Another fine job by chicago yard. Car 58002

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Wonder if they couldn't get it fixed while in Chicago, decided the temperatures were not seriously cold so didn't change out the car.
It's 47 degrees in Quincy and 60 in Carbondale. People should be fine as long as they wear their coats. It'll get a bit chilly when the doors open, but if the car is full, body heat will help.

Chicago may not have had time to fix it, or it may not have been reported to the yard on time (or at all).

I'm not excusing this, but at the same time, it's not like it's 10 degrees outside. Given the decision to run the car or pull it, I probably would have run it rather than denying passengers. If anyone gets too cold, they can sit in the cafe car or something.

(I realize you paid for BC, so if that is unacceptable, you could call Amtrak about it.)
 
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I think it is a split car, so bc and the café would be the same car....
I cannot believe I forgot that. I ride in BC all the time.

I blame the DayQuil.
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Off topic but some cars do have two totally different HVAC units. Now I don't think horizons or any Amtrak equipment had that. But a lot of the former full dome cars from the 50s have two hvac set ups. The best ever one failed on a hot day and one didn't. So half the car felt great. The other half was a greenhouse.
 
That's where I usually ride them, even the NYP to ALB trains use them even though the cafe is not manned. Also on the Leaf, which while not totally an Empire Corridor train, covers the whole route before crossing over. I don't ride the Vermonter or Ethan Allen, but I think they use then also.
 
Modern single level car design puts a sealed package unit at each end in the roof of the car. Much easier to pull and replace for service issues. It is spec'd that way for next gen single level cars. The only exception might be if a new sleeper design was developed, but that is so far into the future (if ever) it really is irrelevant.
 
I see the Amfleet splits all the time out of NYP on lots of trains, but I've never been in the comparable Horizon..
Trains that run the Empire Corridor use the 2x1 cafe cars for BC seating.
I’ve been trying to get an answer from Amtrak for several weeks now, but have only received a canned response back that a response to my email should be received within 48 hours. Has anyone seen an Amfleet I 2x1 Cafe/BC car that has gone through the interior refresh/refurbishment yet? I can’t get an answer about whether these cars are included other than another AU member saying they doubted they would be part of the program when I asked about this in an earlier thread.

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Wonder if they couldn't get it fixed while in Chicago, decided the temperatures were not seriously cold so didn't change out the car.
I was on a late Lake Shore Limited in January, and it was cold outside. I was told that one of the reasons we were late leaving Chicago was that the maintenance people were trying to fix the heat, and there was no replacement car. I don't know if they thought they got it fixed or just gave up, but it wasn't working as we left the station over four hours late. If they gave up and just sent the train as it was, I applaud the decision. I was happy to get on the train and get going.
 
Wonder if they couldn't get it fixed while in Chicago, decided the temperatures were not seriously cold so didn't change out the car.
I was on a late Lake Shore Limited in January, and it was cold outside. I was told that one of the reasons we were late leaving Chicago was that the maintenance people were trying to fix the heat, and there was no replacement car. I don't know if they thought they got it fixed or just gave up, but it wasn't working as we left the station over four hours late. If they gave up and just sent the train as it was, I applaud the decision. I was happy to get on the train and get going.
I was on the Wolverine #354 traveling from CHI-DER in mid November on an Amfleet 1 2/1 Business Cafe Car and it was very cold in business class. Complaints were made to the conductor but they were to no avail. Once we arrived at the BTL station where there was a crew change, the new conductor noticed the cold temperature in the car and immediately opened up a panel near the back of the car and turned the heat on. We had a warm ride for the rest of our travels. So much for understanding how the initial crew’s bad customer service was rectified by the new crew’s good customer service within a minute’s time.
After that, the only complaint that I had was having to drag our luggage through the other half of the BC/Cafe car and two additional cars to get to an open door for detraining. Not trying to be acting high and mighty, but you might think they would open a door for business class as the same thing happened when boarding for CHI on the outbound train. All doors were open on arrival in CHI.

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When I took the 97 from NYP to Deerfield, the SCA opened the door into the bushes, and then followed as my wife and I dragged our bags two cars up to find an open door we could actually exit!

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When I'm working with cars I generally try to avoid the floor heaters at all costs. They put out a lot of heat. But I've never once if someone told me they were cold not turned them on for a bit. Usually it will get stuffy in an hour.
 
My understanding from a technical article in Private Varnish (magazine) a few years back is that passenger car heat is a two-pronged system. There is an electric heat strip (or, in older cars, a steam coil) in the fresh air ventilation duct which is sized and has a thermostat set to warm the ventilation air to 60-62F. So passengers won't freeze, but they will be cool...if they wish to be. The floor heat is supplemental and is on individual thermostats (in sleeping cars) so that the passengers can adjust it to whatever level they are comfortable with. Assuming everything is working, of course!
 
My parents quit taking Amtrak after a dead of winter LSL trip to Albany where not only was there no heat, but the toilets were frozen up in the sleeper as well (and bear in mind my parents are winter folk who skied and spend time outside in cold weather).
 
I was on the Crescent when frozen water and sewer lines burst flooding the entire sleeper. What a mess. They squeezed everyone into the remaining sleeper since the Coaches were full. There was no customer Service, though our SCA grabbed a few of us and raced us over to another platform to catch a regional in BC as it was about to depart.. He was great and we rewarded he accordingly.
 
I was on the Crescent when frozen water and sewer lines burst flooding the entire sleeper. What a mess. They squeezed everyone into the remaining sleeper since the Coaches were full. There was no customer Service, though our SCA grabbed a few of us and raced us over to another platform to catch a regional in BC as it was about to depart.. He was great and we rewarded he accordingly.
Oh god. That sounds awful. Horrifying.
 
My understanding from a technical article in Private Varnish (magazine) a few years back is that passenger car heat is a two-pronged system. There is an electric heat strip (or, in older cars, a steam coil) in the fresh air ventilation duct which is sized and has a thermostat set to warm the ventilation air to 60-62F. So passengers won't freeze, but they will be cool...if they wish to be. The floor heat is supplemental and is on individual thermostats (in sleeping cars) so that the passengers can adjust it to whatever level they are comfortable with. Assuming everything is working, of course!
62 degrees doesn't sound chilly at all, especially for a coach car. For an interior room in a large building, you want the air coming out of the ducts to be around 55 degrees. Even if it is really cold outside, 62 degree supply air would keep passengers comfortable, not on the warm side of freezing. There are lots of passengers breathing in the room temperature air and exhaling it at about 86 degrees F.
 
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