What portion of sleeping car passengers travel solo?

I have an upcoming long-distance trip in a sleeping car, solo, and would gladly have dinner in the dining car if I were seated next to people I liked--maybe a couple and another solo traveler, or all solos. I've had past experiences being the one solo person sitting next to a family, which wasn't fun.

Question: What portion of Amtrak's sleeping car passengers are traveling by themselves? Is it a majority?

Thanks.

I'm mostly a solo traveler; I have done the dinning car on my trips on the Empire Builder and Coast Starlight as just one person as well; I usually got a good seating group, was paired up once with another solo traveler who was an actual rocket scientist from Los Alamos Labs along with a guy and his wife who just took over the family car dealership in Green Bay, WI.

With that said, you can always dine in your room if you just want to be alone; that I did on the LSL once.

I usually travel solo. Never had the experience of being seated with a group of 3, sorry to hear that happened.

The most common arrangement I've ended up in is with a fellow solo on my side of the table, and a couple across from us - the situation the OP describes as ideal.

Been on both sides of that table; sometimes as the loner and sometimes in a pair or a group of three. If you're too uncomfortable with a wholly unpredictable dining experience, take your meal in your room. My experiences range from the guy who clued me in to miles-swapping with Guest Rewards (a thing of the past) to the dude who wouldn't say hello and wouldn't look up from his i-Phone during the whole meal. Enter the dining car with a smile.

[quote="Gilbert B Norman"]Something tells me that on AT #52 (06 Feb), i'll have my chow in room at 5P. I'll have my Grape Juice, my Times and Journal, and Amtrak.Connect to tell me where we are.

The older I get, the more anti-social I become. Last August, I lucked out flying overseas seated next to a Bosnian gal who spoke perfect English and said "chatting together sure beats any movie they have". I felt complimented, but if I can avoid three Stone faced table mates with an extra "Fin" in the "paper handshake" with the Attendant at Lorton, "I'm on". Likewise if I go overseas again this year (I have a $1750 United voucher that is just cyberstuff May 11 if not ticketed), hopefully, I can avoid a sear mate who as good as said to me "if you have to get out, bother me, otherwise don't".[/quote]

I've never related to a post more than this one.

SouthernRailway wrote:Question: What portion of Amtrak's sleeping car passengers are traveling by themselves? Is it a majority?

You're as likely to be seated with passengers from the coaches in the dining car as with people riding in the sleepers. I couldn't say what percentage of Amtrak's riders are traveling individually vs in groups, but there's plenty of both.

I've never had an unpleasant experience in the dining car. Many times I've had fascinating conversations with people. Other times I've eaten in silence, which doesn't bother me.

I believe the rates for the roomettes are designed for two people to use. If you're using it by yourself, you are not only paying for the space for two people but the food for two people. That's why as a person who almost always travels solo would be more inclined to get a room on the Silver Star than the Silver Meteor because I'm not paying for two people's dining car food. I have never ridden a sleeper and rarely eat in the dining car (Amtrak steak is around $25, you can get a similar quality steak at Outback or Longhorn for much less). If you're a single person taking a ride, the sleeper is way more expensive than if you were traveling with a companion.

Gilbert B Norman wrote:Something tells me that on AT #52 (06 Feb), i'll have my chow in room at 5P. I'll have my Grape Juice, my Times and Journal, and Amtrak.Connect to tell me where we are.

The older I get, the more anti-social I become. Last August, I lucked out flying overseas seated next to a Bosnian gal who spoke perfect English and said "chatting together sure beats any movie they have". I felt complimented, but if I can avoid three Stone faced table mates with an extra "Fin" in the "paper handshake" with the Attendant at Lorton, "I'm on". Likewise if I go overseas again this year (I have a $1750 United voucher that is just cyberstuff May 11 if not ticketed), hopefully, I can avoid a sear mate who as good as said to me "if you have to get out, bother me, otherwise don't".

That I can understand; one of my friends in Boston who does annual voyages like you do said differing on the season he goes down, he may not eat in the diner as it could be a bit overwhelming.

I always travel alone and in a roomette whenever I'm on an overnight train...the exception being 66/67, which may someday get its sleeper back.

As far as dining car tablemates, Experience has shown it's hit and miss as to what passengers I get seated with. As an early riser for breakfast, it's first-come-first-served for seating, as directed by the LSA. Many times there's only 1 or 2 tablemates at that hour, and may be either coach or sleeping car passengers. I've even had breakfast alone several times. At lunch and dinner, there's usually a sufficient number of sleeper passengers showing up at the same time that I'm usually seated with a couple, sometimes with one child. At other times, there'll be a couple and another single sleeping car traveler with me. Depending on the train and/or LSA, some wlil have only sleeping car passengers at one reservation time, and coach passengers at a time 15 minutes later or earlier.

In my 40+ years of traveling Amtrak and eating in the diner, I can only recall a very small number of times I've been seated with antisocial tablemates. However, I have encountered a few times when getting them to talk required some direct questions like 'where are you headed?' etc. Actually, even if my tablemates aren't that talkative with strangers, I am. As a result, I too-often monopolize the time and often end up last one finished eating. For me, my biggest fear is being seated with a toddler on my side of the table and a parent that doesn't 'keep them in line'. Fortunately, I've never had that bad luck.

I almost always travel in a sleeper alone.

That said, my worst table experience was the time I sat across from a young woman who never put down her phone, including while ordering. She merely pointed to the menu when the waiter asked.

Rudest person I've met in my travels.

One of the best? The host of NPR's show on organ music.

Most likely. This was about a decade ago.

What's funny is I first caught the show on a few late night drives from Ann Arbor to Toledo to catch the LSL. (for business btw)

Then a few years later on the Crescent, was sitting across from a gentleman, we got talking about work and he said, "well I host a show on public radio that you've probably not heard. It's about organ music." I had to laugh and explain I had and why.

Pipe Dreams! Like some of the train service we want back...

I have had any number of interesting companions when I was travelling alone: a Hollywood producer or some such who'd flown to Portland just to ride back to LA, a mother with two charming kids, a railfan Amtrak official travelling on business who narrated the whole way from Denver to Portland on the Pioneer (kept getting up during dinner). When I had one kid I noticed they tended to leave the three of us alone; now I have four kids, and I miss meeting the strangers.

Everyone:

I have traveled on Amtrak trains in the past by myself in a Roomette or a Slumbercoach - surprised no one here mentioned them...

How long ago did Amtrak retire Sleeping Cars that contained Slumbercoach accommodations?

Would Amtrak restore Slumbercoach-type economy single rooms for solo travelers on new equipment such as Viewliners?

On a related matter I have always found it somewhat easy to socialize with fellow passengers on long distance train trips.
I can't think of anything offhand that was negative in my travels to compare with in this regard.

MACTRAXX