Checked baggage temperature

[AlamoWye]

I'm planning a trip to Virginia next summer and was planning on buying some of their wine. I will be checking it back to Texas and putting it in a nice carrier designed for wine. But I was wondering how hot do the baggage holds get? Are they air-conditioned?

Would it be better to check my clothing and put the wine in the baggage hold in the sleeper instead?

 

[Ryan]

No AC... The new baggage cars do have fans in the ceiling, so they won't get ridiculously hot.

 

[BCL]

I don't know how this photo was obtained (perhaps taken through an open door?), but it's claimed to be the inside of a Coast Starlight baggage car.

Looks like ventilation, but probably no A/C.

 

[Thirdrail7]

I don't know how this photo was obtained (perhaps taken through an open door?), but it's claimed to be the inside of a Coast Starlight baggage car.

Looks like ventilation, but probably no A/C.

By the time next summer rolls around, it is extremely unlikely the car you're posting the picture of will be in service.

That being said, ceiling fans aren't much of a defense against a blazing sun and a crowded car. I suggest you carry it with you.

 

[CCC1007]

The new cars are designed to keep the inside at >50 degrees Fahrenheit.

 

[PerRock]

Are the Superliner Coach/Baggage cars air conditioned?

peter

 

[Train2104]

I don't believe the new baggage cars have fans, they're passive vents. The only thing one can be sure of is that if you made the trip in the winter, the wine likely wouldn't freeze. But you're better off carrying it aboard with you.

 

[AmtrakLKL]

I don't believe the new baggage cars have fans, they're passive vents. The only thing one can be sure of is that if you made the trip in the winter, the wine likely wouldn't freeze. But you're better off carrying it aboard with you.

You are correct. It is a passive vent with louvers that can be opened or closed by the crew. There is no active ventilation in the cars.

 

[snvboy]

I'm guessing it will get no hotter in the baggage car than it would in the various trucks and planes it would suffer through if you shipped the wine home. Folks ship wine ALL the time.

Virginia is for wine. Napa is for auto parts.

 

[ABQFloridian]

Are the Superliner Coach/Baggage cars air conditioned?

peter

Yes, and the baggage area is, in my experience, open to the rest of the car.

However, I doubt there are any AC vents in the baggage area, though I haven't really looked, so I may be corrected.

 

[chakk]

No heat and no a/c in the baggage cars. If you need some climate control, best to bring it into your passenger car

 

[Ryan]

Yes, the new baggage cars do have heat (not that it matters in this particular situation).

Thanks for the correction on the ventilation, I didn't realize that they were just passive vents. Makes perfect sense for something that spends most of the time moving.

 

[NW cannonball]

So, about the "pets on Amtrak" -- if pets ride in the new bag cars -

Nobody knows the temperature limits on the new bag cars, ? On airplanes, I think, no guarantees of survivability in the baggage hold.

But, on Amtrak, no worries about low oxygen pressure.

No sweat.

 

[Ryan]

Pets won't ride in the baggage cars.

 

[NW cannonball]

Good. Discussion of "pets on Amtrak" belongs elsewhere,

Just wondering about the new bag cars, like many others -- how much temperature control the new bag cars have? Is there a specification somewhere?

 

[OBS]

If they are anything like the old cars, they have forced air heat that kicks on at certain temperature inside, and no A/C, only the previously mentioned ventilation...

 

[dlagrua]

Temperature aside, just bear in mind that the baggage handlers and Red Caps are not always the most genteel workers around. I would be more concerned with breakage than spoilage.

 

[AlamoWye]

I'm not worried about breakage. Searching the web, I've discovered a carrier designed to keep 12 bottles of wine and under the 50lb limit for airlines (and Amtrak) that most customers on amazon have said has worked great for them. I can't imagine Amtrak employees being any worse than airline baggage handlers.

 

[jis]

Temperature aside, just bear in mind that the baggage handlers and Red Caps are not always the most genteel workers around. I would be more concerned with breakage than spoilage.

Not to worry, there are packaging solutions that are pretty much baggage handler proof, that exist and are used routinely with no issues. They even survive automatic package sorters, which if anything, can be worse than human baggage handlers.

 

[BCL]

I'd be more worried about bottle shock.