acelafan
Conductor
Probably a very simple answer to this question...but I'm sure others who have ridden the NEC might have noticed the head end power (lights/ac) might go out in the coach cars for 10, 20, or 30 secs on rare occasions. I've experienced this situation on both the Acelas & the NE Regionals. Does this mean there is a dead spot in the electrical catenary wires? If the train were moving very slowly and it hit one of these "dead spots" - could it cause the locomotive to lose power and thus effectively make the train stranded on the tracks? Would Amtrak then need to tow it to a section of electrified wire?