been more than enough to hang my Garment Bag as well as my Parka.

Since the train had gotten in way late at 2 AM the previous night our sleeper car attendant was exhausted--No coffee was made, my roomette was not stocked with water or any of the trip materials like the route guide and safety card, and I had to get my hangers from another roomette, I was able to pull down the over head bunk and keep all my luggage there, so, even if there was not a closet, or 2 closet hooks in the room, I could've just stored my stuff up there as well.

The bathrooms on this car were all nice and roomy, in fact, I had a friend in Chicago whom had a bathroom smaller than the ones on this sleeper car.

I waited in my Roomette for "Sid" to come around and introduce himself, I didn't want to miss anything that I should know. After Sacramento, Sid introduced himself over the PA, and said a few basic things, like use the call button to have him set up the bed and that he only had 4 cases of water and this was in Roomette 1, so I grabbed whatever water I needed throughout the trip. I did not see Sid very much, he set up my bed the first night, but I took care of this for the rest of the trip. To be fair to Sid, I might keep stranger hours than other Sleeper Car riders, and I am a very low maintenance person, I did see him waiting on a few of the elderly with great care, bringing them their meals and extra blankets and making sure that they were comfortable, as well as having short conversations with them. One night while I was in the Diner ending a meal and talking to my dinner companion who was a RailFan, Sid sat down with us and said, "Where have you been this whole trip.?" And it was clear to me that he and the Railfan have had several conversations. I told Sid that I just read alot, which is true, except for a few excursions to the Site Seer Car I spent most of my time in the Roomette reading. I finished 3 Trade Paperbacks on this leg; Gilead by Marilyn Robinson, The Nightinggales's Floor : Otori Book One, and Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuck

So, at the end of the first Day we were already running 3 hours late, By the last day we were up to 5 hours late and I knew that I would miss the Wolverine, my connecting train. On this last day I decided to try the Shower, which was on the lower level, The shower room has a dressing area which is quite large, and then a normal sized shower stall that you would see at a house or an apartment, The way the shower worked was I pushed the button and turned the nob to what I thought was semi hot, and waited for the water to warm up, which it did in about 30 secs, the water itself seemed to last two minutes, maybe three minutes everytime I pushed the button. the water pressure was low, but overall, it felt really refreshing to take a shower.

While the bathrooms on our car remained really clean, they all seemed to have one strange problem or another : In one bathroom the fawcett didn't work at all, in another only the cold water worked, in yet another only the Hot water worked, And when I went to use the upper level bathroom at 9 AM on the last day of travel it was out of toilet paper, so I went down stairs. Later at noon, there was still no TP, so I went downstairs and took some from one other the other bathrooms. While it's no big deal, it is kind of odd that "Sid" would not check that upper level bathroom as it has the most users--even people in the nicer sleepers tended to use this bathroom as it was larger than theirs. Later in the day, it had still not been restocked with TP or Hand Towels or Kleenex--if we had gotten off at 3 PM, I suppose this wouldn't seem so bad, but, in fact we did not get off until 9:15 PM. Also at 3 PM I overheard passengers asking Sid to make more coffee and he said that he would make half of a pot. At this point we were out of bottled water. I was very curious if it was common for the sleeping car attendants to not take care of this stuff on the last day of a trip, but, I also realized that Sid was probably exhausted. The other thing was that even though our train did not get in until 9:15, we were not fed dinner, as had happened on my previous EMY to CHI trips, normally we ate diner between 5:30 PM and 7:30 PM.

I will be very curious to see what my next sleeping car attendant is like. I do not mind that Sid did not pay much attention to me, I am a very quiet, private kind of person. But it does seem to me that this other stuff should've been taken care of, and that perhaps he could've given us more information throughout the trip, esp when we it was clear that our train was going to be 6 hours late. One passenger had the impression through SID that if we have to stay the night in Chicago to catch a connection the next day, we pay for cabs and hotels out of pocket, and then get reimbursed by Amtrak. This worried me because I was down to $15 in cash left, and did not look forward to hunting out an ATM machine with all my luggage to pay for a cab, as $10 of that $15 was to be Sid's tip.. . .even though I wasn't quite sure if I should tip him that much. As I went to detrain, I don't think Sid was there, and I did not look for him to tip him. . I was too anxious to get inside and figure out if they were going to put me up in a hotel, stick me on another train, or put me on a bus, I also wanted to let my parents know ASAP so that they could go to bed. Although, I will admit, if things had gone a little better that last day, I would;ve sought him out to tip him, I feel that the bathrooms should've been kept up, and that once it was clear that the Diner was not going to feed us and he was out of bottled water, that he should've kept the coffee going as well as offered us juice--which I saw in sealed cartons , but never saw out by the coffee, maybe we were supposed to just take a whole carton to our rooms,

