For Coach Passengers

[BobWeaver]

The restrooms are significantly larger than "airline type" restrooms.......

Are they unisex on Amfleet, or do they have separate men's and women's facilities?

Unisex.

 

[oldtimer]

Perhaps if Oldtimer2 wanders by this topic he could better explain and detail how the temp is set on the Superliners, since he worked on them for many years.

Just checking in here and wanted to tell the folks here that all Amtrak passenger cars are designed to maintain the temperatures between 72 and 74 degrees. There are several types of temperature regulation systems and each car type IE Amfleet I, Amfleet II, Horizon, Superliner I, Superliner II, and Viewliner. In addition to this there have been modifications made to each type of system. Thus it no easy task to have the proper replacement parts or knowledge on hand at all Amtrak locations to handle all HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning) problems.

The designed temperature is usually measured at the return air duct. Try to imagine the problems of controlling the temperature of an 85 foot long piece of uninsulated stainless steel or aluminum that can have as many as 80 people producing body heat, with all four sides exposed to heat loss, with stops that expose the inside to outside air, not to mention that the piece of equipment you need to have maintain a temperature in can go from a subzero air temperature to a 90+ desert environment on the same trip. You can also throw in the fact that the heat problems cannot be duplicated at a warm weather service point and air conditioning problems cannot be properly repaired at the cold end service points.

:help: :wacko: :blink:

 

[amamba]

Perhaps if Oldtimer2 wanders by this topic he could better explain and detail how the temp is set on the Superliners, since he worked on them for many years.

Just checking in here and wanted to tell the folks here that all Amtrak passenger cars are designed to maintain the temperatures between 72 and 74 degrees.

That explains why I felt like I was dying from heat exhaustion in the sleeper on the CS. Why so HOT, especially in the winter?

 

[Devil's Advocate]

There are several types of temperature regulation systems and each car type IE Amfleet I, Amfleet II, Horizon, Superliner I, Superliner II, and Viewliner. In addition to this there have been modifications made to each type of system. Thus it no easy task to have the proper replacement parts or knowledge on hand at all Amtrak locations to handle all HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning) problems.

Airlines suffer from similar differences in varying designs and maintenance issues and yet I suffer non-fixable temperature problems on airplanes extremely rarely. Maybe once or twice in well over a hundred flights. Meanwhile temperature problems on Amtrak are routine in my experience and are rarely taken seriously by the staff. Most of the time I just get shrugged shoulders and advice to take something off or pile on another blanket.

 

[oldtimer]

There are several types of temperature regulation systems and each car type IE Amfleet I, Amfleet II, Horizon, Superliner I, Superliner II, and Viewliner. In addition to this there have been modifications made to each type of system. Thus it no easy task to have the proper replacement parts or knowledge on hand at all Amtrak locations to handle all HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning) problems.

Airlines suffer from similar differences in varying designs and maintenance issues and yet I suffer non-fixable temperature problems on airplanes extremely rarely. Maybe once or twice in well over a hundred flights. Meanwhile temperature problems on Amtrak are routine in my experience and are rarely taken seriously by the staff. Most of the time I just get shrugged shoulders and advice to take something off or pile on another blanket.

daxomni, Have you ever been stuck in an aircraft that has been pushed back from the gate, just so they can say that the departure was on time? or have you ever been trapped, yes trapped, on an aircraft that has had to wait an extended period of time for takeoff or for an empty gate? If so you will find that it is VERY HOT and stuffy.

This is due to the fact that airplane are designed to heat the cabin, if an aircraft is at the gate often you will find a truck with a ground air conditioning unit pumping cool, fresh air into the aircraft. Modern turbine engine aircraft use indirectly air tapped off the compressor of an engine. The old piston engine aircraft of the 40's and 50's used gasoline heaters and some of the ancient DC 3's even had a steam boiler for heat.

Even though it was 40 years ago I spent 4 years as an FAA certified Airframe and Powerplant mechanic. If you saw the recent "Frontline" on PBS about "penciling" and off-shoring aircraft maintenance you would be as fearful as I am about flying.

My new personal motto is " If you fly you can die, use your brain take the train."

ot2

 

[Devil's Advocate]

daxomni, Have you ever been stuck in an aircraft that has been pushed back from the gate, just so they can say that the departure was on time? or have you ever been trapped, yes trapped, on an aircraft that has had to wait an extended period of time for takeoff or for an empty gate? If so you will find that it is VERY HOT and stuffy.

