Zephyr 5 (26) leaving Ottumwa and heading into a massive tornado outbreak in Iowa. Wishing them safe travels tonight.
California Zephyr discussion 2023 Q4 - 2024 H1
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Sounds so scary. I hope everyone is OK … actually, I saw a TikTok today of just this thing today …. a small tornado barreling into a train hauling some cargo I think. It took a few of the windows and turned over one car but the train fared fairly very well actually.
I have been observing the zephyr and it looks like you can tell which side of the sleeper car the bedrooms are on. The upper toilet can be identified by a half-blocked window, which means the bedrooms are located on the other side (that is to say, while facing the front of the train, if the half-blocked window is on the right side then the bedrooms are on the left). So, in the photo below, the first car has the bedrooms on the left, and the second car has the bedrooms on the right.
Is this an accurate observation? I'm a new rider and noticed this pattern after watching a few passes of the Zephyr on railcams.
(the yellow arrow shows the train direction, the green arrow shows the "half-blocked" window where I think the upper toilet is located)
Is this an accurate observation? I'm a new rider and noticed this pattern after watching a few passes of the Zephyr on railcams.
(the yellow arrow shows the train direction, the green arrow shows the "half-blocked" window where I think the upper toilet is located)
The most accurate way is identifying the window of the accessible bedroom. On sleepers, on one side of the door is a blank wall then a small window near the trucks. That is the accessible bedroom and marks the "wet" end of the car. That is the end with all the plumbing, bathrooms, shower, Bedrooms. The other side of the door has 2 full windows and a small window. Those are the downstairs roomettes and the Family Room. That is the "dry" end of the car with roomettes. It is also a spotting feature for sleepers versus coaches. On one side of the door of coaches, it is entirely blank (bathrooms) without the small window. On the other side are 2 large windows and a small one like the sleepers.
Thanks for your response! I can identify the sleeper cars, but I want to make sure I can identify the orientation of any sleeper car on any CZ train. And I think the orientation is: little half-blocked window on the right side, the full bedrooms are on the left.
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I’m curious, what is gained by this information as it often changes from day to day.
I saw over the course of a week or so that the 31 and 32 cars were oriented a certain way. On CZ #5(1) this morning, though, I saw the orientation was different. So you are correct, there may be some short-term consistency but nothing that can be counted on longterm.
I was just curious is all...
I was just curious is all...
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Personally, I think the small Accessible Bedroom window, which is on both sides, is easier to identify from the outside on a moving train in all lighting conditions than the half block on the upper window on only one side. It serves the same purpose in identifying orientation. It marks the "Bedroom"/wet end.
The Bedroom aisle doesn't change, it is physically on the same side on all cars. It is always to the right when facing the Bedrooms from the car center. So, in relation to car orientation, if the Accessible Bedroom is forward, the Bedrooms are forward, the aisle and the odd roomettes are on the right side to the direction of travel. If the Accessible Bedroom window is aft, the Bedrooms are aft and the aisle and odd roomettes are on the left side.
As to the utility of the knowledge, I'd agree that it's limited. In practical use, if traveling the next day, or at a later stop on the same train, if you can see the incoming train on a webcam it can tell you which side your room will probably be on for your imminent trip. I say probably because there's a chance the car may switched out when the consist is turned.
AFAIK, the Family Bedroom on the other end also has two half-size window - just like the Accessible Bedroom.
Yes, but it doesn't have a blank wall between it and the door.
From the vestibule door out towards the trucks:
Two full windows and a small half window = dry/roomette end.
Blank wall and small half window = wet/bedroom end.
Yes, but it has 2 full-width Roomette windows next to it. The H-room window is alone on that side of the door.
Last night I was watching a YouTube of the BBC "Great Railway Journeys of the World" episode "Coast to Coast". In it the presenter travels on what was then the Westbound San Francisco Zephyr, before it was rerouted onto the D&RGW. At the Denver stop they were washing the windows with some kind of portable washer than ran along the platform. I was wondering if this is something they still do, or do they do any other kind of window washing before getting to the scenic part of the trip? I have only ever traveled on the CZ in the other direction.
By the way that episode is a fascinating look at the way Amtrak was in the late 1970s with much Heritage equipment still in use. In spite of the various problems it does seem like Amtrak has come a long way from those days. The quality of the video is poor as it appears to have been converted from a videotaping of the original show. Unfortunately none of the shows of that original series was ever released on DVD or even videotape.
By the way that episode is a fascinating look at the way Amtrak was in the late 1970s with much Heritage equipment still in use. In spite of the various problems it does seem like Amtrak has come a long way from those days. The quality of the video is poor as it appears to have been converted from a videotaping of the original show. Unfortunately none of the shows of that original series was ever released on DVD or even videotape.
