Amtrak changed name of bedrooms

[JESUSrocks]

U guys probally already know this but a Standerd Bedroom is now a Rommette and A deluxe bedroom is now a bedroom

in JESUS

Gavin

 

[Amtrak OBS Employee]

U guys probally already know this but a Standerd Bedroom is now a Rommette and A deluxe bedroom is now a bedroom

in JESUS

Gavin

It's about time! Have a name which somewhat tells the passenger what they are really getting! Staying in what used to be called the "Standard Bedroom" was about the same as sleeping in a small closet. I have had many passengers comment about this in the past. But they all agreed, it was better than sleeping in the coaches on an all night/multiple nights trip. :lol:

 

[amtrakmichigan]

I wish Amtrak would just leave stuff like this alone. The name "roomette" would mean it will only hold 1 person. The standard and deluxe names are far better words to describe the two rooms. I will continue to refer to these rooms by there old names.

On one of my more recent trips to Chicago an old man Conductor was still calling Business Class by the old name of Custom Class. So I guess it;s hard to teach an old dog new tricks.

 

[Bill Haithcoat]

I agree with Amtrakmichigan about leaving these terms alone.

 

[amtrakmichigan]

I want to add another opinion from my post that I made before Bill's.

Another example of Amtrak messing with things that they shouldn't is the different phases of outside car decor. I would really like to know how much it cost Amtrak, a severly cash straped company to change phases on all of it's equipment. Amtrak has to pay people to design the different looks and then choose which one they like. Then pay to have all the decals & etc.. made. Changing something like this because it looks like the 1960's or 70's is fine. But the phase III scheme was a design that could be used forever without looking outdated. A simple red white and blue stripe will not ever go out of style as long as the USA uses these colors to represent ourselves.

Certain things should just be left alone, especially after making the public used to a brand idenity like the old Amtrak arrowless logo. Changing names of rooms will more or less just start confusing people, especially the non rail fan general public. I don't see Ford or GM out changing their logos everytime someone at the company doesn't like the way it looks. Nor do they take a name of a car such as the Mustang and change it's name to the"horse" just because the name is 40 years old. Amtrak, use this money towards things that really needs to be fixed, like original decor sleeper rooms in olive green and pumpkin orange. Passengers will likely enjoy this much more then the new striping on the side of the car that they can't see for 99.9% of their trip.

 

[Amtrak Watcher]

I heard this announcement very early in the morning on 1 November through a syndicated radio news show. The announcer said that the rommette [in both the Superliner and the Viewliner] was a “tiny space” in which a bed “lowered down onto the toilet” thus making nocturnal trips to the toilet a “bit of a problem.” [for whoever was asleep in the lower bed]. I wasn’t aware of any Amtrak accommodations in which a bed lowers onto a toilet. The announcer also inserted some editorial comments at the end of his piece in the form of rhetorical questions about why anyone [in the 21st century] would go to all the trouble of dealing with beds and toilets on trains; “don’t these Amtrak passengers know anything about the airlines?” The tone was one that cast Amtrak passengers as behind-the-times, or folks too dysfunctional (afraid to fly?) to use the airlines. Amazing.

Believe nothing you read, and only half of what you see or hear.

 

[Anthony]

The "Roomette" in Heritage sleeping cars used as late as 1997 had this configuration, as do many roomettes/single bedrooms used on other long-distance trains throughout the world with rolling stock from the same era. The name Roomette probably had this connection to the radio host if he or she had traveled in one in a Heritage car and didn't know the difference between today's cars and Heritage cars.

 

[Anthony]

I want to add another opinion from my post that I made before Bill's.
Another example of Amtrak messing with things that they shouldn't is the different phases of outside car decor. I would really like to know how much it cost Amtrak, a severly cash straped company to change phases on all of it's equipment. Amtrak has to pay people to design the different looks and then choose which one they like. Then pay to have all the decals & etc.. made. Changing something like this because it looks like the 1960's or 70's is fine. But the phase III scheme was a design that could be used forever without looking outdated. A simple red white and blue stripe will not ever go out of style as long as the USA uses these colors to represent ourselves.

Certain things should just be left alone, especially after making the public used to a brand idenity like the old Amtrak arrowless logo. Changing names of rooms will more or less just start confusing people, especially the non rail fan general public. I don't see Ford or GM out changing their logos everytime someone at the company doesn't like the way it looks. Nor do they take a name of a car such as the Mustang and change it's name to the"horse" just because the name is 40 years old. Amtrak, use this money towards things that really needs to be fixed, like original decor sleeper rooms in olive green and pumpkin orange. Passengers will likely enjoy this much more then the new striping on the side of the car that they can't see for 99.9% of their trip.

Absolutely!

However, I have seen some of these older decals starting to PEEL, from weather, age, or whatever else. If the Phase III decals on a car are in great shape, then sure, leave them - but if they are peeling like I've seen on some older Super I cars lately, it wouldn't hurt to renew their look. People gazing at the train station might wonder what kind of shabby accommodations Amtrak is offering if even the exterior is showing several paint schemes, one on top of the other and in various degrees of covering.

 

[Chatter163]

I must respectfully disagree with the post concerning sake for the sake of change.

