I had a chance to grab a video of the Crescent 20 at the platform this morning.
Two engines, 3 coach class cars, cafe, sleeper 2010, then sleeper 2011 then bag dorm 2012. Car 2012 would imply 12 cars on the train, including the engines in the count. Amtrak is jumping from car 7 to car 10 now. Would the other cars have been coaches at one time and reduced coach car availability made trains shorter or is lack of demand having Amtrak remove coach cars now? Obviously the car number is not important as it need not be a consecutive numbering system. Having a consistent numbering system for reservations is what matters and the current numbering system would allow for adding a few coaches and dinners, without messing up the sleeper car number at the end of the train.
So with that said, how long was the Crescent in historical days before Amtrak and then what was the consist, length wise, after 1979?
I measured the Charlotte station platform on Google Earth and it is much longer than anything built or rebuilt now and that includes what will be the new station at Charlotte someday. So I am thinking the Crescent pre-Amtrak was considerably longer. Greensboro's platform for the Crescent is longer than the Carolinian/Piedmont platform, though the Crescent is not much longer as presently built.
Are trains with sleepers in the front also numbered with a double digit for the car number or would it be 501 and 502 or something for train 5 sleeper 1 and sleeper 2?
EDIT: I added the "?" as needed.
Two engines, 3 coach class cars, cafe, sleeper 2010, then sleeper 2011 then bag dorm 2012. Car 2012 would imply 12 cars on the train, including the engines in the count. Amtrak is jumping from car 7 to car 10 now. Would the other cars have been coaches at one time and reduced coach car availability made trains shorter or is lack of demand having Amtrak remove coach cars now? Obviously the car number is not important as it need not be a consecutive numbering system. Having a consistent numbering system for reservations is what matters and the current numbering system would allow for adding a few coaches and dinners, without messing up the sleeper car number at the end of the train.
So with that said, how long was the Crescent in historical days before Amtrak and then what was the consist, length wise, after 1979?
I measured the Charlotte station platform on Google Earth and it is much longer than anything built or rebuilt now and that includes what will be the new station at Charlotte someday. So I am thinking the Crescent pre-Amtrak was considerably longer. Greensboro's platform for the Crescent is longer than the Carolinian/Piedmont platform, though the Crescent is not much longer as presently built.
Are trains with sleepers in the front also numbered with a double digit for the car number or would it be 501 and 502 or something for train 5 sleeper 1 and sleeper 2?
EDIT: I added the "?" as needed.
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