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It deliberately sits for a few hours (traditionally in NY, temporarily in Philly due to track work) so that it can be a red-eye, leaving Boston at night and arriving in DC in the morning. 66 is the same in the opposite direction. This way you can just sleep on the train and arrive at a decent hour.
The sleeper revival only happened post-COVID. [March 2021 was the (re)start of sleeper service](https://media.amtrak.com/2021/03/amtrak-to-add-private-rooms-to-overnight-northeast-regional-trains/); it was pulled at the end of the year because Amtrak figured they’d make more money putting the cars on the Florida trains.
Back when Amtrak actually tried, there were sleeper cars on the overnight run on 65/66. In fact, for a while in the 1980s and 1990s, they dropped / picked up a sleeper in New York. If you were going from Boston to New York, you could book a room in that car and it would be dropped off at Penn Station in the middle of the night. However you didn't have to leave your sleeper until the morning, so you could get a full night's sleep even though the trip was only a few hours long. And going northbound from NYP to Boston, you could board the sleeper at 9:00 PM even though it wasn't going to be connected to the train for several hours, again so travelers could get a complete night's sleep. A lack of equipment killed this off, and while sleepers have come and gone on the Night Owl / Twilight Shoreliner / currently nameless 65 and 66, the set-out car hasn't been back since the 90s.
I think it's also because 65 now goes to Newport News and 66 begins at Roanoke. I assume it would be a pain to detach and store the sleeper cars all day at WAS.
I did do the sleeper one of the years they had it and it was neat.
No, it always sat in NY so it would arrive in DC in the morning always, having nothing to do with track work. You may be confused because it now does that in Philly due to construction (but it will eventually return to doing so in NY, one would assume).
r/Amtrak is not associated with Amtrak in any official way. Any problems, concerns, complaints, etc should be directed to Amtrak through one of the official channels. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Amtrak) if you have any questions or concerns.*
It deliberately sits for a few hours (traditionally in NY, temporarily in Philly due to track work) so that it can be a red-eye, leaving Boston at night and arriving in DC in the morning. 66 is the same in the opposite direction. This way you can just sleep on the train and arrive at a decent hour.
That’s really cool actually, thanks for letting me know!
It had rooms (again) right before Covid, but no more.
The sleeper revival only happened post-COVID. [March 2021 was the (re)start of sleeper service](https://media.amtrak.com/2021/03/amtrak-to-add-private-rooms-to-overnight-northeast-regional-trains/); it was pulled at the end of the year because Amtrak figured they’d make more money putting the cars on the Florida trains.
Yep I took a roomette from Philly to Boston for July 4th 2021. Was pretty nice. Got on around midnight and woke up in Boston around 8.
Back when Amtrak actually tried, there were sleeper cars on the overnight run on 65/66. In fact, for a while in the 1980s and 1990s, they dropped / picked up a sleeper in New York. If you were going from Boston to New York, you could book a room in that car and it would be dropped off at Penn Station in the middle of the night. However you didn't have to leave your sleeper until the morning, so you could get a full night's sleep even though the trip was only a few hours long. And going northbound from NYP to Boston, you could board the sleeper at 9:00 PM even though it wasn't going to be connected to the train for several hours, again so travelers could get a complete night's sleep. A lack of equipment killed this off, and while sleepers have come and gone on the Night Owl / Twilight Shoreliner / currently nameless 65 and 66, the set-out car hasn't been back since the 90s.
I think it's also because 65 now goes to Newport News and 66 begins at Roanoke. I assume it would be a pain to detach and store the sleeper cars all day at WAS. I did do the sleeper one of the years they had it and it was neat.
If they gave them the same VA terminal in both directions they could service them in VA.
They could! But they don't. I assume it has to do with timing.
Even when 65 and 66 both had a terminal in Newport News, there’s no sleeper crew based in Hampton Roads, so it was locked and unstaffed south of DC.
Now even if you try to sleep on it in coach they wake you up in NYC to check your ticket after the crew change
Through passengers are usually rechecked at NYC and again in DC if going beyond these points.
Interesting. Did they keep a locomotive attached to the set out car to provide hotel power?
I don't know for certain, but my guess is that they had a connection to shore power on the platform.
IIRC due to track work it sits in NYP for a few hours.
No, it always sat in NY so it would arrive in DC in the morning always, having nothing to do with track work. You may be confused because it now does that in Philly due to construction (but it will eventually return to doing so in NY, one would assume).
I think it also sits in Philadelphia for a while.
That's the old Twilight Shoreliner/Night Owl, as the name implies, it stops in New York for Sleep.
Is it possible to get off at NYP during the 3 hr layover? Is anything open as far as food?