Twenty or thirty minutes of uncomfortable temperatures on the tarmac is nothing like twenty or thirty hours of uncomfortable temperatures on the train. They are in such different categories of annoyance that I'm honestly surprised this forms the crux of your reply. As you said most of the time the aircraft is actively cooled at the gate and is able to easily cool itself once you're in the air. In all the many flights I've taken I can think of only one time this was not the case. On most domestic airlines the temperature can be adjusted by request or by manipulating the air flow vents that actually work. On Amtrak we have temperature knobs and airflow vents that don't seem to control much of anything in my experience. Sometimes I shove stuff in the vent or tape over it. Sometimes I open the door. Sometimes I have no alternative but to bundle up or strip down as the case may be. It would be nice if you could actually control your own temperature or it could be easily adjusted by the staff.

Even though it was 40 years ago I spent 4 years as an FAA certified Airframe and Powerplant mechanic. If you saw the recent "Frontline" on PBS about "penciling" and off-shoring aircraft maintenance you would be as fearful as I am about flying. My new personal motto is " If you fly you can die, use your brain take the train."

I can watch movies and reenactments of aircraft crashes while inflight, so I doubt some arbitrary fear is going to play much of a role in my decision making process. Let me know when flying becomes as dangerous as driving. Until then I probably won't be fearing any of my flights.

 

[jis]

daxomni, Have you ever been stuck in an aircraft that has been pushed back from the gate, just so they can say that the departure was on time? or have you ever been trapped, yes trapped, on an aircraft that has had to wait an extended period of time for takeoff or for an empty gate? If so you will find that it is VERY HOT and stuffy.

Twenty or thirty minutes of uncomfortable temperatures on the tarmac is nothing like twenty or thirty hours of uncomfortable temperatures on the train. They are in such different categories of annoyance that I'm honestly surprised this forms the crux of your reply. As you said most of the time the aircraft is actively cooled at the gate and is able to easily cool itself once you're in the air. In all the many flights I've taken I can think of only one time this was not the case. On most domestic airlines the temperature can be adjusted by request or by manipulating the air flow vents that actually work. On Amtrak we have temperature knobs and airflow vents that don't seem to control much of anything in my experience. Sometimes I shove stuff in the vent or tape over it. Sometimes I open the door. Sometimes I have no alternative but to bundle up or strip down as the case may be. It would be nice if you could actually control your own temperature or it could be easily adjusted by the staff.

Even 46 years ago when I got on a 707 it had an on board air-conditioner keeping it cool in the middle of summer in Delhi airport and there was only an electric generator cart connected to it, not any air-conditioner ducts connect5ing to an HVAC cart.

More recently in the middle of summer at Newark I have sat in a 777 parked in the ball-park waiting from clearance from Russia for a window to enter their airspace on a flight to Hong Kong, with the air-conditioner working just fine keeping the interior nice and cool. So I am convinced that this business about requiring an off board HVAC unit to keep the plane cool is a bit of an urban legend. Of course a crew might choose not to run the A/C to save fuel or whatever, but the capability is very much there in modern jets.

When the main engines are on, bleed air is used for pressurizing and heating. Bleed air has to be cooled by using the on-board HVAC unit for cooling while on ground and low altitude in warm ambient temperatures.

On the 787 no bleed air will be used any more. The entire air system is electric on it.

Even though it was 40 years ago I spent 4 years as an FAA certified Airframe and Powerplant mechanic. If you saw the recent "Frontline" on PBS about "penciling" and off-shoring aircraft maintenance you would be as fearful as I am about flying. My new personal motto is " If you fly you can die, use your brain take the train."

I can watch movies and reenactments of aircraft crashes while inflight, so I doubt some arbitrary fear is going to play much of a role in my decision making process. Let me know when flying becomes as dangerous as driving. Until then I probably won't be fearing any of my flights.

I suppose the fact that commercial air travel in US has lower per passenger mile fatality and injury than passenger railroad is something that we can ignore to justify feeling paranoid about air travel

 

[VrmlBasic]

They do provide an airline type pillow and blanket. I would try to pack my own for comfort and warmth.

You do get a chair that reclines, slightly.

Meals are menu prices and reservations are issued to sleeper passangers first.

Beverages and snacks are available in the lounge car at menu prices

Each coach has at least one airline type bathroom.

There are no shower facilites available to coach passangers. Lots of deoderant and easy on the perfume please.

