Where are trains refreshed?

[Andy]

I'm interested to know primarily where long distance trains are restocked with food, water refilled, and where the laundry (linens, towels...) are done and replenished and how the process works. I'm sure it's an efficient working system. I have yet to find any documentary on Amtrak that shows behind the scenes operations.

 

[AlanB]

Andy,

The places where trains are rewatered (the term for putting fresh water onboard) are far too numerous to mention. Generally anyplace where you see both an arrival time and a departure time is a place where the train can be rewatered. But there are other places where a train can be rewatered that don't have that distinction.

Except in the case of a long distance train that is majorly delayed, food is only loaded onto a train at it's origination point. It carries everything it needs from there to the end of its run.

Likewise with linens and such, everything is loaded on at the origination point and the dirty stuff is taken off at the termination point and sent off to be cleaned for a future trip that will originate at that terminating station.

 

[Joel N. Weber II]

Henry Kisor's book Zephyr: Tracking a Dream Across America might be of interest. It mostly is a description of a single trip, but it starts out in the Chicago yards, not in the station.

Since you appear to be from the Boston area I'll point out that the main branch of the Somerville Library has a copy (or did a year or two ago), which is where I came across the book. If you're from Boston proper, I'm not sure offhand whether the BPL owns any copies.

 

[ThayerATM]

I'm interested to know primarily where long distance trains are restocked with food, water refilled, and where the laundry (linens, towels...) are done and replenished and how the process works. I'm sure it's an efficient working system. I have yet to find any documentary on Amtrak that shows behind the scenes operations.

We were on the City of New Orleans (train 58) when the train made a scheduled 40 minute stop in Memphis. We were outside watching, and standing right next to a spigot that was fenced off that said: "potable water." We watched as fuel was being loaded on the train. Obviously Memphis is a stop where fuel is taken on, but (at least in this case) no water. I think there was a crew change here too.

 

[nr272]

I remember on the Empire Builder there seemed to be a long stop in St. Paul, MN (going westbound). They seemed to be emptying trash off the train, restocking food, water, etc. We were probably stopped there for a good 45 minutes.

 

[the_traveler]

Last month, I was on the SWC and it made a scheduled short stop at GBB that turned into an unscheduled LONG stop - because they had to rewater the Diner!

 

[MattW]

They refill water in Atlanta on 19 at least. We were in the first coach behind the cafe and the potable water spigot was just 20 feet down the line from our window.

 

[gswager]

ABQ is a service stop for Southwest Chief. Tasks are cleaning exterior windows, empty trash, filling up the potable tank with water, putting fuel in locomotives, one thousand miles inspection, and crew (engineer and conductor) change. During that time, some of passengers are roaming on platform for smoking break and checking out the Indian jewelries and blankets. Some of them go into ABQ downtown for ice cream/food, as long as the announced service stop is long enough.

As for food and linens, it happened in Chicago or Los Angeles.

 

[Long Train Runnin']

I noticed in the sleepers they take dirty sheets and towels and put them in big black laundry bags and it seems like they got put into the baggage car would I be right on this?

 

[AlanB]

I noticed in the sleepers they take dirty sheets and towels and put them in big black laundry bags and it seems like they got put into the baggage car would I be right on this?

No, many's the time I've seen them put into a big red laundry bag. :lol:

As for putting them in the baggage car, that probably depends on just how close the sleeper is to the bag. It almost never happens on a Superliner trainset, since they have to be hauled through the trans dorm and down the staircase. On single level trains, sometimes the attendant in the Viewliner closest to the bag might store them there just to get them out of the way, but most times they just throw them into an empty room.

 

[steveb]

I noticed yesterday on the City of New Orleans, the car attendant put the sheets in bags and they were placed in his roomette (Room 1) I was in room 2 right across the hall.