Long-distance Amtrak trips can be a great adventure, but one downside is that it is impossible for good arrival and departure times at all stations along the route. At most there is only one train each day in each direction, which means some states are literally left in the dark…

Here are the pros and cons of the upper and lower levels on Amtrak’s Superliner trains.

Viewliner is a specific type of rail car used on some Amtrak routes. There are only Viewliner sleeper, dining and baggage cars, which only have one level.

Superliner trains are composed of “Superliner” rail cars — a specific model that has two levels. There are Superliner coach cars, sleeper cars, sightseer lounge cars, and dining cars (to name a few) that can be combined in different ways depending on the needs of the Amtrak route. For example,…