If you are expecting low fares that far ahead you have missed the changes Amtrak made in their yield management practices. While they used to allocate inventory in low buckets routinely when inventory was released 11 months ahead, they no longer do so and have not for several years. Over the last year or so they have also gotten much aggressive in their initial pricing, typically allocating inventory only to the top couple of buckets at inventory release as opposed to middle buckets. They adjust as actual demand develops, but typically do not touch it for at least 5 months after release (6 months before departure). I am looking at a trip in November and everything is still high bucket, so I am holding off booking for now and checking regularly. $1074 for a CHI-SEA roomette is the highest of the five fare buckets, btw.

The old book really early strategy flatly no longer works. The sweet spot now seems to be 4-6 months before departure. Also, when they do allocate inventory into lower buckets, it seems they only do one or at most two roomettes, so when you do see one, you need to grab it.

My current strategy is to check early, on the off chance they may have low buckets, but not be surprised when they don't. Then start checking regularly about 7 months out, prepared to book when I see a reasonable price. Try not to jump the gun, as that shows demand at high bucket and just encourages them.

Family Bedrooms on the Builder are priced strangely, but since there are only two CHI-SEA it makes some sense. They seem to allocate one lowest bucket, one highest bucket and just leave it that way.