I never got a blanket or pillow. Ever

The chairs recline much more than an airplane, though my seats were on the lower level of the double-decker car, and they were the seats with the large empty space behind them (in front of the luggage cubby). I highly recommend those seats, and if you're going to be on the train for any length of time, do NOT get the upper level seats. This cannot be stressed enough. However, be very wary of conductors & AMTRAK overbooking the lower level car.

Sleeper cars do get their meals first, and everyone else is on a per-car basis, provided that the food does not run out. Most food choices and the snack car were empty long before my train reached its destination.

(Also, a snack car is never guaranteed on any train, though only the "special route" trains I've been on have lacked the snack; Hoosier state)

To be fair, AMTRAK's bathrooms annihilate airline bathrooms. Double-decker cars even have a unisex "powder room" in addition to the 5 or so bathrooms. This room spans the whole width of the train, and has 3 sinks & mirrors for prep work. Interestingly enough, despite being designed to hold 3 people at once, the door had a lock. Though do be careful with AMTRAK in times when the weather is below freezing, as the sink drains will freeze and the sinks will then overflow.

There are no shower facilities, as was said, so if you decide to go spend days on AMTRAK without a sleeper car...well, I don't recommend it.

On Temperature, AMTRAK generally does like to make it cold. However, in winter this also means that in several cars the heat will fail and cause riders to have to actually sleep/ride in the lounge car, and that when AMTRAK cuts the power to the train for a several-hour stop in Minneapolis in the dead of night, you'll freeze. (Also, when in coach, remember to find the "manual door override" switch, because when the distance trains cut their power, until you flip that switch, the only way to open the door is to claw your fingers in between the seal and manhandle the door open...and the door springs back when you let go. The conductor didn't tell us this for over 2 hours.)

Most of my long-distance AMTRAK experience has been when they were at their very worst, in more extreme conditions than were the norm. I hope AMTRAK isn't always like that on long-distance routes, but just in case, I mention my experience.

Also, I'm glad this thread was started. The vast majority of guides for taking AMTRAK long distance assume that the traveler will be in a roomette at the very least, long-distance coach is still rather undocumented territory. A shame, as long distance coach is the only option for long-distance AMTRAK travel that is cheaper than driving.

 

[transit54]

More recently in the middle of summer at Newark I have sat in a 777 parked in the ball-park waiting from clearance from Russia for a window to enter their airspace on a flight to Hong Kong, with the air-conditioner working just fine keeping the interior nice and cool. So I am convinced that this business about requiring an off board HVAC unit to keep the plane cool is a bit of an urban legend. Of course a crew might choose not to run the A/C to save fuel or whatever, but the capability is very much there in modern jets.

Let me jump in here, as when I was in college I worked as ground crew for a major air carrier. The extent of my personal experience is limited to A320s and E190s, but my understanding is that things work about the same way on most modern aircraft.

Aircraft do have an onboard A/C and heating. On the ground, this can be powered by the APU when the engines aren't running, which is also what is used to provide the bleed air to start the engines, as Jis mentioned. That being said, it is common practice to hook an air cart to provide HVAC to an aircraft at the gate, as it is much, much less expensive to operate a freestanding HVAC unit than to run the APU for heating/cooling. During the summer especially, we always connected the air cart as soon as the aircraft arrived. It was practice to immediately shut off the engines as soon as the aircraft was at the gate, and run off ground power, at which point the air cart would need to be connected to prevent the aircraft from getting warm quite quickly.

In short, off-board HVACs are routinely used, it's just a matter of cost savings, not necessity. I saw a number of legacy carriers that didn't use them, but they were heavily in use at my carrier.

 

[jis]

I agree with what Transit says. As long as a cart is available it makes economic sense to use it. But when you are parked in a ball park by the runway awaiting clearance from a ground hold or for synchronizing with an airspace entry window 5,000 miles away - the Russians are notorious for those on the polar flight - "you are permitted to enter our airspace at XYZ only between 15:00 and 15:30 Zulu" - , typically they will not drag a cart out there.

 

[Devil's Advocate]

In short, off-board HVACs are routinely used, it's just a matter of cost savings, not necessity.

That is my understanding as well. Some airports have all this stuff (air, electrical, fuel) built-in to the facilities so you don't always see little carts sitting next to the aircraft. On aircraft with propulsion engines running the air can be cooled just fine but the idling comes at a steep loss to fuel economy. The APU uses less fuel than the main engines but on a really hot day it might not be enough to cool the plane sufficiently on its own and it will still be less efficient than ground power. I believe the relative power of the APU is less of an issue on widebody aircraft.

