Has anyone ridden coach on the Amtrak Crescent in the past year or two? I'm thinking about taking the Crescent to Atlanta for Thanksgiving, but I'm not sure how easy it would be to sleep in coach on this train. Also, I'm not sure how friendly and helpful the conductors and coach car attendants are on the Crescent. (I've ridden the Carolinian before and found the conductors and car attandants to be reasonably friendly and helpful. I hope the ones on the Crescent are, too. However, with Amtrak employees, you never know.... )
For anyone who has traveled in coach on the Crescent recently, I'd like to hear about your experiences.
Thanks!
notelvis Member # 3071
posted
I was on the Crescent Atlanta to Washington in April but was in roomette.
The train crew members that I encountered (conductor, dining car staff, car attendant) were all acceptably pleasant. No one stood out as great but they all were getting the job done without behaving like we passengers were in their way......maybe a shade better than the Carolinian.
My disclaimers though.....a really loser crew could turn up on any train at any time (except for maybe the Piedmont which is generally pretty pleasant) and, being in the sleeping cars, I might have experienced better crew behavior than someone in coach on the same train would receive.
Sinclair Member # 5155
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I was on the Crescent I think just over two years ago in coach. The ride was excellent. I have also done the route in a sleeper. As for the coach the attendant was amazing, he was filled with humour and friendliness and really made the trip! Likewise, as the above post says I've had a not so friendly attendant when in the sleeper. The actual journey experience I found very good in coach. You still have access to both the lounge car and dining car (although meals are not included in the fare). You get a big comfy seat with plenty of legroom. By that I mean that during the night I didn't have to wake my neighbour to get out for the bathroom! The seats recline also. In comparison my plane flight back home the seats are so small you basically sit upright all night and pretend to sleep. Because I fly to the US I tend to compare my overnight rail journeys with the overnight air ones and really there is no comparison - what a difference some space makes! Like by air, they dim the lights down low to help you sleep also. I tend not to sleep well on a seat no matter how comfy it is so that's just down to the individual. I will say this though, on flights to the UK everyone is sleeping, so I can only assume they have got something from the chemist to assist them!
So my overall thoughts are that the sleeping car is what it is - a real treat. Having said that you can do really quite well in coach and defiantly better than an equivalent air journey.
Hope you enjoy your trip!
tarheelman Member # 6095
posted
Thanks for relating your experiences, folks. Although, like you said, a bad crew can turn up on any train, it's good to know that there are some reasonably good crews on the Crescent---this at least gives my family a 50/50 chance of avoiding an unpleasant ride caused by a bad crew.
The extra space that train seats have (vs. coach seats in an airplane) does make them more comfortable in the daytime. I hope that it'll make a difference in the ability to sleep in them (again, vs. an airplane), too.
A couple more questions:
1. What time does the dining car open to coach passengers for breakfast?
2. How expensive (compared to the prices in the cafe cars on the Carolinian and other day trains) is the food in the dining car?
Thanks!
train lady Member # 3920
posted
most diners open at 6:30 and as to price to my knowledge the price of meals is the same on all trains. The coach seats on the ld trains not only recline but have footrests as well. That makes sleeping easier. A lot depends on how big you are, if you have person next to you, and the make up of the coach( crying babies, snorers etc) If I am tired I can sleep "hanging on a nail" where as my husband heard every sound. The problem is solved for us now as we only go sleeper.
tarheelman Member # 6095
posted
quote:Originally posted by train lady: most diners open at 6:30 and as to price to my knowledge the price of meals is the same on all trains. The coach seats on the ld trains not only recline but have footrests as well. That makes sleeping easier. A lot depends on how big you are, if you have person next to you, and the make up of the coach( crying babies, snorers etc) If I am tired I can sleep "hanging on a nail" where as my husband heard every sound. The problem is solved for us now as we only go sleeper.
Thanks for the information on the dining car hours and also the coach seats, train lady. The footrests definitely should help make sleeping easier.
sojourner Member # 3134
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I took the Crescent coach NYC to Atlanta 2 Thanksgivings ago, leaving on Tuesday (for Wednesday arrival) and returning I think on Monday night (for Tuesday arrival). It was definitely a busier time than usual, and I had to sit next to someone going down (often when I travel coach alone, I get a seat to myself, which is far preferable!), but I brought my little pillow and had no trouble sleeping. Ironically, the day I arrived in Atlanta, there was a terrible fog and all planes were delayed, so that my friends there (who had been bemused about my coming by train) said things like, "Gee, I guess you must have known something coming by train," and "Maybe trains are better." I did not correct their misapprehensions about the on-time performance of the trains tsk tsk.
