Welcome to my fourth RailNut blog post! Today I will be posting some information about Amtrak’s long-distance trains and the services they provide. I will also include the answers to my quiz as I promised, and post my railroad word of the day.  

Amtrak operates 9 Superliner long-distance routes in the United States with thousands of route miles shared with freight companies. These routes have a lot in common, but there are still some differences. Amtrak Superliner long distance trains have two main options for passengers, coach seating or private sleeping accommodations. Coach seats are large and very comfortable with foot and leg rests.

As for sleeping accommodations, Amtrak offers four choices. You can choose from a Roomette (which is a small room with no toilet or shower for two people), a Superliner bedroom (a bedroom which has its own private toilet, sink, vanity and shower), a family bedroom which is made to accommodate four people instead of two like the roomette and bedroom), and a Handicapped accessible bedroom which is fully equipped for passengers with disabilities.

The Superliner bedroom is designed for 2 people (it can accommodate 3 in a pinch, since the lower berth is very wide) but it can be combined with another Superliner bedroom to make a suite for four people and is always located on the upper level. The roomettes are mostly on the upper level, but there are 4 downstairs that are made to accommodate 2 passengers each. The handicapped and family bedrooms are always located downstairs.

I always recommend that you get rooms upstairs no matter what! I would highly suggest that you never purchase the family or handicapped bedrooms because these rooms are directly on top of the wheels and you’ll never sleep! Even if you have four people traveling, you can call the Amtrak phone (800-USA- RAIL), and specify that you want two roomettes on the upper level. That way, you don’t take the chance of being booked on the lower level by accident. Even though the roomettes on the lower level are not directly on top of the wheels, the scenery is much better on the upper level. I would also suggest that you get rooms towards the front of the train, so you have few people walking past your room to get back and forth from the dining car.

Amtrak also offers full dinning service (try their Signature steak) on the Superliner long-distance service trains, as well as a lounge car with snacks and beverages. These cars are personally my favorite (especially the lounge cars). The lounge cars have a fun configuration with tables on the upper level to play games, and the other half of the upper level has swivel seats. The lower level has the snack bar and the whole car has oversized windows for great viewing of the scenery.

As I have promised, here are the answers to the last quiz:

1: Difference between Viewliner and Superliner:

Viewliner trains are used mostly east of the Mississippi River and only have one level. They consist of a baggage car (the same type as Superliner), a sleeping car with normal windows, along with the ones for the upper berths of roomettes. There is no family sleeper on Viewliner trains.

The lounge car on Viewliner trains is the same used on most Amtrak short haul trains.  The lounge car is mostly made up of tables and has a cafe in the center of the car. The lounge car is used on the Empire service, Northeast Regional, and many other routes.

Coach cars are slightly different from Amtrak short-haul trains mentioned before. On single level long distance trains, Amtrak uses Amfleet 2 coaches, which are slightly different from Amfleet 1 which is used on many Amtrak short haul trains such as Keystone Service, Empire Service, Northeast Regional and other routes. The difference is comfort: Amfleet 1 stuffs more people in with less legroom. Amtrak’s Amfleet 2 coaches are designed for sleeping and have less seats.

The dining car is very different from the rest of the train.  There are also windows at the top and the door is near the center of the car.

Superliner:

The Superliner lounge car features extra windows on the top, swivel seats, a cafe located downstairs, and is only used on Superliner trains.

Superliner dining cars have doors in the center of the car on both sides and there are no windows in the center of the car.  Other than that, it is similar to the rest of the consist.

2: What is the only train that uses Deluxe sleepers?

The Auto Train, which goes from Lorton (near Washington D.C.) to Sanford (near Orlando, Florida)

3: What is a transition sleeper, which trains is it used on and where is it located on the train:

A transition sleeper is generally used for the crew.  It is used on all Superliner long distance trains. Sometimes if there is room they will sell some rooms to passengers (the entire upper level is roomettes, the lower level has one Handicapped bedroom and a crew lounge). A Superliner transition sleeper is located just behind the baggage car with a special lower level connection to the singe-level baggage car (one reason why a special car is needed as the baggage car is a different height than the locomotives and bi-level cars).

On Viewliner trains, the crew must use the normal passenger sleeper cars.

4: What is the origin and final destination of the Southwest Chief:  Los Angeles-Chicago (40+ hours)

5: List as many Superliner (double-decker, or more professionally called, Bi-level) routes as you can.  Hint, most Superliner routes are west of the Mississippi River:

Auto Train, California Zephyr, Capitol Limited, City of New Orleans, Coast Starlight, Empire Builder, Southwest Chief, Sunset Limited, and Texas Eagle.

6: What is the name of the locomotive that Amtrak operates on most of its short-haul and long distance trains?  Hint: it is 4,000 horsepower.   P42DC (Direct Current)

7:  Exclusively on all Amtrak California short distance trains they use a special locomotive, name it:

F59PHI

8: Where are the origin and destination for most Amtrak Pacific Surfliner trains (hint, the answer is not San Luis Obispo): San Diego (SAN) and Los Angeles Union Station (LAX)

9: List the standard Amtrak Superliner consist including Sleepers, Coaches, Diners, Lounges, Baggage car, and Locomotive(s) in order:  Two P42DC locomotives, one baggage car, one transition sleeper, two Sleepers, one dinning car, one lounge car, and 2 or 3 coaches.

10: List the California Zephyr origin and destination from west to Midwest: Chicago-Emeryville (San Francisco)

This week’s Quiz. *For questions 1, 3 and 7 just tell me which numbers are the answer (there can be more than one answer)

1. What trains does Fullerton station link together?

1.  Amtrak

2.  Metrolink

3.  Union pacific

4.  BNSF

5.  Coaster

6.  Coast Starlight

7.  Southwest Chief

2. How many platforms are located in Fullerton station?

3. What’s the final destination of Amtrak 572?

Los Angeles

San Diego

4. How many stops does the standard Amtrak Surfliner make from San Diego to Los Angeles?

5. What time is the departure of Coast Starlight train number 14?

6. How many platforms are located in Irvine?

7. What company owns the railroad tracks from Camarillo to Seattle?

Union Pacific

Amtrak

BNSF

8. How many gallons does a standard train fuel tank carry?

9. What is Amtrak's official name?

10. Name the stops the standard Amtrak Surfliner makes from San Diego to Los Angeles:   

Suggested links:

Amtrak.com, Amtraktrains.com.

Explanation of Terms:

Superliner: Visit this Wikipedia link.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superliner_(railcar)

Viewliner: Visit this Wikipedia link. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viewliner

Consist - the set of vehicles forming a complete train.

Railroad word of the day:

Gage tool - A tool by which the gage of track is determined. It is made of wood and steel, or all steel and sometimes has a guardrail gage attached.  It may be combined with a track level.

Thanks for reading, please make comments,

Sky

Tracks in West Corona facing East