 

[scutterbear]

Someone mentioned that long distance coach travel isn't mentioned much here. I might can help with that soon.

Im a couple of weeks I will be traveling from Montana to Tennessee and unless a miracle happens, I will make that trip via coach the whole way.

So if I do, I will give a full report once I get back home.

I actually rode coach back about 25 years ago, but that was back in the day when they had actual smoking cars. So I spent the majority of my time in there playing cards with other travelers. LOL, so I guess that trip doesn't count as a verified LD coach experience.

I'm a big ole boy, 6'4" and 400 pounds. So an LD coach experience should be an interesting one, to say the least.

 

[PJRACER]

Will be anxiously awaiting that report...........and how you handle the smoking part (if you still smoke)......need all the tips we can get. Thanks

So many people on this post are getting into the airline thing...don't know where that happened....I started the post and I don't remember mentioning anything about heating or cooling an airplane.....much less a train-car.....I just asked about pillow's and blankets and dressing somewhat in layers (*whatever that is in August)

 

[boxcar479]

PJ I love your tenacity! :wub: Keep comin' back

 

[scutterbear]

Will be anxiously awaiting that report...........and how you handle the smoking part (if you still smoke)......need all the tips we can get. Thanks

When I traveled home last year I took EB to TENN and I was in a sleeper car. That smoking things wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I may have been fortunate, but I had attendants who were wonderful (and a wonderful gal attendant on city of new orleans too) and I let them know when I got on that I was a smoker and asked them politely if they could alert me right before we got to each smoking stop. And they did each and every time.

I had cut back while I was here as I couldn't smoke in mom's house since she is on oxygen, so I had already trained my body to scale back the need for a ciggy. There was one stretch that was about 8 hours or so that I started jonesing just a little, but for the most part, there were stops within 2-4-6 hours each stretch. So it wasn't terrible.

Now coach may be a whole different story. I'm just guessing but I dont think the attendants will work quite that hard as I don't think they are bucking for tips as I think is more common in the sleeper cars. So it could be interesting. Usually if you have a detailed "stop" schedule, you can pretty much tell where you can get off to smoke and where you can't. the longer the stop, of course more chance you have to smoke.

One funny quip about smoking and train travel and probably only a smoker will get this but...........

One thing I did learn is that some of the stops are very short, 5 minutes maybe, so if you get to get off and smoke, you have to be quick. I got pretty good at hot boxing two ciggys in 5 minutes, especially when I knew it was gonna be a long stretch to the next smoke stop. And let me tell ya.......... those times, I got high as a kite. ROFL.

I guess I didn't realize that trying to smoke that much that quick would make ya high. LOL, I kept thinking "they are gonna think I'm smoking pot or crack". ROFL.

 

[VrmlBasic]

"One thing I did learn is that some of the stops are very short, 5 minutes maybe, so if you get to get off and smoke, you have to be quick."

That was my experience with any train other than the Empire Builder.

The EB made several hour-long stops that were regularly scheduled and didn't tell the passengers this. That could have helped with my extreme cabin fever.

Oh, relevant to the thread topic--watch out for a complete and utter lack of outlets in coach. If you're a member of the bourgeois and can score a roomette/bedroom on a LD train, you'll have all the power you can want, but if you choose to tough it out in coach, you run a risk of being deprived the quintessential flow of electrons.

However, on the Empire Builder, the outlets most accessible to coach passengers are in the lounge car, or in the vestibule in the lower part of the double-decker cars. The lounge has maybe 5 outlets, so be quick & watch your plug as some nefarious soul will try to unplug it. (There are outlets in the upper level vestibules of the dining car, or in the pit of the snack car, but those either don't work or are off-limits)

The vestibule is a better choice. Not only does it give you an excuse to get out of your seat (which should be on the lower level, this cannot be stressed enough), and any excuse to stand up is welcome on a 2 day train ride, but since there is only one outlet and it is rather obscure, there will be less demand.

Which reminds me, one of the most excellent pieces of advice on this board is to bring a powerstrip. I did, and with the power to turn the one vestibule outlet into 10, I was all but deified. Other riders in my car were giving me food and such as thanks for letting them charge their gadgets without having to resort to the rat race in the lounge. If the movie had been out then, I would have felt like Clint Eastwood in Gran Torino when the Hmong pay tribute to him

(Oh, before I forget, there are outlets in the rail under the window in the lower-level of the double decker cars, but the seats obscure them. Rotating the seats, which was supposedly possible, could make them accessible. None of us bothered to try to figure out the mechanism, as one of us had a small plug that could be put into the obstructed outlet, and once plugged in it showed that the outlet did not function.)