Going back, I had a memorable experience in that I was put next to a hugely hugely fat man, so huge he was encroaching quite a bit on my seat. Not wanting to hurt his feelings, I quietly went up to the coach attendant to ask if I could change my seat, even though it was busy. The coach attendant said, in a booming voice that sounded JUST LIKE Tommy Lee Jones in his famous "check every doghouse, outhouse" speech in The Fugitive, "This little lady wants a seat all to herself," or words to that effect. I was VERY embarrassed. But then, a female conductor, who understood my plight, came over and overrode him, in fact offering me a seat all to myself if I did not mind sitting in the first row near the door where there was no window. Since I had my Walkman and ear plugs, a mask for my eyes, and it was largely a night trip (and I knew I could go into the lounge the next morning, should I want to), I grabbed the offer. The door opening and shutting did not bother me because I blocked out the sound and wore my coat as a blanket . . . really, it was lovely to have the seat to myself, and I slept pretty well in fact. The next morning I also went in and had breakfast. When I travel coach, I like to pay and have breakfast, it isn't such a ripoff as the pay dinners and I do like the experience of being in the dining car on a long-distance train, meeting folks, etc etc.
When I take the Crescent in a couple of weeks, I have a sleeper going back but am going down coach, because of the prices. However, it's not Thanksgiving, so I hope to get a seat to myself! But, regardless, I always take a little pillow etc etc, and if I don't sleep too well, that is nothing new; truth is, I often don't sleep so well at home either (common among us middle aged women, alas)
I am going all the way from NYC, keep in mind (with another train upstate). As you are a Tarheelman from North Carolina, I'd say the short hop in coach should be a snap!
BACHINPOPS Member # 6125
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We took the Crescent both ways from New Orleans to Philadelphia back in early July, with daughter, husband and 5 kids. With that crew sleepers would have been ASTRONOMICAL.
Sleeping in coach is no problem, you have room and it is for the most part quiet. The lights are turned out after 20:00.
Northbound train crews were Excellent !!! We had problems with restrooms, and heat instead of a/c overnight. The first conductor when we hit Virginia stopped the train, went outside and corrected the heating problem (must have violated a hundred union rules).
On the southbound trip, we had a cooler reception. Crews were adequate, but not friendly.
That was coach all the way. Last month I took my wife - who had never been on a train - on the City New Orleans from Hammond, La to Greenwood Ms. We took a Superliner bedroom. Crews were SPECTACULAR both ways. Was that because of first class instead of coach ???? Don't know.
Paul Burns Scott, La.
Gilbert B Norman Member # 1541
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Mr. Tarheel, my invariable advice for anyone considering an overnight journey is use Sleeper...period end of sentence. If you can't afford it, stay at home or use other transportation.
However, you will likely be boarding at Greensboro from where #19 departs at midnight. This means you will not get a full night's sleep regardless of class of service. It also means that you will not get your complimentary Dinner and if you were to "sleep in" your comp Breakfast.
I would still be traveling Sleeper, as I'm not about to confront situations such as Ms. Sojourner encountered. But in this instance should you choose Coach, I would understand.
Off the rails but of interest, regarding Ms. Sojourner's "close encounter', the problem such represents is becoming of concern to security analysts that follow the Restaurant & Hospitality sector. The major publicly traded and listed "sit down full service chains' such as Applebee's, Chili's (Brinker), TGIF, Olive Garden etc. are concerned that they will have to allow additional square footage for each table resulting in less revenue per square foot. For those that use fixed booth seating, such as does Amtrak, there will be further adverse impact to the "bottom line', arising from remodelling costs.
Fast food restaurant chains will also be impacted but not as greatly as much of their business today is "take out' (just look at the line of autos, idling away, doing their bit for global warming, by the drive up window).
tarheelman Member # 6095
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Thanks again everyone for the detailed responses about travel on the 'Crescent'. You've given me a much better idea about what to expect on this trip.
sojourner Member # 3134
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I wound up switching to a sleeper on my recent trip (see my post for Atlanta/Nashville); I just was too tired to deal with coach! The Crescent was great, but it was definitely busy in coach, and I am getting a little old and creaky so I decided to splurge.
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