Superliner I vs. II Slepper

[sambdking]

I like, what seems like the newer, Superliner Sleepers that have the fake wood finish. Mostly because of the restrooms. As a larger person, when the toilet is in the corner of the room vs. centered on the back or side wall, there is much more legroom. I seem to luck out an usually get these sleepers, but have the other type adjacent to me. Which is the type I prefer and is there ANY way to assure I get it on LD trips?

thanks!

 

[OBS]

I'm not 100% sure, so won't answer your first question, but in answer to second question, No, there is no way of knowing. These cars are interchanged equally without regard to which car they are.

 

[Ryan]

I'm pretty sure that they're actually the SL 1's that have been refurbed so the look newer than the non-updated SL2's.

 

[printman2000]

Ryan is correct. The newer LOOKING ones are Superliner I's. They have the wood paneling and redesigned restrooms and showers. The II's have not gotten any of those upgrades since they are actually newer cars.

Some easy ways to tell...

The trucks or wheels look different, the II's have a wide piece of steel running across them.

The outside car number, the II's have a digital sign.

The roomette closet. Perhaps the best feature of the II's, they took out that little narrow closet and left it open. A nice place to set your luggage.

Might be others, but I cannot think of them right now.

There is some good info on Wikipedia.

 

[MiRider]

Ryan is correct. The newer LOOKING ones are Superliner I's. They have the wood paneling and redesigned restrooms and showers. The II's have not gotten any of those upgrades since they are actually newer cars.

Some easy ways to tell...

The trucks or wheels look different, the II's have a wide piece of steel running across them.

The outside car number, the II's have a digital sign.

The roomette closet. Perhaps the best feature of the II's, they took out that little narrow closet and left it open. A nice place to set your luggage.

Might be others, but I cannot think of them right now.

There is some good info on Wikipedia.

Good reading on the Wikipedia link - thanks.

I'll be able to impress my husband with some memorized facts if I can remember them

This though.....

The initial design of this system retained toilet wastes until the train attained a preset speed (or a manually operated lever was moved) to dump the waste along the tracks beneath the moving train.

Eventually a full-retention system was installed that stopped this practice.

Thank goodness is all I have to say.

 

[lthanlon]

I recently traveled in a sleeper that bore decals near the entrance door proudly declaring that it had been refurbished under the stimulus package. The controls in my roomette had touch-sensitive switches rather than the older, buttons and rocker switches. Is this being retrofitted to both the Superliner I and II cars?

By the way, the stimulus package evidently didn't deal with broken vent controls or doors. I taped not only the ceiling vent in my roomette, but those in two other passengers' rooms -- and the conductor borrowed my gaffer's tape to fix the door on the H bedroom.

 

[printman2000]

I recently traveled in a sleeper that bore decals near the entrance door proudly declaring that it had been refurbished under the stimulus package. The controls in my roomette had touch-sensitive switches rather than the older, buttons and rocker switches. Is this being retrofitted to both the Superliner I and II cars?

By the way, the stimulus package evidently didn't deal with broken vent controls or doors. I taped not only the ceiling vent in my roomette, but those in two other passengers' rooms -- and the conductor borrowed my gaffer's tape to fix the door on the H bedroom.

The stimulus money might have only gone to fix wrecked cars. As far as I know, no other refurbs are going on. And I am almost certain no II's have been recently refurbished (unless there were some wrecked repairs).

 

[Trogdor]

A few of the Superliner IIs have been given the fake-wood paneling and some small updates to the roomettes (new upper bunk mechanisms, for example). However, I don't think any of them have received the new restroom modules.

 

[printman2000]

The initial design of this system retained toilet wastes until the train attained a preset speed (or a manually operated lever was moved) to dump the waste along the tracks beneath the moving train.

Eventually a full-retention system was installed that stopped this practice.

Thank goodness is all I have to say.

That was the way railroads did it for a very long time. Except they did not use to have the automatic dumps when reaching a certain speed. I remember the signs in the restrooms that said please do not flush while in the station.

 

[rusty spike]

The initial design of this system retained toilet wastes until the train attained a preset speed (or a manually operated lever was moved) to dump the waste along the tracks beneath the moving train.

Eventually a full-retention system was installed that stopped this practice.

Thank goodness is all I have to say.

