I am running superliner cars with material handeling car on rear. Is a private car handled behind the material car or before it? I'm thinking private car would not need train line power and be behind material car.
All of my encounters with Amtrak in the MHC era never produced that combination here in south Texas. The MHCs were often trailed by road railers but, not private cars, although most private cars are stand-alone.
I never knew MHCs to run anywhere but at the back of a consist (where they could be gotten off or even dropped in minimum time). RoadRailers would (of course) be all the way at the rear.
You do know that Amtrak bills for switch moves, and fairly highly. There are at least two involved if you get a MHC from ahead of your car -- more if the switchout is complicated and the switcher can't easily get around you to tie on and drop.
The stated reason for the demise of MHCs as a 'service' was the inconvenience, time, and cost of the switching.
In any case the longitudinal ride behind a couple of those things couldn't be as smooth as tightlocked to the actual consist, right?
I believe that in the era of MHCs Amtrak's requirements for private cars included full HEP. It would be interesting to see year by year what was required.
I've hauled a few private cars in my time. They were usually on the end of the train, behind the coach consist.
I doubt one would ever be placed behind material handling cars. The private cars generally had the HEP trainline connected to the regular consist, and the crew would want access to the car if necessary. I can't think of any circumstance where the crew (or management) would want passenger-carrying cars "separated" by non-passenger cars with no common access between them.
I don't know the exact specs of each run of MHCs but the early ones did have HEP as shown on this one sandwiched between the engine and baggage car:
Amtrak 1407 by Andy Tucker, on Flickr
Note the HEP plug and sockets:
http://rr-fallenflags.org/amtk/amtk-mh1564dsa.jpg
From my reply in the now-locked thread:
Depends.
I was on a trip from washington DC to Chicago where two private cars were being dropped at Cincinnati. There were two MCHs ahead of the PV. No switcher on duty in Cincy.
The cars were cut off and the remainder of the train continued to Chicago.
Of course in recent years, since 2003, you won't find any MHCs in Amtrak use.
Good Luck, Ed
OvermodI never knew MHCs to run anywhere but at the back of a consist (where they could be gotten off or even dropped in minimum time).
They did frequently run immediately behind the power, with seemingly no rhyme or reason.
Check out this mess https://youtu.be/AO2BsjvXm64
A herd of MHCs, followed by four generations of equipment in three different phases of paint, and then some Roadrailers to boot.
Another mashup:
Northern Sky Charters by Robby Gragg, on Flickr
While not an MHC there's still no way any crew member is going to access that baggage car through an adjoining Superliner.
Regards, Ed
You'd think that eight MHCs running as M&E, with a full baggage and eight late-version RoadRailers out back, would pay the bills for that train.
The heavy telephoto makes the situation look a little worse than it is.
Sad that all the mail went to Harrison by 1999 -- you could have had some fun with those RoadRailers being lifted into Farley...
OvermodThe heavy telephoto makes the situation look a little worse than it is.
This one's a little better:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1w_YcWNR_s
I used to ride 43 & 44 all the time. It pretty much looked like the Three Rivers as well.
Amtrak 47 at Altoona PA, August 1998 by Cornelius Koelewijn, on Flickr
Cheers, Ed
First, let it be known, I am not an Amtrak fan, but it interacts with my primary interest, freight railroading, which pays the bills, therefore, I pay attention.
Ed's photo may illustrate an Amtrak ferry move of a deadheading passenger car to its next assignment or, the Beech Grove shops. The private car, belonging to Northern Sky Charters could also be between charters. One surefire way of keeping unauthorized individuals from attempting to access such equipment, is with a physical barrier, hence placing the baggage car which is standard height between the deadheads and the occuppied, hi level cars.
Because Amtrak has to pay so much for switching, on many routes the consist is not turned and like a lot of pre-Amtrak operators, simply turned the power if necessary. This may explain why some trains could be seen with the baggage cars and MHCs on either end, and is still seen today.