New member with questions re first LD Amtrak trip in September

[joelkfla]

Is transdorm = Transition sleeper on both VL-1 and VL-2 ?
Bagdorm is only on VL-2?

Transdorms are Superliners, which have an upper level connection on one end and a single level connection on the other. In addition to providing crew quarters, they allow access from Superliner consists to baggage cars or other single level equipment.

 

[zephyr17]

Is transdorm = Transition sleeper on both VL-1 and VL-2 ?
Bagdorm is only on VL-2?

Transdorms are the Superliner equivalents to Viewliner bag-dorms. They are both crew dormitory cars, but with revenue roomettes sold in them. It is a contraction of transition-dormitory as the cars have a lower level door at the forward end to allow access to single level cars, usually baggage cars.

Transdorms are a separate Superliner car type with a different inventory from standard Superliner sleepers, just as bag-dorms are a separate Viewliner car type with a different inventory from standard Viewliner sleepers.

The dormitory cars will have their own car lines that will not be used with standard sleepers, normally. I won't go into weird edge cases that happened during the post-COVID car shortages where there were cases of transdorms running as baggage cars (Portland Builder) and standard sleepers running in transdorm car lines (CZ).

Both types have features that some seek out. Transdorms are the only Superliner sleepers where you can reliably predict which side a given roomette will be on. Bag-dorms are all Viewliner IIs.

For your purposes, they are Viewliner IIs that can be consistently and reliably identified by car line. Either subtype of standard Viewliner sleeper can run in any Viewliner sleeper car line.

 

[Taste Within Reach]

Transdorms are Superliners, which have an upper level connection on one end and a single level connection on the other. In addition to providing crew quarters, they allow access from Superliner consists to baggage cars or other single level equipment.

Thanks for clarifying that for me. The VL-2 includes both sleeper and bagdorm cars (which VL-1 doesn't have) right?
Also, what does "Auto Car" mean? According to the diagram, there's a Deluxe Sleeper (Superliner) on the Auto Train.

 

[zephyr17]

Thanks for clarifying that for me. The VL-2 includes both sleeper and bagdorm cars (which VL-1 doesn't have) right?
Also, what does "Auto Car" mean? According to the diagram, there's a Deluxe Sleeper (Superliner) on the Auto Train.

The Viewliner I order was only sleepers.

The Viewliner II order included sleepers, diners, bag-dorms and baggage cars.

There are deluxe Superliner sleepers that have 10 bedrooms, 4 roomettes, 1 family room and 1 accessible room that are assigned exclusively to the Auto Train.

 

[Taste Within Reach]

The Viewliner I order was only sleepers.

The Viewliner II order included sleepers, diners, bag-dorms and baggage cars.

There are deluxe Superliner sleepers that have 10 bedrooms, 4 roomettes, 1 family room and 1 accessible room that are assigned exclusively to the Auto Train.

super clear!

 

[Bob Dylan]

Thanks for clarifying that for me. The VL-2 includes both sleeper and bagdorm cars (which VL-1 doesn't have) right?
Also, what does "Auto Car" mean? According to the diagram, there's a Deluxe Sleeper (Superliner) on the Auto Train.

The Auto Train has a one of a kind All Bedroom Superliner, but does have Regular Superliner Sleepers also.

 

[Taste Within Reach]

It appears that the Card is running with at least 1 VL-1 sleeper, and the 2nd "sleeper" is either another VL-1 sleeper or a VL-2 bag/dorm. So the question is not the difference between a VL-1 sleeper and a VL-2 sleeper, but between a VL-1 sleeper and a bag/dorm (all bag/dorms are VL-2).

The bag/dorm has only 9 Roomettes, and people have said that 3 of them are reserved for crew, leaving a maximum of 6 for public sale. I don't know whether the agents have the ability to identify that a car is a bag/dorm.

But here's good news: the consensus is that, if there is a bag-dorm, it has a line number ending in "09", so 5009 or 5109. The first VL-1 sleeper has a line number ending in "00". I don't know whether a 2nd VL-1 sleeper in place of the bag/dorm would still end in "09", or something else (most likely "01" or "10".)

ETA: corrected VL-1 sleeper line number to end in "00".

I have booked a roomette successfully on Car 5009 via the phone reservation! Hope it's Viewliner-2 car.