Trackside or Platformside?

[prettyMBA]

Ok, this may be a silly question, but here goes... I'll be riding the SilverStar next month (May 2013) in Viewliner roomette car ####,, room ### rom HOL to NYP. I would love to be on the "platformside" of the car, is there anyway to insure this? And as this will be a 31 hour ride, what have some of you done not to go stir crazy on long trips?

 

[SarahZ]

For safety reasons, you may want to remove your car and room number from your post.

Unfortunately, there is no way to guarantee which way the car will be turned for your trip. The room numbers are static, so if the car is facing one way, your room could be on the left, but if they attach it the other way, your room will be on the right. There's really no way to know until you're on the train.

Our trip to ABQ is 26 hours on the Southwest Chief. I always bring a couple of books and magazines and a couple DVDs for my laptop. To be honest, I spend most of my time watching the scenery and taking pictures. I usually read at night or during the boring daytime stretches. I've never watched a movie, but I still bring them just in case. I also use my phone to check email and Facebook every few hours. The train doesn't have Wi-Fi, but I get a pretty strong 3G signal in most areas. My boyfriend plays some games on his phone and laptop but, like me, spends most of his time reading.

I was really worried I'd be bored during my first long-distance trip, but the scenery and overall experience were so awesome that I didn't get bored at all.

 

[p&sr]

I would love to be on the "platformside" of the car, is there anyway to insure this?

No.

And as this will be a 31 hour ride, what have some of you done not to go stir crazy on long trips? :huh:

Look out the window and enjoy the ride.

 

[Acela150]

Typically the Sleepers face the same way. With the Vestibule facing direction of travel. 9211 will be the first passenger car of the train. Unless their is an extra sleeper. Room 4 is the second room on the right when walking towards the rear of the car. If the cars are faced as I mentioned.

 

[AmtrakBlue]

Plus platform side could be either side of the train depending on the station & depending on which track the train needs to use at the station on your particular day if travel.

 

[SP&S]

Compounding the issue of cars being orientated at random, depending upon the stop, the platform can be on either side of the car.

As far as going "stir crazy", my problem with a 31 hour trip would be after an hour realizing that I only had 30 hours left to go.

 

[the_traveler]

I have removed the car and room numbers from the post, but the OP only said "May 2013" and not (say) 5/13 or 5/27. But that is a good point for safety reasons.

Also as said, the "platform side" can vary from station to station. Just looking at southern Florida, heading north the "platform side" at Ft Lauderdale is on the left. At Deerfield Beach - the very next station - "platform side" is on the right!

 

[Ryan]

What exactly is the security risk of posting room and car number (even with a date)?

Is anyone really concerned that someone is going to board that particular train on that particular date, go to that room an car number and say "Ha! You posted on AU 2 weeks ago as "guest_prettyMBA_*" and asked a question?

 

[amtkstn]

One neat thing to do is tracking both the train's location and speed on either a smartphone or a gps.

 

[the_traveler]

The security risk could be the following:

1. A guest posts that theatre traveling on train 5 on 3/24 in room ## in car ####, and they are asking if there is power for their laptop and phone. Someone could read that, wait outside the room until the passenger is out of the room, and take those items.
2. A guest could post something like "I'm a single women going from XYZ to WXY on 2/15 in car ####, room ##". Not all readers of AU are as caring as you and I are.
3. Etc, etc...

True that there is a section on AU where members can post their upcoming trips. Even there, you should be cautious even though it's totally voluntary. The difference is that forum can only be seen by members of AU who have met a membership time (and maybe post, I'm not sure) requirement. It can not be seen by guests or certain AU members!

 

[SarahZ]

What exactly is the security risk of posting room and car number (even with a date)?
Is anyone really concerned that someone is going to board that particular train on that particular date, go to that room an car number and say "Ha! You posted on AU 2 weeks ago as "guest_prettyMBA_*" and asked a question?

I personally don't care. I've actually posted mine before, with dates, and they were removed by a mod.

I was just parroting the party line about posting room numbers. I didn't catch the lack of a date.

 

[Ryan]

The security risk could be the following:

• A guest posts that theatre traveling on train 5 on 3/24 in room ## in car ####, and they are asking if there is power for their laptop and phone. Someone could read that, wait outside the room until the passenger is out of the room, and take those items.
• A guest could post something like "I'm a single women going from XYZ to WXY on 2/15 in car ####, room ##". Not all readers of AU are as caring as you and I are.
• Etc, etc...

True that there is a section on AU where members can post their upcoming trips. Even there, you should be cautious even though it's totally voluntary. The difference is that forum can only be seen by members of AU who have met a membership time (and maybe post, I'm not sure) requirement. It can not be seen by guests or certain AU members!

Setting aside that this poster said neither...

...that's still somewhat rediculous.

It's not news that people bring valuables when they travel or that some females travel alone.

If you're wanting to steal something, or take some liberties w/ a female travelling alone, you can get on any train (or bus, or plane, or rest stop, or any non transportation venue) and accomplish what you're looking for. There's utterly no need (that I can see) to obfuscate such details in people's posts.

 

[Devil's Advocate]

The security risk could be the following:

• A guest posts that theatre traveling on train 5 on 3/24 in room ## in car ####, and they are asking if there is power for their laptop and phone. Someone could read that, wait outside the room until the passenger is out of the room, and take those items.
• A guest could post something like "I'm a single women going from XYZ to WXY on 2/15 in car ####, room ##". Not all readers of AU are as caring as you and I are.
• Etc, etc...

So the guest mentioned a laptop and phone? Or did the guest mention being a single woman? Or did the guest simply type "etc, etc..." I'm confused.

