Sleeping on sleeper trains

All I can tell you is I remember earlier Pullman heavyweights as far more comfortable than Amtrak.  Last heavyweight I slept in was an impeccably restored Illinois Central car from Mexicali to Mexico City in 1974.

I rode behind steam in the early 1950s, but was shorter then.  They seemed luxurious.

New sleepers for us. Silver Meteor to Florida, Crescent to New Orleans, and Sunset Limited to AZ. Slept OK once I learned how to use the extra pillow brace you while taking curves at 80 mph. My main advice: if traveling with someone, get separate roomettes. At 77, no desire to cope with a top bunk.

A level route does not equate to a smoother ride.  It's the quality of the roadbed that gives a smoother ride.

My wife and I travel to Florida using the autotrain often and I can tell you the top bunk is like sleeping on a slab. Some of that is due to old age. 

I traveled by troop trains decades ago and slept great again I think some of that was due to youth and the sleep elixer that young soldiers take before bed time. 

rpmcobra posted:

My wife and I travel to Florida using the autotrain often and I can tell you the top bunk is like sleeping on a slab. Some of that is due to old age. 

I traveled by troop trains decades ago and slept great again I think some of that was due to youth and the sleep elixer that young soldiers take before bed time. 

Absolutely! Traveled coast to coast on AMTRAK a few years ago. Never again. Between the rock-hard upper bunk and the frequent stops to let freight trains pass, didn't sleep worth a ****.

My wife and I have traveled to FL on the Star for years. Started in a roomette and now have graduated to the handicapped bedroom. I would agree with Joe on the two roomettes for a couple. I've always slept well (I do get the lower due to physical limitations).

Has anyone ridden the Halifax train on VIA. They've got former EuroStar equipment on these trains now. We had a trip planned and found out there was one "cabin" with two lowers which we booked. Looked forward to the trip but a health issue intervened and had to cancel. Don't wait to do things--getting older can intervene.

I have traveled in Europe on the night sleepers and love them,sleeping while getting to your destination instead of staying in a Hotel.

Mikey

Mrs RJR & I have found that there is no issue in sharing the lower bed in the bedroom. Unlike Rex, we found DC to LA was a most enjoyable trip, and slept like logs.

Having used the roomette many times going to Florida on the Auto-Train (which was commuter rail for me for awhile), I would agree that a not-too-young couple should get 2 roomettes

I’m reminded that American sleepers typically have bunks arranged longitudinally, while British and European trains have them transversely.

Not quite so, rockershovel:  roomettes, yes; bedrooms, not on superliners

mikey posted:

I have traveled in Europe on the night sleepers and love them,sleeping while getting to your destination instead of staying in a Hotel.

Mikey

Traveling by train in Europe is definitely at least the next level up from US. 

In 1973, my family and I traveled from Birmingham to D.C. and back.  My Father was a Southern Railroad official.  We had a suite.  Lots of room,wonderful service, and the dining experience was better than any restaurant I've tried to date.  China, linen, crystal, silver, with amazing food and service.  Nothing compares.  I was a teenager then.  I could sleep anywhere.  The only negative was going over crossings.  The bells woke me up.  We spent a week in the capitol.  We were all too tired not to sleep on the way back to Birmingham.  Best family vacation ever.   

While in collage at the University of Alabama,  I would put my bicycle on the baggage car and ride the crew car to New Orleans.  On the trip back to Tuscaloosa on Sunday,  I got a hot shower and a nap, again on the crew car.  All free of charge.  Thanks Dad.

Bill

On the more general subject of ride quality, back-in-the-day the UP was known for smooth starts, more-so than any line I ever traveled on. You had to be watching the ground to know when the train had begun moving. Same with UP stops, you never felt a jerk or bump. You needed not worry about standing or walking while the train was stopping. I was told the way they did it was to always stop with power still on, thus keeping the slack stretched. My experience was early-mid '60s before UP began combining trains into single much longer trains.

Odenville Bill posted:

While in collage at the University of Alabama.....

Well, they play football pretty well, anyway.  

RJR posted:

Not quite so, rockershovel:  roomettes, yes; bedrooms, not on superliners

That’s a worthwhile piece of information 

Its the same on the View Liners.

breezinup posted:

Odenville Bill posted:

While in collage at the University of Alabama.....

Well, they play football pretty well, anyway.  

Didn't yesterday.

I had a roomette on the Cascade from Portland to Oakland in August.  Some portions of the ride were smooth and others were very bouncy.  I suppose that it depends on the track.  Overall, I enjoyed the trip.

I got up around 2 a.m. just before the train stopped in Klamath and went to the observation car.  The only other people in the car were 3 young men.  They could hardly wait for the Klamath stop so that they could get off and smoke weed.  I never knew that waiting to smoke weed could be as exciting as waiting for Santa Claus when I was a kid.  It was a new experience for me.   I suspect that they slept well when they returned to their coach seats.  NH Joe

ALL passenger trains are sleeper trains for me, my last train nap was on the Arkansas & Missouri excursion heading back to Van Buren, AR.  Had a whole couch to myself , or was that the Grand Canyon Railway ?  The clikety-clack just does me in.