# 11/2013: Crescent CVS-NOL; City NOL-CHI; Cardinal CHI-CVS



## bryan9 (Nov 18, 2013)

Taking advantage of accumulated AGR mileage, I and my wife (both in our mid-60s) took a very pleasant trip on the following trains:


*Crescent* (departing 11 Nov): Charlottesville, VA (CVS) to New Orleans (NOL), Viewliner compartment
*City of New Orleans* (departing 15 Nov): New Orleans (NOL) to Chicago (CHI), Superliner compartment
*Cardinal* (departing 16 Nov): Chicago (CHI) to Charlottesville, VA (CVS)
We're seasoned Amtrak travelers, with several cross-country trips under our belts. With that said, this trip served to crystallize my impressions of Amtrak service to a degree that I hope others will find helpful. I would add that I'm old enough to remember pre-Amtrak service, including pre-Amtrak sleeper accommodations.

*Bring earplugs. *I'm sure Amtrak has good reason for situating sleeper cars at the head end of its passenger trains, but it's worth noting that this is at odds with pre-Amtrak practice... sleepers were almost always positioned at the rear of the train, in order to safeguard the higher-paying passengers from the locomotives' noise and exhaust. To be sure, the last car in a passenger train is subject to side-to-side whipping, which is enabled by the fact that there's no trailing car to steady its path. The best trains employed an observation lounge to offset this. But all that's history, and today's Amtrak sleeper car customers will find themselves positioned behind the baggage car, within uncomfortably close earshot of the locomotive's seemingly endless horn blasts. Confirming my impressions from previous trips, I've now concluded that the soundproofing in Viewliners is far superior to that offered by the older, rather thin-skinned Superliners -- but those disturbed by noise at night would be well advised to bring along a pair of noise-reducing earplugs. If anyone knows the rationale for Amtrak's current front-of-train sleeper car placement policy, please post a reply.

*Viewliners ride better than Superliners. *Combining Viewliner and Superliner sleeper accommodations, this trip afforded an opportunity to compare the two. I came away impressed with the noticeably superior ride of the Viewliner equipment. This isn't terribly surprising, since the taller Superliners are naturally more inclined to sway. But I think the superiority of the Viewliners' ride goes beyond this; one gets the impression of a more solid, sure ride that's less susceptible to the irregularities of freight railroad trackwork.

*Superliner compartments aren't really roomettes, and ought to be offered at far lower prices. *Sometimes I wish I could go back in time, get my hands around the necks of the early Amtrak executives who planned the Amfleet coaches and Superliners, and threaten to do horrible things to them unless they came to their senses. It has always seemed to me to have been just inordinately stupid to imagine that, by trying to make the Amfleet coaches look like aircraft from their interiors, more passengers would choose Amfleet instead of flying. I would have preferred more spacious, rectangular bodies and large windows, thank you. It's clear, too, that the same executives fell in love with the Santa Fe's El Capitan coaches, seeing them as the blueprint for the entire cross-country fleet. The result was to transform pre-Amtrak roomettes into unnecessarily cramped, coffin-like cells, bereft of plumbing. Back in the day, such quarters were called "slumbercoaches" and priced accordingly -- but on today's Amtrak, you pay the same fare for Superliner compartments as you do for the real roomettes available on Viewliner-equipped trains.

*Beware the "cafe-diner car." *Amtrak continues to offer fairly decent meals on long-distance trains equipped with full diner cars, but it seems to me -- based on this most recent trip -- that meal quality has slipped badly on the trains equipped with combined care-diner cars, such as the Cardinal. This isn't just a personal opinion. On our most recent trip, I've been served a dinner and breakfast that I, as well as the other three people with whom I was dining, found to be all but inedible. I concluded, as did the others with whom I dined, that one was better off taking one's chances with the lounge car service.

*All three trains arrived on time. *As I understand it, a Federal court has impaired Amtrak's ability to punish host railroads for unreasonable delays, but all three trains we rode arrived on time with nary of sign of unreasonable delays.

Lest this post seem unduly negative, let me stress that we can't wait until our next Amtrak trip. I'm willing to put up with cramped Superliner accommodations, (at times) dreadful food, and tiny Amfleet windows in exchange for the romance of the rails, the beauty of the American countryside, the graciousness of the Amtrak crews, and the joy of passenger fellowship.

Bryan

Charlottesville, VA


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## Bob Dylan (Nov 18, 2013)

I totally Agree that Viewliner Roomettes are Superior to Superliner Roomettes (if the Coffin Bunk had a Window it would be Better for Sure and the Rebuilt Is with the Rehabbed Bathrooms and Shower are Much better than the Old Non-Rehabbed Is and the IIs!) but personally like the Sleepers on the Front of the Consist! (I have No trouble Sleeping on Trains and find the Horn Comforting!)YMMV

Glad ya'll enjoyed the Trip! I too go back to the Old Days of the Heritage Equipment of the Class I RRsand the Rainbow Trains during Amtrak's Early Days!


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## JoeRids (Nov 19, 2013)

It is true most sleepers are at the front of the train these days,unless you are on the Empire Builder or Lake Shore where the sleepers are at opposite ends for their respective destinations. However, on the California Zephyr the sleepers are on the rear. Does anyone know why this is?


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## Bob Dylan (Nov 19, 2013)

You can also include the #421/#422 Section of the Texas Eagle which is on the Front of the Train from CHI-SAS and Switched to the rear of the Sunset Ltd. between SAS and LAX! And this Changes Sometimes  , it has to do with the Switching Crew in SAS!!!)

IINM the Silver Trains also have this happen when they are doing the Winter "Thaw Out" Runs of the LSL Equipment between NYP and MIA??? (This is based on My being in Sleepers on Both Ends of the Silver Trains!)


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## GG-1 (Nov 21, 2013)

JoeRids said:


> It is true most sleepers are at the front of the train these days,unless you are on the Empire Builder or Lake Shore where the sleepers are at opposite ends for their respective destinations. However, on the California Zephyr the sleepers are on the rear. Does anyone know why this is?


Aloha

I guess this is a carryover from when the California Zephyr was joined with the Desert Wind and the Pioneer (I think I remember correctly) in Salt Lake City.


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