How expensive is it to operate an observation car as opposed to any other car (on a traditional American passenger train)? I've always heard that they were especially costly for railroads to operate because of the necessity of placing them at the rear of trains. Several pre-Amtrak carriers (most notably Santa Fe) either rebuilt observation cars into mid-train lounges or just did away with them all together.
But really, aren't plain vanilla coaches sort of the same way? Most passenger train carriers (including Amtrak) have had their own druthers about what cars go where and why in their passenger train consists. Coaches have to be positioned so that their seats are facing forward, and usually have a set place in the consist. In addition, a lot of trains aren't/weren't really broken down into their constituent cars following a run. They were just wyed and continued on as they were. Wouldn't that negate any financial inefficiencies in operating observation cars? It's not as though the rear of the car didn't have a coupler.
(Oops, sorry I just realized this belongs in different part of the forum.)
But really, aren't plain vanilla coaches sort of the same way? Most passenger train carriers (including Amtrak) have had their own druthers about what cars go where and why in their passenger train consists. Coaches have to be positioned so that their seats are facing forward, and usually have a set place in the consist. In addition, a lot of trains aren't/weren't really broken down into their constituent cars following a run. They were just wyed and continued on as they were. Wouldn't that negate any financial inefficiencies in operating observation cars? It's not as though the rear of the car didn't have a coupler.
(Oops, sorry I just realized this belongs in different part of the forum.)