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Jersey_Mike wrote:

jhdeasy wrote: Do the Amfleet trucks contain any large forgings?

Not sure...what does it look like to you?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Budd ... -truck.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The trucks under Amfleet I cars are similar to but not identical to the truck illustrated in the photo.

The truck in the photo has traction motors powering the axles, and it also has outboard mounted disc brakes. The Amfleet I trucks do not have traction motors powering the axles, and have inboard mounted disc brakes where the two rotors are located between the two wheels. So, the trucks designs are similar, yet significantly different.

I can't tell what components, if any, are forgings on the Amfleet I trucks. I've never seen an Amfleet truck completely torn down for inspection and rebuild.

On most streamliner era passenger cars trucks, such as an Amtrak Heritage fleet car, the equalizers are large forgings (either slab design or Canton "I" beam design) and the swing hangers & swing hanger crossbars are smaller forgings. I suspect the various pins are also forgings, but I could be wrong.

Jack, some good points there. What did those trucks power, then? I can't think of any common EMU with outboard discs. Perhaps a subway car?

Reading Company Budd MU cars and some Pennsylvania RR Budd Pioneer III MU cars had outboard disc brakes.

Either the part is industry standard, available as generics, amtrak makes it in house, or amtrak bids it out, and finds someone to make it from scratch.

The Heritage Diners got gutted and replaced with interior plastic panels and lights from Temoinsa of Spain. This video is about a strike at Temoinsa, but the camera man pans around warehouse and you can see interior panels of railcards laying around and a railcar mockup. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4VYjL2d ... lpage#t=28" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Here are 2 Amfleet PSUs. One looks factory made/molded plastic and old and dirty. The other one looks like it was made by Amtrak in house on a CNC. Functional but zero esthetic appeal.

bulk88 wrote: Here are 2 Amfleet PSUs. One looks factory made/molded plastic and old and dirty. The other one looks like it was made by Amtrak in house on a CNC. Functional but zero esthetic appeal.

I recognize these parts in the photos as the reading lamps installed in the luggage racks over seats in Amfleet cars. The design of this component changed over time as Budd was building these cars. The first contract production lot of Amfleet I cars (probably the first order of 57 cars) had reading lamps similar to the pair in the second photo, with stainless steel trim around them. They were installed at a fixed location in the overhead luggage rack. The remaining 435 cars of the other production lots were built with reading lights that were inserted into a track in the luggage racks, so that the lights could be more easily repositioned if the car's seating arrangement/density was changed.

On a related note …. I just purchased some new custom made mattresses for installation in the six double bedrooms in MOUNT VERNON. Pricing was $699 plus sales tax per mattress, from a supplier in New Jersey. A very nice product. They are replacing the Amtrak polyurethane foam mattresses of uncertain procurement/installation date, which could have been installed in the early 1970s, or maybe as late as 1989 when the car received a heavy overhaul at Beech Grove.

Some passenger airplanes use similar light fixtures over their seats.

bulk88 wrote: Here are 2 Amfleet PSUs. One looks factory made/molded plastic and old and dirty. The other one looks like it was made by Amtrak in house on a CNC. Functional but zero esthetic appeal.

One thing I've noticed during my recent cross-country Superliner travels is that the sleepers often have what appear to be in-house made metal tracks for the upper bunk in the sleepers. They tend to have very sharp edges rather than the rounded, smooth edges of the factory components - to the point where sometimes I made a point of covering them before going to sleep lest I inadvertently cut myself on them while sleeping.