dirty windows

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Engineer
Joined
Feb 25, 2006
Messages
2,235
Location
far ne washington state, 1/2 mile from canada
are train windows cleaned less frequently than in the past? i enjoy taking pics out the railfan(rear)window. over the years have collected a lot of nice(to me) shots. the past couple years the rear and other windows are consistently quite dirty even at the origination of the train. pretty difficult for photographs. am waiting for the eb in pdx. just strolled down to peek at the rear window from the outside and it is basically covered in mud. evidently not washed after arrival in pdx yesterday. a small thing, i guess, but subtracts from some enjoyment for me. hope they cleaned the windows in the cab.
 
Well the cab has windshield wipers, so keeping the clean can be done by the engineer en-route. But yes, car washing is down. There used to be car washers scattered along the routes (at the longer refueling stops), but budget cuts have basically stopped that. Amtrak does still own car washers, but cars are washed less frequently.

peter
 
Trains are still washed at most of the terminals (certainly at Chicago, NY, Boston, LA), and also at Denver. I'm a little surprised at lack of washing in Portland, since it is a terminal.
 
I wonder if they could get window-washers at Portland to do what they do at Denver. There's no "drive through car wash", so guys with these long hose/brush things come by and clean the windows.
 
I was recently on 28 from PDX to MKE and our fantastic SCA Michael was happy to clean the outside of the railfan window when I asked. He already had a spray bottle and rags positioned with the trashcan in the corner.
 
neroden said:
Trains are still washed at most of the terminals (certainly at Chicago, NY, Boston, LA), and also at Denver. I'm a little surprised at lack of washing in Portland, since it is a terminal.
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neroden said:
I wonder if they could get window-washers at Portland to do what they do at Denver. There's no "drive through car wash", so guys with these long hose/brush things come by and clean the windows.
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So far as I am aware they have ceased washing windows at Denver. Even though San Antonio is the end of the line for the Eagle most days of the week I've never seen anyone washing windows here either. Never saw anyone washing windows in New Orleans either. So it would seem that Portland is just one of many exceptions.
 
jimhudson said:
The crew in Fort Worth does a great job servicing the Eagles including washing the windows with the Long Pole Brushes!

( not sure about the Heartland Flyer, I've never seen it serviced???)
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Last week on the Eagle in Fort Worth...they only washed the lower windows, I'm afraid.....
 
TrainLoverJoy said:
jimhudson said:
The crew in Fort Worth does a great job servicing the Eagles including washing the windows with the Long Pole Brushes!

( not sure about the Heartland Flyer, I've never seen it serviced???)
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Last week on the Eagle in Fort Worth...they only washed the lower windows, I'm afraid.....
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I've noticed it is hot or miss in FTW, sometimes the upper and lower windows, sometimes just the lower and sometimes none. It probably depends on timing and if staff is available.
 
neroden said:
I wonder if they could get window-washers at Portland to do what they do at Denver. There's no "drive through car wash", so guys with these long hose/brush things come by and clean the windows.
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I think they used to wash the windows of the Coast Starlight in PDX back when it was advertised as a "Premier Train."
 
EB_OBS said:
neroden said:
I wonder if they could get window-washers at Portland to do what they do at Denver. There's no "drive through car wash", so guys with these long hose/brush things come by and clean the windows.
Click to expand...
I think they used to wash the windows of the Coast Starlight in PDX back when it was advertised as a "Premier Train."
Click to expand...
EB_OBS said:
neroden said:
I wonder if they could get window-washers at Portland to do what they do at Denver. There's no "drive through car wash", so guys with these long hose/brush things come by and clean the windows.
Click to expand...
I think they used to wash the windows of the Coast Starlight in PDX back when it was advertised as a "Premier Train."
Click to expand...
ah yes, i remember those days. being able to see out the windows was a nice perk. via rail refers to their sleeper class as "sleeper plus". maybe amtrak should market its as "sleeper minus"
 
So, in addition to Boston, NY, DC, Miami, Chicago, LA, Emeryville, and Seattle, we find that windows are washed at Denver, Albuquerque, and Fort Worth. (And I don't know about New Orleans, but I'd bet they're washed there.)

In that context the omission of Portland (and also San Antonio) seems *odd*. Maybe there's something we don't know about; like, maybe the owners of the tracks at Portland won't give window washers access. Or maybe it's just a stupid oversight.
 
jis said:
They did wash windows in Denver as recently as this July. Don't know if the practice has been discontinued since then though.
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mignyc said:
I saw them in Denver on my CZ trip last week.
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OlympianHiawatha said:
TrainLoverJoy said:
jimhudson said:
The crew in Fort Worth does a great job servicing the Eagles including washing the windows with the Long Pole Brushes!

( not sure about the Heartland Flyer, I've never seen it serviced???)
Click to expand...
Last week on the Eagle in Fort Worth...they only washed the lower windows, I'm afraid.....
Click to expand...
I've noticed it is hot or miss in FTW, sometimes the upper and lower windows, sometimes just the lower and sometimes none. It probably depends on timing and if staff is available.
Click to expand...
Maybe it's a seasonal or day of the week type thing, or maybe I'm just certifiably blind, because I honestly can't remember seeing Amtrak clean the windows in FTW or DEN in ages. On more recent trips I spent the station stops in the Sighseer Lounge (DEN) or walking along the platform (FTW) so I doubt I would have missed it that easily.

jimhudson said:
FriskyFL said:
Maybe an opportunity for a resourceful entrepreneur?
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Not with Amtrak's Union Contract with the various crafts! The Burrito Lady in ELP tried to be an entrepreneur and was run off, even though Amtrak employees on the Sunset Ltd. touted her to the Pax and bought her delicious food!!!
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To be fair if it was a union thing then why did the union employees announce her presence? I honestly think it's more likely to be a premises issue or health code overreach. It could also be part of the Appease Mica nonsense and I do not doubt that the Burrito Lady is not following every rule or leaving a massive paper trail that our bureaucracy expects of every minor task. So it's not entirely unexpected that she might be tossed from the platform by whoever worries about such things. That being said, IIRC the latest word is that she's back (but in the parking lot) and for those who are willing to trust her reputation (me included) that's great news. If it were up to me each major station would sell unique foods and knickknacks for Amtrak passengers (and the trains would run close enough to on-time to make the effort worthwhile for vendors).
 
Ditto for me in the Vendors @_Stations! I was a big fan of the Burrito Lady and the Hot Dog Guy in FTW!!!

Having a choice of food and drink ( Diet Coke anyone?) @ Station Stops would be welcomed by Most if not all Amtrak Riders!
 
I'm surprised that some tech savvy food truck types haven't figured out when Amtrak rolls through their town to show up at the station (especially late trains) and show up just before station stops. This could keep the food trucks busy at odd hours.
 
jimhudson said:
Ditto for me in the Vendors @_Stations! I was a big fan of the Burrito Lady and the Hot Dog Guy in FTW!!!

Having a choice of food and drink ( Diet Coke anyone?) @ Station Stops would be welcomed by Most if not all Amtrak Riders!
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The Hot Dog Guy is still at FTW, at least he was when I passed through there late JUL early AUG. And he puts out a pretty good Brat, especially after you park some Grilled Onions on it :)
 
I saw window washers servicing the Superliners at DEN in September, but that train was only 1 hour late. Maybe if it's 4 hrs + they won't take the time to wash windows?
 

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