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Back in 1986 when Amtrak went to meals included with sleeping car space, I already had a trip booked. I received all the meals for my sleeping car legs without any change in fare even though it had not been paid and ticketed yet (apparently the fare was guaranteed as I did not pay for it until...

FWIW, my Day 1 (8/6/74) picture of the first southbound at Whitehall. The square format suggests I took these on an Instamatic and unfortunately, the picture I took of the northbound meeting the southbound a few minutes later is slightly out of focus.

"Emergency" is really just the name for the maximum performance brake setting. It does not imply there is some sort of dire emergency and that the train stops instantly and sends bodies flying. Train brakes are designed to be fail-safe so a failure of a component of the braking system can cause...

17 and 19 (shared platform) are the normal north side Amtrak tracks. 17 is a stub and 19 is a run-through to 28 and 30. In addition, there is 21 which splits from 19 going north by the north concourse so while 21 does not have a platform north of the concourse, it can platform in the area...

Uh, no. Empire Builder is shown in post #92 as if it's three nights enroute each way. Southwest Chief looks right. But SB Crescent also has an extra night (shows two nights enroute).

The communicating whistle was a rope that ran the length of a passenger train to a small whistle in the operating cab. The conductor pulled on it to signal the engineer. Meanings could vary between railroads but almost universal was two short meaning "when standing, start" (in other words, we're...

I rode 1 New Orleans-LAX in 1986 when it was a 2:35pm departure from NOL and a 7:35am arrival in LAX. The trip was mostly on time with an early arrival at LAX.

Obviously, you assign in the same type of room as reserved. If the hotel considers a two-bed room a different type of room than the one-bed room, then there should be a two-bed room available for you. Likewise, Amtrak would consider roomettes and bedrooms to be different types you wouldn't put a...

I was posting my own reply while you wrote yours. I am not sure if it does or not. My experience earlier this summer says they don't. In my case above, I know there was a roomette available SYR-BUF (and perhaps beyond but not to Chicago; I do not know how far upline it had been available) and...

ICE trains in Germany have optional seat reservations. You can reserve a seat (depending on your booking source, you may not be able to select it or change it) for a fee or you can ride unreserved at the risk of no seat or having to move. Displays above each seat let you know if it's reserved...

Nope. Happened to me a few months ago. Due to a flight cancellation, I decided last minute to take the LSL SYR-CHI. Even though it was about four hours before departure, Amtrak showed a roomette available. But when I tried to book it, no such luck. Fortunately, I thought to play with the app to...

The most efficient way to do things would be to not allow advance assignment other than from the train's origin (and any boarding only stations at the beginning of the trip). If nothing can be reserved downline, then you are assured that any vacant room you place a boarding passenger in is...

There we go - if not proof, strong evidence that Amtrak sleeper tickets are for the specific space on the train, not just "a" space (of the appropriate type) on the train. An unnecessary complication of Amtrak's ticketing system. For an airline, changing an advance seat assignment is not going...

I'm not sure you really got what I was trying to say. A reservation number is not the same thing as a ticket number. It's basically the same thing as a file name on your computer. You can keep changing the information in it. I did a trip a few years ago where I first booked a roomette, then...

Given that all Amtrak tickets are e-(for electronic) tickets, you never see a ticket these days. What you're seeing is printed evidence of an e-ticket but not the actual ticket itself. But in the days of paper tickets, tickets had lots of things on them that were not part of the legal ticket...

It may be policy that it's not supposed to cost anything to change but because, based on the empirical evidence, changing rooms forces a ticket reissue, apparently a lot of agents don't know how to do it. With airline systems, changing seats is a non-issue because it never touches your ticket...

All of what Trogdor posted may well be true but it is obvious (to me at least) that Amtrak ticketing and space assignments works significantly different from how airline tickets and seat assignments work. With Amtrak, it appears that your ticket is for the specific space you have reserved and...

I agree with the use of detour vs. re-route. Which is what makes what it did in April 1983 so fascinating when it was re-rerouted between DEN and OGD from the UP to the D&RGW but due to the Thistle slide, detoured on what had been it’s old regular route until some time in August.

My trip mentioned above was on 9/10/83 (5 departing CHI on 9/9) and as I have arrival and departure times recorded for Salt Lake City and then Ogden, clearly went Lucin Cutoff.

I rode 5 in Sep 1983 CHI-OAK and it was via the D&RGW. I remember sweating whether we’d be able to go that way but they got it open just a few weeks before. I remember going through the new Thistle tunnel which was rough and unfinished inside - I believe they bored the first one and got it open...