# windows



## kathy (May 14, 2011)

Do the windows in the roomettes actually open for fresh air?


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## Tumbleweed (May 14, 2011)

Nope, just for emergency exit.....


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## Bill Haithcoat (May 14, 2011)

To have open windows on a train you have to connect that with the first use of air cooling or air conditioning on the train.

I guess the late 30s are when cars began to be air conditioned, and thus have windows that do not open.

Now sometimes on something like a steam engine excursion, which has nothing to do with Amtrak, you can find windows which have been made to open again.


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## Tracktwentynine (May 14, 2011)

No. None of the windows on Amtrak trains open.


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## Bob Dylan (May 14, 2011)

Tracktwentynine said:


> No. None of the windows on Amtrak trains open.


Except for the Rail Fan Window in the Doors downstairs on Superliners! (Of course we'd Never Open these windows! :lol: ) And Technically, while a Door, when the Texas Eagle Backs into/out of FTW the Conductor has the Rail Fan Door at the Back of the Train Open and once on a Hot Day in August when the AC wasnt working well in the Coach he left it Open all the way to DAL!!


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## Rail Freak (May 14, 2011)

jimhudson said:


> Tracktwentynine said:
> 
> 
> > No. None of the windows on Amtrak trains open.
> ...


Reminds me of my TE trip when the SCA opened the downstairs window so I could get some great photos of Dealy Plaza (JFK)!!!


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## MrFSS (May 14, 2011)

When we rode the LSL from BOS to CHI coming home from The Gathering and before we joined up with the NY section in Albany, the lounge car was the last car on the train. The conductor opened the rear door and left it open for quite a while. I was able to shoot video out the opening as if I was standing right up on the edge of the vestibule.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8EpqUR77Vw


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## Train2104 (May 14, 2011)

The windows do not open, of course, but then how was this picture taken? Looks like the door window was opened, but I don't think that's allowed. (NOT MY PICTURE)







For those who want to know, this is the westbound Zephyr at San Francisco Bay.


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## pennyk (May 14, 2011)

MrFSS said:


> When we rode the LSL from BOS to CHI coming home from The Gathering and before we joined up with the NY section in Albany, the lounge car was the last car on the train. The conductor opened the rear door and left it open for quite a while. I was able to shoot video out the opening as if I was standing right up on the edge of the vestibule.
> 
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8EpqUR77Vw


very cool Tom. Thanks. It was also a nice look at fall, which I do not get to see very often.


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## Rider (May 14, 2011)

I have been standing in the vestibule once or twice after a conductor left the window open, and I took some photos. It is rare but now and then one does get an open window that way, or as a previous poster experienced, a rear door.

The next best thing is the rear window in the Portland Sleepr on the Empire Builder - it's not open, but you can stand for extended periods of time watching (and possibly photographing) the views behind the train.


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## the_traveler (May 14, 2011)

kathy said:


> Do the windows in the roomettes actually open for fresh air?


They do open *once* - but then you can't close them!



(Don't try this, as the car will have to be taken out of service for repairs!



)


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## MrFSS (May 15, 2011)

This is some video I took in 1996 on a train from London to Oxford, England. at about 1:48 in the video I was able to hang out a side window at 90MPH and shoot some footage as we whipped right along.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nic4lX3hKIw


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## Cristian (May 15, 2011)

It is fairly common in Europe to be able to open windows on trains in your compartment / sleeping car / etc.


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## cirdan (May 17, 2011)

Cristian said:


> It is fairly common in Europe to be able to open windows on trains in your compartment / sleeping car / etc.


getting rarer, as most of the newer stuff doesn't allow it.


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## boxcar479 (May 17, 2011)

I wish they did!!! Then we could throw those loud talking cell phoners off the train! Now, that would be entertaining!! We could kill two birds with one stone. :lol:


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## busboy (May 17, 2011)

speaking of windows, why can't Amtrak clean them? I rode the CZ a while back and just recently the EB. The windows were never cleaned during the entire trip. They were so dirty when we arrived it was hard to see out. I had a lower level sleeper, so at stops I got out and cleaned my own window.


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## trainviews (May 17, 2011)

cirdan said:


> Cristian said:
> 
> 
> > It is fairly common in Europe to be able to open windows on trains in your compartment / sleeping car / etc.
> ...


It's a safety issue - at speeds much from about 100 mph it starts to get really dangerous if anybody is leaning out and it is also creating way too many turbulences in the car.

Also it messes up the a/c of course, even though that is not really needed in the not too hot northern European summers if only the windows can open....


