When I was on CZ in June, their one lounge car lost the a/c. I did not sit there , watched out my window , on return trip we had 2 lounge cars so that was good. All the coaches and sleepers seemed to be OK. But a lot of time delays. A freight wreck in NV put us 8 hrs late on eastbound get to Chi, we had boarded at Sacramento. Amtrak did put us up at a very nice hotel for the night and had to rebook a lot of tickets as missed connections. They ran a shuttle to take us to hotel and bring us back to CUS next day, we could hang out in Met Lounge until it was time that evening for our train home. I have joined the FB group Friends of CZ and seems like a lot of problems with running late, possible heat kinks in rail so slow orders, and lot of mudslides from rain. But we were safe and that is all that counts.
It seems to be turning into a failed operation on many of its routes and overall with equipment and maintenance.
We waited for the eastbound CZ in Denver for 6+ hours and arrived in Chicago with only minutes to spare before the 9:30pm departure of 48. The problem all started with the failure of the CZ's dining car refrigerator in Emeryville leading it to depart with no fresh food and an hour behind: late trains get later. To Amtrak's credit, they did hold 48 for us and those late arrivals of two other west trains and we left at 10:00pm, made up the 30 minutes but completely lost everything when the PTC system failed and 48 lost 2 hours before it was restored near Syracuse. The machinery of moving people has gotten very complex and perhaps too complex for us to expect that it will work without constant human moinitering/maintaince.
blue streak 1We know there are a lot of heat delays. What would be interesting is how well the various car's HVAC is working. Are the cars keeping passengers cool?. Have not heard of any cars not cooling but it surely has to be happening.
What would be interesting is how well the various car's HVAC is working. Are the cars keeping passengers cool?. Have not heard of any cars not cooling but it surely has to be happening.
When the railcar A/C is functioning, I haven't heard of the A/C not being able to keep up with the ambient conditions. Of course, like anything else the equipment can break from time to time.
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
blue streak 1 We know there are a lot of heat delays. What would be interesting is how well the various car's HVAC is working. Are the cars keeping passengers cool?. Have not heard of any cars not cooling but it surely has to be happening.
We know there are a lot of heat delays.
I really doubt it. Look up or Google how well Stainless Steel handles the sun and radiation vs. painted metal. Also, Pullman has a reputation of overdoing it a little with HVAC capacity. Not sure if Budd had similar practices.
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