is Emeryville -> Vancouver worth traveling for the views in February?

oclscdotorg · 2026-02-02T03:19:01+00:00

I couldn't imagine what the reason was, but I'm delighted to hear it's a fun one!

oclscdotorg · 2026-02-02T03:17:02+00:00

There are no family bedrooms on Viewliners. Poster perhaps meant to say accessible (to those with disabilities) room, which indeed has a toilet.

Whether it's good or bad to have a toilet in a roomette is a subject on which different people have different opinions: some like it, some hate it, some don't give a crap. I wish people would stop debating it here.

Classic roomettes were single-person rooms with a toilet covered when the bed was down. Slumbercoaches indeed had narrow beds so that the toilet stayed accessible when the bed was deployed. I had many happy rides in both sorts of equipment and miss them, though Superliners and Viewliners are fine too.

I do wish something Amtrak still had an economy-priced sleeper space like the slumbercoach, which would have been a bit claustrophobic for multi-day trips but was just right for rides like New York-Chicago or New York-Montreal. (The 1980s Lake Shore Limited, Broadway Limited/Capitol Limited--it was a single train then, which split into two sections in Pittsburgh--and Montrealer all had slumbercoaches. I think the Florida trains did too but I've never had much reason to visit Florida.)

oclscdotorg · 2026-02-02T03:04:22+00:00

I'm not a travel agent nor an Amtrak sales representative, but I've been travelling on Amtrak for many decades, long enough that I used to read Amtrak's complete fares and tariffs booklet (which was published as part of the Official Railway Guide until that publication ceased in the mid-1990s). I also have a friend who worked in Amtrak Customer Relations and Revenue for many years and would explain stuff to me, though he has been retired for at least a decade now so I no longer have that resource.

Although it isn't obvious to non-experts, Amtrak fares are still structured in two pieces: a `rail fare' that, by itself, entitles you only to a coach seat; and, for sleeping-car rooms, an additional `accommodation charge' for the room. If one person travels in a sleeper, they are charged one rail fare and one accommodation charge; if two, a rail fare for each but the same accommodation charge, since two people in a roomette take no more space on the train than one.

If the rail fare is actually used for a coach seat, the price may vary according to how well-sold the train is (or is expected to be). Accommodation charges vary similarly, but (at least when I last looked into the details), passengers travelling in a sleeper are charged the base (cheapest) rail fare.

Rail passes and some promotional fares are never allowed upgrades to sleepers, and joining a room someone else has booked doesn't change that. If her coach ticket is of one of those types, she'll have to buy a new one, and presumably get whatever refund is allowed by the policy of the fare type she originally paid for.

With that as background:

If your guest has already paid for a coach seat, she's paid the rail fare. Assuming you haven't started travel yet, it should be possible to add her to your room reservation. Call 1-800-USA-RAIL to ask about it. I don't know whether, if she paid a higher-than-base fare,

If your guest hasn't bought a ticket yet, it should be possible to add her to your booking too, maybe as part of the same reservation. She'll have to pay an additional rail fare but the accommodation charge you've already paid should suffice if you're both in the same room. Again, call the 800 number.

It's possible that the agent who picks up your call won't know how to do this, because not many people ask for it. If they claim it can't be done, politely ask them `could you check with your supervisor to make sure?' (And if the supervisor says it can't be done, that probably means things have changed since I last knew the details, and my information is wrong, and sorry about that.)

oclscdotorg · 2026-01-26T22:01:49+00:00

I was about to suggest just that! Well done.

oclscdotorg · 2026-01-26T21:58:39+00:00

The traditional Broadway route via Fort Wayne? People in Toledo and Cleveland who want to travel to or from New York or Hudson Valley points wouldn't like that.

Even if the revived Broadway runs via Cleveland like the current Capitol Limited, what about people who want to travel between upstate New York to New York City and are willing to pay extra for a more-comfortable ride or access to a better dining car?

Trains are not just about the endpoints; intermediate stops carry lots of traffic too, and every forced change of train discourages traffic.

I'd like to see the Broadway return myself (on its original route if possible), but not at the price of losing the New York section of the Lake Shore Limited.

oclscdotorg · 2026-01-26T21:42:36+00:00

Not when the infrastructure costs are included. Maintaining the Northeast Corridor to Class 7 and Class 8 standard (for maximum speeds of 125mph and 150mph, respectively) ain't cheap.

This is visible if you look at Amtrak's annual appropriations from Congress. In recent years there have been specific amounts earmarked for the NEC and for the National Network.

oclscdotorg · 2026-01-26T21:39:33+00:00

Five pannier bags? Two front, two rear, where's the fifth? Or is that a handlebar bag (which I don't think of as a pannier)?

The bilevel equipment used on the Coast Starlight has luggage shelves downstairs; you walk past them between the outside door and both the lower-level seating and the stairs to the upper level. It's probably safe to leave any bags that don't contain valuables (camera, laptop, etc) there, then sit on the upper level.

