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60 Types of Railcars
Superliner
Superliner cars are classified into coach, diner and sleeper. These double-decker passenger cars are used for Amtrak’s long-haul trips out West as well as on the Capitol Limited and Auto Train in the East. The Superliner height generally precludes its operating in the Northeast because of tunnel clearance concerns. These cars never run on trains originating from or heading to New York. The
first cars were manufactured by Pullman-Standard in the late 1970s, and the second round of cars was built in the 1990s by Bombardier Transportation.
Sleeping Car
Amtrak private sleeping compartments offer seats, beds, curtained doors and some private baths. Long- haul trains generally have double-decker Superliner or one-level Viewliner cars.
Amtrak assigned names of
national parks to the Superliner I
sleepers, but the names were
never officially applied to
all the cars. Only two cars
were actually named, but
not for national parks. The
Superliner II sleepers were
named after states, with these names applied to the cars at the time of manufacture. Unfortunately, as the cars have been repainted, those names have disappeared. For more information on room configurations, see page 74.
Transition Car
The “transition’ in the name of this sleeper refers to the fact that these cars provide a low-level entrance on one end of the car to allow crew access to the Baggage Car. The other end has a high-level entrance to connect with the rest of the train. The entire upper level of the car features roomette accommodations, often allocated to train crew. Occasionally, space in these cars that is not occupied by the crew is sold as revenue sleeping accommodation.
TTfT