Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
You'll first meet your attendant on the platform where she
will check your name off against her passenger manifest and
direct you to your room. Once the train is underway, she should
also look in on you to make sure you understand where every-
thing is in your room and how it all works.
Some sleeping-car passengers enjoy the idea of room ser-
vice and ask the attendant for beverages or meals served in their
rooms. Strange as it may seem, because the dining-car experience
is one of the unique and enjoyable experiences in train travel, it's
not that unusual for a sleeping-car passenger to have all meals
brought to the room for the entire trip. Of course, that's the norm
for passengers with physical disabilities and for those who have
difficulty moving about the train.
The sleeping-car attendant will also give you a wake-up call
if you would like one or if you're going to be leaving the train
at an early morning stop. He'll offer to bring juice or hot coffee
to your room at whatever time you wish. There will usually be
a morning paper, too—one that was put aboard at a major city
the train passed through in the wee hours and slid under the bed-
room door by that same attendant.
The train attendant is the person you should first contact
with any problem or need. Whatever it may be, you can be sure
that the attendant has heard it before and will take it in stride. (I
always make it a point to ask the attendant in my car to tell me
about some of the unusual experience he or she has had. They
all have dozens of stories, some so bizarre they couldn't possibly
have been invented.)
Coach attendants usually occupy one of the rear seats in their
car. Depending on how full the train is, sleeping-car attendants
will either be in roomette 1 or, on one of the Superliner trains,
in the “transition sleeper” or “dorm car” up front, just behind
the baggage car. Some will make a point of telling you which
room they're in should you need something during the night. If
your attendant doesn't volunteer that information, by all means,
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