Security Question for Bedrooms
 

Travelling on the Empire Builder this June & am a little concerned about leaving stuff in the bedroom whilst we sit in the Dining or Lounge Cars.
Are the closets & doors lockable or can i secure them with a cable tie?
As we're taking travellers checks, passports etc i don't want to leave them where they can be stolen.
The brouchure does not mention anything about security so i would welcome any advice. :confused:

The doors are lockable from the inside of the rooms, but I don't believe they are from the outside. However, from the trains that I have been on, the sleeping cars on on 1 side of the diner and/or lounge car, while the coaches are on the other side.

The diner staff questions you when passing through if you are a sleeping car passenger. (Coach passengers can not go into the sleepers.) I have been questioned while going from the lounge car - through the dining car - back to the sleeper at 4:30 AM! ^

Thus, the only people you would be concerned about are other passengers in the sleeping cars (who also have the same concerns as you).

The bedroom doors are not lockable from the outside. If you are not in your room, then you cannot lock the door. As the_traveler noted theft is rare and coach passengers are not normally and routinely allowed in the sleeping cars. The sleeping car attendants usually do question anyone that they don't recognize.

That said, in the case of the Empire Builder however, its arrangement of cars prevents the dining car staff from stopping people who don't belong in the sleepers. The Empire Builder has sleepers at both ends of the train. Additionally there is a coach that only runs from Chicago to St. Paul. That coach is placed on the rear of the train, behind the sleeper going to Portland. So during that part of the journey, Chicago to St. Paul, coach passengers are allowed to walk through the Portland sleeping car.

So to Tanya, do not leave anything of great value out and in sight when you are not in the room. Things like an Ipod, laptop computer, even a cell phone. Any cash money should always be taken with you and I probably wouldn't even leave my passport or travelers checks in the room. If you do leave them in the room, then I would suggest only doing it if it is inside a locked suitcase.

It is unlikely that anything would be stolen, but there simply is no point in tempting the fates. Especially with things that could ruin your vacation.

Some sleeping car trains in Japan feature either Ving Cards, magnetic stripe cards or combination locks that enable the compartment to be locked when you leave it.

I have always wondered why Amtrak could not fit one of these security measures-- especially since trips can last several days.

That said, I agree with what others have said...

Theft from sleeping cars are rare, but I would not tempt fate by leaving objects of value in sight. When venturing to the dining/lounge car, I prefer to take valuables with me to avoid problems.

Thanks for the advice!
We'll make sure that we take our valuables with us as we do not want our vacation to be ruined for the sake of some light fingered opportunist.
Given the fact that we're in compartment E which looks like it's beside the staircase i think we'll have to be extra vigilant. :D

Another option is to keep a locking suitcase in the compartment and locking the valuables inside it while out of the bedroom.

...and for good measure, locking the suitcase to a fixed object (i.e. a stanchion or seat frame) using a cable lock (i.e. laptop computer cable lock or even a bicycle cable lock).

In all the time I've been reading this forum and other amtrak forums on the web, I've only read of items stolen from coach seats, never from a sleeper. Not to say that it isn't possible, but I think with common sense and precautions, you will be fine.

I agree that the chances of having something stolen from a sleeper (and even from coach) are rare. But when I'm feeling particularly paranoid, I'll make my diner/lounge/restroom trip immediately after departing a station. Meaning I'm usually back at my seat/sleeper before the next station. If something's stolen, at least you know the thief is still on the train.

Full disclosure: I watch a lot of Hitchcock films... :)

The unlocked sleeping compartment is an old US railroad tradition. I've been doing it for now 50 years and have never had a problem. With the rare exception of day coaches being placed on the sleeper end of a train, the dinner and club car crew control entry to the sleepers (and crew quarters) very carefully.

Now traveling on European trains, our tradition now is of concern to me. I like the suggestion to cable lock your valuables to underneath of the seat/bunks in the sleepers.

I have become more concerned about the scene around the tracks as some trains go slow on "neighborhood tracks" and stop in ghettos. The Cardinal coming into far northern Indiana in the Hammond area has had problems with rocks and shots fired at the train. I have experienced the rocks and "rolling" Amtrak Police car escorts and have seen bullet holes in the windows and side of the cars.

This Winter I took The Coast Starlight from LA to Oakland. I was in the dinner when we stopped in Salinas CA. There were many desperate and angry looking people milling about and cop cars patrolling the right of way around the station.

At the table across from me was an Indian graduate student. I asked him to draw the curtains and I will explain in a minute. He immediately drew the curtains tight and volunteered he didn't like the scene outside either and went on to explain to the retired Anglo couple from Ohio that we were riding in a very fancy train and his street smarts from India told him to not rub it in the faces of those less fortunate milling about outside.

It was sad

For the record, I have been at the Salinas station several times and I did not feel uncomfortable at all. Salinas is not Beverly Hills (neither is my hometown), but it is not a third world country either. It is a blue-collar, agricultural community with all the attributes that come with that demographic. Given the diverse nature of Amtrak clientele, I suspect there were people as unsavory on board your train as you feared were lurking outside your curtained window at the Salinas station.

Thanks. This is basically what I was going to say. Except I was going to also hurrah the return of Indian scares. ;)

Geroni--, um, nevermind....

By, say, quickly closing the curtain? I seriously doubt the fear you "felt" was even remotely close to the danger you were in. I am a white guy in his 30s who has lived in various "ghettos" for the last 10 years. I have never been in or felt like I was in the least amount of danger. But then, I try to look people in the eye and smile, maybe even say hello. Anytime I hear one of these stories about "driving through a dangerous neighborhood" I have to--well, it makes me sad. But also a little angry. It's the initial fear that is the true affront to "those less fortunate milling about," not the car/train you are riding in.

These security issues on Amtrak are not about race but class. The people milling about the train and street near the train in Salinas were not passengers ready to board or there to meet someone arriving but a underclass that were visibly angry at the display of wealth and privilege that the Coast Starlight represents.

My work and personal life has been spent more in the inner city as down on the farm. One learns regardless of race or class to take cover when an angry crowd gathers.

I sure agree, I have never had a problem one on one anywhere. The problem with people throwing rocks or shooting at a train is: I can't be myself one on one. I am riding in a train that to many is a symbol of a class that others are not a part of.

I have had rocks thrown at me on the Cardinal coming into Chicago. Just not at the train but people aiming and making eye contact with me in the window. The crew have acknowledged that the bullet holes in the windows happened in the same area.

When we're talking about an "underclass" there's not much difference between race and class. I don't know if the people in Salinas were black, hispanic or "poor whites," my only point was that the act of closing the curtain is, in itself, derogatory and I doubt you were in any true danger.

Besides, the idea that an Amtrak train is a "display of wealth and priviledge" is, in itself, kinda funny. I haven't been on the Coast Starlight, but the long distance East Coast trains are anything but.

So why would people throw rocks at the trains (or fire guns at them)? I grew up in a rural area, beside a train tracks, and we occasionally threw rocks at passing freight trains. I've also waited on a tee at a swank golf course, with a friend, our intention to see if we could nail the passing NJ Transit train. Granted, guns are serious step up, but I doubt the train symbolizes anything but a moving target. (Of course, it's also possible those "bullet holes" were made while the train was empty and stationary. Seems like the Chicago train yards are quite open.)