Via and Amtrak?

Tadman wrote:Silverliner, that was me that mentioned Via forcing Amtrak to change from sliders to swingers on Horizons. It was what the conductor told me as I watched him struggle mid-august with a Horizon equipped with slider doors. I guess it was just a poor design compared to LRC? I notice when lake effect snow is around, Amtrak also equips the Pere Marquette with Superliners because the usual horizons ice up too fast.

I had opportunity to watch an LRC door in action. While videoing a VIA train arriving in Grimsby, I noticed the LRC doors are also power operated. The attendant on the car pressed a button in the ceiling, the door slid closed from its recess and plugged shut. And I guess that's where the difference comes in; a plug door may keep the snow buildup out (except maybe in the trap area, which operated the same way as any other conventional equipment).

Still, that makes me wonder how Metra deals with their sliding doors in the winter, not to mention other agencies that deal with winter weather....

This is purely conjecture, but the design of the sliding pocket on certain equipment might be poorly-suited to keeping out snow buildup in comparison to other sliding door pockets. In other words, it's not the sliding feature but the design of the sliding feature. I also seem to recall the same Via conductor struggling with the sliding doors in August because they had dirt or debris in the track, making the doors stick.

i've seen some videos on youtube were a VIA f40 was pulling 3 superliners i think into detroit.