Train 6 - Directional Positioning of Sleeping Cars?

[Explore]

On Train 6, heading east of course, is there a tendency for sleeping cars to be positioned bedrooms first, or vice versa? Are the sleepers at the head of the train or the rear?

Thanks....

 

[mcropod]

On my solo T6 headed east, the sleepers were at the front of the train.

 

[WWW]

On my solo T6 headed east, the sleepers were at the front of the train.

Closer to the locomotives - - -
Maybe that is to lull one to sleep listening to the train horn ! LOL !

Motion for some folks can be an issue -
Unless sufficiently knocked out - motion movement train station stops can inhibit a good nights rest.
Riding head first or feet first or laterally each has its own degree of comfort to fall fast to sleep.

I would suppose that the standard uniform arrangement of each train consist maybe troublesome
with the station (termination/origination) having the ability to move the cars around to meet that standard.

Just as long as a rookie engineer doesn't jolt you out of bed -
Dream along with me I am on my train to heaven !

 

[Steve4031]

The sleepers have been at the front of 5/6 and 3/4 for the past several years. The orientation of a specific car is difficult to predict. Bedrooms could be at the front one time and roomettes at the front the next time. I’m not sure if there is supposed to be a certain way of doing this.

 

[jiml]

On Train 6, heading east of course, is there a tendency for sleeping cars to be positioned bedrooms first, or vice versa?

They used to try to position the Family Bedroom facing forward, which meant bedrooms forward/roomettes to the rear of the car. Lately consists have been reconfigured, so all bets are off.

 

[Maglev]

I think the proper orientation of sleepers is to have Bedrooms adjacent to the diner or coaches to give the Roomette hallway more privacy. I had never considered orientation of the sofa in the Family Bedroom to be important, although in that orientation three of the five Bedrooms also have sofas facing forward.

 

[Nick Farr]

The most common orientation I have observed is having the Roomettes closer to the front of the train, with the Bedrooms facing the Diner/Lounge/Coach cars.

I found it confusing the few times this has been reversed, since you see a very long row of roomettes. I'm accustomed to seeing this when I know I'm approaching the transition car, but not before.

 

[Bob Dylan]

To give a Lawyer answer, It depends!

As has been said, you wont know till you board, and since there is more than one Sleeper on the Zephyr( 2-3) plus the Transdorm,one may have the Bedrooms @ the Back, towards the Diner, the next @ the front towards the Transdorm and Engine etc.

And you might have a Superliner I and a II, 2 Superliner Is or 2 Superliner IIs. YMMV

 

[snaebyllej]

I've wondered about sleeping car alignment as it affects the direction of the shower. Last October on #8 I was kind of flung against the back wall of the shower (no harm done) when the train jolted as it came to a stop at a station. If it had been aligned in the opposite direction, I would probably have gone through the door out into the dressing area.

 

[Explore]

Thanks for the feedback.....

Am I correct that Amtrak is not selling rooms in the transition sleeper during the pandemic? I liked those rooms because you knew which side of the train you'd be on (for scenery and sun angle). Is it true that pre-Amtrak, sleeping cars were almost always oriented in a fixed direction and you knew which side of the train you'd be on.....much as you know this when selecting an airline seat or ship's cabin today?

 

[jloewen]

Shouldn't you sleep feet first? That way if your train hits something or derails your feet will be broken instead of your head....

 

[lstone19]

Is it true that pre-Amtrak, sleeping cars were almost always oriented in a fixed direction and you knew which side of the train you'd be on.....much as you know this when selecting an airline seat or ship's cabin today?

I believe so. Certainly cars with single rooms (e.g. cars with roomettes) had a defined front so that the one seat in those rooms faced forward. You see this today (ignoring that they're all currently suspended) with Via's Manor and Chateau sleepers which both have true single-person roomettes.

 

[Lonestar648]

It used to be that on,5/6:the sleepers were positioned up front during the non summer months so they could add a Coach if needed, and in the summer have the sleepers on the rear, adding a third sleeper if demand was there. Last I took CZ, there were 3 sleepers, but that was July in the busy season. As far as direction of the cars, the yard puts a sleeper on a train as quickly as they can. Turning a sleeper around is a complicated maneuver working through a Y.

 

[bms]

I'm on #6 right now, the sleeper is up front and is aligned with the bedrooms towards the front of the train. So the odd-numbered roomettes are on the right side of the train. Of course there is no guarantee it would be oriented like this on another day.

 

[Cho Cho Charlie]

Shouldn't you sleep feet first? That way if your train hits something or derails your feet will be broken instead of your head....

For a roomette, doesn't that change depending on if you are on the left side or right side?

 

[Mailliw]

For a roomette, doesn't that change depending on if you are on the left side or right side?

Why would it?

 

[zephyr17]

Why would it?

The roomettes are oriented in opposite directions on either side of the hall. That does not make a huge difference on Superliners, it just changes whether you are sleeping with your head beside the "step"/armrest or the closet if you want to be "feet first". It does make a big difference on Viewliners, since there is a distinct foot as the berth is narrow at the foot to accommodate the toilet. Personally, I don't want to sleep with my shoulders constricted by an extra narrow bed and my head right beside the potty.

 

[Mailliw]

Thanks, for some reason I thought they all pointed the same way.

 

[niemi24s]

Personally, I don't want to sleep with my shoulders constricted by an extra narrow bed and my head right beside the potty.

But having the potty right there is nice if you gotta puke in the middle of the night.

 

[Nick Farr]

Thanks for the feedback.....

Am I correct that Amtrak is not selling rooms in the transition sleeper during the pandemic? I liked those rooms because you knew which side of the train you'd be on (for scenery and sun angle).

That appears to be the case, not sure if it's because of demand or policy. Staff only last two times I rode the CZ in July

 

[NativeSon5859]

They put me in the transition sleeper on #6 back in July. Room 17. I had the entire car to myself. Of course I barely saw the SA, but that’s neither here nor there.