While some are quick to point out the obvious (crew indifference, laziness etc,) I'll point out the misconceptions since I can think of a number of reasons for closed cars, most of which has been addressed by the capable members of this board.
I have a hard time believing it’s official policy to keep cars closed; unless it’s a dedicated ferry move (rare), if management didn’t want a car to be used, they’d cut it off the train and save the fuel/wear and tear involved in pulling it...
On Amtrak, unless there is something defective about the car, this is against policy -- there are always enough assistant conductors.
As AVoice pointed out, these two statements are quite untrue.
if management didn’t want a car to be used, they’d cut it off the train and save the fuel/wear and tear involved in pulling it...
At one time the
Empire Builder and
City of New Orleans utilized the same trainsets in a run-through arrangement in Chicago. The
Builder obviously carried extra cars for the Portland section, which regularly ran empty the entire distance to and from New Orleans.
There are trains all over the system that routinely run with deadhead cars over a portion of the trip. A lot of this has to do with the points John Bredin and The Traveler made:
The rumor I've heard regarding Metra is that a conductor or trainman may (by union rules?) collect & check fares in only so many cars, and if the number of cars exceeds that number (multiplied by the number of conductors & trainmen, as there's always more than one), the "excess" cars will not be opened.
I’m not saying this is the reason, but I could see if a LD train has 5 coaches and 1 of the 2 coach attendants called in sick at the last minute and they were unable to get a replacement employee before departure it departed NYP, I would not expect I attendant to cover 5 coaches. So they close 1 off so the attendant only has 4 to cover. Another employee was on vacation in Florida and will be returning to NY. He could work the train returning. If they removed that car in NY on the way south, you may have 50+ people who have reservations coming north but no car/seats for them!
On a Corridor train, maybe 1 AC did not show. So 1 conductor & 1 AC would have to cover the entire 10-12 cars. So they may close 1 or 2 cars. (On a Corridor train, there could be another train in 1-2 hours, not in 24 hours or more, so it’s less of a problem.
These are not rumors. Each railroad has their own crew consist agreement. Some are based on riders, some are based on the amount of cars, some are based on the time of day, some are based on the time of year. Some are based on all of the above while some are based upon state and/or local laws.
In terms of Amtrak, they often put cars in deadhead status for a portion or the entire of the trip to avoid staffing the car when ridership doesn't warrant it. As for cutting the car and leaving it, the car may be needed for a portion of the trip or possibly on the return trip. In the case of trains that cross into state supported service, the states may only reimburse for a set amount of cars. So, they may become deadhead at a certain point to comply with operating agreement. Heck, there are a few routes where they HAVE to run a minimum axle count to avoid delays. You will often see those cars listed as deadhead.
Then of course, there are the blatant ferrying moves. 29 DID have legitimate deadhead equipment that I previously mentioned.
So, to say there are always enough crew and that Amtrak ferrying cars is rare is not accurate.
Another reason that a car may be closed for a portion may be on the conductor's manifest. There is a group boarding down the line and they are preserving the space so the passengers can sit together. In some cases the group may have exclusive occupancy of an entire coach.
In the case of long distance trains, they typically having loading plans, indicating exactly what Steve4031 and LookingGlassTies mentioned. Certain passengers go in certain cars based upon their destination. It is manifested and published daily as operating conditions may change. In other words, a platform may be under construction so on this trip, passengers for such and such stop will be in coach 29XX to expedite the process. Some station have short platforms under normal circumstances and the loading plan would reflect that.
Another reason the Neroden mentioned might be a non-running gear defect that presents the car from being utilized by the passengers. However, that may impact other cars around it. There is was a train in recent memory that struck debris, which resulted in a non-running gear defect between the 7th and 8th car. As such, everyone in car 10, 9 and 8 had to move past the defect.
Such a move wouldn't be uncommon or something the average passenger would recognize. They would see three cars, not being utilized without understanding that they may not be used in service.
Amfleets used to be notorious for door defects. They would cause entire blocks of cars to close since once there isn't a means of egress on one end, the car (and anything caught on the other side of it) may not be used.
