http://trn.trains.com/Railroad%20News/News%20Wire/2014/08/States%20add%20to%20bilevel%20order%20Amtrak%20opts%20for%20more%20baggage%20cars.aspx
-Don (Random stuff, mostly about trains - what else? http://blerfblog.blogspot.com/)
Perhaps it is time to make the funding a per passenger mile amount, with a fixed cost to keep the NEC open for the commuter railroads. That just might get this under control.
If nothing else, Amtrak still knows how to grasp defeat from the jaws of victory.
Editor Emeritus, This Week at Amtrak
Worse yet, they changed the order for 15 bag-dorms to straight baggage.
Hey, Amtrak! You want to haul bikes on NEC trains? Good. Go look how they do it everywhere else in the world. Hint: They don't use bagged cars.
I don't know about the rest of the world, or even New Jersey, but here in the Chicago area, Metra allows a limited number of bicycles on off-peak trains only. They do tend to take up a fair amount of space and getting them on and off the train isn't all that easy. The equipment that serves as my ride home arrives as an inbound trip about 15 minutes before our departure and there are usually one or two bicycles on that trip. It isn't easy to maneuver a bike down the vestibule steps and through a crowded platform.
I believe that Amtrak handles bicycles as checked baggage only.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/philly_bike_coalition/2330289562/
https://www.nsinternational.nl/en/before-you-go/taking-your-bicycle-with-you
http://www.seat61.com/bike-by-train.htm#.U-oKivldVdV
Not always simple or cheap. The racks in the new Amtrak baggage cars are fine - they didn't need to build whole, new cars to get the job done, though.
Yep, Amtrak romanced the pooch bigtime with this historic opportunity: of 130 new cars, 105 non-revenue! Absolutely incredible. Whom the gods would destroy, etc.
I think I wrecked my shiny Schwinn 5-speed tandem some years ago when I checked it as Amtrak baggage.
The large amount of grime in the baggage car coated the paint and got into all of the mechanical parts such as the 5-speed hub. Never could get the thing clean again. Haven't done this in many years, but have Amtrak baggage cars gotten any cleaner?
I don't recommend Amtrak baggage as a kind of roll-on roll-off intermodal operation for a bicycle. I would recommend getting a large enough plastic bag for it, at least.
If GM "killed the electric car", what am I doing standing next to an EV-1, a half a block from the WSOR tracks?
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