From Portland Afoot

Four-seater pods on Amtrak Cascades are typically assigned to families at the gate, but you can ask for them specifically, or ask to avoid them. The seat numbers change based on the direction of travel.

You can get a good seat on Amtrak Cascades in one of two ways:

• If you're boarding at a station that does not have on-site staff, such as Tukwila or Olympia, you find your own seat somewhere on the train.
• If you're boarding in a larger city such as Portland, Eugene, Vancouver or Seattle, you can ask the conductors handing out seat assignments for the car or seat of your preference.

If seating is important to you, get to the station early. Seats are assigned first come, first served.

This page is Portland Afoot's guide on which seats to ask for during seat assignment.

[edit] How to ask for a window or aisle seat

When receiving your seat assignment at the station before boarding, simply ask the conductors for either a window or aisle seat. In coach cars, window seats are always odd, aisle seats always even. (To preserve this system, many cars are missing seat numbers: for example, the disability-friendly car 4 has no seats numbered 3, 4 or 8.)

In Business Class, seats are marked A for the aisle, B for the window, and C for both (because it's the only seat in the row).

[edit] How to sit by yourself

These seats are the only seat in their row:

• car 1 (Business Class), seats 1C, 2C, 3C, 4C, 5C, 6C, 7C, 8C and 9C (but if you want your own AC outlet, specify rows 3 through 7)
• car 2 (Business Class), seats 3C, 4C, 5C, 6C and 7C (but if you want your own AC outlet, specify row 5)
• car 3 (Coach), seats 7, 11, 15, 19, 23 and 27
• car 4 (Coach), seat 7 (except in the Mount Hood or Mount Baker trainsets, in which car 4 is the same as car 5)

[edit] How to sit at one of the tables

Each Amtrak Cascades train has at least 10 four-seater tables in the coach cars. (Two trainsets have 12.)

Some cars have eight seats facing each other across tables: seats 29 through 36 in cars 5 through 9.

The exception is the Mount Hood and Mount Baker trainsets, in which car 4 is the same as car 5. It's not easy to predict in advance which trainset will be running a given route on your day of travel.

[edit] How to avoid seats without a table or tray

All Cascades cars have seats facing each other without a table between, referred to as "four-seaters." These are the only seats on the train without either a table or a fold-down tray.

Because the trains reverse their seat orientation depending on their direction of travel, four-seaters change location based on which way the train is heading.

[edit] Northbound trains

• in cars 1 and 2 (Business Class), rows 1 and 2
• in cars 3 through 9 (Coach), seats 1 through 8

[edit] Southbound trains

• in cars 1 and 2 (Business Class), rows 6 and 7
• in cars 3 through 9 (Coach), seats 21 through 28

If you're assigned one of these seats, you can find tables (and two AC power sockets per table) in the dining car, just ahead of the bistro. The dining car is, however, technically reserved for bistro customers and limited to 30 minutes when the car is crowded.

[edit] How to always have a power outlet at your seat

A quirk in seat alignment on the Cascades trains means that one row in most coach cars has two AC power outlets, but it changes based on the direction of travel.

Every two-seat row or four-seater pod on Amtrak Cascades has at least one AC power socket. Sometimes this can create shortages, if several passengers want to use electricity.

If you want to guarantee that you'll have your own AC power socket (or have more than one device to plug in), ask the conductors for one of the following seats when receiving your seat assignment at the station before boarding.

[edit] Northbound

To guarantee yourself a power outlet on northbound trains:

• Ask for one of seats 25 through 28 of cars 5 through 9 (the highest seat numbers that are not associated with a table), which have two outlets each.
• Ask for one of the seats that are the only seat in their row.

[edit] Southbound

To guarantee yourself a power outlet on southbound trains:

• Ask for one of seats 1 through 4 of cars 5 through 9, which have two outlets each.
• Ask for one of the seats that are the only seat in their row.

In general:

• For northbound trains, high seat numbers are more likely to have power outlets available.
• For southbound trains, low seat numbers are more likely to have power outlets available.

The direction of travel matters because at the end of each run, most Cascades seats are rotated to face the train's new destination. This changes the seat alignment.

[edit] How to avoid the noise of whooshing doors

Some people find the click-vroom-wssssssh of the Cascades trains' automatic doors annoying. Because most movement between cars is due to people heading to or from the bistro (between cars 2 and 3), the best way to avoid lots of foot traffic and annoying noises is to either spring for a Business Class seat or get a seat in the highest-numbered car possible.

Car assignments are typically based on your destination. However, when receiving your seat assignment at the station before boarding, you can ask the conductors for a seat in the highest-numbered car. (The downside is that not all doors open at every stop, so when you reach your destination, you may have to walk the length of the train to get off.)

[edit] How to prop the automatic doors open

To prop open one of the automatic sliding doors on the Cascades, push one of the lit red buttons near the top of the door frame until they are either both lit or both unlit.

Alternatively, it's usually okay for passengers to prop open an automatic door. The way to do this is to push one of the lit red buttons near the top of the door frame so that they are either both lit or both unlit.

This will prop open your door and prevent whooshing, though it may let in more noise from the train's wheels.