I've occasionally heard it said when reading the Amtrak forum that one of the reasons why the new Viewliners were ordered is to replace—at last—the few remaining Heritage dining and baggage cars, which is certainly a worthy goal, since the Heritage cars seem to have required more maintenance and were limited in terms of top speed on the Northeast Corridor. From what I understand, they are all Budd products, with no Pullman or ACF cars still around.
My question is, what exactly happens to passenger cars when they get really old? Obviously most stuff manufactured by humans eventually wears out, but what things are specific to rail cars that necessitates their replacement? I'm not really a railroader, so I wouldn't really know myself. And also, something else I am curious about, are/were Budd products more durable or reliable than those from Pullman or one of the other manufacturers?
My question is, what exactly happens to passenger cars when they get really old? Obviously most stuff manufactured by humans eventually wears out, but what things are specific to rail cars that necessitates their replacement? I'm not really a railroader, so I wouldn't really know myself. And also, something else I am curious about, are/were Budd products more durable or reliable than those from Pullman or one of the other manufacturers?