How do you sleep (quality of slumber) in a sleeper car?

[pdman]

I find a key thing is to try to get a compartment in the middle of the car. That way there is less noise from the wheels and the side-by-side sway is lessened because there is less sway being in the middle (in-between) of the two trucks' movements.

One of the reasons why airplanes have first class up front is because the motion is less toward the front. In the back the rudder constantly moves side by side in order to keep the plane going straight, and the ride is rough as a result back there.

[Noel Weaver]

My most recent sleeping car trip was south on 67 from Boston to New Carrollton and that was maybe 10 or more years ago. I had my car at New Carrollton and drove to Lorton, VA to get on the Auto Train where I expected to go coach, I had my reservation. I got to Lorton and asked about an upgrade and they gave me a good deal so I upgraded. Good sleep on both trains, especially on 67 where I was sleeping before Providence and the porter woke me up as we were leaving Baltimore, the trip was that good. I didn't do bad on the Auto Train either.
My worst two sleeping car experiences go back quite a few years. On the Great Northern Western Star I had a Duplex Roomette and I felt closturefobia all the way and in addition I got a stomach upset. The food was good, the crews friendly and the scenery was fantastic, my first trip west. When - in 1962. Why the Western Star? We were still able to get foreign road trip passes every year and I took advantage of it, the Western Star was still a very good train in 1962 as well. The very worst sleeping car experience by a wide margin was on the Louisville and Nashville again in the 60's. The Gulf Wind from New Orleans to Jacksonville. It was the worst track I had ever ridden over, the crew did not like northerners riding on a pass, they shut the AC off in the sleeper and I roasted in the middle of the night, finally I went out to find the porter and found all of the crew in part of the sleeper and they had shut the AC off, they put it back on and problem eventually was corrected. Why couldn't I sleep? The L & N had the worst track of any railroad I had ever ridden and I came from the northeast which was the land of the bankrupt railroads. Eventually we came to the Seaboard and the track was smooth, the crew good and we had a Seaboard Dining Car which provided a good breakfast. One of the very best sleeping car trips I ever experienced was on the Canadian National from Montreal to Vancouver in 1965. Big train out of Montreal and my friend and I had a double bedroom and were very comfortable. The track very smooth, the car very clean, the crews very friendly and the train was on time. The Montreal and Toronto sections were combined at Caperol and the switching was so smooth we didn't feel a thing. We had a very long train but two F units were on the head end and did a decent job. We had some time somewhere and I asked the fireman how they were able to provide enough steam for such a long time, the answer the B unit had two steam generators and they took excellent care of all their equipment. One of my favorite one night sleeping car trips that I did a good number of times before Amtrak was Seaboard (later Seaboard Coast Line) train no. 10 the northbound Palmland from Raleigh to New York. Just the right amount of time on the road for a dining car meal and a good night's sleep and this one never let me down. Good track, friendly people, I was able to ride on a trip pass on all the railroads and finally a HW dining car with a great crew and the best friend chicken I have ever had to this day. More memories!!!
Noel Weaver

PS The secret to a good night in a sleeper, get on the train tired and stay awake until bedtime whenever that is.

[mvb119]

I have to say, my trip back from Chicago on the eastbound Cardinal back in October was one of the best nights of sleep I can recall having. I don't remember waking up once until the morning when we were going through Kentucky. The ride definitely didn't seem rough. Oddly enough, while the ride was great on the slower freight tracks, I didn't particularly care for the ride on the Viewliner going along the NEC at 110mph. I'd much rather be on an Amfleet at those speeds.

[NS VIA FAN]

I was on the Night Owl several times between Boston and Washington. Always a good sleep leaving Boston but I would set my alarm to wake me in time for the run up and over Hells Gate and that incredible view of Manhattan at night. Penn Station is noisy even at 3am so little chance of getting back to sleep so I would just lay in bad and enjoy the lights as we sped south in the corridor.

[EastCleveland]

It took a few trips to get my formula right:

1) Roomette in the center of the car (lower level on Superliners, Roomette #11 or #12).

2) Feet first (it feels more 'natural' to me).

3) Eye mask (blocks light leakage -- corridor and exterior -- through gaps in the curtains).

4) Ear plugs (sudden noises are my biggest "sleep-interrupter," even at home).

5) Book the "first seating" for dinner (so I don't eat a heavy meal too late).

6) No alcohol during the trip. Ever.

7) No caffeine later than 2PM.

8) In fact, no liquids at all two hours before bedtime.

