The Transdorm.

[BenAmtrakServices282.]

Im in bedroom b, i mean as you may know.

 

anyway. bedroom b in the other car is 222 dollars or so extra.

 

this is the southwest chief im taking down to los angeles.

 

is there a slight chance that that bedroom b in the other car is in the transdorm. i don't think so. is it.

 

[Ryan]

No chance. No revenue bedrooms in the dorm, just roomettes.

 

[zephyr17]

Im in bedroom b, i mean as you may know.

 

anyway. bedroom b in the other car is 222 dollars or so extra.

 

this is the southwest chief im taking down to los angeles.

 

is there a slight chance that that bedroom b in the other car is in the transdorm. i don't think so. is it.

No bedrooms in the trans-dorm, only roomettes. No chance you are in it. If you were in a roomette, you could go by the car number (0310 is the transdorm on the SW chief I think, in any case, a 30 series line number 0330, 0331 are regular sleepers) or the room number (no roomettes in regular sleeper over 14).

Understand your desire not to be in the transdorm. I avoid them myself. But you need to chill. The very nature of long distance Amtrak travel today is that things happen. Train gets severely late, toilets go out, the diner runs out of the steak, or French Toast, or whatever. Most often things go pretty well, other times one or many things go wrong. And you CAN'T DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT. Let go of the controls, man. If you do, you can enjoy your trip pretty well no matter what happens as long as you don't get bustituted. Even then you can enjoy the train part.

 

[daveyb99]

... Understand your desire not to be in the transdorm. I avoid them myself.

Why. Being there has always a much more subdued atmosphere AND a much smaller passenger crowd.

 

[zephyr17]

... Understand your desire not to be in the transdorm. I avoid them myself.

Why. Being there has always a much more subdued atmosphere AND a much smaller passenger crowd.

My experience is they have much poorer service, with the attendant not covering the transdorm nearly as well as the regular sleeper. The transdorm rooms seem to be frequently just forgotten by the attendant. It is also just that much farther from the diner and lounge. What I do like about them is the upstairs shower.

No big deal, just a matter of taste.

 

[Bigval109]

... Understand your desire not to be in the transdorm. I avoid them myself.

Why. Being there has always a much more subdued atmosphere AND a much smaller passenger crowd.

I really enjoyed staying in the transdorm. Everything worked and was in good order. There was very little noise and I take it anytime over maybe one of the other rooms in a regular sleeper.

 

[had8ley]

... Understand your desire not to be in the transdorm. I avoid them myself.

Why. Being there has always a much more subdued atmosphere AND a much smaller passenger crowd.

I really enjoyed staying in the transdorm. Everything worked and was in good order. There was very little noise and I take it anytime over maybe one of the other rooms in a regular sleeper.

I have noticed that the CONO dorm seldom gets a complete house cleaning. That's not to say the rest of the train gets any better treatment at CHI.With the stigma of "not me" and the constant whistle blowing (especially with no baggage car) I can see people's desire to be in the revenue car. Occasionally, I've been the only one in the trans-dorm. I can make due and rap with the crew but I can see where most rev pax would balk.

 

[Pastor Dave]

... Understand your desire not to be in the transdorm. I avoid them myself.

Why. Being there has always a much more subdued atmosphere AND a much smaller passenger crowd.

I really enjoyed staying in the transdorm. Everything worked and was in good order. There was very little noise and I take it anytime over maybe one of the other rooms in a regular sleeper.

I have noticed that the CONO dorm seldom gets a complete house cleaning. That's not to say the rest of the train gets any better treatment at CHI.With the stigma of "not me" and the constant whistle blowing (especially with no baggage car) I can see people's desire to be in the revenue car. Occasionally, I've been the only one in the trans-dorm. I can make due and rap with the crew but I can see where most rev pax would balk.

I'll ditto had8ley's remarks. I've been in a transdorm twice. They were not the cleanest cars I've ridden in, but I did enjoy some moments with the crew that I wouldn't have had otherwise.

 

[jimhudson]

My last trip on the CZ#5 from GBB-EMY this summer was in the TransDorm. Great trip of course, but it had been rehabbed, was the only sleeper that didnt have the toliets fail, nice big hot shower,quiet etc. Really good AC and venelation, the SCA told us several of the TransDorms were overhauled this way?Of course your mileage may vary as they say!

We also had our own coffee/juice/ice station in the old conductors "office" that they never used, in fact pax from the other sleepers were coming up to our car to get coffe/juice/ice,use the john etc. Finally our SCA, Ashely( whom was on her last trip before maternity leave!)

put a sign on the vestibule door CREW and ONLY PASSENGERS TICKETED TO THIS CAR PLEASE!!

Evidntly the slacker SCAs that are known to work this train were in action in the other 2 sleepers! (the Denver sleeper was cut out in Denver!)

Enjoyed talking with the Conductors, deadheading RR workers and the OBS also, this was a great crew, not just beautiful scenery! :wub:

 

[AlanB]

Really good AC and venelation, the SCA told us several of the TransDorms were overhauled this way?Of course your mileage may vary as they say!

The SCA was pulling your leg. All of Amtrak's Trans/Dorms are Superliner II cars, and therefore they are the newest Superliner cars around. Amtrak hasn't even finished overhauling the Superliner I cars that are 30+ years old, so they aren't about to start overhauling the far newer Superliner II cars.