I do not find the sleeper name changes to be unnecessary or made simply for the sake of change. Rather, I see it as intended to make clear to a non-railfan just what these accomodations are. Roomette, I think, makes it clear, by its -ette ending, that the accomodation is small, whereas bedroom implies something a bit roomier, and contains the bed/sink/shower that one generally associates with a bedroom. I do not believe that many will be confused, considering that such a tiny portion of the American public even considers overnight rail travel. But for those who do, the names create a more accurate mental image.

As for the color schemes, I must also disagree. The colors remain what they have been since 1971, viz., red, white and blue. However, over that thirty-three year period, their exact hue and placement has varied, just as most marketed products, including transportation, have. It is indeed possible for these patriotic American colors to look dated, depending on their precise shade (pastels or tropical colors may be in during one era, but darker looks may prevail in another) and layout (flowing, curvy lines may be de rigeur in one decade, but lose out to straight, geometric segments in another). The size and distribution of colored fields also varies with marketing trends, as does the font size and color of the name. The wide-lettered black AMTRAK of phase one looks very seventies today, in an age of computer-generated graphics.

I think that the attempted analogy with cars only proves this. The model names (Mustang, Firebird) do stay the same (though other models come and go), but the post had been talking about the logos and visuals. I can think of few things that have changed so frequently or so often as have automobile models' appearances. A time traveler from 1967 would not be able to readily recognize a 1986 or a 2004 Mustang. A new look is introduced for each model approximately every five years. This does not hinder marketibility; on the contrary, it is a critical component. Amtrak's color schemes pale in comparison (no pun intended) with the changing appearance and preferred colors of autos. In fact, it is crucial because trains are already considered by many to be antiquated, so the aesthetics and appearance must be updated regularly.

Color schemes are not replaced all at one time. Rather, when a new scheme is introduced, cars receive it only when they go into the shop for maintenance, when they would be getting a new paint job, anyway.

 

[Bill Haithcoat]

Just one point about being unable to use the toilet at night---some newer models of roomettes had a cut-away bed which made raising and lowering the bed easier at night(you did not have to back out in the aisle). It also made the toilet a little more accesible for some uses(use your imagination).

 

[Firebert]

One explanation for the ever changing paint on Amtrak's equipment is cost. For example, the broad mylar stripes for the phase 3 and 4 genesis locomotives could cost thousands of dollars per unit. The current Shamu scheme saves money because it is actually masked off and sprayed on. The only mylar used would be for the road numbers and logos appearing on the sides of the unit. As for the Superliner stripes, well, they looked like crap, and you could see outlines of the old lettering under the giant silver "sticker" that was supposed to make it like it was the steel siding of the car. Now the challenge is to get all the cars into the new scheme. Given Gunn's history in transit, it is not shocking to me that he wants the entire fleet to look uniform.

-Firebert

 

[AlanB]

I do not find the sleeper name changes to be unnecessary or made simply for the sake of change. Rather, I see it as intended to make clear to a non-railfan just what these accomodations are. Roomette, I think, makes it clear, by its -ette ending, that the accomodation is small, whereas bedroom implies something a bit roomier, and contains the bed/sink/shower that one generally associates with a bedroom. I do not believe that many will be confused, considering that such a tiny portion of the American public even considers overnight rail travel. But for those who do, the names create a more accurate mental image.

Unfortunately Amtrak has still failed to make things clear. If one assumes as you've suggested, that bedroom contains more amenities like sinks and toilets, then where do Viewliner Roomettes fit into this picture.

Yes they are basically the same size as the Superliner Roomettes, but the Viewliner Roomettes do contain some luggage storage space, a toilet, and a sink in the room. The only thing missing is the shower and some extra room.

So it would appear that even this new change was not fully thought out by Amtrak, before being implemented.

 

[Guest]

If they never changed the paint schemes, there couldn't be the silly polls around here every couple of months about what people's favorite one is. That would truly be a travesty.

 

[Guest_slimGP30]

So it would appear that even this new change was not fully thought out by Amtrak, before being implemented.

It appears that way to me! But does "fully thought out by Amtrak" ever really apply anyway? I mean this is Amtrak we're talkin' about here:lol:

 

[Bill Haithcoat]

What a wierd time warp this is going to be for me--having put the old terms on a shelf, and very comfortable with present day room names.

I'm going to have to get out the words "roomette" and "bedroom", dust them off, and get used to them again.

This from somebody who has ridden thousands of miles in the space which was formerly called roomette and bedroom.

I will say this.....inasmuch as I usually travel alone, when I step into a Viewliner standard bedroom, it does very much have the "feel" of a roomette.

Funny thing, I recall when the Viewliners were new at first they called the smaller room a "compartment". That was really bad. Just for the record, an old compartment was quite a large accommodation, very much like a deluxe bedroom though without shower. That was surely mis-leading.

That was really off-base and back much closer to the time when some of the public remembered what an original "compartment" really was. I suspect they got some flack for that because it was not long until they re-named it "standard bedroom".

I still think Amtrak has so many more pressing issues than this, wish they would have left it alone. Let's worry about getting the Sunset Limited within a day or two of on time.

Even in Canada, where they still have such equipment, they try to get away from the old terms, calling a roomette a single bedroom.