conrailman Amtrak is not thinking with they head. They are thinking with Butt.
Amtrak is not thinking with they head. They are thinking with Butt.
That has been S.O.P.since inception. I speak from experience because I have operated their trains on the NEC since 1971
243129 oltmannd https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-amtrak-idUSKBN19X2UJ Amtrak considering reducing seat pitch to create economy class. Okay. If you can't afford new equipment.... Also, the House Appropriations Committee approved a budget that keeps Amtrak pretty much as-is plus a big chunk of money for Gateway. What would youexpect when you hire an airline exec to run a railroad? To be able to stretch out in your seat and move about the train is one of the plusses of train travel.
oltmannd https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-amtrak-idUSKBN19X2UJ Amtrak considering reducing seat pitch to create economy class. Okay. If you can't afford new equipment.... Also, the House Appropriations Committee approved a budget that keeps Amtrak pretty much as-is plus a big chunk of money for Gateway.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-amtrak-idUSKBN19X2UJ
Amtrak considering reducing seat pitch to create economy class. Okay. If you can't afford new equipment....
Also, the House Appropriations Committee approved a budget that keeps Amtrak pretty much as-is plus a big chunk of money for Gateway.
What would youexpect when you hire an airline exec to run a railroad? To be able to stretch out in your seat and move about the train is one of the plusses of train travel.
Johnny
runnerdude48 In my experience the passengers in the NEC could care less about the scenery. The first thing some of them do when they get in their seats is to close the curtains to lessen the glare on their PC or tablet screens. Some even choose the end seats that don't have any windows. These days only railfans care about what is outside the windows.
In my experience the passengers in the NEC could care less about the scenery. The first thing some of them do when they get in their seats is to close the curtains to lessen the glare on their PC or tablet screens. Some even choose the end seats that don't have any windows. These days only railfans care about what is outside the windows.
BaltACDC,
That is a nice looking RDC!
daveklepper So some seats have passengers trying to see the scenery though the posts between the windows? Somebody better male that point to both bosses very quickly.
So some seats have passengers trying to see the scenery though the posts between the windows?
Somebody better male that point to both bosses very quickly.
Good points. Amtrak did do a bunch of heritage coaches back in the late 1980s for Harrisburg and Clocker service. 100 seats, rubber floors, no recline. They were very tolerable for < 2hr trips.
If Amtrak can do legroom with the equivalent of airline 32" seat pitch, that should be fine. Airlines do less than that on their long haul 15 hour flights in coach.
https://www.seatguru.com/airlines/Delta_Airlines/Delta_Airlines_Boeing_777-200ER.php
-Don (Random stuff, mostly about trains - what else? http://blerfblog.blogspot.com/)
zugmann Maybe that's the whole idea with all the baggage cars? No seats = lots of people room.
Maybe that's the whole idea with all the baggage cars? No seats = lots of people room.
Mystery solved! Cordwood.
http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=2975379
http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=2944349
Excerpt from Baltimore Sun, Jan. 8, 1993
http://articles.baltimoresun.com/1993-01-08/news/1993008201_1_budd-cars-diesel-cars-passenger-cars
"They are the last and oldest Budd car fleet in daily use in this country," says John Hankey, curator of the B&O Museum and a former railroad engineer…
"There was an interesting little quirk about car No. 9913," says Hankey, a former B&O-CSX engineer. "There was a low-level conspiracy about it on the railroad. Even though the name Baltimore and Ohio had ceased to be, the car's name was never painted over. Officials looked the other way. It was a sentimental thing."
wanswheel
What is more amazing is that one manually operated crossing gate is down and it's companion is still in the raised position.
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
schlimmGreat pics! Thanks for sharing. Did the B&O call those Speedliners?
https://www.classicstreamliners.com/npt-daylight-speedliner.html
Originally operated between Philadelphia & Pittsburgh and was truncated to Baltimore & Pittsburgh when the B&O eliminated passenger service East of Baltimore in April 1958.
It's been fun. But it isn't much fun anymore. Signing off for now.
The opinions expressed here represent my own and not those of my employer, any other railroad, company, or person.t fun any
Jim200Airline sardine class standards is an abomination. It's about time that people start protesting such treatment. Fortunately the trains can add coaches to take almost an unlimited number of people in relative comfort. With my long legs, I like when the adjacent seat is vacant so that I can periodically really stretch out. On my last long train trip, I watched the guy across the aisle try every which way to lay across the two seats in order to get some sleep. At one point his legs were in the aisle.
If Amtrak coaches are so empty one person can use two seats, it's lucky for you but pretty inefficient. If you want more room and comfort on airlines, try business or first class or at least the extra legroom coach seats, but you'll pay a lot more. If you don't mind using up most of a vacation in getting to and fro, take the long distance train.
C&NW, CA&E, MILW, CGW and IC fan
RME wanswheel schlimm Great pics! Thanks for sharing. Did the B&O call those Speedliners?
wanswheel schlimm Great pics! Thanks for sharing. Did the B&O call those Speedliners?
schlimm Great pics! Thanks for sharing. Did the B&O call those Speedliners?
Great pics! Thanks for sharing. Did the B&O call those Speedliners?
I was referring with a lack of clarity to the name of the train service, not the RDC units.