They used to wash the Southwest Limited the same way at Albuquerque, with a portable washer along the platform.
The original CZ used to run thru the wash rack at Denver and Portola back in the day…
I believe the Chiefs windows are still washed in ABQ.
Don't worry about it. Even if they're spotlessly clean when departing Denver, after the first few tunnels diesel exhaust residue will dirty them up nicely. If it's dry outside dust churned up from the roadbed will add to the grunge. And if it happens to be raining that'll cause streaks in the grunge.
If you just gotta have clean windows on an Amtrak train, the best solution is to bring along a squeegee, good window cleaning solution, book a room on the lower level and hope your window is accessible from the platform. DIY, as they say.
For photographic purposes, the windows on the lower level entry doors can be cleaned (both surfaces) from inside the car at any station stop.
If you just gotta have clean windows on an Amtrak train, the best solution is to bring along a squeegee, good window cleaning solution, book a room on the lower level and hope your window is accessible from the platform. DIY, as they say.
For photographic purposes, the windows on the lower level entry doors can be cleaned (both surfaces) from inside the car at any station stop.
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Better ask a crew member before opening those windows for any reason…they generally frown upon that…
3 Zephyr questions for those in the know...
1. Can anyone tell me if the Zephyr has the sleepers up front or in back?
2. Is there a 530/630 car or just 31's & 32's?
3. Also, best railcam(s) to get a good view of the Zephyr? Have a trip coming up in June and it's about time to start the pre-trip fixation!
1. Can anyone tell me if the Zephyr has the sleepers up front or in back?
2. Is there a 530/630 car or just 31's & 32's?
3. Also, best railcam(s) to get a good view of the Zephyr? Have a trip coming up in June and it's about time to start the pre-trip fixation!
I am following along as I'll be in a BR on the Zephyr soon as well. I just checked #6 on the Ottumwa rail cam from this morning. The odd thing was that both sleepers had the accessible BR to the back, but one had the upper half block window and one did not. Go figure?? They can't change the relationship of BR's to the lower accessible, so I'm going with both having the bedrooms on the right, but strange about that upper restroom window not blocked.
The Zephyr is currently running with sleepers toward the front. There are web cams that view the Zephyr at Roseville, Colfax, and Truckee, California, Arvada, Colorado, Red Oak, Creston, Ottumwa, Mount Pleasant (2), and Burlington, Iowa, and two at Galesburg, Illinois.
You really don't need to be worried about whether the windows are cleaned. Here's a picture of the Rocky Mountains from the Empire Builder somewhere near East Glacier. I think I was in the Sightseer Lounge when I took this picture. The train had come into Seattle hours late, and they turned the train for us in less than 3 hours. I'm not sure whether they washed the windows, but at this point we had been on the road overnight and through two major tunnels and some snowstorms. If there was crud on the windows, it didn't show up in the picture.
What's more of a problem is reflections on the window glass. This can also mess up the autofocus of the camera.
And on the Candian, yeah, they washed the windows at Jasper, but a lot of good it did us.
You really don't need to be worried about whether the windows are cleaned. Here's a picture of the Rocky Mountains from the Empire Builder somewhere near East Glacier. I think I was in the Sightseer Lounge when I took this picture. The train had come into Seattle hours late, and they turned the train for us in less than 3 hours. I'm not sure whether they washed the windows, but at this point we had been on the road overnight and through two major tunnels and some snowstorms. If there was crud on the windows, it didn't show up in the picture.
View attachment 36628
What's more of a problem is reflections on the window glass. This can also mess up the autofocus of the camera.
View attachment 36629
And on the Candian, yeah, they washed the windows at Jasper, but a lot of good it did us.
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I appreciate your post. I am used to the grime building up on long distance trains but I should have been more clear, in my earlier post I meant I was worried about the windows being overly dirty before the trip even begins. Thanks again.
I'm pretty sure that @niemi24s was not recommending opening the windows yourself. I'm certain they were referring to the fact that the doors open inward, so at any stop longer than a few minutes, the outer side of the window in the open door can be cleaned. There is no need to open the windows to do this. Obviously don't do this while people are getting on or off the train, but at any servicing stop, you would have at least 5 minutes and maybe as much as half an hour between when the train arrives, the doors open and anyone desiring to get off has done so, and when the conductors call "all aboard". Also, you could only clean the window on the platform side of the train. I don't know of any stops where they open the doors on BOTH sides. (The inner sides of the door windows are accessible throughout the trip and could be cleaned at any time.)
Art Lloyd, Amtrak West PR Director, tried to get the BBC to wait for the Superliners, but they didn't. The original BBC show kept appearing during pledge weeks, etc. It is somewhat the same problem with outdated flex dining in old YouTube reviews.
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