Amtrak sleepers

[Tharmeni]

When did Amtrak start putting its sleeper cars on the front of its trains?  I had a room on the Silver Meteor the other night from Baltimore to Charleston, SC and our sleeper was up against the baggage car.  The engine horn noise made it IMPOSSIBLE to sleep.

The car attendant said "we always put our sleepers in the front" but that was NOT the case when I last rode silver service in 2001.

What gives?  Has Amtrak decided to punish its highest-paying customers?

[AmtrakRider]

Definitely since 2002, when I rode 97 to Philadelphia.

Dunno about before that . . .

[CSSHEGEWISCH]

In the pre-Amtrak era, sleeping cars were ahead of the diner on the Silver Meteor.

[Tharmeni]

so is this on ALL Amtrak trains or just the Silver Meteor???

[oltmannd]

The Crescent, which I see most every day, always has the sleepers between the baggage car and the diner.  The Cal. Zephyr, which I rode last year, had the sleepers on the head end.  All the pictures I've seen of the Silver Svc trains have the sleepers up front.   Seems like pattern to me.

[G Mack]

Greetings,

I rode the empire builder from Chicago to Seattle and back last March. The Seattle sleepers were at the front and the Portland sleepers were on the rear. The sleeper directly behind the baggage car was for on-board crew. The sleeper I rode on the trip out to Seattle was great, it seemed to be recently overhauled. The sleeper for the return trip was beginning to show signs of wear. 

Gregory

[Anonymous]

Sleepers on the front have been standard for several years now. I'm not sure when it started, but I got back into Amtrak in 2000 and the standard was already in place. I have no idea why.

Reports on other forums indicate that Amtrak is at least temporarily putting sleepers back on the rear on some trains.

I'm sorry you had a noisy night. Viewliners must have less soundproofing than Superliners. On the western trains, I rather enjoy being lulled to sleep by the muffled sound of the horn.

[jdamelio]

We have traveled on both trains between Palatka and Philadelphia.  Each time has been on the first car in H1.  That has been very noisy as you have the crew passing thru to the dorm constantly.  Can't say that the horn was that bothersome.  It was the slamming of the door and the noise from outside of the wheels and the cars banging together.  Would like to know what it is like in A, B, or the other rooms.

[Tharmeni]

OK, our next trip is in a bedroom on the Empire Builder from Chicago to Seattle.  Will the sleepers there also be on the front end?  We were NOT able to sleep on the Silver Meteor due to the horn noise.

[TomDiehl]

OK, our next trip is in a bedroom on the Empire Builder from Chicago to Seattle.  Will the sleepers there also be on the front end?  We were NOT able to sleep on the Silver Meteor due to the horn noise.

As GMack said above, the Sleepers for Seattle bound passengers are in the front and the Portland bound passengers in the rear. This is to make it easier to split the train in Spokane. The good news is that going across that part of the plains, there aren't a lot of grade crossings, so very little horn to worry about.

If the horn bothers you, how do you manage to sleep on a plane with all the wind and hydraulics noise? (not to mention those seats)

[Midnight Railroader]

Superliners are much quieter than the east coast single-level cars. Last week on the CZ, the only sleeper up front was the transition dorm; all the rest were at the end of the train.

[Tharmeni]

I can't sleep on a plane.  I never had the horn issue on the Superliners and suspect that the insulation is the answer.   Besides, it would have been a lot better if we had had a dorm car between us and the baggage car.

Thanks for the info, everyone.  I'll report back.

[Southwest Chief]

The Southwest Chief is currently running with sleeping cars on the rear. 

It used to be this way all the time for the Chief.  It seems around 2001 when the change to up front sleepers came.  I think the change for the Chief started when run through service with the Capitol Limited began.  But now that these two trains no longer share consists, the sleepers are once again on the rear of the Southwest Chief.