Federal, Night Owl, Twilight Shoreliner (Trains 65, 66, 67)

Well, someone over "at another site" tried the Sleeper out BOS-WAS - and was disappointed.

The report noted the car was "not exactly clean" which is because it likely arrived same day on 448, Lake Shore".

Further, announcements were made throughout the entire journey with the Sleeper no exception.

Finally, the "Continental Breakfast" was a joke.

Try at your own risk.

I’ve complained about the NYP based crews not respecting quiet hours on the overnight NER trains. Seems like nothing’s changed.

It could be that coach passengers sleep through their stop often enough that complaints are received that no announcement was made. Sleeping cars are a different story; back in the day the porter would, if necessary, awaken individual passengers in sufficient time.

ExCon90 wrote: ↑Sat Apr 10, 2021 8:13 pm It could be that coach passengers sleep through their stop often enough that complaints are received that no announcement was made. Sleeping cars are a different story; back in the day the porter would, if necessary, awaken individual passengers in sufficient time.

It makes you wish each berth had an alarm clock at least, so you could set it to wake you up 30 minutes before your stop (assuming it was on time).

Hmmm... I wonder how small USB GPS receivers have gotten now a days..

Edit: Better idea. The Amtrak App should alarm 30 minutes before your stop, tracked by GPS. Make the interval configurable (minimum 30 minutes).

ExCon90 wrote: ↑Sat Apr 10, 2021 8:13 pm It could be that coach passengers sleep through their stop often enough that complaints are received that no announcement was made. Sleeping cars are a different story; back in the day the porter would, if necessary, awaken individual passengers in sufficient time.

Last I knew, conductors put a three-letter ticket with the destination station code above the seat of each passenger so they knew where people were getting off. And I thought it was the conductor's job to make sure that a passenger didn't miss a stop.

Rockingham Racer wrote: ↑Sun Apr 11, 2021 3:29 am Last I knew, conductors put a three-letter ticket with the destination station code above the seat of each passenger so they knew where people were getting off. And I thought it was the conductor's job to make sure that a passenger didn't miss a stop.

With the Pennsy and Regional, they would do the slips, writing down the destination station code after checking your tickets. After leaving every station, they would go by, remove the next station's slips, and let folks know.

That's right, and it worked fine. It seems that a lot of institutional culture and memory has disappeared over time.

Honestly I think it’s that certain crews don’t give a s*#t. Last time I rode BOS-WAS overnight the first set of conductors announced that after 10 pm there would be announcement and people should set alarms before their scheduled stop. They also went around and reminded people getting off. This all stopped when they swapped crews at NYP. The new crew made every announcement multiple times. It was miserable.

The biggest flaw with riding the overnight in coach southbound is that once you get past NYP it basically becomes a commuter train for people with early meetings in Washington and the number of boarding picks up considerably and makes it impossible to get any sleep.

Is there a quiet car? Do they make announcements in the other quiet cars?

bostontrainguy wrote: ↑Mon Apr 12, 2021 7:35 am Is there a quiet car? Do they make announcements in the other quiet cars?

I think they do. The quiet car is basically a restriction on customers from talking -- a library setting, basically.

It's seven years since I rode what I still call the Night Owl—a good name for it. I would have sprung for a sleeper then if it had been available. I was returning from a funeral and going to work the next day in Virginia. An announcement in South Station said there would be no quiet car on this train. Like most other times I had ridden the train, I had to show my ticket in New York. At one time in its history, conductors seated the through passengers in a separate car and let us sleep through New York. That happened only once in the many times I rode the train.

I rode the sleeper on 67 on Tuesday the 13th in roomette 1, with BRATKINSON in roomette 2,from Boston to Wash. When we boarded we mentioned to the attendant that announcements were frequently made in the sleeper and that we would rather not have them as we were traveling through and there were no other passengers in the car. The attendant ( who was working from the extra board) was very understanding and said he would turn off the announcements in the sleeper, which he did. After he did a final check around Providence, I was not bothered again(except for the horn and rough track) until I got up around Baltimore. Overall, a pleasant trip and very friendly crew.

Great report. Thanks for sharing the positive experience.

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I rode in the through car once, in about March 1992. It was a Heritage coach set up for long distance, with legrests and lots of legroom and a giant men's restroom. The conductor directed me to the coach. Made a lot of sense. I can't remember the other coaches on the train that night, or the coach I rode from Boston to Wilmington in 1991, but based on what I can find online they were Amfleets. When I road from NY to Boston in 1997, they were the regular short-distance NEC Amfleets. Is that still the case/was that always the case? I'd have thought the night train would merit the long-distance legroom and legrests.

Another unfavorable report posted over at the site that Mr. Atkinson placed his and, of the same trip, Mr. Dgv... has here.

That report noted announcements made through the night, a less than spotless car, no "comp beverage", a "less than qualified" Attendant, a "Breakfast fit for the trash" and "on and on..."

The only "favorable" noted is that both 66 and 67 were on time.

Sounds like a hit or miss; I'll pass.