Passenger Trains > Private as well as common toilets

Some people want a private toilet in their room. Some people want access to a common toilet.

Why not have a private toilet in every room, as well as common toilets available, so everyone has their preferred option?

According to someone giving a tour at Beach Grove, Superliner roomettes could have toilets.

In room toilets make self isolating, such as during a pandemic, quite doable.

Should someones preference for a common toilet prevent everyone from having the option of having a private toilet?

Not everyone wants to sleep inches away from a bog.

think they should go to common toilets and showers, except formost  rooms, for plumbing's sake , or give people a choice, there are advantages of both.

masterphots Wrote:
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> Not everyone wants to sleep inches away from a
> bog.

On the Superliner bedrooms I used, taking a shower means wetting the entire toilet, due to how the bathroom was designed. So I went downstairs and used the shower room instead.

On the return trip, I booked a yield-price friendly family bedroom downstairs which doesn't have the toilet included. Not only was it WAY roomier, accessing the separate "public" toilets on the same floor was more convenient. In this day and age of having access to sanitizers, clean-freaks need not worry about "public" toilets anymore.

Just my opinion based on past Amtrak trips.

I vote for toilets in rooms. Roomettes had them for years. But they were for single travelers. The problem with the Viewliner I's is that if there are two passengers to a room and no common toilet in the car and one person has to go. Not so great. Sure one person can step out but also not a good situation if in the middle of the night.  In bedrooms the toilet is encolsed so not a problem. 

Train29 Wrote:
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> I vote for toilets in rooms. Roomettes had them
> for years. But they were for single travelers. The
> problem with the Viewliner I's is that if there
> are two passengers to a room and no common toilet
> in the car and one person has to go. Not so great.
> Sure one person can step out but also not a good
> situation if in the middle of the night.  In
> bedrooms the toilet is encolsed so not a
> problem. 

Toilets in single occupancy roomettes can be a hassle for many of us at night when the bed is down -- requires lifting the bed up to access the toilet. In many cases it's a lot easier to walk down the hall to a common toliet. 

WP17

Give em a coffee can and be done with it!

I can do with or without them in room. Even when traveling alone in a Viewliner roomette, I will walk to the nearest coach (with sanitizing wipes) and use that instead. More room and more sanitary.

Posted from Android

masterphots Wrote:
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> Not everyone wants to sleep inches away from a
> bog.

Speeding in the curve the hog will jog a log from the bog. 

The male gender can often dribble on the carpeted floor in front of the toilet and it can't be cleaned. Better to provide hand sanitizer and toilet seat cover dispensers in the rest rooms, so long as it is not too much of a heavy lift or trouble for Amtrak to service them. 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/20/21 10:53 by joemvcnj.

Spongebob-Trainguy Wrote:
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> Why not have a private toilet in every room, as
> well as common toilets available, so everyone has
> their preferred option?

Space and money are two good reasons against this.

> According to someone giving a tour at Beach Grove,
> Superliner roomettes could have toilets.

That would be something that violates the law of space and time.

Toilet systems are expensive to install and maintain, they take up a lot of room, and they’re heavy. You simply cannot accommodate every desired amenity in every instance. When I worked in the Rail Program at Caltrans, all our “stakeholders” wanted more. More revenue seating, more space for bikes, more handicapped seating, more room for baggage, bigger toilet rooms, bigger equipment rooms. To give everyone what they wanted would require a car that was 140 feet long. Building rail equipment is a constant exercise in compromise to find the optimum level of accommodation, and nobody will be completely happy with the results.

Posted from iPhone

seperation of church and state

Used to prefer the bathroom in the roomette. But now, I'll gladly take a room withOUT a bathroom and the bathroom is down the hall. The Superliner bedroom perhaps offers a nice compromise - enclosed facility in the room for use. But for showering - the common shower will always be preferred since it offers more elbow, legroom etc. It's been an interesting journey over the years. Look forward to experiencing the Viewliner II Sleepers!

I'd rather not pay good money to sleep in a s%$$house. Every one I have ever slept next to stunk.

Posted from Android

I used to be agnostic on this issue, but no more. 

As as I get older, and accumulate more horror stories of real world Amtrak maintenance, the more I want single room toilets separate, away from the rooms. 

But then, in all honesty, I have been mostly booking double bedrooms the last few years, and in those I really, really like the combined shower/toilet arrangement that is provided currently.  I still think roomettes should not have their own toilets, though. 

Well, it wasn't a problem in the old days when the toilets dumped straight on to the tracks. 

Back in the 'heritage fleet' days of Amtrak, the need to flip up the bed to use the toilet at night never presented a problem for me.  Passengers had to open the sliding door to the hallway, zip down the heavy curtain, back into the hallway, flip up the 'safety' thing that prevented the bed from going up once down, then the bed, use the toilet, then reverse the process when done.  An advantage of that arrangement was that the toilet was a 'direct dump' onto the tracks eliminating the need for any fancy flush systems prone to clogs and/or freeze ups.  Interestingly, some roomettes of the day had a lever that got moved down 3-4" when the bed was fully lowered that locked the sink in the closed position.  Perhaps that was to keep menn from peeing in the sink at night.  I still prefer those twin-size beds and their comfortable mattresses to anything Amtrak has today.  The giant picture windows were great as well.

