Return of Baggage Cars

[Cal]

They already do, and have been doing so for a long time, at least on the Empire Builder. I don't know if this is the practice on the other western LD trains or not.

I meant the crew sections of it. If they used the bag dorms (Which wont' happen but let me continue my original thought) then, in theory, they could change the current roomettes to bedrooms and practically have a normal sleeper.

 

[west point]

It may be that the V-2 baggage cars and diners were purchased with the idea that the trains would be much longer than the standard 9 cars for single level trains and 7-9 Superliner trains. It is another chicken and egg problem with not enough of both types of cars being ordered. Plus the failure of the Nippon bi level cars causing a greater shortage for bi level trains.

 

[OlympianHiawatha]

The aggressive removal of Baggage Cars is a vexing mystery. How much exactly is saved by not running a baggage car? It always seemed to me like yet another spiteful Anderson move rather than something guided by rationality and logic.

Amtrak has gotten quite good at spending a lot of time and money on new cars and then not using them to anywhere near their original intention.

 

[John Bobinyec]

I watched 80 load at Cary, NC, this morning. There were 3 people getting on business class with a dozen pieces of luggage, none of which was very small. It took the poor conductor about 5 minutes to hand up piece by piece. No idea where they put it all.

They definitely need to restore the baggage car on that train.

jb

 

[Amtrak_Carolinian_2020]

I watched 80 load at Cary, NC, this morning. There were 3 people getting on business class with a dozen pieces of luggage, none of which was very small. It took the poor conductor about 5 minutes to hand up piece by piece. No idea where they put it all.

They definitely need to restore the baggage car on that train.

jb

I would hope that by year’s end we see the baggage car restored on the Carolinian. There are quite a few stops along the route that offer checked baggage service, beyond where the Carolinian and Palmetto split at Selma. The Carolinian has 5 stops beyond Selma that offer checked baggage, while the Palmetto has 4. Plus, none of the local smaller stops north of DC that were added to the Palmetto in 2015 offer checked baggage service (the sole reason the Palmetto has become busier than the Carolinian in recent years). If the Palmetto can operate with a baggage car, then I don’t see why the Carolinian can’t. Also, I’d like to see Amtrak run the ENC Thruway buses into Wilson earlier and leave Wilson later, that way riders can connect to the Carolinian to/from points north of Wilson.

 

[Cal]

I have a question. So during COVID, the baggage cars run on the back of the train. Why? What is the point of it being on the back vs the front? Is it because they can easily take it off if they don't have baggage?

 

[railiner]

Amtrak has gotten quite good at spending a lot of time and money on new cars and then not using them to anywhere near their original intention.

Brings this to mind...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chessie_(train)

 

[RebelRider]

If the Palmetto can operate with a baggage car, then I don’t see why the Carolinian can’t.

Because the Palmetto is a long haul train and Amtrak can and did make the decision to restore baggage service. Being a state-supported train, the Carolinian is subject to the whims of NCDOT and NCDOT said take the baggage car off, we're not paying for it now. NC was also the driver of taking Business Class off and subsequently restoring it, but they haven't asked for the baggage car yet. It is definitely a challenge working that train with all the "stuff" people haul onboard that could/should otherwise be checked.

 

[Amtrak_Carolinian_2020]

I have a question. So during COVID, the baggage cars run on the back of the train. Why? What is the point of it being on the back vs the front? Is it because they can easily take it off if they don't have baggage?

About 5 years ago IIRC, Amtrak basically reversed a lot of their train consists, which previously had the baggage car directly behind the engine. Here are two videos using the Carolinian as an example, the first one from 2015 and the second one from 2019 (pre-COVID):

 

[Cal]

About 5 years ago IIRC, Amtrak basically reversed a lot of their train consists, which previously had the baggage car directly behind the engine. Here are two videos using the Carolinian as an example, the first one from 2015 and the second one from 2019 (pre-COVID):

I was talking more about the Western trains.

 

[B&Ofan]

Does anyone know if there is a chance of the Boston section of the Lake Shore Limiter getting it's baggage car back?