 

[AmtrakBlue]

Plus this is an open forum where posts here will appear in Google searches.

Dave is not the only one who has edited out car/room #'s. Other moderators have done the same and advise not to post them.

Odds of something bad happening, probably slim. But I agree there should be caution.

 

[Devil's Advocate]

I had no idea that Google was going to come along to abuse single travelers while stealing my laptop.

Talk about "don't be evil."

The information you should be keeping to yourself are things like ages, birthdays, addresses, maiden names, first cars, favorite teachers, first jobs, addresses, loan information, etc.

 

[user 1215]

You'll be in a sleeper, so you will have plenty of opportunity to rest in your room. That's one of the beauties of travelling by train. If you are travelling alone, you may want to keep the upper bunk in bed mode and the lower bunk in seat mode so you can nap/sleep whenever you're bored without rearranging everything.

Obviously, sightseeing is fun. I like to take either or both my handheld Garmin GPS and my Android and set up beforehand all the stops along the route. You can set up a route of all the stations and a proximity alarm when you are within 5 miles or so from any station. I also like to take one of the little paper schedules and mark the actual arrival and departure times next to the scheduled time. I also sometimes print out a route guide and read about the town I'm riding through.

OK - so the above sounds overly geekish, but it mpasses time. You can also read a good book, watch DVDs on your laptop (Redbox is GREAT for this sort of thing), etc. The monotony is also broken up by dining. I would spend every meal in the diner, and don't worry at breakfast or lunch about getting in and out. Your meals are included - spend time with the folks that you are seated with.

You'll find your 31 hours will go by quite nicely.

 

[SarahZ]

I really don't mind posting my room/car numbers because I figure fellow AU-ers can come find me if we're on the same train. Then we could have dinner together and it wouldn't be as awkward as it is with strangers. To me, it's no different than saying I'm riding Coach on X train on X date. If someone wants to find me, they'll find me regardless of whether I post my car/room number. My picture is on the site.

Sorry I opened a can of worms. -_-

 

[Ryan]

Don't apologize, it's just one of those things that seems to have been instatutionalized with seemingly no good reasoning behind it.

 

[AmtrakBlue]

I really don't mind posting my room/car numbers because I figure fellow AU-ers can come find me if we're on the same train. Then we could have dinner together and it wouldn't be as awkward as it is with strangers. To me, it's no different than saying I'm riding Coach on X train on X date. If someone wants to find me, they'll find me regardless of whether I post my car/room number. My picture is on the site.
Sorry I opened a can of worms. -_-

Which is why there's a separate "private" forum for posting upcoming trips.

 

[SarahZ]

Which is why there's a separate "private" forum for posting upcoming trips.

What's to say someone on the "Private" forum isn't a stalker?

 

[AmtrakBlue]

Which is why there's a separate "private" forum for posting upcoming trips.

What's to say someone on the "Private" forum isn't a stalker?

Well, there's that . But it does reduce the likelihood.

 

[PRR 60]

Amtrak Unlimited is a community with several thousand members, and many more who participate as guests and lurkers. While the vast majority of all our participants are good people, the sad fact is that there can be some who are not. There could be someone who took issue with something someone said and wants a little payback. There could be someone who finds another member interesting from a relationship standpoint and wants to pursue things with or without that person’s interest. There could be someone who simply wants to do some harm to someone for who they think they are, or just for no reason at all.

There are no background checks for becoming an AU member. People can be who they appear to be, or not. For someone intent on harm, knowing the exact time and place of someone else’s whereabouts could be valuable for them, and highly undesirable for the target. The thought that we couldn’t have anyone like that as a member or guest here is false, and unfortunately, I know first hand that it is false.

Alan was responsible for setting up this guideline specifically for the Member Trips forum. Basically, saying the date and train of travel is OK as long as the specific accommodation is not mentioned. Mentioning a train and a specific car and room is OK as long as the exact date of travel is not mentioned. Of course, saying anything you want through PM to others you know well is just fine.

It may be an overabundance of caution, but I think the policy for a community as large and diverse as ours is prudent.

 

[the_traveler]

Which is why there's a separate "private" forum for posting upcoming trips.

What's to say someone on the "Private" forum isn't a stalker?

That is true, but I personally (speaking for myself and as an AU member) would trust another AU member who has been posting fro 3 or 5 years knowing that I'm in room 5 of the 31 car, then someone who found that post when searching Google, Yahoo, Bing or another search engine for "the Capitol Limited"! The actual post (including any information posted such as dates, trains, car number and room numbers) are there for the world to see. And not just AU guests, but anyone.

But to each his or her own.

 

[Ryan]

There could be someone who took issue with something someone said and wants a little payback.

Thanks, that's not a scenario that I considered.

It may be an overabundance of caution, but I think the policy for a community as large and diverse as ours is prudent.

I think that's an excellent decision to be made on a personal basis, but not necessarily a good blanket policy.

The actual post (including any information posted such as dates, trains, car number and room numbers) are there for the world to see. And not just AU guests, but anyone.

The member trips forum does not appear to be indexed by Google.

But to each his or her own.

Not really, it seems as the decision has been made for everyone by the management.

 

[pennyk]

I travel on the Silvers quite often from Orlando to WAS or NYP. I usually get an odd numbered room, which is usually (I say usually because I am reluctant to say always) on the right side of the train, which I prefer. The Orlando platform is on the right, the KIS platform is on the left, the Winter Park platform is on the left (but the great looking park is on the right) - I could go on, but I do not remember the location of all the platforms. I have never been bored on any of my Silver trips (even though I traveled the route many times). My favorite sleeping car attendant is Leo (however most of the attendants are great). He "usually" works the 10 car on 92 and 97.

I hope you enjoy your trip.