I've travelled by sleeper once, on a business trip from DC to Florence, SC a few years ago. I must say I wasn't very impressed by the Slumbercoaches. OK, they were modern and clean, but the regular compartment was really cramped and the bed not quite big enough for my 5'10" frame (and also thin and not real comfortable). Train was pretty close to on-time though.

I contrast this with Trenitalia; even travelling **second** class overnight, the bench-turned-bed was long enough for me and more comfortable. And there was enough room for our quite-large suitcases; there wouldn't have been in the Amtrak compartment.

Now for shorter runs, I've always liked the Metroliner (now Acela) trip up the Northeast Corridor from DC to NYC. I used **that** quite frequently for a series of business trips in 2000 and 2001.

-- Gary