SW Chief sleepers - still up front for summer?

[DennisInGeorgia]

We're on SWC #3 in June, CHI-LAX. The last consist list I can find shows the two sleepers just behind the baggage car.

Does anyone know if these trains flip them around for the summer months, or do they just stay ahead of the diner year-round?

Dennis

 

[Amtrak Cajun]

The SWC usually runs them up front most of the time as far as I know.

 

[zephyr17]

The Superliner trains tend not to flip the sleeper positioning seasonally. Still not sure what the reason is for the single level LDs doing it.

 

[rusty spike]

They were on the front last july.

 

[Amtrak Cajun]

Actually Zephyr, the CONO/TE does flip its sleepers. It runs half the year up front, and half on the rear. The last time I rode the CONO in a sleeper, the sleeper was on the rear. I also once rode Coach on the CONO, and the sleepers at that point were up front.

 

[scoostraw]

So what's the reason to flip the sleepers - ever??

 

[Amtrak Cajun]

I dont personally know the reasons, all I know is, they do it haha.

Someone else here on the forum could give you more insight than I can.

 

[Ryan]

Ease of running though the LSL consist down south to thaw in the winter.

 

[Blackwolf]

The Superliner trains tend not to flip the sleeper positioning seasonally. Still not sure what the reason is for the single level LDs doing it.

Due to design issues and lack of space for protecting the "workings" of the Single-Level (Viewliner) fleet with internal compartments, Amtrak found out the hard way that prolonged use of the cars in near-freezing and freezing temperatures caused failures of the plumbing (non-functioning faucets and toilets unable to flush... A bad situation when the head is smiling at you inside your roomette/bedroom with the horrid red TOILET FAILURE light glowing above!) As a result, several years ago, Amtrak began a practice of swapping the northern trains with the southern trains so that a few days of freezing temps are followed by a few days of warm temps. Having the sleepers at the back of the train makes this swapping easy to complete.

Superliners are superior in design, because the plumbing and the equipment serving the hotel functions of the car are inside protective compartments above each truck. Thus, freezing issues are not a problem except in the most rare of cases. As such, Superliners don't need to "thaw" like the Viewliners do. The jury has yet to convene on if the design flaw with the Viewliner I's will be resolved with the Viewliner II's.

As such, no reason to swap the sleepers front-to-rear for environmental issues. And for the record, the California Zephyr does not swap seasonally. The sleepers are on the rear year-round and do not move. It's been this way for over two years now.

 

[AlanB]

Superliners are superior in design, because the plumbing and the equipment serving the hotel functions of the car are inside protective compartments above each truck. Thus, freezing issues are not a problem except in the most rare of cases. As such, Superliners don't need to "thaw" like the Viewliners do. The jury has yet to convene on if the design flaw with the Viewliner I's will be resolved with the Viewliner II's.

I don't know if the production run kept what I saw in the drawings, but the drawings had skirt that hung down from the bottom of the car in between the two trucks to help protect the pipes from the cold. It still wouldn't be quite as effective as the Superliner design, but it would keep the pipes from being directly exposed to the cold air like they are now.

 

[Blackwolf]

Superliners are superior in design, because the plumbing and the equipment serving the hotel functions of the car are inside protective compartments above each truck. Thus, freezing issues are not a problem except in the most rare of cases. As such, Superliners don't need to "thaw" like the Viewliners do. The jury has yet to convene on if the design flaw with the Viewliner I's will be resolved with the Viewliner II's.

I don't know if the production run kept what I saw in the drawings, but the drawings had skirt that hung down from the bottom of the car in between the two trucks to help protect the pipes from the cold. It still wouldn't be quite as effective as the Superliner design, but it would keep the pipes from being directly exposed to the cold air like they are now.

Should be interesting to see if that feature was carried over into the new cars, yes. Granted, there will be less plumbing and an overall less complicated system without having toilets in every single compartment this time around. Less stuff to get gummed up for sure.

 

[Notelvis]

I will say that the best night sleep I've had on a train in a long time was on an Atlanta-Washington trip in March 2012. I was in the rear sleeper with just the baggage car behind us. No locomotive noise while sleeping, smoother ride, etc. etc. The SCA told me that "the sleepers work better on the rear during the winter...."

From a train-watcher perspective, I prefer to see the viewliners in front of the amcoaches...... but for smoother ride sleepers rear seems better.

 

[dart330]

I think you got pretty lucky having the baggage car on the rear. Riding in the last bedroom on the last car of the TE rolling through the Ozarks was the worst trip I've ever had. The car was bucking so much the door kept coming unlatched and sliding open. Was very hard to sleep like that.

 

[oldtimer]

Superliners are superior in design, because the plumbing and the equipment serving the hotel functions of the car are inside protective compartments above each truck. Thus, freezing issues are not a problem except in the most rare of cases. As such, Superliners don't need to "thaw" like the Viewliners do. The jury has yet to convene on if the design flaw with the Viewliner I's will be resolved with the Viewliner II's.

I don't know if the production run kept what I saw in the drawings, but the drawings had skirt that hung down from the bottom of the car in between the two trucks to help protect the pipes from the cold. It still wouldn't be quite as effective as the Superliner design, but it would keep the pipes from being directly exposed to the cold air like they are now.

Alan

I had 35+ years working on Amtrak passenger cars, even in the days of the "rainbow" trains (before the cars were painted in Amtrak colors they still carried the colors of the railroad they came from). Some of the older cars had skirting. This skirting usually trapped ice and snow behind it and often was removed and discarded to attempt to thaw out frozen cars. I wish the Viewliner II design team had talked to some oldtimers. I am not one to beat my own drum but the Viewliner I's and the Superliner II's have some of my suggestions on every car.

The other Alan B aka Oldtimer