Moving around the train.......

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Joined
Nov 9, 2016
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This might be a silly question, but:

Are there any time periods when passenger movement aboard a train is NOT permitted? Kind of like on an airplane, when passengers are not allowed to move about the cabin while the plane is climbing or descending.

I realize that it's comparing apples to oranges, but what safety reasons would there be for restricting passenger movements on a train? Besides emergency situations or the fact that coach passengers are not allowed in the sleeper cars.

Thanks!
 
One example is the Moffat Tunnel in Colorado. Passengers are told to remain in their car and not open the end doors, to help keep diesel fumes out of the cars. Probably the same holds true for that long Tunnel up in Washington State, but I don't recall that situation.
 
There are no times when you can't move. You're just requested (common courtesy) to be quiet during overnights.

One exception is on the CZ when it is transversing the Moffat Tunnel you're asked not to pass between cars (due to the fumes inside the tunnel), but you can move about in that car.
 
Passengers are asked to remain in their seats or rooms when the train is boarding and departing Chicago until the Conductor has taken or scanned your ticket. Approaching final destination, especially if the train backs in passengers are asked to remain seated for safety.
 
Backing into a station, like Denver.

Also, when riding through Moffat Tunnel they want you to stay in the car you're in to avoid letting the diesel fumes into the cars.
 
While not prohibited it is difficult to go through the train at station stops because of passengers getting on and off and stowing there luggage. One tends to move through the train at this time because it's stopped.
 
Backing into a station, like Denver.
I forgot about that. I was in the last car. Every single person was halfway seated and sort of leaning out of their room to watch and listen to the conductor as he talked to the engineer over the radio. :)

During one particularly long move back toward the west, the conductor asked the engineer, "Are you taking us back to California or something?" :D
 
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If the stop is a service stop, not only are people getting off because this is their destination, people are also getting off to smoke and take a walk, so there is a lot of movement up and down the stairs in the coaches and sleeping cars.
 
This qualifies as an emergency, I suppose, but we were asked to remain seated while the coroner investigated a trespasser strike. Everyone in the lounge had to return to their coach or sleeper. No one was permitted to move.
 
One example is the Moffat Tunnel in Colorado. Passengers are told to remain in their car and not open the end doors, to help keep diesel fumes out of the cars. Probably the same holds true for that long Tunnel up in Washington State, but I don't recall that situation.
If you're in the SSL they will sometimes disable the doors using the conductor's key. I have no doubt that keeping the doors closed helps, but those Superliner cars aren't anything close to air tight and the exhaust fumes and diesel soot come rushing in through misaligned seams and deteriorated seals anyway. Anybody know what happens in a PV during the Moffat Tunnel journey? Do older cars fill with fumes and soot even worse than the Superliners or does being at the end of the train help alleviate the experience in some way?
 
Passengers are asked to remain in their seats or rooms when the train is boarding and departing Chicago until the Conductor has taken or scanned your ticket. Approaching final destination, especially if the train backs in passengers are asked to remain seated for safety.
This may depend on the train.

On the CONL dining starts before the train leaves and if I remember correctly, we were told to drop our stuff in the bedroom and then hustled directly into the dining car. The conductor just took a casual look at our ticket but didn't do the full inspection until later.
 
Passengers are asked to remain in their seats or rooms when the train is boarding and departing Chicago until the Conductor has taken or scanned your ticket. Approaching final destination, especially if the train backs in passengers are asked to remain seated for safety.
In general it's a good idea to stay in your seats, or at least in your car, until the conductor comes by & "lifts" your ticket.

peter
 
Passengers are asked to remain in their seats or rooms when the train is boarding and departing Chicago until the Conductor has taken or scanned your ticket. Approaching final destination, especially if the train backs in passengers are asked to remain seated for safety.
In general it's a good idea to stay in your seats, or at least in your car, until the conductor comes by & "lifts" your ticket.

peter

Often my ticket is not scanned when I am in a sleeping car room. There was a post on the forum here from someone who was told to stay in her sleeper room until her ticket was scanned, but it was never scanned and she missed her dinner reservation.
 
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If the SCA comes by the room before the conductor, I ask if the conductor will be scanning or working from the manifest with the SCA. Many times the SCA has said that they review who got on with the conductor. If there is an issue the Conductor seeks out the person in the Dining Car.
 
Going back pre-Amtrak, on the B&O trains that happened to have a dome car, access to the domes was not permitted going into or out of Washington, while under PRR's overhead catenary....they had velvet rope barrier's between Washington and Silver Spring.
 
Years ago on the SL/TE eastbound the conductor notified anyone awake that the doors between the two sections would be locked about an hour before San Antonio.
 
Something similar probably occurred on the Lake Shore, the Empire Builder, the early Silver Meteor and Silver Star, and the combined Zephyr/Pioneer/Desert Wind as they approached their point of splitting or combining....or any other trains that had switching cars in or out enroute.
 
Something similar probably occurred on the Lake Shore, the Empire Builder, the early Silver Meteor and Silver Star, and the combined Zephyr/Pioneer/Desert Wind as they approached their point of splitting or combining....or any other trains that had switching cars in or out enroute.
On the southbound Silver Meteor years ago, which at the time split in Jacksonville, there were still people from the Tampa section entering the dining car (which went to Miami) shorty before we entered the station. They had to be declined service, obviously, but they were able to move freely through the train.
 
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In San Antonio, they lock the doors so the passengers on the two connecting cars don't accidentally open the door and fall to the ground. Since it is the middle of the night people may not be so alert.
 
One example is the Moffat Tunnel in Colorado. Passengers are told to remain in their car and not open the end doors, to help keep diesel fumes out of the cars. Probably the same holds true for that long Tunnel up in Washington State, but I don't recall that situation.
I don't recall them ever making that announcement for going through the Cascade Tunnel (or the Flathead Tunnel). People move through the train normally.
 
One example is the Moffat Tunnel in Colorado. Passengers are told to remain in their car and not open the end doors, to help keep diesel fumes out of the cars. Probably the same holds true for that long Tunnel up in Washington State, but I don't recall that situation.
I don't recall them ever making that announcement for going through the Cascade Tunnel (or the Flathead Tunnel). People move through the train normally.
This has been my experience as well. I don't believe I have ever heard them make such an announcement for either the Cascade Tunnel or the Flathead Tunnel. It has only been for the Moffat Tunnel that I have heard them tell passengers to remain in the car they were currently in.
 
The Cascade Tunnel has an unusual ventilation system.
Each end of the tunnel has a door and two 800-horsepower electric motors power the ventilating fans.

While a train is in the tunnel, the fans work at reduced power to avoid pressure problems. After the train has left the tunnel, the doors close and the fans operate for 20 to 30 minutes at maximum power to clear the tunnel of exhaust before the next train passes through.

I've not seen info on how the Moffat or the Flathead tunnels are ventilated.
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