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  • How does Amtrak determine car numbers?

  • Discussion related to Amtrak also known as the National Railroad Passenger Corp.
Discussion related to Amtrak also known as the National Railroad Passenger Corp.

Moderators: GirlOnTheTrain, mtuandrew, Tadman

 #1529511  by SouthernRailway
 
When you book a sleeping car, your ticket shows a car number and a room number.

How does Amtrak determine the car number?

It’s clearly the train number plus 2 digits. On the Crescent, for example, the sleeping cars in train 19 are 1910 and 1911.

But car 1910 isn’t the tenth car in the train; it’s the 7th or 8th.

This is a minor topic, but curious. Thanks.
 #1529533  by Greg Moore
 
Actually I think I saw someplace that they DO number the coach cars (and on Amfleet II cars you can see in some cases where they would be displayed externally) but that's for internal usage, 01-09 would be coach cars.
 #1529547  by Arborwayfan
 
I think they number the coaches 1-9 (1901 etc), as Mr. Moore says. I think I've even seen the numbers set on both Amfleet and Superliner coaches. But since no one has a reserved seat in a particular coach those numbers aren't on one's ticket.

I am pretty sure they inherited the system from the railroads and Pullman, because I have seen such car numbers in the "equipment" sections of pre-Amtrak public timetables or in the Official Guide.
 #1529584  by east point
 
Can we guess if coach ever becomes reserved with seat assignments that coaches will be numbered as well. The only problems which would be very good is if a train had more than 10 coaches . The Palmetto might be the first ?
 #1529989  by Tadman
 
I think this is a holdover from pre-1971 days, and it's second only to British headcodes (IE "1S26") in being the most confusing thing in railroading. Many foreign trains just have sequential letters to identify the cars. Last time I rode the cally I was in sleeper M. Each of 16 cars gets a letter, including the three coaches and three lounges. On DB, not only does each car get a simple number, but the train diagrams are posted so that riders know exactly where to line up on the platform for their car. Contrast this with the Amtrak practice of not letting people on the platform and playing "stand up sit down follow me"...
 #1529992  by jonnhrr
 
RE British headcodes, officially called train reporting numbers, actually do have a logic to them. From Wikipedia:
A train reporting number in Great Britain identifies a particular train service. It consists of:

A single-digit number, indicating the class (type) of train, followed by
A letter, indicating the destination area, followed by
A two-digit number, identifying the individual train or indicating the route (the latter generally for suburban services).
The train reporting number is often called the headcode, a throwback to when the number was physically displayed at the head of a train.
You can get all the gory details here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Train_reporting_number

It is ironic that we think of Europeans as living in a Nanny State and us Americans rugged individualists, yet the behavior of our national rail systems is the reverse of that perception.
 #1529994  by Tadman
 
Agreed, I understand the headcodes do indeed have a logic. Offhand the first number is priority of train (1 is express passenger, 5+ are drag freights) and the letter is destination such as London, Scotland, or other regions. It's just that the letter assignments never really clicked in my head (Why not L for London, the most important city?) and the use of Zero for light engine is a bit nonsensical if it's below 1, the most important.

But you are right, there is indeed a logic, it's just typically British fogginess. I love riding trains over there and visted the museum at Crewe last summer, the junk shop there is absolutely amazing.
 #1530003  by Arborwayfan
 
jonnhrr wrote: Fri Jan 03, 2020 11:56 am It is ironic that we think of Europeans as living in a Nanny State and us Americans rugged individualists, yet the behavior of our national rail systems is the reverse of that perception.
Not just the national rail systems, for what it's worth. Lots of European regulations are not as strict, or are equally strict but in different ways. European (perhaps all non-US) government and private rules for many safety issues are less restrictive (e.g., there are fewer railings and guardrails and such things because they figure people can see not to fall off things; I believe this is partly because outside the US liability for accidents in either non-existent or is determined by statutory scales and expert investigators rather than by juries). Consider the famous Kinder Eggs, or all the hams, sausages, and similar animal-based food products not allowed into the US because they are cured at temperatures higher than what the FDA considers safe, or the rules that in this country all eggs must be washed and refrigerated before sale, whereas in some European countries they must NOT be washed and therefore need not be refrigerated before sale.

This is pretty much off topic and may be deleted without giving offense. :-D
 #1530004  by exvalley
 
SouthernRailway wrote: Sat Dec 28, 2019 6:19 pm Thanks, so it’s:

Train number + 10 through 14 for the sleepers (regardless of train)? That makes sense.
We are talking about Amtrak, so of course things are not quite that simple.

On the Lake Shore Limited, there is no "10" sleeper car, at least for the New York sleepers. They start with "11".
 #1531004  by J.D. Lang
 
Not exactly car numbers but I have a question about room numbers and hope someone may be able to help me out. I just booked a trip on the Lake Shore Limited (49) out of NYC for Chicago on April 20th. They gave me a car #4911 room #3 on a viewliner sleeper. I am hoping that my room number is a room on the Hudson side for the scenery. So the question is do they usually orient the car the same way out of NYC and if so would my number 3 be on the correct side. If not I'd like to change it now while there is still time. Thanks in advance.
 #1531008  by WashingtonPark
 
J.D. Lang wrote: Tue Jan 14, 2020 3:32 pm Not exactly car numbers but I have a question about room numbers and hope someone may be able to help me out. I just booked a trip on the Lake Shore Limited (49) out of NYC for Chicago on April 20th. They gave me a car #4911 room #3 on a viewliner sleeper. I am hoping that my room number is a room on the Hudson side for the scenery. So the question is do they usually orient the car the same way out of NYC and if so would my number 3 be on the correct side. If not I'd like to change it now while there is still time. Thanks in advance.
Usually odd numbered rooms are on the right hand side, but I don't know if that's a hard and fast rule.
 #1531010  by Tadman
 
Call the 800 number, sometimes they can help. Also there are car diagrams avail online. When I ride out west I try to get the sleeper closest to the diner, room closest to center of car, and upstairs. I don't mind the car side unless on LSL or Adirondack so that's not a big deal for me usually.