Quote:
Amtrak isn't like that.


Even so, I'd like to experience a sleeper on my own terms before their demise - which isn't imminent, but probably will eventually happen in the U.S. True dining cars are already gone - Amtrak now serves microwave dinners on their diners instead of the delicious cooked-to-order meals that were once served. My one experience on an Amtrak sleeper was less than optimal. I must have been 14 or so years old and my parents took me to New Orleans on the appropriately-named "City of New Orleans" from Memphis, which called in my hometown at that time at around 3 in the morning. The sleeper was cool, but having my parents in the bunk above me took just a little bit of the fun out of the trip. I was so excited I got virtually no sleep, and my parents fared even worse. My Mom hated it so much she cashed our Amtrak tickets out in New Orleans, and we flew home on a Republic Airlines DC-9. I was not a happy camper.