I did get my wish to stay in Chicago for a night though, Amtrak put all of us up in hotel, both Coach and first Class, except for those who could catch one last train going out, and those who opted to get on a Greyhound bus. It was rather disorganized, we were all corelled into an area and told to sit down and not crowd the tables issuing vouchers--well, it's hard to know who is next that way, and part of me did feel that maybe first class passengers should've been handled differently as far as maybe not have to wait in an unorganized crowd of people, but perhaps be handled in the Metrolounge where they could access their free Coffee, Water, Soft Drinks, etc. But, I do realize that all of us were stuck in the same boat whether we were coach or First Class. Still I have to wonder about those whom spent $1000+ for a sleeper that had to wait for over an hour to figure out what was going on, and how they felt about it. Heck, maybe there was a different area, but if there was, our attendant didn't tell at least 3 of us about it, but there were a few Sleeper Car passengers that I knew who also missed their connecting trains, that I did not see waiting for vouchers,

Kudos to Amtrak, they gave me a choice between trains to catch the next day, and they gave us $34 cash to eat and catch a cab to the Homewood Suites--My room was bigger than many of my apartments in Chicago had been. It had a Kitchen, dinette, living area, separate bedroom and bathroom. The bed was uber comfortable. The staff was wonderful. The only room service was from PF Changs, which was nice because it was not too expensive, but I arrived too late, and left to early to use it. Despite wanting to get some Pizzeria Uno (which was visable from my window on the 12th floor) and wanting to spend the night in my Hotel room watching both of my TVs, I caught a cab to my old neighborhood Wicker Park instead, and spent some time with some old friends, Wicker Park is about a $10 cab ride from Homewood Suites, and is a fun and Hip Neighborhood to hang out in both Day and Night, just ask your cab to take you to North/Milwaukee/ Damen Intersection and from there you can walk to bookstores, resturaunts, clothing stores, and clubs in every direction.

Even if I had made my connection, I feel that the upgrade to a sleeper is worth it if you can afford it, the meals in the Diner are included and while the choice is limited, they are pretty good, and depending on your meal choice fairly healthy, as long as one stays away from super delish Cheese Cake and Mississippi Mud Pie. Plus all the free coffee and water you want. Being able to sleep for 6 - 8 hours straight, as well as take a shower, kept me from getting that burnt out train lag feeling that I had last time. And then there is privacy of Having your own little space where no one will disturb you. I was lucky as there were no loud people in my roomettes while traveling,

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Return Trip CHI to EMY on the CZ Roomette 14? ( lower level)

Well, since this trip was taken last year, I won't have as much to say. . .But really wanted to add something because my my attendant "Nancy" ROCKED! She showed me how a bunch of things worked, like the speaker. . .which was turned off on my trip out. Coffee was a brewing pretty much at all times.

At first I was disappointed that my roomette was on the lower level, but, this has it's advantages-- it is so private down there. On my last train, there was a guy who kept trying to find me, and trying to casually catch my eye as he walked by roomette if I had the curtain open to see the sites across the way--and trying to sit by me at dinner. . .well, no one can really "walk by" the down stairs roomettes, there is no reason--also I was the only person down there for much of the trip and had a bathroom all to myself 

Right b4 I got on the CZ, the bridge in CA outside of Sacramento had caught on fire. So, we were all wondering if we would get re-routed to some exotic track that Amtrak rarely gets to use. . .Plenty of RailFans talking about this--I forgot the name though. Sally actually brought bottled water to my room when I was out and about, and I think checked on me to make sure that I wasn't lonesome 

The one annoying thing about this trip was that the Dining car attendants seemed to get a kick out of sitting me next to this swarmy older guy who was riding in coach, and just had to tell me that he had "relations" in a roomette before. Worse, he talked about how rich he was the whole time, but rode in Coach because he liked sleeping on the floor. Whew boy, after that trip--I was seriously reluctant to eat in the dining car again lol. I mean, I was tipping them real well too. . ..

