Roomettes in Superliner Crew Car OK?

[Explore]

If the desirable upstairs roomettes on the regular Superliner sleepers are taken, what do folks think about booking in the crew sleeper on the Zephyr? I have a choice of rooms 17 through 20 (or 21?) there. Which rooms are closest to the center of the car, and which may experience more crew noise, or otherwise be undesirable? In the regular sleeper, only Room 10 is available upstairs.

Also, what is the line number of the crew car on Train 5, and what are the line numbers of the other sleepers (in order, from the front)? Thanks much.

 

[Rail Freak]

If the desirable upstairs roomettes on the regular Superliner sleepers are taken, what do folks think about booking in the crew sleeper on the Zephyr? I have a choice of rooms 17 through 20 (or 21?) there. Which rooms are closest to the center of the car, and which may experience more crew noise, or otherwise be undesirable? In the regular sleeper, only Room 10 is available upstairs.
Also, what is the line number of the crew car on Train 5, and what are the line numbers of the other sleepers (in order, from the front)? Thanks much.

I want to say it 1st, "I don't know what I'm talking about!".

That said, I just experienced my 1st train trip, 11 days, 25 states & Approx. 8,700 miles (I believe). Granted I was in the h-room but was on the lower level & VERY close to he wheels. I didn't experience any noise that bothered me that much! Not that much toilet traffic,very little shower traffic & zero traffic between cars! Very close to the doors for brief stops (I liked to clean my dirty window outside, which is reachable!)

I've read where folks prefer the upper level but, there seems to be a ton of bodies bouncing off walls, trying to get to the Diner or Lounge Cars, & BACK!!!

I will try an upper level, if possible but, I do love peace & quiet & the lower level was quite nice!

 

[kashed]

I'm just curious, are you calling and talking to a rep to see which rooms are available, or is there some way to get exact room availability from the Amtrak site itself?

I actually rather prefer the lower level roomette, but, I am usuallyon the CZ and have seen the scenery quite a bit, it didn't seem like a huge scenic difference to me.

It's pretty private on the lower level.

If the desirable upstairs roomettes on the regular Superliner sleepers are taken, what do folks think about booking in the crew sleeper on the Zephyr? I have a choice of rooms 17 through 20 (or 21?) there. Which rooms are closest to the center of the car, and which may experience more crew noise, or otherwise be undesirable? In the regular sleeper, only Room 10 is available upstairs.
Also, what is the line number of the crew car on Train 5, and what are the line numbers of the other sleepers (in order, from the front)? Thanks much.

 

[the_traveler]

Diagram of the sleepers. (Transition car is shown at the bottom of the page.)

 

[trainchild]

If the desirable upstairs roomettes on the regular Superliner sleepers are taken, what do folks think about booking in the crew sleeper on the Zephyr? I have a choice of rooms 17 through 20 (or 21?) there. Which rooms are closest to the center of the car, and which may experience more crew noise, or otherwise be undesirable? In the regular sleeper, only Room 10 is available upstairs.
Also, what is the line number of the crew car on Train 5, and what are the line numbers of the other sleepers (in order, from the front)? Thanks much.

I was on the #6 in a crew car room 16 upstairs. No one else was on that car from emeryville to Utah i believe it was the next morning when a young man took the room across from us and slept the rest of the trip. His parents took another room at the opposite end, but they used the bathroom at their end. We had no traffic, the bath/shower pretty much all to ourself. We occasionally heard the crew talking and the scanner going off, but we just closed the door if we didnt want to hear it. It was very nice not having all the traffic since we were the "first" sleeper car. So even if the crew car had more rooms taken, being the first car you dont have all the traffic going to the diner car. we had to go through 2 cars and there was lots of banging up against room doors and walls. The only thing we didnt have was coffee and juice (we did have bottled water) so we just went to the next car. Very enjoyable

 

[Tony]

The only thing we didnt have was coffee and juice (we did have bottled water) so we just went to the next car.

The attendant in the other car let you get away with that?

The last time I tried that (the coffee pot was broken in my sleeper), I was chewed out by the attendant of that other car. From my years, I have learned that attendants are VERY protective of their coffee, juice, etc, just like they are personally paying for it.

 

[haolerider]

The only thing we didnt have was coffee and juice (we did have bottled water) so we just went to the next car.

The attendant in the other car let you get away with that?

The last time I tried that (the coffee pot was broken in my sleeper), I was chewed out by the attendant of that other car. From my years, I have learned that attendants are VERY protective of their coffee, juice, etc, just like they are personally paying for it.

Actually if you are a paying passenger in the crew car, you are supposed to be looked-after by the sleeping car attendant in the adjoining car.

 

[George]

The only thing we didnt have was coffee and juice (we did have bottled water) so we just went to the next car.

The attendant in the other car let you get away with that?

The last time I tried that (the coffee pot was broken in my sleeper), I was chewed out by the attendant of that other car. From my years, I have learned that attendants are VERY protective of their coffee, juice, etc, just like they are personally paying for it.

Actually if you are a paying passenger in the crew car, you are supposed to be looked-after by the sleeping car attendant in the adjoining car.

Correct. The three times I was on a crew car, the Attendant either had coffee in that car or told me to get it from the next car. And I actually prefer the crew car because of trhe lack of traffic and the upstairs toilet/shower.

 

[Bruce Spaccarotella]

If the desirable upstairs roomettes on the regular Superliner sleepers are taken, what do folks think about booking in the crew sleeper on the Zephyr? I have a choice of rooms 17 through 20 (or 21?) there. Which rooms are closest to the center of the car, and which may experience more crew noise, or otherwise be undesirable? In the regular sleeper, only Room 10 is available upstairs.
Also, what is the line number of the crew car on Train 5, and what are the line numbers of the other sleepers (in order, from the front)? Thanks much.

The crew car is 540

 

[user 1215]

A question about the Transition.... only the forward 6-10 feet or so of the car would need to be 'different' than a typical sleeper to do the transition thing. So, what is downstairs? The diagram above showed an all-roomette upstairs. Are there additional roomettes downstairs? Would there be room to put a typical load of baggage down there and eliminate the baggage car? How many crew actually use the crew rest? Coach attendants typically sleep in their assigned coach(es), Sleeper attendants are in their own room in their car, and conductors are only on shift during waking hours. That would leave a cook, a snack car attendant, and one or two dining car attendants - 4 or five rooms.

I mean, it's obvious why Amtrak would want to sell the excess rooms for revenue. Imagine if ALL the rooms in the dorm car were used for service staff. I'm sure it was that way some time ago.

If someone could clarify the history of the dormer and the mysterious downstairs, I'd enjoy that.

Thanks

 

[AlanB]

First VentureForth, the crew dorm was always intended to have some revenue rooms. They were built that way. However, other than a few early runs on the Sunset Limited, almost from the beginning Amtrak did not sell those rooms. It took until David Gunn became President to realize how much revenue was being left on the table by that decision.

Next, the coach attendants don't all sleep in their respective coaches. Many do adjourn to the crew dorm to sleep.

As for the downstairs, on the side where the family room and the 4 roomettes would normally be, is a crew lounge. The conductor also uses part of this room as his work area, rather than tying up a table in the lounge car. The other side of the car is typical, with an accessible room and the bathrooms/shower.