Then came the Superliner Is and its claustrophobic toilets on the lower level only.  It was maybe 10 years later that the upstairs toilet was added in what was formerly a 'wide open' area across from the stairway.  The advantage of not having a toilet in the room is that the beds can be made up in any direction, allowing 'feet first' sleeping regardless of car orientation.  Before Amtrak made roomette #1 the attendants' room, #1 and #2 were always the best rooms in the house for their good middle-of-the-car ride.  Then came the restroom and the multiple times per hour door slamming of the toilet.  It has to be extra loud for the attendant trying to catch a wink or two in romette #1.  Having had #2 in the intervening 30 years or so, the door slamming is clearly heard there, too...and that's without my hearing aids when I'm in bed!  These days, in the few times I can't get a lower level roomette (#14 is my preference), I'll trek downstairs to the toilets simply to avoid the heavily-used upstairs toilet and it's frequently wet floors the result of dribblers and wet hands after washing.  Only rarely have I found that toilet consistently with a dry floor the result a very attentive SCA.

Superlilner IIs came next with the upstairs toilet installed at the factory.  Other than replacing the narrow closets in the roomettes and a couple of other minor changes, they closely resembled the Superliner Is.

The introduction of the Viewliners in 1995 largely replicated the double slumbercoach rooms from the 1950s & 60s that made it into the Amtrak era for 10 years or so.  The biggest difference between the two was the beds were maybe 24" wide in the slumbercoach vs 30" or so in the Viewliners...except at the toilet end.

I endcountered a couple of 'heritage fleet' roomettes with wet carpets.  Whether from sloppy men that couldn't keep a steady 'aim' on a bouncing swaying train, dribblers, or overflows from the sink above, I never knew.  The percentage of times I had wet-floor roomettes in those days pales in comparison to the percentage of times I've had squishy carpets in Viewliners.  I'd estimate that about 1/3 of the Viewliner roomettes I've been in had squishy carpets.  Shortly after the bottoms of my feet with socks on got wet, I starting bringing an older pair of rubber soled moccasins with me for all times except going to/from the diner or lounge car.  They are kept in separate bags in my luggage to avoid contaminating other items in my bag.  Another problem I have with the toilets in Viewliner bedrooms is that with the bed down, sitting on the toilet is extremely cramped for this overweight elder.  I usually roll the mattress etc to the far side and change the seat back to upright position and that gives me room for 'man spread'.  I always sit on the toilets on trains specifically to avoid any aiming or dribble issues.  I don't want to step into my own pee any more than anyone else does.

So, do I prefer separate toilets?  ABSOLUTELY YES!!!  This past April, I and a friend I met on another RR forum site took a joyride on the newly restore Night Owl sleeper BOS->WAS.  As we were the only two passengers from BOS that night, we chattted with the attendant as our roomettes were across the hall from each other.  He said he was usually on the Capitol Ltd but was moved to the extra board and happened to be assigned to the Night Owl that trip.  That explained why my bed was made up with the head of the bed next to the TOILET when we boarded.  I told him I'd correct it and he noted that he had been trained to always make up the beds for 'feet first' travel, which makes sense in both the old Pullman days as well as in Superliners.  I noted to him that I've had a couple encounters through the years with wet mattresses alongside the toilet & sink.  Draw your own conclusions how that could have happened.  Needless to say, that's one of the reasons I always make up my bed myself.  I'll make it up for 'feet first' travel 100% of the time in a Superliner, and maybe 50-60% of the time in Viewliners.  The other 40-50%...'head first' to avoid putting my head next to the toilet.  I also toss and turn a LOT at night, and the cramped quarters of the toilet area would seem to be very claustrophobic for me if I were in that sleeping position.

The only drawback to community toilets is the need to get acceptably dressed for the trip to the toilet be it in the middle of the night or any other time.  Having the moccasins positioned on the floor and a pair of thin sweat pants handy, I simply put them on and mosey down the hall as I sleep with only a t-shirt and shorts on.  The carpet stays dry and having multiple restrooms with only minimal traffic generally has dry floors as well.

And for those readers that think the roomettes are thoroughly cleaned enroute if it's to be flipped for a 2nd passenger or even at the shops at the destination, guess again!  I think it was 3 years ago on the Coast Starlight PDX->LAX, I was in #14, a senile old lady in #13, and her daughter in #11.  The daughter made trips to her moms' roomette every 20 minutes or so.  The next morning, the same routine was happening.  About 11AM, she was back and forth every minute or two.  It turned out her mom decided the waste basket was the toilet.  The carpet, the mattress, and even the bedding was wet according to the daughter.  They got off in San Jose, as I recall.  Fortunately, the roomette was not flipped for another passenger.  But the SCA was quite unhappy having to deal with the wet problem....and neither the mother nor daughter gave him a TIP according to him. 

 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/20/21 19:14 by BRAtkinson.

masterphots Wrote:
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> Not everyone wants to sleep inches away from a
> bog.


I don't I'd hate to see how much urine has stained the view liners ugh

Posted from Android

Never understood the love of having a toilet in your bedroom?!?!

Posted from iPhone