Vermonter finally gets cab cars

For anyone who cares, the Vermonter will be losing its second engine tomorrow most likely. On Friday two cab cars deadheaded from New Haven headed for Washington on 55. The cab car should be making its debut on tomorrow's 56 out of Washington. The coaches should be on the head end with the cafe on the rear, since the cab car should be leading out of New Haven until Palmer where the engine will lead again. The engine should always be leading through Vermont so that someone can copy Track Warrants easily, and it also makes for a better ride for the engine crew. They will wye the train at night when they put it away in St. Albans. Not sure if anyone cares, but it's happening.

Seems like a better use of resources on Amtrak's part. Didn't the vermonter use to use a cab car during the mid 1990's?

That's good to hear. We could still use a cabcar on the one daily low-level LAX-SLO mid-day Pacific Surfliner. It is the only Surfliner with a total of four or five measley cars and an engine at both ends.

They have used a Cab Car in the past, it was used I believe when the train first came on line, but they scaled back the number of Cab Cars in the fleet when overhauls began and the San Diegans went off line.

I hesitate to ask, but, what is a cab car? Not being from the NE coast area, it doesn't ring a bell with me.

Thanks!!

A Cab Car is a Coach which has controls for the Engineer to operate the train. Here are a few pictures I took last month in Massachusetts of a Cab Car on a Shuttle.

Battalion51,

My Dad has a Photo of one on the Vermonter in 1997. Well they are overhauling some at Bear now if we can just get two for the Hiawahta.

A Cab Car is a Coach which has controls for the Engineer to operate the train. Here are a few pictures I took last month in Massachusetts of a Cab Car on a Shuttle.

Click to expand...

Thanks, that makes sense. Are they like subway cars with the power to the wheels in the car, too, or is an engine on the rear pushing?

At one time they were powered, as these cars are the original Metroliners. But for many years now they have been unpowered, there has to be an engine on the rear pushing and providing HEP. Also to Amtrak Fan, you are not likely to see Cab Cars on Hiawatha's unless the Cabbage heads down hill. It's much better protection for the crew and passengers to have Cabbage, since they are built originally as an engine, which can withstand the forces of plowing a car at 60 better than a Cab Car.

On a seperate note, the launch of the Cab Car did't go so smooth today. The cab signal apparatus snapped off when the Cab Car bottomed out on the crossing. Fortunately 55 was late enough that they were able to whack off their trailer before they left Springfield. The North crew switched out the Cab Car and left it at the station for 141 to take south tomorrow for repair. The 105 from 55 was added to 56 to get the train over CSX.

How could they have overlooked the fact that they bottom out on the springfield line?

Everytime I have been out there with a cab, the train has bottomed out. could amtrak not know that?

The Non Powered Cab Units are much safer for the crews

No I think they know the train bottoms out but it's a very peculiar thing. When you go over a bad crossing it rides very differently when you go over it northbound vs. southbound. That being said Cab Cars normally only run southbound on the Springfield Line. So in this case an Engine normally bottoms out on that crossing, not the much lighter cab car. So, I'd hope they working on this crossing to help keep the train from bottoming out.

The other issue with the Hiawatha is that a few trains offer checked baggage (and sometimes there can be lots). The cabbage is also a baggage car. A cab car would mean that checked baggage would have to be left in a coach/vestibule.

Still not going well with this Cab Car thing, they had two engines again yesterday. Yesterday's problem was a busted speedometer and headlight IIRC.

Well here we are 10 days later and it's done. The Memo came out today that the Cab Cars on the Vermonter are done. They broke too many in a short period of time for it to be worth while. Back to two engines!

Old topic, same crap. Apparently management hasn't had enough. Today's 56 had the 104 and the 9649.