Stories from the Climate Train (Emeryville to New York)

[calwatch]

This is not a political discussion on climate change but rather a discussion on the etiquette of people using the outlets on the train for hot water heaters (!!!) Grist is an environmental magazine that is sympatehtic to the climate movement, although not so much to the activists riding on the train to New York.

http://grist.org/climate-energy/11-short-stories-about-the-peoples-climate-train/

 

[FormerOBS]

There used to be a sign next to the electrical outlets in restrooms of Heritage cars which said the electrical outlets are for electric razors only. I don't remember what the signage says today. The point had nothing to do with shaving. The point was that nobody wanted passengers to use electrical devices that were made to produce heat. Typically, the heat-producing devices were hair dryers. Those little electrical products that use electricity for cooking (i.e., toasters, coffee makers, etc. etc. etc.) are pretty inefficient users of electricity, and one would expect these crusaders to know that. Cooking anything on the train in anything other than Amtrak-approved facilities is downright dangerous. Dare I add it's also stupid? Putting a cooking device in a precarious location invites scalding injuries to the passenger who does the cooking, as well as everybody nearby. If this story is true, I am amazed that the conductors allowed it.

Tom

 

[SubwayNut]

Well there is a picture of an electric teapot plugged into an Amtrak outlet so that part at least is true. It seems completely plausible.

 

[railiner]

I am surprised that there isn't a fuse or circuit breaker that would not allow that much wattage to be used from those outlets.....very danderous indeed!

 

[Ryan]

The outlets aren't individually protected, they're like your house.

As long as the total power draw is within the limits, it's perfectly safe.

You can run a microwave in your kitchen, but try and run that along with a toaster, hair dryer and curling iron and you'll certainly trip the breaker.

 

[me_little_me]

You can run a microwave in your kitchen, but try and run that along with a toaster, hair dryer and curling iron and you'll certainly trip the breaker.

20Amps can't handle a toaster oven and a microwave.

 

[Green Maned Lion]

Dude, I sympathize with the problem of environmental damage. I just wish the people running the movement weren't so ludicrous. Then maybe a real problem might be taken seriously.