Canadian Railroads > Lower berth occupancy questions

Hello all,

I asked a couple of these questions on the Passenger Board, but no answers. I'll try here:

At the end of May, I'll be in a lower berth Vancouver - Toronto. Are there any outlets to charge a phone, plug in a scanner, etc? If not, is there some other place available on the train to charge electrical goodies?

Speaking to "charging in an Pullman berth", the suave conductor was caught in an upper berth with an attractive female passenger. At the investigation ( formal disciplinary hearing ), the trainmaster, well versed in the ways of passenger trainmen, asked the conductor " What were you doing in that upper berth with passenger Jones".
The conductor denied anything amiss, claiming he was merely repairing a burnt out light bulb.
The trainmaster then asked " Do you do all your electrical repairs in the nude, sir?"

Norm

Norman Orfall
Helendale, CA
TIOGA PASS, a private railcar

aronco Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Speaking to "charging in an Pullman berth", the
> suave conductor was caught in an upper berth with
> an attractive female passenger. At the
> investigation ( formal disciplinary hearing ), the
> trainmaster, well versed in the ways of passenger
> trainmen, asked the conductor " What were you
> doing in that upper berth with passenger Jones".
> The conductor denied anything amiss, claiming he
> was merely repairing a burnt out light bulb.
> The trainmaster then asked " Do you do all your
> electrical repairs in the nude, sir?"
>
> Norm

Glad nothing was a Miss.

bob

sums007 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Hello all,
>
> I asked a couple of these questions on the
> Passenger Board, but no answers. I'll try here:
>
> At the end of May, I'll be in a lower berth
> Vancouver - Toronto. Are there any outlets to
> charge a phone, plug in a scanner, etc? If not,
> is there some other place available on the train
> to charge electrical goodies?

That seemed to be on of the complaints from younger riders about the berths - no plugs. One gentleman said he just used the common bathroom to charge his iPhone overnight.......not sure if I am that trustworthy. There are plugs in the Park Dome Car.....especially if you have a Prestige one. I found a plug near the entrance of the Skyline Car, and the. Sat at the closest booth. But even the booths had no direct plugs.....

A friend who uses a breathing machine at night that needs to be plugged in checked the berths on a recent trip and came to the conclusion that there were no electrical outlets near the berths.

JBWX

jp1822 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> sums007 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Hello all,
> >
> > I asked a couple of these questions on the
> > Passenger Board, but no answers. I'll try
> here:
> >
> > At the end of May, I'll be in a lower berth
> > Vancouver - Toronto. Are there any outlets to
> > charge a phone, plug in a scanner, etc? If
> not,
> > is there some other place available on the
> train
> > to charge electrical goodies?
>
> That seemed to be on of the complaints from
> younger riders about the berths - no plugs. One
> gentleman said he just used the common bathroom to
> charge his iPhone overnight.......not sure if I am
> that trustworthy. There are plugs in the Park Dome
> Car.....especially if you have a Prestige one. I
> found a plug near the entrance of the Skyline Car,
> and the. Sat at the closest booth. But even the
> booths had no direct plugs.....

Thanks. I thought of the bathroom, but I don't think I'd be that trustworthy with my scanner, either.

You'd be better off buying a good pocket charger and loading it before the trip. They're $10-15 when they're not on sale and while most charge from a USB port, there are some that use AA batteries. I have two, one rechargeable and one, believe it or not, solar with an LED flashlight. I don't know how thorough a charge you'd get, on whatever you're using, but mine will let me use my phone while it charges.

Rebecca Morgan
Jacobsburg, OH

OHCR1551 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> You'd be better off buying a good pocket charger
> and loading it before the trip. They're $10-15
> when they're not on sale and while most charge
> from a USB port, there are some that use AA
> batteries. I have two, one rechargeable and one,
> believe it or not, solar with an LED flashlight. I
> don't know how thorough a charge you'd get, on
> whatever you're using, but mine will let me use my
> phone while it charges.


Thanks for that. I need something that will charge my handheld scanner for a three-day trip across Canada. Naturally, the scanner will be off at night, but I'd like to monitor the railroad during the daylight hours.

sums007 Wrote:
. I need something that will charge
> my handheld scanner for a three-day trip across
> Canada.

You need something like my old fashioned scanner that is powered by AA batteries. I just need to take a few spare batteries.

JBWX

One touch that I very much appreciated on our trip on No 2 this past fall was - VIA has equipped all its staff with Secret-Service style earphones for their radios.

One rarely if ever heard a radio squawking.

Some people enjoy monitoring, and that's their right (with earphones, please), but I found that not bothering with the radio made the trip that much more enjoyable.

- Paul

In the Park car on my journey last winter, I found electrical outlets for charging my cell phone and laptop on the left side of the car just aft of the stairs to the dome, and underneath the dome by the counter for drink-mixing by the crew.

Bring along a multi-busbar so that you can share the electricity with your fellow passengers. Don't remember if the outlet was two-prong or three-prong -- I always carry a 3 to 2 converter plug with me to cover all eventualities.

jbwest Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> sums007 Wrote:
> . I need something that will charge
> > my handheld scanner for a three-day trip across
> > Canada.
>
> You need something like my old fashioned scanner
> that is powered by AA batteries. I just need to
> take a few spare batteries.
>
> JBWX

And that's most likely what I'll do. Thanks for the advice, all!

No power in the berths.

As mentioned above, there is a duplex plug in the last car, the Park dome, under chairs on the port side.

There is a duplex outlet in each bedroom. Befriend a fellow passenger that has a bedroom and ask if you
can charge in there during the day, when they are most likely in the Park car anyway.

Numerous passengers slid their cell phones & laptops under the Park car chairs for charging, hidden from view. I doubt anyone
In the car would steal anyway. Murder on the train? Sure, but stealing.... Nah.

Thanks to all for the input--and the humor / humour!