Nancy tried to keep us updated as much as possible on the burning bridge sitch. On the last day we were running quite late, and Nancy brought us all snack packs since the diner was closed. I tipped Sally $20, and in Sacramento we all had to get on a Bus for the final leg to Emeryville--At least it wasn't a nightmare like the first Amtrak bus I ever took.

Next I could talk about The Texas Eagle I took from CA to Austin TX--and then from Austin to Chicago last summer. OMG I have never seen a train this packed, like, standing room only. But it's late.


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## gswager (Sep 12, 2008)

Thanks for your trip report! As usual, if there's unscheduled busistution such as very late or even tracks shut down, it won't be a guarantee that you'll board on a luxury bus.

I'm getting spoiled with the sleeper and I have to pry once a while to stick with coach.


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## Steve4031 (Sep 12, 2008)

One you go first class . . . you never go back. I am to stuck on first class right not to every really want to go back to coach. I think they need to rethink the seats . . . I used to like the old ones int the heritage cars. I actually could sleep in those. I don't know how I would do now since I am older. I like the included meals, and I like a guaranteed window seat.


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## caravanman (Sep 14, 2008)

Thank you for your trip report.. I have many old Amtrak miles under my belt yet to report, so yours has given me some hope! Although I have quite good notes on paper, it seems such a big task to type them up on the computer.. Many of my trips are now merging together into a grey fog of middle aged memory failure, so a good reason for me to write any future trips up promptly!

As a one finger typist (I have more but they seem lazy..) it takes so long. I guess I need a secretary. I am wondering if with all this modern technology it is possible to post/share mp3 voice reports somehow. That I would like!

Cheers,

Ed. B)


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## Cascadia (Sep 14, 2008)

Thank you for your experiences. You kind of reinforce some thoughts I've had lately. I think about a long trip by train around the country, but then I think about the reality of travelling alone in coach, with the kind of problems with unwanted attention that you describe. It's just a fact of life, something to deal with, and decide if you're up for it or not. It's not just on the train, I really can't go and sit alone on a park bench by the water, or anything like that, unless I want strange men to come and try to chat me up, which I would just as soon not deal with. I'd just as soon skip it.

I'm basically a really friendly person and that's a big part of the problem, I find it really easy to talk with strangers and that is mistaken as interest on my part. The only other way is just to freeze up, which I can do too. I do know how to give a cold shoulder. You need to for survival and sanity. But I would rather just skip it.

I have thought about a sort of disguise!  I can see the point of a burka, hmmmm lol. I guess the true way is a book, earphones, and sunglasses, or to feign sleep. but who wants to spend a whole trip like that.

Well it's a topic I wish there was more discussion on. I suppose the TRUE solution is to travel with my boyfriend - problem solved. But I'm not sure how keen he is on train travel.

It's all academic anyway until the $$$$$$$$ is there. I have a lot of AGR points - would get me somewhere, but then I'd have to get back!


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## caravanman (Sep 14, 2008)

Hi Cascadia,

Maybe the answer would be some sort of travel club, where females could travel with both male and female travelers, without the difficulty of being a lone female. As a supporter of womens rights, you have my sympathy, but anyway, try not to loose a warm open approach to your fellow travelers!

Ed B)


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## kashed (Sep 14, 2008)

Hi Cascadia

It's not that bad, just annoying and easy to joke about. . .And honestly, it is something that I only dealt with on that one trip--the train was rather empty both ways or they wouldn't have been sitting coach with sleeper people. And the other guy was pretty harmless as well, heck if he were closer to my age, and I had more interests in common with him, then it would not have been annoying 

In the sleeper Car, you can keep your curtain drawn/door closed if you don't want to interact.

