Snow Inside Coach!

I know that there have been instances of snow getting inside the vestibules on trains, but never this bad! We aired this clip during our 6pm news, (I am a Television Director), and this even shocked me! It was taken yesterday on one of the Northeast Regional trains around Baltimore.

#50 had an unusual consist today - it was reversed, i.e. baggage car last. As the train pulled out of cvs both doors of bag car were open and the conductor shoveling snow out the door!

"You TV Directors and the rest of The Media just want to make Amtrak look bad and ... stop naming storms", said 90% of the members on this forum. :lol:

Texan Eagle said:

BREAKING NEWS: Snow blows in from open doors during a snow storm with wind gusts. Who'd have guessed? More at 8 tonight.

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Given the amount of light coming in from the side of the vid, sure looks like a door was left open... did someone screwup, or is this normal (door open)?

I ALWAYS try my best to make Amtrak look good. In fact, last month we almost aired a piece of video about Amtrak that had the old F40 Locos on the video. i pointed out that these engines are not used anymore, and they found video with the P42 in it. Trust me, I do try my best, but, all I do is the technical stuff, I dont write it. ;-)

Darn you should see what happens when you leave door open on a plane, shocking news at 11 ;-)

Dutchrailnut said:

Darn you should see what happens when you leave door open on a plane, shocking news at 11 ;-)

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Even more impressive: opening a door at 30,000' -- years ago Ross Perot talked about that great sucking sound... don't think he had this one in mind. ;-(

gmushial said:

Texan Eagle said:

BREAKING NEWS: Snow blows in from open doors during a snow storm with wind gusts. Who'd have guessed? More at 8 tonight.

Click to expand...

Given the amount of light coming in from the side of the vid, sure looks like a door was left open... did someone screwup, or is this normal (door open)?

Click to expand...

Neither. Most likely nobody screwed up and doors are not always left open but see how many stops a typical NE Regional train makes. Not every station is enclosed, even the ones that just have a roof over the platform is vulnerable to a lot of flying snow coming into the train while it stops to drop and pick up passengers, and once the snow has accumulated in vestibules and around the door, people walking will drag it further in. Look at the video- worst hit are vestibules and areas around the doors. I totally believe this can happen on a windy snow storm day.

Last February, we traveled on the Lakeshore Limited thru a Blizzard in Buffalo. The snow kept coming in and the wind was blowing up between the cars, there are doors, but the passway between the cars is not a closed compartment. Snow gets in there. It is not unusual for snow to enter the cars. You just happened to get a shot from a severe storm. Luckily, these storms are not that common, maybe one or two a year or so,

Texan Eagle said:

gmushial said:

Texan Eagle said:

BREAKING NEWS: Snow blows in from open doors during a snow storm with wind gusts. Who'd have guessed? More at 8 tonight.

Click to expand...

Given the amount of light coming in from the side of the vid, sure looks like a door was left open... did someone screwup, or is this normal (door open)?

Click to expand...

Neither. Most likely nobody screwed up and doors are not always left open but see how many stops a typical NE Regional train makes. Not every station is enclosed, even the ones that just have a roof over the platform is vulnerable to a lot of flying snow coming into the train while it stops to drop and pick up passengers, and once the snow has accumulated in vestibules and around the door, people walking will drag it further in. Look at the video- worst hit are vestibules and areas around the doors. I totally believe this can happen on a windy snow storm day.

Click to expand...

So... basically non-news news.

Texan Eagle said:

gmushial said:

Texan Eagle said:

BREAKING NEWS: Snow blows in from open doors during a snow storm with wind gusts. Who'd have guessed? More at 8 tonight.

Click to expand...

Given the amount of light coming in from the side of the vid, sure looks like a door was left open... did someone screwup, or is this normal (door open)?

Click to expand...