 

[had8ley]

Really good AC and venelation, the SCA told us several of the TransDorms were overhauled this way?Of course your mileage may vary as they say!

The SCA was pulling your leg. All of Amtrak's Trans/Dorms are Superliner II cars, and therefore they are the newest Superliner cars around. Amtrak hasn't even finished overhauling the Superliner I cars that are 30+ years old, so they aren't about to start overhauling the far newer Superliner II cars.

IIRC Alan, there were one or two trans-dorms in the dead line at Beech Grove. Did they get a shot of stimulus money ???

 

[AlanB]

Jay,

I'm not sure how many Trans/Dorms were at BG, but 2 did make it onto the list to be restored to working status. One has already been released from BG back on March 5th.

 

[A.J.]

I was in the transdorm on the CS this past july. it was very clean and very quiet. I loved it!

 

[ColdRain&Snow]

Jay,

I'm not sure how many Trans/Dorms were at BG, but 2 did make it onto the list to be restored to working status. One has already been released from BG back on March 5th.

Here are a few pictures of #39023 which was on Train 6 of 8/29. It looked refreshed inside and out, and the bathroom/shower room was very nice. It will be great to get these BG cars out on the rails as they get completed!

 

[abcnews]

So when The Cardinal was a Superliner train - I think it only had one sleeper. Was it a Trans Dorm, or did they have another car that did the SL transfomation to the baggage car?

 

[Trogdor]

There is a program to overhaul the Superliner II fleet, but the level of overhaul each car receives is dependent on funding and parts availability.

I haven't been in any of the stimulus-funded Superliner II sleepers (transition or regular), so I don't know how the interiors of those look compared to the rest of the fleet.

 

[Ryan]

So when The Cardinal was a Superliner train - I think it only had one sleeper. Was it a Trans Dorm, or did they have another car that did the SL transfomation to the baggage car?

In this picture, it looks like there is no transition - you can see the outline of the vestibule above the baggage car.

http://railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=186356&nseq=78

Edit: Looks like 2 sleepers, too - sleeper sleeper diner sighseer coach coach?

 

[jimhudson]

Thanks for the pic Ryan! Thank you nailed it like you usually do! Jim

 

[Ryan]

The only other Superliner-era picture where you can discern a consist has no baggage car and appears to have 3 sleepers and 3 coaches? This is from 1997, the earlier was from 2001.

http://railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=314355&nseq=0

 

[jimhudson]

So it looks like there was a CCC since there is no diner and it looks like a SSL?Was there such a thing back in the day or did people just eat in the cafe downstairs?

 

[had8ley]

Jay,

I'm not sure how many Trans/Dorms were at BG, but 2 did make it onto the list to be restored to working status. One has already been released from BG back on March 5th.

Here are a few pictures of #39023 which was on Train 6 of 8/29. It looked refreshed inside and out, and the bathroom/shower room was very nice. It will be great to get these BG cars out on the rails as they get completed!

Geee... they even posted the correct number boards !!!

 

[Trogdor]

The only other Superliner-era picture where you can discern a consist has no baggage car and appears to have 3 sleepers and 3 coaches? This is from 1997, the earlier was from 2001.

http://railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=314355&nseq=0

That photo definitely shows a transition sleeper. Given the arrangement of the lounge, then the diner, it looks like the train may have had its regular sleepers on the rear.

So it looks like there was a CCC since there is no diner and it looks like a SSL?Was there such a thing back in the day or did people just eat in the cafe downstairs?

The CCC didn't exist in those days (first CCC prototype was launched around 2006 I believe). Nonetheless, the CCC and the diner look the same from the outside (CCCs are converted dining cars). That said, both photos have dining cars in them (the dining car is the Superliner with a couple of "missing" windows in the middle of the car).

 

[AlanB]

When I did the Cardinal back in 2000 it ran with only 1 sleeper and the crew used revenue rooms. There was no Trans/Dorm in the consist. It also had a diner and SSL, plus a few coaches. Don't recall how many now.

 

[Guest]

Finally our SCA, Ashely( whom was on her last trip before maternity leave!)

put a sign on the vestibule door CREW and ONLY PASSENGERS TICKETED TO THIS CAR PLEASE!!

Evidntly the slacker SCAs that are known to work this train were in action in the other 2 sleepers! (the Denver sleeper was cut out in Denver!)

Sorry, but this is a pet-peeve of mine. :help:

In this case, if the Ashely had a problem with her fellow "slacker" SCA's, then she needs to address this in another manor. A sign like that is putting passengers into the middle of her turf war, and Ashely should NEVER being doing that with sleeper passengers.

Hay, for the general case, I have been on enough LD trains in the sleepers, and yea, every once in a while there is a functional problem in one. IMHO, sleeper passengers should be allowed to make use of the resources of the other sleeper cars when the need arises. Turf wars are compatible with First Class service. We are not talking about a coach passenger slipping into a sleeper or transdorm for a few cup of coffee and shower (things a coach passenger did not pay for)!

 

[jimhudson]

Dont think I was clear enough, sorry bro! I have no problem with pax from other cars with the bathrooms out using the facilities in another car, have had to do it myself! But they were using up all the juice/coffe/ice,taking showers and leaving the bathrooms looking like pig stys. :angry: Ashley also was working a coach clear down the train past the diner and SSL, so she wasnt able to give the service that she felt her FC pax deserved in the Full Transdorm deserved! :help: (There was even pax in the downstairs H room!)