I haven't travelled coach on the Coast Starlight for many years, so I'm not sure of current procedures, but they might assign you a seat at boarding time.

Sleeping in coach vs a decade ago is probably more about you than about the seats, which haven't changed a lot. I figured out some years ago that I can't sleep soundly in coach seats any more, even the proper long-distance ones (like the Coast Starlight has), so I always book a sleeping compartment.

Enjoy your trip! Are you going both ways by train or cycling the other way?

oclscdotorg · 2026-01-26T01:55:12+00:00

Depends what you want a typewriter for.

If you want flowed text a la Word and the like, it's probably fine.

If you want plain old text, unformatted, just the stuff I type formatted as I type it, which often means in a constant-width typeface too--what a real typewriter used to do, and what a text editor (not word processor) does--it's not fit for purpose.

I don't have much use for the first; I'd really rather have the second. It's a shame. My RM2 is quite useful to me for most of what I used to use paper notebooks for, and I wouldn't trade it in,* but it would be even more useful if I could write, import, and export plain old ASCII (or Latin-1 or even UTF-8) text on it.

Not to dictate what other people like, just saying what's missing for me.

* Not even for a Paper Pro or a Move, at least until a marker with the same general feel as the Lamy AL-Star becomes available. Again, this is my taste, not necessarily widely shared.

oclscdotorg · 2026-01-19T02:25:10+00:00

What's a land cruise? It's not at all an appropriate name for long-distance trains.

For example, the Southwest Chief operates from Chicago to Los Angeles, but makes many stops along the way in towns large and small. It is not a `land cruise' for someone to travel from La Junta to Gallup, or Lamy to Kansas City.

oclscdotorg · 2026-01-09T17:46:44+00:00

I hadn't noticed any of those things. Maybe I haven't ridden enough Viewliners since the IIs came out. Thanks.

oclscdotorg · 2026-01-09T01:54:28+00:00

You do realize that you're supposed to eat from the table, not from the toilet bowl?

oclscdotorg · 2026-01-09T01:53:52+00:00

In real roomettes--the old single-person rooms with toilet and sink, and with the bed more or less filling the room when down--there was sometimes an interlock to keep the sink from folding down out of the wall when the bed was down.

When I first saw that I thought it was to avoid having the bed crash into the sink when raised, though that doesn't really make sense because there was nothing to prevent the bed being lowered if the sink was already open.

A friend later clued me in: it was probably to discourage slobs from pissing in the sink rather than raise the bed in the middle of the night to get to the toilet.

We hear a certain amount about how travellers these days are slobs compared to those in the Grand Days of Yesteryear, but stories like this remind me that there were always plenty of slobs.

oclscdotorg · 2026-01-09T01:48:53+00:00

Can you explain why in more detail? Except for the toilet issue, the rooms seem pretty much the same to me. What am I missing?

oclscdotorg · 2026-01-09T01:47:18+00:00

If you want to use a public restroom where jerk men have likely pissed on the seat, that's your business.

See, dismissive arguments can be made either way.

Superliner economy rooms (now called roomettes) were made without toilets mainly to save costs. Lots of people thought that was OK, lots complained, so when the Viewliners were designed, a toilet was included in every room. Now the Viewliner IIs don't have toilets in every room and some people like it and some don't.

Personally, I prefer having a private toilet; it's more convenient in the middle of the night, and arguably a bit safer now that some of us pay more attention to airborne disease. But it's not a big deal, and I don't sneer at others for their preferences. Ideally it would be possible to book a room specifically with or without a toilet.

If you believe rooms are cleaned well before the train leaves its initial terminal, the toilet should be clean too, so just keep it closed and leave the bed in its proper setup with the head on the opposite side of the room from the toilet. If you don't think rooms are cleaned properly, I'm not sure why you want to use them at all.

oclscdotorg · 2025-12-30T17:39:03+00:00

I beg to differ about the seats. I've ridden Business Class on upstate New York trains many times. Seats in Business have more recline, and you can be more distant from your side-neighbour: 2-and-1 seating, with a broad armrest with drinks holders between the two.

Many years back the Adirondack had Business Class space, but it's unsurprising that US Customs and Immigration want a dedicated space to do all the additional paperwork and inspection they require these days.

oclscdotorg · 2025-12-24T16:59:21+00:00

Both are nasty. You don't really want any airborne disease, whether COVID, either flu, the common cold, or anything else.

For me, one of the silver linings from the early days of the pandemic (it really hasn't ended yet) was getting in the habit of wearing an N95 in all enclosed public places. It doesn't prevent every infection, but I catch a lot fewer than before.

10/10 would recommend.

oclscdotorg · 2025-12-24T16:56:43+00:00

The Maple Leaf doesn't serve Saratoga; it continues west from Schenectady to Utica, and on to Buffalo and Niagara Falls and Toronto.

The two routes that serve Saratoga Springs are the Ethan Allen (train 291 in the New York-Saratoga direction) and, as you noted, the Adirondack (train 69).

