TV in Superliner

[jis]

That is what United is doing. I was responding to the title "TV in Superliner", which started with an original post with a photo of a 30" monitor in a roomette.

 

[Devil's Advocate]

I don't see why they should cover up the view from a forward camera, any more than attempting to cover the front windows of a dome car.

Amtrak doesn't have any forward facing dome cars to my knowledge.

They have one:

My bad. I knew that car existed but I'd never seen a photograph showing any forward facing windows. I guess because they were blocked by whatever was in front of it.

 

[Bob Dylan]

Hey, the last time they put monitors in Viewliner Sleeper rooms many of them were stolen in no time by someone. There were strong rumors floating around about who they were, bu I am not sayin'. In any case within months there were very few left. So they were also removed to make things uniform across the board.

Same thing with the Monitors and the VCR Movies that used to be shown @ Night in the Sightseer Lounge on Superliners.

Lots of homes in Chicago were equipped with these according to rumors going around the Chicago yards!

 

[Ryan]

I don't see why they should cover up the view from a forward camera, any more than attempting to cover the front windows of a dome car.

Amtrak doesn't have any forward facing dome cars to my knowledge.

They have one:

My bad. I knew that car existed but I'd never seen a photograph showing any forward facing windows. I guess because they were blocked by whatever was in front of it.

They would be out in your neck of the woods. Behind single level equipment, the view is great:

Dome_Trip_103 by Ryan Stavely, on Flickr

Dome_Trip_101 by Ryan Stavely, on Flickr

 

[tp49]

I've got to admit that while I wouldn't want to carry a 30" TV with me on the train (though they're not heavy at all) I have to admire the set up the OP showed us. I'd say the only thing missing is a satellite dish to watch a ballgame but with the league streaming apps out there so long as there's a cellular data signal it would work.

 

[PVD]

We see the dome on the Adirondack from Albany to Montreal and back during "leaf peeping" season.

 

[dlagrua]

Our carry on items for an overnight in a bedroom are two small wheeled soft luggage pieces, a small cooler and my small 11" notebook/laptop with the DVD deck. We can watch movies or streaming live TV by sitting on opposite sides of the table and both wearing earphones. I just pair the notebook with my cell phone and share the wireless 4G LTE connection when available. Could not imagine adding a large widescreen TV to our carry on items. At stations like Chicago you sometimes need to walk the platform1/4 mile to your sleeper car. Light is better for us and how do you play that 30" LCD TV without disturbing others in the sleeper?

 

[PVD]

As silly as most of us might find the TV notion, it is realatvely easy (and the courteous thing to do) to enjoy any electronic device, be it laptop, scanner, tv, mp3 player or phone without bothering your neighbors. Wear headphones.

 

[Palmetto]

As silly as most of us might find the TV notion, it is realatvely easy (and the courteous thing to do) to enjoy any electronic device, be it laptop, scanner, tv, mp3 player or phone without bothering your neighbors. Wear headphones.

Let's not forget, though, that Prestige Class on VIA includes a TV in the room.

 

[dlagrua]

Going back 15 years, I remember the a small TV screen/monitor in the Viewliner bedrooms. It was located on the wall over the shelf near the bathroom door. As JIS said, theft did that amenity in, but if you ask some of the SCA's they claim the system was run with a VCR tape player that did not respond well to being jarred. The movies in the Superliner lounges may also have been likely run by a a VCR system and they too are a thing of the past. The Autotrain had them just 6 or 7 years ago.

Today's solution is obviously WiFi but on the LD overnight routes, where it would really be nice to have, the system would need to operate via satellite. LTE 4G Verizon service seems to give connections on those routes about 60% of the time; great near the big cities and their suburbs, but often poor in the rural areas. The 11" notebook with two earphones and the DVD player solves the problem.

 

[PVD]

I remember the little monitors in the viewliner with the vcrs in a cabinet in the hall. Constantly rewound and replayed VHS tapes on bumpy track had a short lifespan.

 

[Meat Puppet]

Clamp - i figured it was something like that. Have your tried rigging that with a single Mathellini? http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/301945-REG/Matthews_420210_Matthelini_Grip_6_End.html

Various things that plug in - makes sense.

