Ha, I voted and then was surprised by the results and realised you meant the outside curtains! I always sleep with corridor curtains closed and the outdoor window curtains open. I like to be able to see out as I'm falling asleep. I've never been waken in the middle of the night.
Curtains Open or closed
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I have my curtains closed in the sleeper (outside) at night. Of course the inside curtains also. I do like to look outside at various times during the night. This last trip (a few weeks ago), I woke to something hitting the side of the window. I looked out and saw lightning. I assume it was either hail or hard rain. My husband sleeps above and he never knew anything was going on. I asked another passenger and they saw the lightning also.
Curtains open.. while awake that is. And if anyone wakes and wants to look out.... open again! Never know what interesting sight you might miss if the curtains stay closed.
Curtain closed when I'm sleeping. Street lights (even rail yards) are way too bright!
Blackshirt Husker
Service Attendant
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Definitely open if I'm on a Viewliner (upper berth) or on the upper level of Superliner. If on the lower level of a Superliner--gotta close 'em.
To me, the biggest advantage Viewliners have over Superliners is that upper window (that, and more storage space in the Roomettes). I had hoped that the new car order would include upper windows--haven't heard anything official, but have a feeling I'm going to be disappointed.
Door curtains closed unless the room is really hot and the hallway is cool, otherwise I need the privacy. Window curtains open. When I wake up in the middle of the night I don't want to have to fiddle with the drapes. The light doesn't bother me, but then I also like to be near the loco so I can hear the horn.
The new Viewliners will still have the same upper windows, both the sleeper & dining cars.
I don't know as I've ever traveled in a sleeper with the curtains on the windows closed. I've only traveled overnight one night in a Viewliner, and kept the curtains open on the upper window on that occasion too. As for the doors, I usually leave the curtains open during the day and close them at night.
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You are essentially in a Faraday cage, just as if you were in a car, and a power line dropped on you, or if you are on an airplane and lightning strikes. The energy is dispersed around you, leaving you safe on the inside.In 2011 I went SWC #3 and somewhere in Kansas was sleeping with the curtains open. I woke up in the middle of the night and we went from the stars at night shining bright to a fantastic thunder and lightening storm that I would have miss if they had been closed, or I had slept all nightwhich made me wonder with all of the lightening --- I am in a metal rail car, on metal wheels or metal tracks...am I going to die?
If you ever find power lines on your car, stay inside until help arrives. You break open that cage, and you're toast. On airplanes, painstaking efforts are made to disperse lightning. Much easier on an aluminum aircraft than a composite one. Even the composite 787 had to have a layer of metal mesh embedded in the skin to disperse lightning.
Oh, and I always keep the inside window closed and the outside window open unless I'm changing. Not that anyone will see you at 79 mph, but I tend to change on big cities with lots of slow grade crossings...
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Blackshirt Husker
Service Attendant
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That's great news--thanks, Alan!
amamba
Engineer
I need complete darkness to sleep, so curtains closed. If I wake up, I open them.
I leave them open since we've only ever taken the SWC. Kansas is very dark at night, until we pull into a city. If the lights wake me up, I just close the curtains. I like leaving them open as much as possible, though, so I can look at the stars and little farms if I'm awake in the middle of the night. Thunderstorms are fun to watch too, especially when they're off in the distance and make everything bright purple.
I shut the curtains as soon as the sun comes up. Ugh.
I shut the curtains as soon as the sun comes up. Ugh.
tricia
Conductor
Ditto me. I voted "closed," thinking of the curtains on the door. I keep the window curtains open, to enjoy the view--especially from the upper berth on a Viewliner.
I expect the results of this survey will be screwy because of misunderstanding about which curtains....
sunchaser
Conductor
Me too! :giggle:
The public certainly will not want to see that!
We usually leave them open at night. We have only been in bedrooms/roomettes on the second floor of the Superliner, so I don't feel that someone would see anything inside at night unless the lights were on.
I like being able to see the stars and moon and scenery too-even in the darkness.
When we took the North Bound Coast Starlight, I could tell where we were on part of the route. We went right past our old house at one point!
We did have them closed once in a roomette, and it felt weird and closed in.
Steve P.
Train Attendant
OK, so I take it that you cannot see out the window in a Superliner from the upper bunk. Is that right?
Well, when I take Northeast Regional #67 from Boston to DC, one of the reasons I spring for the business class is because it has curtains I can close when I want to go to sleep. (And you need it when the train sits in NYP and PHL, the station lights can be rather bright.) Of course, I'm always tempted to push the curtain aside to see the night countryside go by.
Last winter, when I took coach to Florida, I discovered that using eyeshades works a lot better than. the curtains.
One place I would like curtains, however, is on the Amfleet 1 coaches on the Northeast Regionals. Even the oldest rattiest rattletrap cars of the Pennsylvania Railroad back when they were running it into the ground had windowshades, so that if the sun was low in the horizon on your side of the car, you could pull down the shade and save your eyes from being damaged by the dazzling light. I'm not sure why they designed the Amfleet I's without windowshades. Even the cheapest budget airliner has them.