Not to make anyone too fearful, as all other "distance" trains I've been on have had outlets. (NE Regional, Cardinal, AExpress) Even during those many occasions that the Hoosier Limited doesn't run with a snack car, it still has 2 outlets per seat.

 

[TraneMan]

It must be a couple of cars that does not have outlets on coach seats? Last year when we were on the Empire Builder, both ways our coach had outlet at the seat.

 

[Devil's Advocate]

Oh, relevant to the thread topic--watch out for a complete and utter lack of outlets in coach. If you're a member of the bourgeois and can score a roomette/bedroom on a LD train, you'll have all the power you can want, but if you choose to tough it out in coach, you run a risk of being deprived the quintessential flow of electrons.

Most of the time I'm in a roomette and although there is always a power outlet it only works correctly from the start maybe half of the time. Sometimes you can get a flaky outlet to start working by jostling it or by adjusting the tension on cable or whatever, but sometimes it just won't work no matter what. The staff can flip circuit breakers or something but that won't always fix it either or it will fix it and then it dies again later on. I wish the roomettes had more than one outlet in case one is on the fritz. Meanwhile it seems most of the coach cars have now been outfitted with two plugs for every set of two seats. Oh, and I think you meant bourgeoisie in that context.

 

[Ryan]

You've got to be the unluckiest dude in the world or something.

In about 18,000 miles on Amtrak, I've had one trip (WAS-ATL) where the temperature was uncomfortable and I've never had a problem with an outlet not working.

 

[Casinocim]

Will be anxiously awaiting that report...........and how you handle the smoking part (if you still smoke)......need all the tips we can get. Thanks

When I traveled home last year I took EB to TENN and I was in a sleeper car. That smoking things wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I may have been fortunate, but I had attendants who were wonderful (and a wonderful gal attendant on city of new orleans too) and I let them know when I got on that I was a smoker and asked them politely if they could alert me right before we got to each smoking stop. And they did each and every time.

I had cut back while I was here as I couldn't smoke in mom's house since she is on oxygen, so I had already trained my body to scale back the need for a ciggy. There was one stretch that was about 8 hours or so that I started jonesing just a little, but for the most part, there were stops within 2-4-6 hours each stretch. So it wasn't terrible.

Now coach may be a whole different story. I'm just guessing but I dont think the attendants will work quite that hard as I don't think they are bucking for tips as I think is more common in the sleeper cars. So it could be interesting. Usually if you have a detailed "stop" schedule, you can pretty much tell where you can get off to smoke and where you can't. the longer the stop, of course more chance you have to smoke.

One funny quip about smoking and train travel and probably only a smoker will get this but...........

One thing I did learn is that some of the stops are very short, 5 minutes maybe, so if you get to get off and smoke, you have to be quick. I got pretty good at hot boxing two ciggys in 5 minutes, especially when I knew it was gonna be a long stretch to the next smoke stop. And let me tell ya.......... those times, I got high as a kite. ROFL.

I guess I didn't realize that trying to smoke that much that quick would make ya high. LOL, I kept thinking "they are gonna think I'm smoking pot or crack". ROFL.

This is funny, amazing at how much you can make yourself smoke.

I once had to excuse myself in the middle of dinner for a smoke break. Really apologized to my table mates, now I try to make sure I am not eating during a smoke break.

 

[Devil's Advocate]

You've got to be the unluckiest dude in the world or something.

I still make it to my destinations with no mudslides, no bustitutions, no truck impacts, no train wreaks, no pedestrians hit, no burned out locomotives, no frozen doors, no bad ordered cars, no cancelled trains, and nobody thrown off the train. Considering what we know can happen on Amtrak I'd say I'm one of the lucky ones!

I do have one of the world's worst power adapters in the form of Dell 630 brick, so sometimes that might be the source of the problem. The last time the outlet went out it wasn't just my roomette or even just my car. The whole train's power was cutting out every few minutes. You could tell because most of the lights would go out and the HVAC would stop and everything would suddenly get really quiet. Then it would come back on again a few minutes later. They even stopped the train on the mainline to check it out, but they either couldn't find the problem or couldn't fix it with the tools they had. I remember being a little dismissive when one of SAS' quirky station staff was warning me over and over about the terrible destructive surges that can come through the train's power outlets but on that particular trip I heeded his advice and left my stuff unplugged.