It sounds very Spartan, I know. But it works for me. I sleep well. And I'm fully rested and alert the next day, whether I'm still traveling on the train or not. No nodding out in the Sightseer Lounge for me.

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[jcpatten]

In last several years, I've done sleepers on these trains:
Lake Shore Limited westbound, in the Boston section sleeper which is at the head of the train. I slept terribly. Seemingly lots of grade crossings through central NY (lots of horn noise), track seems terrible.
Capitol Limited eastbound, the day after the above LSL trip. Slept much better because I was tired from the night before! I think I was in the second of 3 sleepers (counting the trans dorm), over a set of trucks.
Cardinal westbound. I slept great. Sleeper was the last car of the train, so lots of distance between me and horn. Track seemed pretty smooth.
Silver Meteor both directions. Slept well both times. Track seemed fine. Sleepers at the back of the train, so horn noise was far away.

I should note that sleep doesn't come easy for me, it's usually assisted in some way. All of these were bedrooms.

[bratkinson]

I always do better the second night, if the trip includes one.

For whatever reason, the first night, I'm still 'wired'/excited about the trip. Even with over the counter sleep aids, it's still tough to fall asleep the first night. For 2nd and subsequent nights (I take either a 2-zone or 3-zone AGR w/sleeper round trip about once/year), I sleep fairly soundly.

However, I need the 'buffer' of at least one car or loco between my sleeper and the locomotive, as the horn can be a problem. In the east, grade crossings are oftentimes only a mile or two apart. Out west, it's more like miles and miles apart. Rough track is another problem. I took the Lakeshore 2 weeks ago and it's clear that CSX doesn't keep the track in as good of condition as NS does west of Cleveland.

Being a senior citizen, one of my maladies is GERD. So I have to sleep with my body and head elevated. I usually beat the car attendant and make my bed into a chaise lounge to get the necessary elevation. My roll-on bag, on edge, fits perfectly in the gap between the seat sections on Superliners, but is perhaps 1" too thick on Viewliners. Go figure. I also found a couple of 'compressed' pillows on Amazon that I take along as well, for added support.

I'm also an early-riser when I'm on the train. 5-5:30 generally. That way, I'm usually first in the shower and one of the first in the diner. I also tell the attendant to not make up my bed until an hour or so before the last stop. That way, I can read/doze/stare out the window in the comfort of my chaise lounge, even for 3 days at a time on 421/422!

[Matt Johnson]

I have to say, my trip back from Chicago on the eastbound Cardinal back in October was one of the best nights of sleep I can recall having. I don't remember waking up once until the morning when we were going through Kentucky. The ride definitely didn't seem rough. Oddly enough, while the ride was great on the slower freight tracks, I didn't particularly care for the ride on the Viewliner going along the NEC at 110mph. I'd much rather be on an Amfleet at those speeds.

I don't recall the Viewliners being rough on the NEC, but then I haven't ridden on them north of DC for over a decade. I did take the Cardinal from Chicago to DC last month. Sometimes I leave the curtains open and then I'm more likely to awaken with the sunrise. The Viewliner upper berths certainly afford more clearance than the Superliner ones (which of course lack a window), though either one works fine for me.

[Rabid Transit]

Of the times I've ridden on a sleeper ('80s-'90s) the only problem I had was I kept wanting to watch the scenery roll by at night, along with the activities at stations. Kind of hard to sleep when I was rolling up the shade from time to time.

[AgentSkelly]

I have done a sleeper once on the Empire Builder in a roomette and I had no problems; however, I can manage to find a place to sleep anywhere and be fine...

With that said, I once got advice from oddly an Amtrak engineer that if someone doesn't can't sleep in a roomette or even in a coach seat, its probably because their body doesn't like the feeling of the "foward direction motion" and that they should get a bedroom or a bedroom suite which has the beds going across the cabin the long way so the body can be tricked as the motion is now side to side...

[JLJ061]

I also sleep better on the second night on the train, probably because by then the "newness" of the trip has worn off somewhat.

Even so it's somewhat of a fitful sleep because it's always in the back of my mind the number of grade crossing collisions in this country, and a small part of me wonders if this is the night some nitwit tries to beat my train at a crossing?

A sleeping car attendant also told me once that when they make the beds up for the night they are set up in a way so passengers sleep with feet facing forward; That way if the train ever has to go into emergency for whatever reason you're less likely to be injured by the forward inertia and your feet hitting the wall instead of your head!