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## alanh (May 17, 2011)

Yes, it's hazardous and yes, people sometimes do it anyway. Even though railroad hardware is supposed to have some clearance from the train, it's not much and there's always the risk of something being inside the envelope. You don't want to be smacked with a pole or even a tree branch at 90mph.

If caught, at best you'll be told to knock it off. At worst, you could be kicked off the train. They see it as "opportunity to get good pictures" vs. "small but real possibility of being decapitated". The conductor is going to fall on the side that doesn't involve decapitation.


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## The Chief (May 17, 2011)

Rail Freak said:


> Reminds me of my TE trip when the SCA opened the downstairs window so I could get some great photos of Dealy Plaza (JFK)!!!


And so _another_ theory for 22 November emerges,,,


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## anir dendroica (May 17, 2011)

Cristian said:


> It is fairly common in Europe to be able to open windows on trains in your compartment / sleeping car / etc.


I discovered this in Sweden last summer. Quite a thrill to lean out the window at 80 mph, and also to hold the camera outside to get photos without window glare. I'm not sure if it was against the rules, but I never saw anyone called on it. A troop of scouts from Denmark was enjoying having the wind in their faces.






Mark


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## me_little_me (May 17, 2011)

busboy said:


> speaking of windows, why can't Amtrak clean them? I rode the CZ a while back and just recently the EB. The windows were never cleaned during the entire trip. They were so dirty when we arrived it was hard to see out. I had a lower level sleeper, so at stops I got out and cleaned my own window.


Back in the '70s, in ABQ, Amtrak had a window cleaning gas-powered cart that drove by during the ABQ stop on the Southwest Chief. It had a (really big) vertically mounted spinning brush that washed all the windows on each side of the train. Never saw one since.


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## GG-1 (May 17, 2011)

me_little_me said:


> busboy said:
> 
> 
> > speaking of windows, why can't Amtrak clean them? I rode the CZ a while back and just recently the EB. The windows were never cleaned during the entire trip. They were so dirty when we arrived it was hard to see out. I had a lower level sleeper, so at stops I got out and cleaned my own window.
> ...


Aloha

Last week the windows were done by hand in ABQ.


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## Alexander the Great (Aug 1, 2011)

Cristian said:


> It is fairly common in Europe to be able to open windows on trains in your compartment / sleeping car / etc.


Yeah, in Europe you get much more personal freedom, especially when traveling. I wish Amtrak would treat people with more respect and abolish their police-like rules! Opening a window is not a crime, and is completely safe to do; I've written letters to Amtrak to request lifting this senseless restriction. They should allow Amtrak passengers to open the main entrance window (in the vestibule, at the main door), currently it's only allowed to be open by Amtrak employees. I also hope in the future trainsets Amtrak will implement some sections where people can open windows and enjoy the real view, not being confined in the glass and tons of steel.


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## the_traveler (Aug 1, 2011)

Sure, and then somebody gets hit by a passing train or something on that train, or by a bridge, or a branch, etc... and sue Amtrak, the railroad, etc... (and probably the tree also)!



The reason for the lawsuit - "I was not warned that there might be trains or trees to make it dangerous!"





Hey, let's open the windows on planes too. It's hard to see out of those little windows!


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## JayPea (Aug 1, 2011)

the_traveler said:


> Hey, let's open the windows on planes too. It's hard to see out of those little windows!



I wish I could have opened the windows on both my flight from Spokane to Denver and from Denver to Chicago a couple of days ago. Those planes were hot and stuffy. :blink: :blink:


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## eagle628 (Aug 1, 2011)

Alexander the Great said:


> Yeah, in Europe you get much more personal freedom, especially when traveling. I wish Amtrak would treat people with more respect and abolish their police-like rules! Opening a window is not a crime, and is completely safe to do; I've written letters to Amtrak to request lifting this senseless restriction. They should allow Amtrak passengers to open the main entrance window (in the vestibule, at the main door), currently it's only allowed to be open by Amtrak employees. I also hope in the future trainsets Amtrak will implement some sections where people can open windows and enjoy the real view, not being confined in the glass and tons of steel.



There was an incident a while back with a Silver something where the diner got hit with a boxcar door that was pulled off a passing freight by the suction between the two trains. Landed on the roof, knocked a pretty big hole in it. Imagine if that had come through an open window...I realize that a pane of glass isn't going to do much against a substantial peice of steel, but the point remains. There's a lot of crap that gets kicked up by the speed of the train, and getting hit in the head with a branch while you're sticking your head out the window, or even if it comes through the window while you're sitting inside, is really going to mess up your day. More importantly to Amtrak, it's also gonna mess up their day when you promptly sue them.


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