GoPro - what is your strategy for dealing with glare on the window? I usually try to tuck it behind the window curtain, sometimes even g-taping the curtain in place around it.

1.5L Grey Goose - for the backup power ethanol fuel cell? I find I get more bang for the buck from Stoli, though am constantly frustrated by the inability of the cafe to sell a can of tonic water.

How much record time do you get off the GoPro? Looks like you're just running it off battery, and I'm guessing that if you have the WiFI monitor on all the time that it runs down pretty quick.

Cheers!

Sorry for the delay...

Glare-Rosco Cinefoil, it's on constantly i just took it off for the picture of the room.

Grey Goose- Goose botttle looks cooler than the Stoli

Record Time- GoPro is plugged in constantly..once again unplugged just to unclutter the photo.

 

[AmtrakBlue]

Clamp - i figured it was something like that. Have your tried rigging that with a single Mathellini? http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/301945-REG/Matthews_420210_Matthelini_Grip_6_End.html

Various things that plug in - makes sense.

GoPro - what is your strategy for dealing with glare on the window? I usually try to tuck it behind the window curtain, sometimes even g-taping the curtain in place around it.

1.5L Grey Goose - for the backup power ethanol fuel cell? I find I get more bang for the buck from Stoli, though am constantly frustrated by the inability of the cafe to sell a can of tonic water.

How much record time do you get off the GoPro? Looks like you're just running it off battery, and I'm guessing that if you have the WiFI monitor on all the time that it runs down pretty quick.

Cheers!

Sorry for the delay...

Glare-Rosco Cinefoil, it's on constantly i just took it off for the picture of the room.

Grey Goose- Goose botttle looks cooler than the Stoli

Record Time- GoPro is plugged in constantly..once again unplugged just to unclutter the photo.

Unclutter the photo with a 30" TV in a small roomette? :giggle:

 

[Meat Puppet]

Clamp - i figured it was something like that. Have your tried rigging that with a single Mathellini? http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/301945-REG/Matthews_420210_Matthelini_Grip_6_End.html

Various things that plug in - makes sense.

GoPro - what is your strategy for dealing with glare on the window? I usually try to tuck it behind the window curtain, sometimes even g-taping the curtain in place around it.

1.5L Grey Goose - for the backup power ethanol fuel cell? I find I get more bang for the buck from Stoli, though am constantly frustrated by the inability of the cafe to sell a can of tonic water.

How much record time do you get off the GoPro? Looks like you're just running it off battery, and I'm guessing that if you have the WiFI monitor on all the time that it runs down pretty quick.

Cheers!

Sorry for the delay...

Glare-Rosco Cinefoil, it's on constantly i just took it off for the picture of the room.

Grey Goose- Goose botttle looks cooler than the Stoli

Record Time- GoPro is plugged in constantly..once again unplugged just to unclutter the photo.

Unclutter the photo with a 30" TV in a small roomette? :giggle:

36" screen with hd projector already planned for next trip

 

[Thirdrail7]

Now, if he could just tap into the engineer's view and have it piped back to the set, well, uninterrupted forward view merrily trekking down the tracks!

I honestly wish Amtrak provided this as a sanctioned service, but with all the various trespassers/suicides we read about I suppose I can understand why they don't offer this.

Stick a 10 to 30 second time delay on the feed and an auto cut off as soon as the emergency brake is applied and this could easily avoid any unfortunate incidents being viewed by Joe Blogs.

Now that would be a premium service I would certainly subscribe to and pay a decent whack for the privilege

+1

The only problem with this I suspect (aside from the upfront cost of setting up the system) is that there are probably quite a few "close calls" that don't result in an application of the emergency brake but would look rather alarming for John Q Public. But yeah, I think that quite a few people would gladly pay for this service.

I think they need to adopt two cameras,, front and rear,, and combine it into a message display with train status, schedule , and a route guide. This is 2016 ...

This was actually designed and installed in the Acela. The only thing missing was the monitors. However, legal didn't really want it for the reasons listed above. Sometimes you don't have time to get the train into emergency before the impact, as demonstrated by this oft posted video:



Remember what happened to the ACES train?