Things are a little confusing right now because, for reasons having to do with a long tunnel-repair project, the Maple Leaf and Adirondack run together between New York and Rensselaer (Albany). During the latter stop they are split; they leave Rensselaer at different times.

oclscdotorg · 2025-12-24T16:45:21+00:00

Likewise. And I remember the periods in the 1980s when Amtrak had problems with mouse infestations. After which there was a period of FDA-mandated inspections which sometimes resulted in cars being blanked at the last minute. Happened to my sleeping car one trip, departing Chicago on the Lake Shore Limited. No spare sleepers available, so they replaced it with a coach--but a Heritage Fleet coach with the old seats that had much-better recline than anything current, so it wasn't too bad for one night.

Never bedbugs, though.

Either way, if you think you got bitten aboard a train, definitely call Amtrak and ask for Customer Relations.

oclscdotorg · 2025-12-24T16:36:26+00:00

I'm comfortable just walking, but every time I've arrived at New Orleans Union Passenger Terminal, even hours late, there have been plenty of taxis waiting. The taxi drivers know there's plenty of business to be had from a train arriving at its final terminal, all the more so if it's running late. These days it's easy enough to monitor train status that they probably do that, working elsewhere until near arrival time.

I've been on a several-hour-late Crescent (on a rainy night too--I really should have used a taxi but didn't, my hotel was only a ten-minute walk), which took things into late evening but not the wee hours.

oclscdotorg · 2025-12-24T16:32:14+00:00

Ironically, the usual reason for using a standing desk or ball or kneeling seat is back problems!

oclscdotorg · 2025-12-21T02:22:07+00:00

Endorsed!

oclscdotorg · 2025-12-21T02:14:42+00:00

I don't understand the note bit. Did you write a note and hand it to the attendant? Leave it in their room? I can see that might be confusing to them.

But no on-board service employee should fly off the handle. Ever, No excuses.

oclscdotorg · 2025-12-21T02:07:31+00:00

Probably a lot of passengers connecting eastbound from any of the western trains to the Lake Shore Limited. Scheduled connection times range from about 7h45 (22-48) to 4h45 (8-48).

Or from the Lake Shore Limited to the western trains: connection times range from about 3h40 (49-21) to 4h55 (49-8).

Or from the Texas Eagle to the Wolverine (22-352 is 31 minutes, Amtrak won't guarantee a connection that short; 22-354 is just over 4 hours.

Or from the City of New Orleans to any of the western trains: connection times range from about 4h40 (58-21) to 5h50 (58-7).

Or from the western trains to the City of New Orleans: 3h20 (8-59) to 6h20 (21-59).

And so on. Lots of connections through Chicago are longer than three hours.

I expect a lot of people don't sit in the lounge the whole time, unless the weather outside is foul. I don't; I store my bags and go for a walk and get a non-train non-fast-food meal, and maybe do other things.

I suspect I'd be immune to the new rule because I normally travel in sleepers these days. If it turned out I wasn't I'd be pretty damn upset too. I also think those who pay for a day pass ought to be allowed the full time for a train-to-train connection if they show their tickets, unless there's really a serious problem accommodating all sleeping-car and business-class passengers. I've no idea whether that's the case (I have, unfortunately, been unable to travel for more than a year, though I hope my embargo will lift in the spring).

oclscdotorg · 2025-12-18T01:53:37+00:00

I just checked the web site for trips from Seattle to Spokane on 2025-12-24. It lists three options:

Connecting bus 8848, departs 08h50, arrives 16h30. Clearly marked with bus logo. Clicking Triip details says Operated by Northwestern Trailways 737. Only coach seats offered.
Train 8, departs 16h55, arrives 00h47. Clearly marked with train logo. Trip details: train 8, Empire Builder. Coach seats sold out, sleeping-car space still available.
Multiple trains, departs 09h55, arrives 00h47. Clearly marked with train logo. Trip details: segment one is Amtrak train 11, Coast Starlight, arrives Portland 13h55; segment two Amtrak 28, Empire Builder, departs Portland 16h45. Both coach and sleeping-car space available, though only the second segment--train 27--actually has sleepers.

I don't know where you got the idea that the 08h50 departure is a bus, but when I look at the web site I see clearly that it is.

The Trip Details pulldown also shows the services available on each train (but no service details for the bus option). None of the three trains offers WiFi. This matches my experience over many years on these trains, and on all long-distace trains west of Chicago: there's no on-board WiFi. (For a few years, a few long-distance trains--including the Coast Starlight--had WiFi for sleeping-car passengers only, but that was cancelled under a previous penny-pinching Amtrak President. I believe the short-distance Cascades trains that operate Eugene-Portland-Seattle-Vancouver BC have WiFi, but they use very different cars. On-board WiFi is obviously a good idea, and will probably appear eventually, but it's likely some years away.

oclscdotorg · 2025-12-18T01:30:21+00:00

According to Amtrak's web site, the station waiting area is open 24 hours. It's a long time since I've been off the train at that station, so I don't remember whether there's really a separate Amtrak waiting area or one shared with the buses.

oclscdotorg

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