Dakguy201 Bringing airline economy class standards to Amtrak has to be one of the dumbest ideas I've heard in awhile. What other advantages of train travel could we eliminate as long as we're at it?
Bringing airline economy class standards to Amtrak has to be one of the dumbest ideas I've heard in awhile. What other advantages of train travel could we eliminate as long as we're at it?
Fortunately the trains can add coaches to take almost an unlimited number of people in relative comfort. With my long legs, I like when the adjacent seat is vacant so that I can periodically really stretch out. On my last long train trip, I watched the guy across the aisle try every which way to lay across the two seats in order to get some sleep. At one point his legs were in the aisle.
This reminded me of a bus I saw that was converted to take people on a sightseeing trip from London to India in what could be called a rolling hotel. It had Japanese style sleeping cubicles that could be used for lay flat lounging during the day if needed, and then for sleeping when the bus parked for night at a campsite.
Amtrak management should be thinking of ways to improve the train riding experience and stay far away from canning sardines.
Yup.
https://archive.org/stream/Classic_Trains_Special_Edition_No.19_Great_Trains_East#page/n91/mode/2up/
https://archive.org/stream/Classic_Trains_Special_Edition_No.18_Great_Trains_West#page/n0/mode/2up
schlimm BaltACD schlimm BaltACD blue streak 1 Dave's point of moving seats and then having a post in way is very important. Only if you care about the passenger experience. The context of the article was mostly the NEC. Window view and scenery is largely irrelevant there in terms of passenger experience.. You mean the NEC passengers don't enjoy the vistas of junk yards, chemical plants, dumps, industrial warehouses, decaying infrastructure - all the things that make America great, today![/sarcasm] Back in the day, I loved being on the B&O going through Pittsburg and watching the activities that made America great, then! A inspiring light show put on by heavy industry! Most of the NEC trains are going too fast to really see much that is close to the RoW.
BaltACD schlimm BaltACD blue streak 1 Dave's point of moving seats and then having a post in way is very important. Only if you care about the passenger experience. The context of the article was mostly the NEC. Window view and scenery is largely irrelevant there in terms of passenger experience.. You mean the NEC passengers don't enjoy the vistas of junk yards, chemical plants, dumps, industrial warehouses, decaying infrastructure - all the things that make America great, today![/sarcasm] Back in the day, I loved being on the B&O going through Pittsburg and watching the activities that made America great, then! A inspiring light show put on by heavy industry!
schlimm BaltACD blue streak 1 Dave's point of moving seats and then having a post in way is very important. Only if you care about the passenger experience. The context of the article was mostly the NEC. Window view and scenery is largely irrelevant there in terms of passenger experience..
BaltACD blue streak 1 Dave's point of moving seats and then having a post in way is very important. Only if you care about the passenger experience.
blue streak 1 Dave's point of moving seats and then having a post in way is very important.
Only if you care about the passenger experience.
The context of the article was mostly the NEC. Window view and scenery is largely irrelevant there in terms of passenger experience..
You mean the NEC passengers don't enjoy the vistas of junk yards, chemical plants, dumps, industrial warehouses, decaying infrastructure - all the things that make America great, today![/sarcasm]
Back in the day, I loved being on the B&O going through Pittsburg and watching the activities that made America great, then! A inspiring light show put on by heavy industry!
Most of the NEC trains are going too fast to really see much that is close to the RoW.
Interesting as the seat alignment with windows was a big issue in the UK with the new generation of class 800 IEP trains. Guess 125 is slow enough to enjoy the scenery.
http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=1430221
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUiKpphIV3c&t=7m38s
I regret that the one time that I passed through Pittsburgh on the Capitol I was asleep in my Slumberroom. (having spent the previous night from Birmingham to Carbondale in a coach seat, I was glad to sleep from dinner to leaving Cumberland)..
BaltACDBack in the day, I loved being on the B&O going through Pittsburg and watching the activities that made America great, then! A inspiring light show put on by heavy industry!
I remember those days!
My KSU roommate about 1965 from Scottdale, Pa. often took the B&O between Connellsville and Kent. He told me that when the train went through Pittsburgh (McKeesport, actually?) passengers passed through the steel mills ("You can read the inventory numbers on the boxes!" he said).
In March of 1967 I took my first long distance train trip from Kent to Baltimore and found out...he was right! Right through the mills! You could see "Joe Magarac" up close!
Pittsburgh in 1967! The P&LE station was our layover point; the big wooden shed over Smithfield Street was still in place; red and white PCC cars abounded!
Half a century has passed and I still, and will always, miss the Pittsburgh and Cleveland of my youth.
In the days of "heritage" trains, at times I rode in coach seats which did not allow good viewing because the window spacing did not match the seat spacing.
blue streak 1Dave's point of moving seats and then having a post in way is very important.
CMStPnP If you increase the seating capacity of coaches.......don't you also have to increase the number of Emergency Exits to get folks out in time of say a fire?
If you increase the seating capacity of coaches.......don't you also have to increase the number of Emergency Exits to get folks out in time of say a fire?
That is a requirement by the FAA for certifications of aircraft. Have to be able to evacuate full aircraft in 90 seconds from half of the operating exits. Does anyone know of a similar requirement from FRA ?
Dave's point of moving seats and then having a post in way is very important.
Somebody better make that point to both bosses very quickly.
Our community is FREE to join. To participate you must either login or register for an account.