 

[AlanB]

I remember being a little dismissive when one of SAS' quirky station staff was warning me over and over about the terrible destructive surges that can come through the train's power outlets but on that particular trip I heeded his advice and left my stuff unplugged.

The staff was either pulling your leg or had no clue what they were talking about. As our resident electrical engineer, now retired from PECO has said more than once, you don't get surges on the train.

The only reason for a surge protector on a train is to allow you to plug more than one thing in at a time or because you have one of those bricks that can't fit into the recessed outlet in some sleeper cars. Beyond that you’re just carrying extra weight around for no logical reason.

 

[VrmlBasic]

I still make it to my destinations with no mudslides, no bustitutions, no truck impacts, no train wreaks, no pedestrians hit, no burned out locomotives, no frozen doors, no bad ordered cars, no cancelled trains, and nobody thrown off the train. Considering what we know can happen on Amtrak I'd say I'm one of the lucky ones!

Well, you are certainly one of the luckier ones.

A mudslide kept the Coast Starlight from getting to Seattle for 7 hours, and the connecting bus that waited to take me to Vancouver, BC wouldn't leave until they arrived. (Amtrak Cascades was stopped then) Suffice it to say that after spending all that time cooped up in King Street Station (Amtrak didn't tell us what the delay would be, so we didn't want to leave) I now know it like the back of my hand. The original architecture hidden under the drop ceilings was pretty cool IMO. Oh, and those benches need cushions

I was "bustituted" (stuffed onto a greyhound) from Spokane to Seattle, and from Seattle to Vancouver...and then (weeks later) from Vancouver to Seattle.

In North Dakota, some moron tried to drive her car (old sedan) across the tracks at a crossing, and got stuck in the snow. The train was stopped for over an hour for that, and the amtrak staff told me that the car was hit by the train. The car was pretty smashed up when we finally saw it, but I know I certainly didn't feel any impact (I was in the upper level of the dining car at the time)

The worst part was when the Hoosier State took over 11 hours to go from LAF to CHI (a 3 hour trip by Amtrak). The switches kept freezing, and whomever was charged with defrosting the tracks was tasked elsewhere. There I also saw how freight trains laugh at Amtrak's right to go first on tracks, as several of them went before us. One of the trains was a seemingly endless train of tanker cars with the label "Renewable Products Group" on them. They certainly must have been renewable to have as many as they did. The long duration spent stuck lead to a Union-mandated crew change, and when the taxi with the replacement crew came, there was much unrest amongst the passengers (as we'd been stuck in a freight yard right outside Chicago for hours, and they had told us that no taxis could reach us & we couldn't detrain), but the "poetic justice" of the taxi getting stuck in the snow placated the masses.

If anything was learned from this, it is to never ever, EVER, take the Empire Builder in winter. Ever. This can't be stressed enough. I'd embark on the Empire Builder again...but in the spring/summer, and with a roomette. 3 days without showers or even sinks (the drains froze & they had overflowed) was not cool at all. Maybe they've improved their winter service since then, but I don't know.

In my brief Amtrak career I've thus experienced "Bustitution", mudslide delays, a burned out locomotive (NE Regional, but I got a free Acela ride out of it), Union issues, weather issues, and a vehicular impact. Though with its convenience in the NE and the ridiculously plentiful ways to obtain a beaucoup of Amtrak Points, I'll certainly be back on it again.

 

[Ryan]

In North Dakota, some moron tried to drive her car (old sedan) across the tracks at a crossing, and got stuck in the snow. The train was stopped for over an hour for that, and the amtrak staff told me that the car was hit by the train. The car was pretty smashed up when we finally saw it, but I know I certainly didn't feel any impact (I was in the upper level of the dining car at the time)

What kind of impact do you feel when your car strikes a piece of paper? Or a patch of grass that blows across the road?

 

[oldtimer]

The long duration spent stuck lead to a Union-mandated crew change, and when the taxi with the replacement crew came, there was much unrest amongst the passengers (as we'd been stuck in a freight yard right outside Chicago for hours, and they had told us that no taxis could reach us & we couldn't detrain), but the "poetic justice" of the taxi getting stuck in the snow placated the masses.

Please think when you post, the crew change was NOT union mandated it is a federal law enforced by the FRA with a loss of the engineer's license if he were to make a willful violation and would not be allowed to work as an engineer. He could also face a fine of several thousand dollars. The operating railroad and the railroad that the engineer worked for could also be fined. I have been a proud union member for over 44 years and have held local and national offices. Even though I am retired I still pay my dues. The breaking of the union's back has been a great contributor to the down falling of the middle class.