In coach, I have found that people won't sit next to you unless they have to because the train is getting full, everyone wants their own 2 seats, and most people just let you read or sleep. If you go to hang out in the lounge though, people are more inclined to pick up on you 

Sure some people like to talk and talk and talk once you let them engage with you, it is mostly innocent, and mostly people excited to be out meeting others, people who normally might not be able to do so.

Earphones are awesome

Really, I've ridden long distance trains at least 2 times a year for the past 3 years, and there is nothing to worry about.

Gl in all your travels

Krystal



Cascadia said:


> Thank you for your experiences. You kind of reinforce some thoughts I've had lately. I think about a long trip by train around the country, but then I think about the reality of travelling alone in coach, with the kind of problems with unwanted attention that you describe. It's just a fact of life, something to deal with, and decide if you're up for it or not. It's not just on the train, I really can't go and sit alone on a park bench by the water, or anything like that, unless I want strange men to come and try to chat me up, which I would just as soon not deal with. I'd just as soon skip it.
> I'm basically a really friendly person and that's a big part of the problem, I find it really easy to talk with strangers and that is mistaken as interest on my part. The only other way is just to freeze up, which I can do too. I do know how to give a cold shoulder. You need to for survival and sanity. But I would rather just skip it.
> 
> I have thought about a sort of disguise!  I can see the point of a burka, hmmmm lol. I guess the true way is a book, earphones, and sunglasses, or to feign sleep. but who wants to spend a whole trip like that.
> ...


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## Cascadia (Sep 14, 2008)

Hi, that's nice to see some sensible and sympathetic responses. It's really nothing to complain about, like I was saying in my post, it's just reality, to deal with and decide about. I don't resent it, I just have to decide if I want to put myself in that position or not, and I don't mean on trains, I mean in public in general.

To be completely honest, it's one thing to get unwanted attention from someone you really don't want to talk to, that can be dealt with. A worse situation is meeting someone you really like! There's a complication I have no use for  seriously. I worry more about that than the other.

If I wasn't so approachable and easy to talk to and enthusiastic in general, it wouldn't be an issue. I'm a lively conversationalist, it's just a bad idea in general for me to go chatting with strange single men for any length of time. Judging from past experience.

I have thought about this a lot though, I really don't know if I would be comfortable trying to sleep in coach with a strange man next to me. That doesn't sound like a good situation somehow. It's one thing on a plane, where the trip is much shorter and the attendants are much more present too. A train trip is much longer and the overnight is truly an overnight.

Are there single women posting here who have travelled alone on long coach trips and slept next to a strange man frequently and didn't have a problem with that? Rest my mind at ease please. 

Kashed, I am sorry if I am hijacking your trip report thread! And I had a blast on the overnight trip I took last winter by myself.


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## p&sr (Sep 15, 2008)

Cascadia said:


> I have thought about this a lot though, I really don't know if I would be comfortable trying to sleep in coach with a strange man next to me. That doesn't sound like a good situation somehow.


You can identify those travelling alone by the seat tags indicating destination. If a pair of seats shows different destinations, the travellers are probably not travelling together.

If you are seated with someone you'd rather not be next to, you could identify another single traveller and ask him to trade seats with you. This could give you the chance to be seated next to a female.

If your seatmate is too objectionable for ANYBODY to sit next to, then I guess heading to the lounge is a good idea.

And, of course, if there are free seats anywhere on the train, you are generally free to claim one for yourself. Just bring your seat tag with you.


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## kashed (Sep 17, 2008)

As a single woman I just want to add :

When the train gets full and others need to sit next to me, it has mostly been women and children-and as a younger person, it has sometimes been a younger guy--I have never had a bad seat mate.

In fact last year on the Texas Eagle, I was quite Ill, My rotating seat mates were two 8 - 10 yr old children. Their father sat in the aisle across from me, and gave me cold medicine & asprin, and they all left me the sweetest note when they detrained in the middle of the night. I was quite shocked, because I don't think I spoke more than 2 sentences to them as I slept the whole time.

I also have had great success changing seats in coach--mostly to get to the electric socket, or away from screaming babies.



p&sr said:


> Cascadia said:
> 
> 
> > I have thought about this a lot though, I really don't know if I would be comfortable trying to sleep in coach with a strange man next to me. That doesn't sound like a good situation somehow.
> ...


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