| Railway Preservation News https://www.rypn.org/forums/ |
|
| Caboose as a P.V.? https://www.rypn.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=8199 |
Page 1 of 1 |
| Author: | mw [ Sun Jan 18, 2004 7:51 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Caboose as a P.V.? |
I was just looking at some cabooses for sale and thought of a question for you guys. Could someone use a caboose for "private varnish"? If the car met the usual standards for titelock couplers, connections,etc. would Amtrak and the freight roads move the car? And how would a caboose handle, say mixed into a typical passenger train? Just curious. Though small they are far cheaper than full size cars. mw p_michael_warren@yahoo.com |
|
| Author: | John West [ Sun Jan 18, 2004 11:22 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Caboose as a P.V.? |
My guess is it would be difficult to get a caboose cleared for the speeds at which most Amtrack trains operate. I think most PV's are cleared for up to 90 mph, or higher. Passenger cars are built for that (even the older ones), where freight cars are not. With a lot of work on the trucks it might be theoretically possible, but I doubt that Amtrak put any effort in cooperating. With regard to the freight roads, a caboose could probably be handled as "freight", but I doubt that any of the roads are still willing to handle occupied PV's. CSX did at one time, and the slack action just about trashed a car I was riding, not to mention to people on board. |
|
| Author: | CP O'Shea [ Sun Jan 18, 2004 11:28 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Caboose as a P.V.? |
> I was just looking at some cabooses for sale > and thought of a question for you guys. > Could someone use a caboose for > "private varnish"? If the car met > the usual standards for titelock couplers, > connections,etc. would Amtrak and the > freight roads move the car? No. Cabooses are classified as freight equipment, and there's no way Amtrak would move it in their revenue trains. If you wanted the car moved over Amtrak owned lines, you'd have to pay for a special move. You would probably have an easier time moving a caboose on a freight RR, although it's 99% certain they would insist on the car moving unoccupied and wouldn't guarantee where it was placed in the train. > And how would a > caboose handle, say mixed into a typical > passenger train? > Just curious. Though small they are far > cheaper than full size cars. > mw They wouldn't handle well. Most modern freight trucks, unless equipped with special damping equipment, tend to hunt badly above 70MPH. Even Amtrak's material handling cars are now restricted to 60MPH on certain freight carriers, and being phased out. There's a whole host of other reasons why cabooses wouldn't cut it as private varnish, but the above are just the basics... Fiv4HghStk@aol.com |
|
| Author: | James F. Boylan [ Mon Jan 19, 2004 1:33 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Caboose as a P.V.? |
> No. Cabooses are classified as freight > equipment, > They wouldn't handle well. Most modern > freight trucks, unless equipped with special > damping equipment, tend to hunt badly above > 70MPH. PRR and probably other roads had "passenger equipped" cabooses to use instead of a coach as a "rider car" on a solid train of "passenger equipped" express, mail, refrigerator, and/or baggage cars. They had passenger compatable signal and steam lines, trucks, and brakes. ConRail and/or Amtrak probably got some since the last Railway Post Office train on the NorthEast corridor outlasted PennCentral by 3 months! This was the era when PRR's "Special Instructions for Trains Authorized to Operate Over 80 M.P.H." only went up to 90 or 100 mph. I don't recall cabooses in the list of permitted equipment, but I'll check again. In the mid 1980s, New Hope & Ivyland tried to find out if ConRail had any left, but the PRR N5c cabooses available had gone through Reading Shops in 1978 and emerged with standard freight equipment, no matter what they might have had before. Maybe Amtrak got some of the passenger equipped variety. I doubt that there ever was a "Heritage" caboose with Head End Power cables, but can someone confirm? I never tried Amtrak for a caboose, because the bosses bought a bay window hack CR 24519 from ConRail and turned it into a private car NHIR 447 with freight equipment. It's now on the New Hampshire NorthCoast Corp. TyburnRR@cs.com |
|
| Page 1 of 1 | All times are UTC - 5 hours [ DST ] |
| Powered by phpBB © 2000, 2002, 2005, 2007 phpBB Group http://www.phpbb.com/ |
|