Neither. Most likely nobody screwed up and doors are not always left open but see how many stops a typical NE Regional train makes. Not every station is enclosed, even the ones that just have a roof over the platform is vulnerable to a lot of flying snow coming into the train while it stops to drop and pick up passengers, and once the snow has accumulated in vestibules and around the door, people walking will drag it further in. Look at the video- worst hit are vestibules and areas around the doors. I totally believe this can happen on a windy snow storm day.

Click to expand...

I agree, where it was a Northeast Regional train, the area was under blizzard warnings which means the wind was blowing and the snow was flying. There is no need to put a negative story about Amtrak and the snow. Snow happens.

Question: Why doesnt the Snow accumulate like the Video on the VIA Trains in Canada? I never saw this on the Canadian when I rode last Feb.! Could it be that Budd Equipment was Better Designed and Built than AmCans?!! (I have seen it on the Lake Shore Ltd. Many Times!!!)

Of course Superliners are substituted on some Northern Routes (ie Michigan Trains) in the Winter and the Amfleet and Viewliner Consists from the Eastern LDTrains are Run to Florida on the Silver Trains to "Thaw Out" in the Winter!

If say covering the first 5 or more rows on the inside of a coach in snow and ice is unusual enough to make an interest piece on a slow news day. I've seen snow in vestibules, and had a small drift creep under the door in the BC car this week on the Wolverine, but this? Never seen anything quite like this...

AmCans are BAD about filling the vestibules with snow. On the other hand Viewliners seem to stay nice and tight. I'm not sure about Horizons as I have not been on one during a Snowstorm.

jimhudson said:

Question: Why doesnt the Snow accumulate like the Video on the VIA Trains in Canada? I never saw this on the Canadian when I rode last Feb.! Could it be that Budd Equipment was Better Designed and Built than AmCans?!! (I have seen it on the Lake Shore Ltd. Many Times!!!)

Of course Superliners are substituted on some Northern Routes (ie Michigan Trains) in the Winter and the Amfleet and Viewliner Consists from the Eastern LDTrains are Run to Florida on the Silver Trains to "Thaw Out" in the Winter!

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Both the equipment used on VIA's Canadian and the Amfleet equipment were built by Budd, so the manufacturer would not be the reason. Additionally, I traveled on the Canadian in February of 2008 and the vestibules were all filled with snow to the same degree of this video above.

If one watches the video again, you would notice that it was filmed with the train in motion! You can see the cars moving as the camera rolls and the snow blows about. I would wager it is a door malfunction issue; the sliding side car door probably did not seal shut completely and allowed snow inside, and the end door leading into the coach was not working (something seen all the time on Amtrak) leading to blowing snow entering the car and encrusting itself on things like the seats.

Good thing this was not a SRO train! And it is bad PR for Amtrak, yet truthfully it is justified (deserved or not.)

Could be a case of not replacing the rubber weather seals on a regular basis....the rubber gets old, brittle, and decomposes after years in service....

It is probably partly due to age, and could indeed be tired rubber.

There's another thing: the curved airplane-imitation shape of the Amfleet/Metroliner design is not as good at keeping snow away from the interior as squarer designs are. I wouldn't be surprised if there are problems keeping snow out of the gangway which are less acute in a Viewliner-shaped car.

It's possible someone bumped the "don't close" switch on the coach car and nobody realized the situation. Doors jam, yes, but switches get bumped or set improperly as well.

Sorels for my trip to OLT? I can't wait!

I think the sneeze at 0:16 said it all. But, yes, this was a fluke with a malfunctioning door for whatever reason.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Amtrak Forum mobile app

it's nice that transportation is still possible in a storm that bad

roomette said:

"You TV Directors and the rest of The Media just want to make Amtrak look bad and ... stop naming storms", said 90% of the members on this forum. :lol:

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News Flash: This forum is part of the media.

Including the media's wildly opinionated and often incorrect biases.

This thread is further proof that some on here will defend Amtrak at all costs.

Snow in the vestibules is one thing. Snow coating several rows of seats is ridiculous.

Can you send this clip to Amtrak management ? Perhaps the PR dept. could send some more positive clips to TV news depts.