# Question about Palmetto engine swap at WAS



## overturn (Mar 28, 2016)

Hopefully someone here can help me out with this - exhaustive searching on a variety of Amtrak forums turned up nothing specific.

I took the Palmetto north from Washington DC the other night. I know the diesel is swapped for an electric at Union Station but I can't figure out how, exactly. My assumption was that the diesel pulled into the station, dropped off the train, and then headed off solo to the yard. Then, the electric with the extra NEC cars backed onto the train and proceeded north.

However, last night the inbound 90 Palmetto was marked as arriving at a nonadjacent gate to the outbound 90 Palmetto. Inbound 90 arrived at Gate G and the outbound 90 eft from Gate J Track 25. How would this work with the engine swap?

Secondly, on this forum I saw that the baggage car was moved to the end of the consist when the extra NEC cars started to get added. Why is this? Is it easier to couple the extra cars onto other passenger cars vs the baggage car?


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## CCC1007 (Mar 28, 2016)

The baggage car is not supposed to be accessible to the passengers, so adding the new cars ahead of it would isolate them from the others, causing issues with food service, and it is best to avoid such issues. As to the other question, the train would swap engines as described, and the gate indicated does not necessarily indicate which track the train is on.


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## Thirdrail7 (Mar 28, 2016)

overturn said:


> Hopefully someone here can help me out with this - exhaustive searching on a variety of Amtrak forums turned up nothing specific.
> 
> I took the Palmetto north from Washington DC the other night. I know the diesel is swapped for an electric at Union Station but I can't figure out how, exactly. My assumption was that the diesel pulled into the station, dropped off the train, and then headed off solo to the yard. Then, the electric with the extra NEC cars backed onto the train and proceeded north.


That is what happens. You are spot on. The only thing that may differ is sometimes 90's inbound diesel will stay in the station to wait for inbound 66's diesel so they can go to the yard together.



overturn said:


> However, last night the inbound 90 Palmetto was marked as arriving at a nonadjacent gate to the outbound 90 Palmetto. Inbound 90 arrived at Gate G and the outbound 90 eft from Gate J Track 25. How would this work with the engine swap?


Gate "G" is the main arrival gate for tracks 17-28. As such, arriving passengers will usually enter through gate G while the boarding passengers will board the appropriate track and associated gate.



overturn said:


> Secondly, on this forum I saw that the baggage car was moved to the end of the consist when the extra NEC cars started to get added. Why is this? Is it easier to couple the extra cars onto other passenger cars vs the baggage car?


It facilitates the exchange. If you added the other cars on the baggage cars, passengers would have to walk through the baggage car to move through the train if they wanted to go to the cafe car as an example.

The alternative is adding the cars to the rear of the train. However, this results in a "double drill," meaning you're working on both ends of the train at the same time. This can be time consuming, particularly in the winter and can hinder operations in the terminal. Since the engine is swapped, it is easier if everything is assembled, stored and switched at one time.


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## overturn (Mar 29, 2016)

CCC1007 said:


> The baggage car is not supposed to be accessible to the passengers, so adding the new cars ahead of it would isolate them from the others, causing issues with food service, and it is best to avoid such issues. As to the other question, the train would swap engines as described, and the gate indicated does not necessarily indicate which track the train is on.


Got it, that makes a ton of sense. Thanks! (PS - I lived in Bozeman for a few years. Worked patrol at Big Sky and miss the skiing and the town like crazy!)



Thirdrail7 said:


> overturn said:
> 
> 
> > Hopefully someone here can help me out with this - exhaustive searching on a variety of Amtrak forums turned up nothing specific.
> ...


Oh, ok. That straightens it out then. Thanks! This has been driving me crazy.


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## Mystic River Dragon (Mar 29, 2016)

I am so glad someone else asked about this! Whenever I watch the engine change at WAS, I can never figure out where the new engine is coming from, and it's been driving me crazy too! 

It's nice that one of the diesels will wait for the other so they can go to the yard together  .


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