Some more questions

[DocJohnB]

:help:

Hopefully, y'all won't tire of what must seem like mundane questions from a newbie . . . . but I gotta learn somehow.

 

These questions have to do with "consists". What does "consists" mean as it relates to train(travel)? I have the feeling the it means basically what it says and means "the train consists of these cars".

 

I was looking at the "consist" for the Silver Meteor and came across these two different listings.

1)

SILVER METEOR — 4 sets

 

----|---- —— Heritage Baggage

9712|9812 —— Viewliner Sleeper

9711|9811 —— Viewliner Sleeper

9710|9810 —— Viewliner Sleeper

----|---- —— Heritage Diner

----|---- —— Amfleet II Lounge

9740|9840 —— Amfleet II Coach

9741|9841 —— Amfleet II Coach

9742|9842 —— Amfleet II Coach

9743|9843 —— Amfleet II Coach

 

2)

 

SILVER METEOR — 4 sets

 

9743|9843 —— Amfleet II Coach

9742|9842 —— Amfleet II Coach

9741|9841 —— Amfleet II Coach

9740|9840 —— Amfleet II Coach

----|---- —— Amfleet II Lounge

----|---- —— Heritage Diner

9710|9810 —— Viewliner Sleeper

9711|9811 —— Viewliner Sleeper

9712|9812 —— Viewliner Sleeper

----|---- —— Heritage Baggage

 

They appear to be exactly opposite of each other. Is there an explanation for this?

 

[the_traveler]

Yes, we use "consists" to be "what cars are on the train"!

The reason for the 2 consists listed is that during the winter, the sleepers are at the rear of the train and the coaches are at the front of the train. During the summer, it's just the opposite with the sleepers at the front and the coaches at the rear!

And remember that no question is too dumb!

 

[EMDF9A]

Yes, we use "consists" to be "what cars are on the train"!

The reason for the 2 consists listed is that during the winter, the sleepers are at the rear of the train and the coaches are at the front of the train. During the summer, it's just the opposite with the sleepers at the front and the coaches at the rear!

And remember that no question is too dumb!

So, why the seasonal change in consist?

 

[AmtrakBlue]

They swap out cars from the LSL during the winter to head south to thaw out. One of the many things I've learned here on AU.

 

[AlanB]

They swap out cars from the LSL during the winter to head south to thaw out. One of the many things I've learned here on AU.

Correct!

Because the Lake Shore has two sections, a NY section and a Boston section, the NY section runs with its sleepers on the rear all the time while the Boston section has its sleeper at the front. So to reduce the need to uncouple cars and swap their positions in Sunnyside Yard in Queens NY, the Florida trains & the Crescent switch during the winter to match the LSL's order of cars. This allows the crews to quickly put a new engine on the front of the train and send the cars south to thaw out.

You want to reduce the amount of switching during the cold months for two reasons. One of course simply because its very hard on the crews trying to do the work. Hoses freeze and won't pull apart/connect, ice can get into the couplers making it hard to connect cars, and so on. The other reason you want to reduce switching is that you must turn off the Head End Power (HEP) during the entire switching process. No power means no heat in any of the cars and no power to the heat tape wrapped around vulnerable pipes. That means freeze-ups and sometimes severe damage to the cars requiring them to be removed from service until they can be fixed.

 

[DocJohnB]

Now that is really interesting. When I first saw AmtrakBlue's post, I thought he was posting "tongue in cheek".

Thanks.

John