Viewliner Sleeper Bathroom Question

[me_little_me]

I've traveled on both. The viewliner room is outstanding... but the small commode is ... well ... really really difficult to maneuver. Now, on the the Superliner H Room... beware of all the problems!

Problem 1 - Some of the coaches have battery operated fire alarms just outside the H room door. The batteries are never changed and the warning 'chirping' occurs frequently. When this happens I have called the conductor who says he can't touch it as it is a federal offense to remove the battery.,, and that if I removed the battery I would be arrested on a federal offense. I mean, so the battery is dead and the alarm keeps chirping and you need to live with it. Pure stupidity!

Problem 2 - You are at the end of a bank of bathrooms... it gets smelly. Also when folks don't close the doors they slam back and forth as the train rolls along. So you hear all that noise until you go out and shut the door yourself.

Problem 3 - This is one of the hottest and stuffiest rooms on the train and there is no window to open. Something about the arrangement of the heating and cooling systems makes the room hotter than most others.

Problem 4 - Lots of people tend to gather and talk outside the bathrooms. More noise!

So beware of the Superliner H rooms!!!

That wasn't my experience at all on the Chief and CONO last year. My complaints were the room door which always opened itself when I was out of the room and the curtain instead of a door for the bathroom.

 

[bratkinson]

That wasn't my experience at all on the Chief and CONO last year. My complaints were the room door which always opened itself when I was out of the room and the curtain instead of a door for the bathroom.

I always travel with a couple of carpenters' wood shims to stop rattles (the upper bunk when up) and to keep the door closed when I'm out of the room. Usually 1 or 2 shims will be sufficient to ensure the door doesn't open. I usually put them up high so they're less conspicuous to passersby. These shims are available in packages of 24 or so for under $5 at any home center as well as some hardware stores.

 

[MARC Rider]

Me too... but at least you can control the 'clean;' having to use a public bathroom creeps me out even more.

I'm not sure what the worry is about public bathrooms, especially those on a train, where you're the only person using the space. The medical experts claim that picking Covid-19 from surfaces is less of a risk than catching it from the emissions of other people's breathing apparatus (mouth and nose). And you can always wash and sanitize your hands after you touch any surfaces, anyway. I think the "toilet plume" thing, while theoretically possible, is not the menace and risk that some people make it out to be. Anyway, you don't hear about corona clusters traced to people using a public toilet, it's more like weddings, frat parties, bars, spring break crowds, etc. True, sometimes public bathrooms aren't cleaned as much as they should be (Hi there WAS men's room at Gate A!), and thy're disgusting, but that was the case before the Covid pandemic, and people managed to use them anyway without getting sick and dying.

Believe me, I have never seen any Amtrak public bathroom as disgusting as some of the port-o-potties that have been installed at certain Maryland State Parks that will remain nameless, while the perfectly good real bathrooms at the same parks have been closed allegedly because of the Covid epidemic... whoops, that's a different rant, I should save that for my state representative, not AU, sorry about that....

 

[joelkfla]

Problem 2 - You are at the end of a bank of bathrooms... it gets smelly. Also when folks don't close the doors they slam back and forth as the train rolls along. So you hear all that noise until you go out and shut the door yourself.

That wasn't my experience at all on the Chief and CONO last year. My complaints were the room door which always opened itself when I was out of the room and the curtain instead of a door for the bathroom.

I had exactly the same problem as 20th Century Rider on the CL last year. The bathroom doors opened and slammed on their own all night, and the sewage odor came and went at random.

OTOH, no problem with the door on the H room, but the door on my roomette on the CZ opened just about every time as I was walking away.

 

[Qapla]

Doesn't the H-room on a superliner have a window on each side of the train? while the viewliner H-room does not?

 

[pennyk]

Doesn't the H-room on a superliner have a window on each side of the train? while the viewliner H-room does not?

I find the view much better from a Viewliner H room than from a Superliner H room. If I remember correctly, the second window in the superliner is small and is on the other side of the toilet.

 

[Maglev]

Doesn't the H-room on a superliner have a window on each side of the train? while the viewliner H-room does not?

It has windows on both sides, but they are small--half the size of a regular Roomette or Bedroom window. The small size considerably restricts the view.

 

[Nick Farr]

At least enclosed in a roomette you wouldn’t smell the refrigerated items... I see the argument against the microwave but I doubt a fridge would be problematic

Anything with a compressor unit would vastly increase power demands, especially multiple ones.

And microwaves are out of the question as far as increased fire/smoke hazards.

 

[PVD]

The VL H room is not car width, one side is on the aisle.

 

[joelkfla]

The VL H room is not car width, one side is on the aisle.

Yes. The door faces the end of the car. There's a narrow window out to the aisle, so you can get a small glimpse of what's on the other side of the train.

 

[Dakota 400]

If I remember correctly, the second window in the superliner is small and is on the other side of the toilet.

That is correct. Once had an H room in a Superliner. It was "OK", but I'd not book another one again. (Didn't book that one, but got it assigned because there was an issue with my original booking which was for a Bedroom.

 

[John Bobinyec]

Where are the Viewliner II bathrooms located? Near roomettes 1 and 2 or at the other end?
jb

 

[zephyr17]

Where are the Viewliner II bathrooms located? Near roomettes 1 and 2 or at the other end?
jb

Other end.