Take a Shower in Coach Class ?

I will be taking an overnight trip on Amtrak soon. My last several trips have been in a sleeper, which is very comfortable. However due to the cost, I may ride coach this time.

One of the downsides of riding coach is not being able to take a shower in the morning. Has anyone here ever ridden coach - and in the early morning headed to the sleeper to use the shower? I was thinking that a user fee - or attendant "tip" of say $20 might be appropriate.

Thoughts anyone?

Mr. Straw, the showers, to me the greatest Amtrak innovation for overnight travel, are for the exclusive use of Sleeper passengers. On most trains, Sleepers are on one side of the Diner, Coaches on the other. Hence, there is a "DMZ" of sorts.

An Amtrak employee accepting a gratuity for use of the shower from a Coach passenger could well find one's self facing a hearing and investigation as well as discipline assessed. As a result, I think it unwise to further discuss this point here at a public forum.

It is better to break up cross country trips into sections and find a youth hostel or YMCA for the night. Most YMCAs have day passes that run from 5-15 a day. Here is a link to a YMCA http://www.ymca.int/index.php?id=535 that still do overnights. Also Hostels.com does not update all the hostels so be carefull there.

I would agree , break the ourney and take a shower , and some time off the train . i did this on my last australian trip , and arrived refreshed , rather than haggard .

Oh definitely. I agree and understand what you are saying here. I am not going to break up the trip though. This is just Chicago to Albany, NY. Many sleeper patrons do not use the showers. It seems a waste. Too bad there isn't a way for Amtrak to provide such an amenity (and increased revenue for themselves) for coach travelers.

scoostraw wrote:Oh definitely. I agree and understand what you are saying here. I am not going to break up the trip though. This is just Chicago to Albany, NY. Many sleeper patrons do not use the showers. It seems a waste. Too bad there isn't a way for Amtrak to provide such an amenity (and increased revenue for themselves) for coach travelers.

It would require a lot of water to be carried. That's a cost.

In Bulawayo there used to be a bathroom for arrivals on long distance trains (1970s). And Euston, London, and London Waterloo.

The bathrooms on the lower level of coaches do have sinks. You can bring soap & wash there. You take your chances bouncing with a razor. Depending on what time of day you arrive in Albany you will be in need of other facilities. A shower that isn't moving may look nice. A tub with some warm water may be nicer. In my younger days, a nite or two on the train can be fine.

Something to consider is your comfortable attire in the coach seat. With any luck, you will not have a sleep partner should you need to lie down for a bit. Take care to stow valuable items out of sight.

It's too bad that the legacy reailroads like the NYC, PRR, DLW, SP, UP,etc did not come up with this technology sooner. I felt this could've helped to save the railroads. But as for the showers on amtrak what is the time limit to take a shower? When I saw the Viewliner Showers it looked alot narrower then a phone booth but it looks like you had to share the shower with the toilet and this was first class! It was even weirder when I saw the toilets being shared in the roomettes and if you have another guest they must leave in order to use this feature! YIKES! I just hope it doesn't smell.

Still wouldn't mind taking Amtrak long distance but I wouldn't do it every year but every few years.

Queensland Railways had showers in thier coaches on the Sunlander . you got a disposable towel and soap etc in your seat back . a nice touch , and very refreshing . not much bigger than an amfleet toilet cubicle . It is abit wierd stepping out of the shower in front of a coach full of people (next time i'll remeber to put my pants on first ) .
As for amtrak , i think showers at Chicago , and other stations where people layover , would be a good idea .

NJTRailfan wrote:It's too bad that the legacy reailroads like the NYC, PRR, DLW, SP, UP,etc did not come up with this technology sooner. I felt this could've helped to save the railroads.

I don't know about the others, but Union Pacific had a shower and barber shop in the 1937 City of Los Angeles and 1938 City of San Francisco, and other prominent trains gained them later. Some coaches were rebuilt into 1500-series Club-Lounges in 1947 with shower and barbershop. UP's 1949 River-series Club-Lounge cars had a shower and barber shop, but in 1959 they were remodeled and the shower/barbershop became a card room. I think that was the end of the showers on the UP. I think back then the barbershop and shower were still limited to sleeping car passengers only.

I agree with the poster here that it would be a great innovation to offer showers to coach passengers but it's also true that it would cost extra money to carry the water.

That said, this is a problem that Amtrak could overcome, but let's first get a power outlet at every seat.

I think that Washington DC and Boston would be great places to try out a shower in the station, since they are the dead ends for the overnight corridor train. I think the hardest issue would be keeping the homeless out.

gprimr1 wrote:I agree with the poster here that it would be a great innovation to offer showers to coach passengers but it's also true that it would cost extra money to carry the water.

That said, this is a problem that Amtrak could overcome, but let's first get a power outlet at every seat.

I think that Washington DC and Boston would be great places to try out a shower in the station, since they are the dead ends for the overnight corridor train. I think the hardest issue would be keeping the homeless out.

In England , you habe to pay a nominal fee to enter the toilets where the showers are (20pence?? ) . that tends to keep homeless out . the toilets have attendants , who you pay to use the shower .
I would imagine in amtraks case , they would be part of a waiting area that was only accessible by passengers holding a long distance ticket .
In India they went one step further , most major stations had "railway retiring rooms " , where railway passengers could lodge for the night / day . ( I was never able to get one , always seemed to be fully booked ) .
Of course , many airports have these facilities .

I recall a westbound trip on the Capitol a couple of years ago. There was a youth group (D.C. based) on board with most in coach, but some of their advisers had sleepers. The kids in coach freely used the showers. I really need a shower bad - it kind of ticked me off, but then I could understand the kids' wanting a shower.

OK, I'm pleased to see that this discussion has moved forth in a manner that will not give rise to any possible "fair and impartial hearings and investigations". If our members participating here know of any incidents that could give rise to "charges and specifications", wisely they have kept such to themselves.

Although the UP cars noted by Mr. Westr pre-dated my ridings as did the Century Club cars "Lake Shore' and "Atlantic Shore" (both sold to the Rock Island, one of which ended up as Rock Island's Track One restaurant that I have noted here in various postings), the 'roster" of on-board shower facilities I knew were California Zephyr Drawing Room in the Obs-Lounge, Broadway Limited and Crescent each in their Master Room accommodations - and that's it. If the Super had one, it pre-dated my 1960's rides.

I once booked a Master Room Atlanta-Wash on the Southern Crescent - of course I made use of the shower.

There were public showers (cleaned by an Attendant after each use - hand out of course) at CUS. They were along the West side of the Great Hall adjacent to the current train information board.

Regarding Amtrak showere, I've never come up empty handed i.e. they have always worked.

NJTRailfan wrote:It's too bad that the legacy reailroads like the NYC, PRR, DLW, SP, UP,etc did not come up with this technology sooner. I felt this could've helped to save the railroads. But as for the showers on amtrak what is the time limit to take a shower? When I saw the Viewliner Showers it looked alot narrower then a phone booth but it looks like you had to share the shower with the toilet and this was first class! It was even weirder when I saw the toilets being shared in the roomettes and if you have another guest they must leave in order to use this feature! YIKES! I just hope it doesn't smell.

The showers/toilets in the Bedrooms are indeed one small room. However, there is another shower down the hall for roomette passengers (an bedroom passengers if they want). It is quite roomy and has a roomy changing room with it. There is no time limit, but you should consider other passengers when showering and make it as short as possible.

As for the toilets in the roomettes, I agree, I do not like it. However, smell has never been an issue.