When I took the Coast Starlight, I got great advice to enhance my chances of a roomette on the ocean side. Now I need advice for the Lake Shore Ltd. I have roomette 6. What are the chances that is on the water side? I've seen the layout but I don't know which way the car usually faces or if there is a pattern.
Roomette Suggestions for Lake Shore Ltd.
- Thread starter JanC
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Well with the Lake Shore it's a mixed bag. You'll be on the water side for the Great Lakes. You will not be on the water side for the Erie Canal or the Hudson River.
So at night I will be able to see the water, but not in the day time ;-)
I just realized that I assumed for some reason that you were traveling from Chicago to NY and replied accordingly. If you're going the other way, then reverse things.
And if indeed you are going to NY, depending on just when you are traveling will determine how much of the lakes you'll see. If you're up by 6:30 AM or so in the morning tough, then you should be able to see a bit of Lake Erie.
And if indeed you are going to NY, depending on just when you are traveling will determine how much of the lakes you'll see. If you're up by 6:30 AM or so in the morning tough, then you should be able to see a bit of Lake Erie.
JSmith
Service Attendant
Are the Viewliners always coupled up facing a certain direction? Which end is "forward"? Alan's message implies that the accessible bedroom is "fore" - is that always the case?
At the end of September we are going to NYC in roomettes 7 and 8 (across the hall from each other) so we get the best of both worlds no matter which way the car is pointing.
At the end of September we are going to NYC in roomettes 7 and 8 (across the hall from each other) so we get the best of both worlds no matter which way the car is pointing.
Technically the Viewliners can be run in either direction and it used to be that way frequently. However recent changes for safety imposed by the FRA now find the sleepers with the H room always facing forward.
ScottC4746
OBS Chief
No actually at night you will not be able to see the water...it will be dark out.
Sorry, I couldn't resist.
sky12065
Conductor
What? Don't you carry night vision goggles with you? I thought everybody did!!!No actually at night you will not be able to see the water...it will be dark out.
h34r: (I couldn't resist either)
ThayerATM
OBS Chief
OK. I'll bite.
Just WHAT safety issues are made better by the car being oriented with the H room facing forward?
Green Maned Lion
Engineer
Something about it improving evac procedures as a result of the location of single-vestibule doors. It makes limited sense to me, but several people I respect who are familiar with Amtrak operations such as my friend Slim (Amtrak OBS Gone Freight) have insisted about it with some solid reasons that I still don't understand- but I bow to people who actually know what they are talking about in this instance.
The long and short of it is that the Heritage Dining cars don't have any doors that lead outside the body of the train. You can only exit and enter the dining car via another car. For many years the way Amtrak ran things, if you had to leave the diner in an emergency heading towards the rear of the train and the coaches, you had to walk through the entire cafe car before you would reach a door to the outside world. And depending on just how the Viewliners were orientated, many times if you exited the diner in the forward direction, you also had to walk the length of the sleeper to find a door.OK. I'll bite.
So Amtrak has now flipped the consists around putting the sleepers on the rear so as to always have the H-room running first and closest to the dining car. Since the exit is right by the H-room that means that it's right next to the door less dining car. And the cafe car is now setup that it's door is also next to the dining car, allowing egress in an emergency in that direction too.
Now, the Lake Shore however doesn't have a heritage diner, but still Amtrak has adopted this policy for all single level trains just to keep things uniform.
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