Didn't the Crescent have a Viewliner 2 diner before the Pandemic?
Superliner trains' removal and restoration of cars (2022-2023)
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I'm pretty sure I ate in one on a trip to Atlanta.
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It did and with full service dining when it first ran on the train. Then when they went flexible the car stayed until Covid when they pulled it from the Crescent and stored some of the diners. When they began reinstating some of the service cuts they quietly gave the extra diners they still had over so they could run a diner on both the daily Meteor and Star which previously had been operating on separate days both with a diner instead and changed the Crescent to the single food car model that the Star was previously pre covid. Technically since the VL2 diners were delivered there has never been more in active service than there is presently as they never equipped all four trains at the same time - so if the Crescent benefits from the five diners being restored it will be the first time they’ve had that many running on trains.
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I have an eastbound trip booked on the CZ on October 19th in a roomette on the 32 car. Have sleepers still been getting cut this fall?
trimetbusfan
OBS Chief
Its the 40 car that's been axed this fall. There is still a 32 car.
Thanks for the info. I've been looking forward to this trip so I've been checking my ticket in the Amtrak app every day just to make sure the QR code is still there.
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I think they’ve been getting better about planning and loading consist changes further in advance so as to avoid the situations of last year and they’ve avoided last minute consist plan changes a week or two before implementation date like last year at least the last couple seasons. Obviously I’m sure many would like to see a longer period of time of them being able to stick to the plan before they fully trust them which I totally understand.
When they are keeping to plan there are more routine things can happen that can lead to losing one’s spot such as a last minute bad ordered car and no replacement car or a replacement with a different type or if they have to tweak the number of OBS rooms on a train and you’re on a sold out train and unlucky to be in the roomette they pull from inventory. But those are few and far between. You shouldn’t have any issues.
When they are keeping to plan there are more routine things can happen that can lead to losing one’s spot such as a last minute bad ordered car and no replacement car or a replacement with a different type or if they have to tweak the number of OBS rooms on a train and you’re on a sold out train and unlucky to be in the roomette they pull from inventory. But those are few and far between. You shouldn’t have any issues.
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3 Sleepers on a lot of trains throughout the country this week for Thanksgiving.
You mean a Bedroom. (The entire car is called a sleeper.) There are only 5 Bedrooms, so the competition may be with more bidders. Good luck; bid more than the minmum.
Unlikely that the roomette wil be canceled. You do give up the Roomette if your bid for the Bedroom is successful.
trimetbusfan
OBS Chief
The 32 is being ran daily on the zephyr this winter, so its unlikely they will drop it.
There are only 10 bedrooms for sale on the entire train, so the odds of getting an upgrade to one are pretty low. There has to be a few rooms available at the last minute for bidup to work.
Sounds like the refurbishment and update project is progressing well. Does anyone know the total amount of Superliner sleepers already returned to service? The CL looks like it has added one. Last we read there were three sleeper car sstill being worked on. This may provide for full consists on the LD routes in 2024 I recall a while ago that the CZ and EB once ran three sleepers. Will this be the case in 2024? Sure hope so. We are again off to Arizona next May.
Carolyn Bryat
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I just returned December 11, 2023 from Seattle (to Columbus WI) on the EB, where I bidup from a Roomette to a Bedroom. Interesting thing happened, it said the LOW bid amount was $292.00, which I didn't want to pay, BUT at the bottom of the email, I was offered an immediate purchase of $256.00 for the Bedroom. I grabbed it, and immediately received a charge on my card and a new emailed ticket. I've been successful on bidups from Roomettes to Bedrooms on the CZ twice this year. Traveling again Jan 28th, roundtrip CHI to GSC on the CZ....Will try for another bidup! Have a GREAT Trip!!
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https://www.trains.com/trn/news-rev...of-2023-no-4-amtraks-ongoing-capacity-issues/
This is an end of year follow up article to one of his previous articles but there is some new information. Namely they contacted Amtrak about capacity in mid December and they responded with some capacity restorations planned for summer. Second chief sleeper, second builder coach, and a transition sleeper on every western train except the Texas Eagle and Sunset Limited. They also mentioned they are “exploring” where to adjust capacity on the single level side. There are a bunch of Viewliners coming out of storage. I wouldn’t be surprised though if some capacity adjustments, like those mentioned, come in time for the summer and additional changes come in the fall at the start of FY25.
This is an end of year follow up article to one of his previous articles but there is some new information. Namely they contacted Amtrak about capacity in mid December and they responded with some capacity restorations planned for summer. Second chief sleeper, second builder coach, and a transition sleeper on every western train except the Texas Eagle and Sunset Limited. They also mentioned they are “exploring” where to adjust capacity on the single level side. There are a bunch of Viewliners coming out of storage. I wouldn’t be surprised though if some capacity adjustments, like those mentioned, come in time for the summer and additional changes come in the fall at the start of FY25.
What a shocker, Texas Eaglette getting nothing this year.
How likely is it that the Texas Eagle will cancel a sleeper car reservation? Do they have more than one sleeping car? Are they likely to ditch the one for any reason? Sorry if this is a stupid newbie question, but I haven't taken a train (unless you count CTA Metra) in a very long time.
trimetbusfan
OBS Chief
I believe the Texas Eagle is still running with one sleeping car. Highly doubt that will cut it back beyond that.
One sleeper, one full coach, one coach baggage. A CCC lounge/Cafe/Dinner car. A total of 4 rail cars. They are adding an addition coach between St Louis and Chicago. Of course going west past San Antonio, TX the Sunset Limited will be combining with the Texas Eagle.
So as I agree with the above poster, it is unlikely a sleeper will be dropped.
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It’s much less likely your sleeping car will get canceled at this point. This year they’re been pretty much able to deliver planned consists at least so far. There are still instances an accommodation can get canceled - like a bad ordered car with no replacement available. But they are few and bar between.
It makes me happy that this is a relatively dead thread. It’s great that we’re back to a much more normal situation where inventory reduction is forecasted and put into the reservation system.
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skylar
Train Attendant
We just rode the Starlight back to Seattle from LA, and were in one of the refurbished sleepers. It isn't a completely novel experience but the seats in particular are much less worn, and the room temperature controls more responsive. The only problem we had was our door fell partially out of its track (not enough to keep us from opening/closing it) but our SCA got a repair crew on in Oakland to fix it.
its still not much better, amtrak has like 40 superliners they need to get in service this year including 20 transition dorms
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