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I assume you are talking about Amtrak. If you get a roomette or a private compartment you can set your own schedule. Each sleeper car has it's own attendant. Just let the attendant know what you want to do. The one exception is meals. You still have to work around the dining car schedule. However, for dinner, the sleeper car passengers get first crack at making reservations. So you have a good chance of getting an early or late seating in the dining car.
Oh God, never again. Tiny sleeper room drove me crazy. Bumpy and jerky all the way. Amtrak should really be a private business so it would improve. Government can't do anything the right way. Food is not that great either.
Janelle, I've enjoyed AMTRAK sveral times. (Never had a sleeper, though) But I don't beleieve AMTRAK would be viable as a privately-run company... As wonderful (IMHO)as train travel is, I do not believe that it would exist without government subsidies.
Last edited by Crew Chief; 02-19-2011 at 05:30 PM..
Reason: "speling"...
Oh God, never again. Tiny sleeper room drove me crazy. Bumpy and jerky all the way. Amtrak should really be a private business so it would improve. Government can't do anything the right way. Food is not that great either.
The reason Amtrak is not a business is because running passenger service became unprofitable for railroads. There is no railroad who would want to take over virtually every one of Amtrak's routes.
Congress made a decision in 1971 that it was worth trying to save passenger train service even if the government had to take it over. Amtrak loses money and it was pretty much expected that it would.
Having said all of that, as much as I enjoy train travel Amtrak has many deficiencies. The problem is that there are only two alternatives: 1. Amtrak with all its shortcomings; or 2. Let passenger rail service (except for mass transit in the cities) end.
If you get a sleeper will they let you have your own schedule or do you need to get up at a certain time, etc?
That car is yours as long as you are riding the train, you can sleep all day long if you want.
When I ride on Amtrak, I generally get a sleeper but I spend a lot of time in the observation car.
The food on the Empire Builder (the only one I've been on in many years) is not the best but the dining car has much better food than the bar car or any quick food or snacks that they may offer.
I'm one of those "picky eaters" that so many folks love to hate and I really liked the salmon.
The reason Amtrak is not a business is because running passenger service became unprofitable for railroads. There is no railroad who would want to take over virtually every one of Amtrak's routes.
Congress made a decision in 1971 that it was worth trying to save passenger train service even if the government had to take it over. Amtrak loses money and it was pretty much expected that it would.
Having said all of that, as much as I enjoy train travel Amtrak has many deficiencies. The problem is that there are only two alternatives: 1. Amtrak with all its shortcomings; or 2. Let passenger rail service (except for mass transit in the cities) end.
There are a few NE Freight companies getting back into the Passenger business and there is an Asian company looking to take over some lines that run near profitable....outside the NE its different. Were even restoring Rural lines here as Dual Freight and Passenger corridors , but you won't see that elsewhere in the US.... The Rules that congress agreed to back in 1971 are hurting any chance of a giant private company coming back...
The only thing I liked was they have you eat with other people. 4 to a table and the people can be interesting. One man was going to the Grand Canyon just to look at it and walk around for awhile. He loves to ride the train so he just took the trip for the train ride.
As much as I bounced around and was uncomfortable in the sleeper (you need to dress sideways, etc) I don't see how he enjoys it. We could have gotten the bigger sleeper but it cost a lot more. The extra room may have been worth it. I took the top bunk to sleep and the ceiling is just about 2 ft. above you. Kind of claustrophobic.
As much as I bounced around and was uncomfortable in the sleeper (you need to dress sideways, etc) I don't see how he enjoys it. We could have gotten the bigger sleeper but it cost a lot more. The extra room may have been worth it. I took the top bunk to sleep and the ceiling is just about 2 ft. above you. Kind of claustrophobic.
Sounds like you got one of the roomettes. I think they are just too small for 2 people. However, since I always travel by myself, I find the roomette to be just right. I don't have to fight the crowds in the coach cars. If I want to take a nap during the day I just slide the seats together. To get around the problem of not having anywhere to stand to get dressed, I simply did not have the attendant put the second mattress on top of the seats. That way if I wanted to get up I could just slide one of the seats back.
I found the other passengers in the sleeper car to be quite outgoing and willing to strike up a conversation. I also liked that I was seated with others in the dining car. Met some really interesting people.
As far of all of the problems with Amtrack, if you look past them and look for the good instead, you can have a lot of fun.
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