Last winter, when I took coach to Florida, I discovered that using eyeshades works a lot better than. the curtains.
One place I would like curtains, however, is on the Amfleet 1 coaches on the Northeast Regionals. Even the oldest rattiest rattletrap cars of the Pennsylvania Railroad back when they were running it into the ground had windowshades, so that if the sun was low in the horizon on your side of the car, you could pull down the shade and save your eyes from being damaged by the dazzling light. I'm not sure why they designed the Amfleet I's without windowshades. Even the cheapest budget airliner has them.
Rail Freak
Engineer
"The Stars at Night are Big and Bright, Deep in the Heart of Texas!!" ^_^
Aloha
Well we don't have Amtrak :angry2: and Vegas is not Dark at night :lol: , I still leave the window curtains open. :giggle:
Well we don't have Amtrak :angry2: and Vegas is not Dark at night :lol: , I still leave the window curtains open. :giggle:
G
guest
Guest
this is a post that happened to a passenger : titled embarissing mishap on the silver meteror:
Posted 02 February 2011 - 11:00 AM
As a kid I have travel by rail across the US nine times. I just cant get enough of rail travel. There is something very special about trains and I believe that the travel part of a vacation is as important as the vacation itself. After I got married I wanted to share my experiences with my wife. Recenty we took a trip to Orlando florida on Amtrak's Silver Meteror. We booked a viewliner roomette. We had a wonderful time. While traveling we never closed the curtains as we enjoyed viewing the countryside and assumed that the train was traveling so fast that our privacy would not be disturbed. On the return trip into New York we woke up after a full night of rest somewhere in Virginia. The morning was bright and sunny. It was time to wash up and get ready for breakfast so my wife decided to go first. The berths were still open so there was only a small spot to stand in front of the sink. She turned on the overhead light and sink light then pulled off her nightgown. Remember the train is going about 60mph. I sat on the lower berth looking out the window as she was sponge bathing herself totally naked. Out of nowhere a double decker commuter train full of people heading to Washington D.C. is next to us going the exact same speed. Now in the old days this was common around cities but i never thought this could happen these days with limited passenger travel. Anyhow this commuter train stayed with us at that speed for what seemed like an eternity. I was so shocked that I couldn't get a quick warning out to her. I saw several people look right at her while others didnt look up from their papers. When she realized all these people were viewing her she tried to duck but the space was too small so all she could do was try and cover her breasts with her arm and bend forward. She was horrified. As the train was still right next to us she panicked again and jump onto the lower berth and scrambled to get under the covers. The passengers in the train continued to watch her do this till we finally were able to get the curtain closed but by then it was too late and Im sure the stories were flying in many offices that day. I can laugh about this but she still doesnt want to talk about it. Hey I told her she has great boobs and Im sure she brightened up several morning commuters day.
Posted 02 February 2011 - 11:00 AM
As a kid I have travel by rail across the US nine times. I just cant get enough of rail travel. There is something very special about trains and I believe that the travel part of a vacation is as important as the vacation itself. After I got married I wanted to share my experiences with my wife. Recenty we took a trip to Orlando florida on Amtrak's Silver Meteror. We booked a viewliner roomette. We had a wonderful time. While traveling we never closed the curtains as we enjoyed viewing the countryside and assumed that the train was traveling so fast that our privacy would not be disturbed. On the return trip into New York we woke up after a full night of rest somewhere in Virginia. The morning was bright and sunny. It was time to wash up and get ready for breakfast so my wife decided to go first. The berths were still open so there was only a small spot to stand in front of the sink. She turned on the overhead light and sink light then pulled off her nightgown. Remember the train is going about 60mph. I sat on the lower berth looking out the window as she was sponge bathing herself totally naked. Out of nowhere a double decker commuter train full of people heading to Washington D.C. is next to us going the exact same speed. Now in the old days this was common around cities but i never thought this could happen these days with limited passenger travel. Anyhow this commuter train stayed with us at that speed for what seemed like an eternity. I was so shocked that I couldn't get a quick warning out to her. I saw several people look right at her while others didnt look up from their papers. When she realized all these people were viewing her she tried to duck but the space was too small so all she could do was try and cover her breasts with her arm and bend forward. She was horrified. As the train was still right next to us she panicked again and jump onto the lower berth and scrambled to get under the covers. The passengers in the train continued to watch her do this till we finally were able to get the curtain closed but by then it was too late and Im sure the stories were flying in many offices that day. I can laugh about this but she still doesnt want to talk about it. Hey I told her she has great boobs and Im sure she brightened up several morning commuters day.
Open. If its dark in the room so you can see out, its difficult for someone outside to see in. If you're upper level on a Superliner, its even more difficult to look in.
Correct.
Unless you are Superman and have X-Ray Vision! :lol:
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