Why can't things in the cabin be fixed?

[TylerP42]

On one of my rides, there was only one operational toilet for the 3 viewliner sleeper cars, and one operational toilet for 4 coach cars. Then, that one toilet became full (coach) with about 9 hours still left in the trip.

 

[willem]

I would not have thought that a carful of phone chargers would put an appreciable load on the electrical system. Don't they typically draw about 5 watts? If everyone in the car is charging two phones, that would be a total of about 200 watts. Somebody check my math and assumptions, please.

 

[blondninja]

willem, that's what he told me and whatever he did by resetting things did fix the outlet so I was happy with the outcome.

 

[willem]

Sorry, I didn't mean to imply that you were mistaken or reporting erroneously. I just doubt the car attendant's explanation. And even that is not a big deal, as long as the problem can be solved. As I'm fond of saying, I don't care why the placebo works.

Well, obviously, I care a bit, or I wouldn't have speculated that the attendant was incorrect in his explanation. I am glad the problem got fixed.

 

[Hal]

Sorry, I didn't mean to imply that you were mistaken or reporting erroneously. I just doubt the car attendant's explanation. And even that is not a big deal, as long as the problem can be solved. As I'm fond of saying, I don't care why the placebo works.

Well, obviously, I care a bit, or I wouldn't have speculated that the attendant was incorrect in his explanation. I am glad the problem got fixed.

The car attendant certainly believes what he said. It seems logical to him. The breakers trip and usually can be reset. I doubt the cause is cell phone chargers. I am no more qualified than he is to determine the cause but sometimes when the head end power has been off, when it comes back on it seems that a breaker might trip. Could be a coincidence. The important thing is that it usually is a simple fix, reset the breaker.

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[jis]

Certain mechanical bases have developed a reputation for not fixing problems which are reported, *claiming* that they've fixed the problems, and sending the cars out anyway. This is no good but I've heard OBS complain about it more than once.

This is known as the RIRO concept of maintenance, allegedly practiced to perfection by some bases.
RIRO stands for "Roll In Roll Out", the consist rolls in and then it rolls out, untouched by anyone. It is the ultimate development in automation

 

[Bob Dylan]

Y'all shouldn't poke fun @ the hard working yard and maintenance Crews in Chicago and Sunnyside!

After all, now that there are no more tvs, music systems and video machines on the Trains, these folks lost a fringe benefit, free electronics and videos and all they have left is the jobs they are hired for @ pretty fair wages even if it interfers with their sleep!

 

[Hal]

Certain mechanical bases have developed a reputation for not fixing problems which are reported, *claiming* that they've fixed the problems, and sending the cars out anyway. This is no good but I've heard OBS complain about it more than once.

This is known as the RIRO concept of maintenance, allegedly practiced to perfection by some bases.
RIRO stands for "Roll In Roll Out", the consist rolls in and then it rolls out, untouched by anyone. It is the ultimate development in automation

It is easy to cast stones at maintenance, I have done it myself, but often the train rolls into the station and right back out. They don't have time to fix anything.

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[StriderGDM]

Sorry, I didn't mean to imply that you were mistaken or reporting erroneously. I just doubt the car attendant's explanation. And even that is not a big deal, as long as the problem can be solved. As I'm fond of saying, I don't care why the placebo works.

Well, obviously, I care a bit, or I wouldn't have speculated that the attendant was incorrect in his explanation. I am glad the problem got fixed.

The car attendant certainly believes what he said. It seems logical to him. The breakers trip and usually can be reset. I doubt the cause is cell phone chargers. I am no more qualified than he is to determine the cause but sometimes when the head end power has been off, when it comes back on it seems that a breaker might trip. Could be a coincidence. The important thing is that it usually is a simple fix, reset the breaker.

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The draw from phone chargers almost certainly is not the problem.

More likely it's how certain laptop chargers handle voltage spikes and the like.

And btw, often if you go into the bathroom, you'll find the GFCI breaker tripped. Hit reset and assuming it doesn't instantly trip again, you're probably all set.

I've done this more than once and regained power.

 

[rosewood]

rosewood, I had the same problem on the starlight last summer and was worried my phone would die so I was going to the parlour to charge it. I asked my car attendant and he said it was common and he reset something for the car, like a circuit breaker or something and it worked. He indicated it happened a lot with everyone charging devices nowadays as compared to the days of when it was intended for an electric razor.

The charger plug in would not stay in at all just fell out when I tried to charge at the outlet . My spouse had an extra extension cord he brought for his CPAP he pressed the tongs out a bit and it stayed in and I used that cord to charge. Morale to the story, bring a short extension cord on long distance rides, tape and small hand tools