Tips on Traveling in an Amtrak Roomette.

Rookie train travelers always have the same reaction when they first board an Amtrak sleeping car and poke their heads into a roomette: “We’re going to spend two days and two nights in this?”

Yes, it’s small. But it’s well designed and, after you spend a night or two in one, you’ll figure out how to get along very well. Here are a few tips:
* Stow large suitcases on the luggage rack at the end of the Viewliner cars and on the lower level of the Superliners. In a tote bag, take just what you need for that night and the next morning into the roomette (clean shirt and underwear, toiletry kit, books and games).
* If you’re smart and are traveling light, bring  your small carry-on-size bag into the room. It will fit on a small shelf next to one of the seats (visible in photo above).
* Lavatory facilities are “down the hall” if you’ve booked a roomette in a Superliner sleeping car, so I sleep in a T-shirt and a pair of comfortable gym shorts. When I have to use the lavatory in the wee hours (no pun intended), there’s no need to fumble around getting dressed in my daytime clothes. I just slip my feet into a pair of rubber slippers and off I go.
* When two people are traveling together, the upper berth in a roomette can be claustrophobic – especially in a Superliner where there is no second window up there. But, rather than switch to one of the large bedrooms, consider reserving two roomettes. Each of you will have privacy, neither will have to deal with an upper berth, and most of the time it will be the less expensive way to go.
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 Shameless plug: Lots of information like this can be found in the 3rd edition of my book, All Aboard-The Complete North American Train Travel Guide.