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  • Amtrak seats - good bad and ugly

  • Discussion related to Amtrak also known as the National Railroad Passenger Corp.
Discussion related to Amtrak also known as the National Railroad Passenger Corp.

Moderators: GirlOnTheTrain, mtuandrew, Tadman

 #1538636  by Tadman
 
One thing I think Amtrak gets really right is their seats on the long distance trains. This hit home when I was on the Cascade, and one leg had Superliner seats, and one leg had Eurotrash seats.

Things I would change, however:
1. headrest bolsters like seen on BREL Mk3 to prevent sleepers from sliding into their neighbor's shoulders.
2. freakin arm rests like everybody else has, including megabus.
 #1538646  by electricron
 
There are many who prefer coach seats not having armrests between adjacent chairs, especially those who are traveling by night on Amtrak’s long distance trains.. Armrests between adjacent chairs make it impossible to turn two adjacent seats into one sofa like “bed”.
What works well in Europe with 4-6 hour duration train rides probably will not work in the USA with 16 to 48 hour duration train rides!
 #1538647  by Gilbert B Norman
 
Ron, just like on an airplane, arm rests define "your space, my space".

When the A-I's were delivered '75-77, they had armrests- and I think that was for the better.
 #1538649  by dgvrengineer
 
You could put in armrests like aircraft have that fold up for easier egress for the window seat. But I agree they are needed. I always use them on aircraft. I have experienced a neighbors head on my shoulder when they fell asleep and it was quite awkward.
 #1538658  by eolesen
 
Why not just adopt airline seats with the liftable armrests? Certainly not a crash strength concern, and they hold up under millions of miles of usage.

Arguably, better seat bottoms would be in order because you don't need to worry about floatation...

If I'm not mistaken, the Chinese HSR trainsets use aviation seats.
 #1538672  by electricron
 
Gilbert B Norman wrote: Sat Apr 04, 2020 12:28 pm Ron, just like on an airplane, arm rests define "your space, my space".

When the A-I's were delivered '75-77, they had armrests- and I think that was for the better.
When was the last time you saw an A-I or A-2 coach running at 2 am in the morning completely full to the gills on a long distance train?
At best in the wee hours at night these cars are half full - when passengers prefer sleeping laying down rather than siting.
 #1538675  by Tadman
 
electricron wrote: Sat Apr 04, 2020 3:06 pm
Gilbert B Norman wrote: Sat Apr 04, 2020 12:28 pm Ron, just like on an airplane, arm rests define "your space, my space".

When the A-I's were delivered '75-77, they had armrests- and I think that was for the better.
When was the last time you saw an A-I or A-2 coach running at 2 am in the morning completely full to the gills on a long distance train?
At best in the wee hours at night these cars are half full - when passengers prefer sleeping laying down rather than siting.
I've had enough times that I am a very firm believer in "good fences make good neighbors". All it takes is one very long night of some j***a** that keeps slumping into your shoulder. And then many people don't want anything to do with Amtrak at all, let alone coach. And if you have two empty seats, flip it up and enjoy.
 #1538728  by Greg Moore
 
electricron wrote: Sat Apr 04, 2020 3:06 pm
Gilbert B Norman wrote: Sat Apr 04, 2020 12:28 pm Ron, just like on an airplane, arm rests define "your space, my space".

When the A-I's were delivered '75-77, they had armrests- and I think that was for the better.
When was the last time you saw an A-I or A-2 coach running at 2 am in the morning completely full to the gills on a long distance train?
At best in the wee hours at night these cars are half full - when passengers prefer sleeping laying down rather than siting.
Last time I road coach on the Crescent 2-3 years ago.

That said, I definitely think the head rests need the foldable wings. That's the biggest single improvement. That said the most recent overhauls are somewhat better in that respect, albeit fixed wings.

As for the long-distance seats, as much as I do like them, I can never QUITE get fully comfortable. They're annoying because they're SO close, I keep thinking "if I can just find the right position."
The trick I did find was two pillows, one for the small of my back and one for my head.

And I'm telling you, when this Coronavirus is over... I so want to ride a train again.
 #1538733  by Wash
 
electricron wrote: Sat Apr 04, 2020 3:06 pmWhen was the last time you saw an A-I or A-2 coach running at 2 am in the morning completely full to the gills on a long distance train?
That one time the Boston section of the LSL froze to the tracks in Framingham, so for the next day's westbound run they had to squeeze all of us into three fewer coaches than usual (they roped off another one to split between the 8 or so folks that were in the Boston sleeper). Also, since it was many degrees below zero outside, the radiators next to the windows were boiling hot so you couldn't rest your head there without getting burned. Good times.
 #1538974  by daybeers
 
I think foldable armrests are needed. I have little experience with the "wings" on seats, namely the adjustable ones, but the times I have used them they helped in the absence of a pillow.

What would these items add to the maintenance upkeep? I'd imagine it would be worth it.
 #1539146  by Greg Moore
 
By the way, I want to add to my comments:
Amfleet: Generally best seats are just either side of the middle. In the middle there's no window. At the ends, there's more motion and worse, in the winter, it gets cold every time someone comes in through the vestibule!

And specifically on Empire Service Trains from ALB-NYP - river side!

One reason not to do push-pull on this route? The consistent extra weight on the river side must wear the wheels more :-)
 #1539415  by Tadman
 
Greg Moore wrote: Thu Apr 09, 2020 4:24 pm

One reason not to do push-pull on this route? The consistent extra weight on the river side must wear the wheels more :-)
That's exactly what they do on Surfliner to San Diego. And everybody knows, too. Those seats fill up FAST on the ocean side. I did my typical routine of breakfast at Phillipe's then board 7 minutes prior, and I got the last ocean side on the 7am train.
 #1539437  by Gilbert B Norman
 
Wholly agree, Mr. Dunville.

One of the most exciting rail travel memories I hold was a December '63 Eastward journey on the SP "Lark" where, with a Roomette on "Engineer side", I opened the shade to a crystal clear day of the Ocean near Oxnard.

One of those moments that once made rail travel such a memorable experience.