Best side for sightseeing

[Boogs]

Hi

My wife and I are UK based but will be taking 3 long train journeys during our holiday to the US later this year. We are travelling from NY to NOLA on the Crescent, from NOLA to LA on the Sunset and from LA to Seattle on the Coast Starlight.

For each of these journeys we have booked a Roomette. The Crescent has a viewliner sleeping car, the Sunset a superliner and the Coast Starlight an enhanced superliner.

Wherever possible we know we want an upper roomette, although this may not be possible on the Crescent as I believe this is a single level sleeper, is that right?

What we would like to ask, and I accept it is a subjective question, is if you could choose which side of the train to be located, left or right, which side would you choose on each journey so you got to see the most. Not sure if this helps but I am talking about facing the front of the train when deciding which is left or right.

Many thanks

John

 

[AmtrakBlue]

Unfortunately you can't pick a side because the orientation of the cars will not be known till the day of travel. The lounge car will allow you to see out both sides.

 

[Boogs]

Many thanks for the quick response.

It seems we will just have to wait until we board and hope for the best as far as the roomette is concerned. I suspect we will spend a Lot of the time in the viewing car anyway. Now all I need to do is get my UK based TA to contact AMTRAK to find out what roomettes have been allocated to us for each journey.

Regards.

JOHN

 

[AmtrakBlue]

Enjoy your visit to the US. You will be seeing many different landscapes on your journey. I, myself, live on the east coast and have only been west of the Mississippi River two times and those were just in the past 2 years after my daughter and her husband moved to Utah.

 

[ehbowen]

From personal experience: The Crescent is marginally better from the right (west) side southbound, largely due to the Lake Pontchartrain crossing into New Orleans. However, between New York and Washington I found the NEC scenery better on the left (east) side...Philadelphia Zoo and such. Again, the difference is marginal. Between Washington and Lake Pontchartrain the scenery is, as one acquaintance has described it, "if you've seen one pine tree (or stand of kudzu!), you've seen 'em all..."

Again from personal experience, the Sunset Limited is quite a bit better from the left (south) side. You get a better view of the city crossing the Mississippi River bridge (but I strongly advise you to see this from the Sightseer Lounge; it's one of the highlights of the trip), you see more of downtown Houston, you get a better view of Lake Amistad leaving Del Rio (although this will be before sunrise if the train is on time), you get a slightly better view of the Davis mountains in west Texas, you will be right up against the Mexican border leaving El Paso, and you will have the Salton Sea on your left in southern California (although, once again, this scenic highlight will be passed in darkness under the new Sunset Limited schedule). Equally spectacular from either side is the crossing of the Pecos River High Bridge in Texas, about 50 miles west of Del Rio; hopefully the sun will be up for that.

I've never ridden the Coast Starlight, but my understanding is that you want to be on the left (west) side for the best ocean views along the California coast, but that you will want to be on the right (east) side for the best mountain views at the north end of the run. Again, this route is full of scenic highlights so plan to spend a lot of time in the Pacific Parlor car or the Sightseer Lounge.

And I hope that you have a great adventure seeing the USA by rail!

ETA: Pecos River high bridge.

 

[Ocala Mike]

Between NY and Washington on the NEC, the graffitti is definitely more colorful and creative on the right side. That trip and the word scenery shouldn't be combined in the same sentence, unless ypu're a fan of urban blight.

 

[JoeBas]

There most certainly is some scenic differences on the Crescent. Here are some of the interesting sites along the way, along with the proper side, heading southbound:

Delaware River and ships: Left

Washington DC buildings and monuments: Right

James River Viaduct (if Daylight): Left

Downtown Atlanta: Left

Anniston Army Depot: Right

Talladega Forest: Marginally better Left

Birmingham: Right

Lake Ponchatrain: Right

 

[AmtrakBlue]

There most certainly is some scenic differences on the Crescent. Here are some of the interesting sites along the way, along with the proper side, heading southbound:
Delaware River and ships: Left

Washington DC buildings and monuments: Right

James River Viaduct (if Daylight): Left

Downtown Atlanta: Left

Anniston Army Depot: Right

Talladega Forest: Marginally better Left

Birmingham: Right

Lake Ponchatrain: Right

No wonder the train rocks so much. Left, right, left, left, right, left, right, right.

 

[ne52]

Between NY and Washington on the NEC, the graffitti is definitely more colorful and creative on the right side. That trip and the word scenery shouldn't be combined in the same sentence, unless ypu're a fan of urban blight.

yeah, just forget about the third of the trip that runs along the Delaware River and Upper Chesapeake Bay... rolling my eyes

 

[Matt]

The one segment you can be pretty sure of is the crescent. For whatever reason, they always run the viewliners vestibule forward, so you will be able to know what side is what. I believe the odd # roomettes are on the right. Ive also noticed they run the amfleet IIs vestibule aft. Anybody know the reason behind that?

Anyway, to add to this discussion, any suggestions for better scenery on the cardinal WAS-CHI, Zephyr CHI-SAC and Starlight SAC-SEA?

 

[HiGracie]

Between NY and Washington on the NEC, the graffitti is definitely more colorful and creative on the right side. That trip and the word scenery shouldn't be combined in the same sentence, unless ypu're a fan of urban blight.

