When I rode the Desert Wind / SFZ -- LAUPT to & from Denver in April, 1983, the through Spuerliner coach & sleeper were on the rear end, behind the baggage, Am - Crap'e, Am - Can, and ex - SFe Hi-Level transition coach. This did make switching in Ogden somewhat easier I suppose, though the E/B SFZ arriving late off the Espee kinda boogered things up a bit.
On the return trip from Denver, the conductor moved my girlfriend and I to our economy room early,( before Borie ) so he could seat other LA passengers in our coach seats. This was way back when you could purchase sleeper space for only the overnight portion of the trip, at a big $avings. I recall we wern't supposed to move to the LA sleeper until Rock Springs.
The Desert Wind remains one of my favorite Amtrak train trips ever, along with the North Coast Hiawatha from Billings to Seattle in August, 1979. The Desert Wind of the early 1980's is also a very cool train to model, as it ran virtually every type of Amtrak car they owned at the time ( except Metroliners ), and even some SDP-40F / F40PH consists !!!