Sleeper Class details & photos.

Thanks Baba, 2AC is what I was thinking of too. A little over my budget but perhaps worth it on a long ride for the peace of mind . I'm also thinking that upper berth will be best for the same reason
thanks again !

Gosh, I haven't been on a train for two years! But I don't think either the trains or that site have changed much in that time!

Brighid
Take the lower berth and you get window seat.
However if possible avoid side berth because people passing will disturb you.
Also if you are tall you cannot stretch your legs fully
Regards

thanks faustaus, that does sound tempting (even with the tinted windows!).
Side berth definitely not for me (1.7m)

1.7 meters will fit a side berth. I think I'm about the same and can, and I sleep full out.

What I find is, a) you have to sleep stretched out, the berths are a lot narrower, you can't curl, and (b) head to toe, I fit, but cannot put even a small bag behind my head.

Side berths score on privacy. They are great in the day for having just two of you travelling together by the window. Their negatives are size, especially width, less space for kuggage, and that killer --- the gap in the lower berth where the two seat backs meet!

I am almost 1.8 and the side berth was fine for me (the lower one). Once I travelled from Chennai to Trivandrum with another girl (also not a small one) sharing that berth... but I have to admit, that was not comfortable anymore....

This implies that there are showers on the train

I have seen 2A and 3A carriages. The ones that I travelled in have no showers.

Does this convey that 1A (First class aircon) has showers?? Any pics of these showers online?
.
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Aren't there showers in 2AC? Thought I had seen them..

And,

Shower in 1st AC train - Has anyone taken it?

1st AC has a shower at the end of the carriage near the private compartments.

It's in the European style toilet which is near the TC's compartment.

Cold water only, it's just a shower head connected to a water tank with a 'pull to get water' chain.

Please don't wet the roll of toilet paper, it seems to be the only toilet on the train that has any...

The website in the quote is great, thanks!

What's the difference between www.irctc.co.in and www.indianrail.gov.in?

Good question; I think they're essentially subdivisions of the same company/railways ministry.* I like to use the "mother" of all those sites at http://www.indianrailways.gov.in/ , which links on to them all.

* (Doesn't the second refer you to the first to make any actual bookings?)

Some of those sub-sites seem to have had some overhauls in recent times and I'm not so on top of them; besides, I've never had to use those sites for any actual bookings myself, so I don't know what's preferable. I've had the impression in the past some of those sub-sites just went throught their own parallel developments (like you'll often see with variants of a given site), and instead of ever being properly integrated, they just persist in their own slightly different lives. Although I was of the impression some effort had been put into actually integrating them in more recent times.

The Indian Railways sites aren't renowned for their user-friendliness (well, I find many international rails sites hard to deal with, maybe they're just hard to make accessible by nature, I mean you're just dealing with vast and complex databases I guess), and I'm not sure if I find those overhauls an improvement; it seems to pay to use them with some patience in any case.

Hah, I just noticed that www.indianrail.gov.in is different from www.indianrailways.gov.in! Aaaaaaagh!

If the "mother" of all is indianrailways, I'll try to use that one first. Thanks!

Also, I haven't actually tried booking yet since September booking doesn't seem to be open yet. So, I haven't been directed to another website.

Y'r welcome Helen; maybe others will be in with the ins & outs between those sites.

Meanwhile, for some other sites that you may find handy for your planning, try the "travel links" link in my signature (the sig shows up only once every page, so in my first post above). This one in short, to save you from any confusion: Some India Travel Links

Thanks for all your help Machadinha the links you gave were very helpful, I finally figured out how to work the sites. I looked up the routes from indianrailways, checked times and exact routes from indianrail and will book on irctc. I even registered on IRCTC already ! I am so excited!

Thanks for feedback Helen; since one can never be quite sure if all that advice is really correct, it's always nice to hear it's actually of some help

Happy further planning! (And happy journey, when the time comes!)