That was the way railroads did it for a very long time. Except they did not use to have the automatic dumps when reaching a certain speed. I remember the signs in the restrooms that said please do not flush while in the station.

Yeah, and the poor maintenance-of-way guys were always mindful of those old passenger trains at 90+ mph passing their work site. Yeeww! :angry: :help:

And the passengers wouldn't heed those 'don't flush" signs so the coach attendants (or "porters" as they were known then) had to lock the rest room doors during the longer station stops. :huh:

 

[Bierboy]

...That was the way railroads did it for a very long time. Except they did not use to have the automatic dumps when reaching a certain speed. I remember the signs in the restrooms that said please do not flush while in the station.

Yeah, I remember that, too. Showing our age...

 

[OlympianHiawatha]

...That was the way railroads did it for a very long time. Except they did not use to have the automatic dumps when reaching a certain speed. I remember the signs in the restrooms that said please do not flush while in the station.

Yeah, I remember that, too. Showing our age...

That's when the toilets had the classic foot pedal or slot machine handle flushers. Those actually survived quite a ways into the Amtrak era. And as a kid I found those to be rather entertaining

 

[zephyr17]

...That was the way railroads did it for a very long time. Except they did not use to have the automatic dumps when reaching a certain speed. I remember the signs in the restrooms that said please do not flush while in the station.

Yeah, I remember that, too. Showing our age...

That's when the toilets had the classic foot pedal or slot machine handle flushers. Those actually survived quite a ways into the Amtrak era. And as a kid I found those to be rather entertaining

I remember some cars it was a straight pipe down. On those, when you flushed and the flapper on the bottom opened, you could see the ties flashing by. Other cars it was piped off to the side.

 

[Bierboy]

...I remember some cars it was a straight pipe down. On those, when you flushed and the flapper on the bottom opened, you could see the ties flashing by...

That's what I remember, too. We used to take the Northern Pacific North Coast Limited from Chicago to Seattle back in the early 60s to visit relatives...

 

[trainman74]

I remember the signs in the restrooms that said please do not flush while in the station.

If I recall correctly, Amtrak's standard signage in the Heritage cars read "Flush After Use Except When Train Is In Station."

 

[SP&S]

My mother used to say that if you're going to walk by a railroad track, make sure it's a freight line. :blush:

Brings to mind a song "Passengers will please refrain......

 

[CHamilton]

From http://railroadmemories.com/dynapage/IP4603.htm

This looks like it predates Amtrak, but the wording is similar.

 

[Grandpa D]

gaffer's tape

Ah! Someone else who's worked in "show biz". (I used to work in TV.) But now, retired, I can only afford Duct Tape.

 

[lthanlon]

gaffer's tape

Ah! Someone else who's worked in "show biz". (I used to work in TV.) But now, retired, I can only afford Duct Tape.

Not show biz, just occasional photographic work. I shot some executive portraits here at the office and used gaffer's tape to mark where I placed lights so the illumination would be consistent from shot to shot. I also used the tape to mark where I had placed chairs and reflectors. The main advantage to gaffer's tape is that it seldom leaves an adhesive residue.

 

[Swadian Hardcore]

This though.....

The initial design of this system retained toilet wastes until the train attained a preset speed (or a manually operated lever was moved) to dump the waste along the tracks beneath the moving train.

Eventually a full-retention system was installed that stopped this practice.

Thank goodness is all I have to say.

They do the former thing in other countries all the time. They even did this with Heritage Sleepers AFAIK.

Anyway, I agree that the superliner Is are better than the IIs, even though they are actually 11-17 years older.

 

[oldtimer]

This though.....

The initial design of this system retained toilet wastes until the train attained a preset speed (or a manually operated lever was moved) to dump the waste along the tracks beneath the moving train.

Eventually a full-retention system was installed that stopped this practice.

Thank goodness is all I have to say.

They do the former thing in other countries all the time. They even did this with Heritage Sleepers AFAIK.

Anyway, I agree that the superliner Is are better than the IIs, even though they are actually 11-17 years older.

The Superliner I's had a semi retention system that would dump 35 gallons of waste at one time when the tank was full and the train was exceeding 40 mph. If you were hit by that amount of waste if might ruin your day. The manual dump was only available from the outside of the car.