I absolutely love this comment, thank you. The moving graffiti installations are some of my favorite parts of the journey.

What we would like to ask, and I accept it is a subjective question, is if you could choose which side of the train to be located, left or right, which side would you choose on each journey so you got to see the most.

On the Coast Starlight, heading south from Sacramento you will want a right hand side roomette for the view out towards the Pacific Ocean. Heading North from LA, you'll want a left side roomette and you will have a better chance of catching the ocean coast view, as I've left late out of Sacramento and it's been dark by the time we've hit San Louis Obispo.

I've never ridden the Coast Starlight, but my understanding is that you want to be on the left (west) side for the best ocean views along the California coast, but that you will want to be on the right (east) side for the best mountain views at the north end of the run. Again, this route is full of scenic highlights so plan to spend a lot of time in the Pacific Parlor car or the Sightseer Lounge.

I've only traveled between Sacramento and LA and once the train gets into the Gilroy area, both sides are lovely meandering countrysides. The money shots are over the pass (name escapes me??) and into Santa Barbara and along the coast. It's as if you are riding the crest of the waves, while dining and taking in the coastal view.

Between NY and Washington on the NEC, the graffitti is definitely more colorful and creative on the right side. That trip and the word scenery shouldn't be combined in the same sentence, unless ypu're a fan of urban blight.

<-- fan of urban blight

 

[crescent2]

As someone mentioned, our experience is that the Viewliner sleepers on the Crescent always run with the vestibule in front, which places the bedrooms and the odd-numbered roomettes on the right, IIRC.

I believe going into NOL that the views of the well-known above ground cemeteries and the Superdome are also on the left. Someone please advise if this is incorrect.

Enjoy your trip!

 

[Boogs]

Many thanks to everyone who has responded it seems we will see more from the lounge cars which is where I supect we will spend most of our time. All we need to do now is make sure we have a list of everything to look out for during each leg of our trip.

I have now heard from our TA on the roomettes assigned to us for each leg, however I am not too sure what they refer to as they dont seem to resemble any numbers I can find on the carriage layouts I have seen links to.

For the NY to NOLA leg the train is a single level train so that one seems straight forward. For the NOLA to LA leg I understand we have been allocated an upper level roomette, the details passed to us are Train 2 car 130. For the LA to Seattle leg again it is an upper level roomette and is on Train 2 car 1430.

Does anyone know what these numbers mean?

Regards.

John

 

[AmtrakBlue]

Perhaps the "Train 2" refers to Roomette 2??

The car #s start with the train #, so 130 would be Train1 (SL) and 1430 would be Train 14(CS).

 

[Bob Dylan]

Actually Betty it's Train #1/Sunset Ltd. from NOL-LAX so the Train @ is misleading, perhaps you are Correct that it is Roomette #2!

The 130 Car is the Sleeper next to the Diner (if its a #421 Day a Sleeper will be added to the back of the train in SAS) and the same seems to Apply to the Starlight#14 from LAX-SEA!

 

[benjibear]

Between NY and Washington on the NEC, the graffitti is definitely more colorful and creative on the right side. That trip and the word scenery shouldn't be combined in the same sentence, unless ypu're a fan of urban blight.

To each their own. To me I enjoy seeing the urban landscape. Makes me think how our country is so wasteful on always building new buildings and developing forests and farmlands when we have such blight.

 

[user 1215]

I think the best seat is in the locomotive.

 

[Boogs]

Thanks for the answers about the Roomette numbers. If I understand correctly car 130 from NOLA to LA refers to the sleeping car as does the 1430 from LA to SEA, the rest of the info is open to discussion.

Many thanks for your help.

Regards

John

 

[the_traveler]

Correct!

Car 0130 is the "30" car on train "01". Car 1430 is the "30" car on train "14". And that doesn't mean there are 30 cars. Each type of car (steelers, coaches, etc) are assigned a different series number by 10's. (Sleepers may be between 30 and 39 while coaches could be between 50 and 59.) Most Amtrak trains range between 8-14 cars long.

And to Jim: When #1 operates, there is a #421 also, and when #2 operates, there is a #422.

 

[ScottC4746]

Hi
My wife and I are UK based but will be taking 3 long train journeys during our holiday to the US later this year. We are travelling from NY to NOLA on the Crescent, from NOLA to LA on the Sunset and from LA to Seattle on the Coast Starlight.

For each of these journeys we have booked a Roomette. The Crescent has a viewliner sleeping car, the Sunset a superliner and the Coast Starlight an enhanced superliner.

Wherever possible we know we want an upper roomette, although this may not be possible on the Crescent as I believe this is a single level sleeper, is that right?

What we would like to ask, and I accept it is a subjective question, is if you could choose which side of the train to be located, left or right, which side would you choose on each journey so you got to see the most. Not sure if this helps but I am talking about facing the front of the train when deciding which is left or right.

Many thanks

John

The inside has the best view. :giggle: :giggle: :giggle: :giggle: .

Serriously like someone else posted you never know which side your sleeper will really be on as it depends on which way it is connected.