Seeing through the dust

[TinCan782]

http://cs.trains.com/trn/b/observation-tower/archive/2020/01/10/seeing-through-the-dust.aspx

Last October on the Crescent #19 (NYP>NOL), I stepped off and "touched" the train during our extended stop at Washington, DC. Yea, I wiped down the outside of our bedroom window!

 

[the_traveler]

Did Amtrak “look” better after you cleaned the window?

 

[RebelRider]

It seems to me all the east coast trains that don’t operate exclusively on the corridor are filthy. New York isn’t cleaning or washing anything that comes from south of WAS. Only stuff clean is on trains that originate or terminate in WAS. It’s embarrassing Amtrak can’t even clean just the windows once a week or something. I saw a conductor in WAS on a step box cleaning his lounge car window a few weeks ago before heading south.

 

[Thirdrail7]

NYT can only wash trains when the temperature is above 40 degrees. Otherwise, things will freeze. Chicago has the same problem along with Washington, Boston and other places where it is cold.

At any rate, they are rebuilding the wash in NYP while the weather is cold.

 

[niemi24s]

For taking better pictures from Superliners, the outside surface of the window of the opened entrance door can be easily cleaned at a station stop. I usually get the SCA's permission to open just the window on the other side of the car to clean its outside surface and close it when done. Then when everybody's aboard and the train's underway, the inside surfaces of both those windows can be cleaned.

But it doesn't take long for them to get a new film of diesel smoke - especially if there are tunnels along the route.

 

[TinCan782]

Did Amtrak “look” better after you cleaned the window?

No, but the view through the glass to outside looked better!

 

[Asher]

That's what our lungs look like after breathing all the gunk.

 

[Devil's Advocate]

That's what our lungs look like after breathing all the gunk.

The dark smeary stuff includes fine particulate matter from diesel emissions, which becomes a highly carcinogenic irritant when exposed to human tissue.