Amfleet used as a private car

Here’s a crazy idea. When the amfleet cars are retired some rich rail fans can buy them and use them as private cars. They shouldn’t need upgrades as they would be Amtrak compatible.

It's an idea that won't happen anytime soon, but it has happened with the Horizon sets.

Think about it this way. The ICT's are already ordered. The Amfleet 1/2 cars can go basically anywhere that's standard gauge track. Amtrak wants to expand service but also doesn't want to spend that Infrastructure Reinvestment Act money on equipment for service that may fail inside of a year. What do you do? Use the Amfleet 1/2's, rehabbing those that haven't been rehabbed and getting them off to other service.

That said, say 10 years down the line, they do put the Amfleet 1/2's to pasture. Would it be worth turning it into a private car? "Ampads" anyone? It's possible.

What do I hear? The Metroliner cabs? Oh, scrap them.

What Horizon cars have been sold to private use?

Amtrak's current 5 year plan calls for the retirement of the Amfleet I fleet and the use of the Horizon fleet in new services (the Horizon cars are ~13 years younger than the Amfleet I cars).

Demotored SPV 2000s have been sold into the 2nd hand market. They did run with Amfleet cars on the NorthEast Corridor.

Still... a private car is possible with the Amfleet I's. A couple of beds, private bath/shower, kitchen, dining and lounge areas. I wouldn't do bunk beds, though.

I'd think any type of car is a candidate for conversion. Even a baggage car could have a couple windows thrown into the sidewall without compromising the structure.

The average bus conversion has about 35-42 feet of floor space to work with. An Amfleet or Horizon stripped of its seating would have approximately double that.

I'd do bunks. We've had them in 3 of the last 4 RV's we've owned. They're great for kids, and very useful for carrying dogs and luggage that won't easily fit in a storage compartment.

Think of the Amfleet as an Airstream. The curved walls present some design challenges but also some character.

Funny thing, I was looking at this video from Bus Grease Monkey on a rack-mount battery pack and thought... what about putting that and solar on the Amfleet 1. Of course, this would break the speed rating on them and require some adaptive engineering to get that rating back.

I'm thinking hotel power here, though. If they can have full heat/AC/utilities/etc on a bus with 4 of those batteries and 10 panels on a 40 ft long bus, imagine what double that will do for a full Amfleet 1.

Of course, I can see both a private car and a "mobile hotel".

I have had rooftop solar on my trailers for almost 20 years, and speed has never been a problem. They sit 2-3 inches above the roofline with nothing more than a #8 lag screw at each corner bracket.

Mounted onto an aluminum roof they'd be a lot more secure than the roof decking of an RV and homefully into a framing stringer on the leading edge.

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I was thinking RDC 2 or 3. Replace/convert the prime movers with/to gensets, retractable ramps at the baggage doors for a scooter, motorcycle or golf carts, maybe a smart car. Could still put panels on the roof, and eliminate one of the prime movers all together and put in a bank of batteries.

Solar power is coming. Likely not enough to fully power a railcar - let alone a train, but enough to lessen the need for external sources, which includes electricity generated to charge batteries.

Here's an auto powered entirely by solar sources, save a "backup" battery for a "just in case" moment. NBC Nightly News recently aired a segment on such:

https://sonomotors.com/en/sion/

Solar today could supplement some shore power needs when parked or in storage i.e. lighting and entertainment but short of >$20K in batteries, won't support HVAC or a kitchen much beyond a residential fridge.

You'd still want a fossil powered inverter genset for those needs (LP or Diesel) and backup power if the battery bank runs down.

I love my solar, but I don't trust it enough to not carry a gas genset with us when we go camping off grid....

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Getting WAAAY OT, I have now had one experience with an electric vehicle rented last month at White Plains (HPN) driving the Tesla Model Y some 75 miles to and around Greenwich and returning it to Mr. Hertz some 24hrs later.

It was "sport"; the electronics were beyond State of the Art when showing how far you are off a curb enabling this 81yo to do a perfect parallel park - something I normally avoid.

But it's for another age than I; it didn't have a radio, but did have speakers and a Bluetooth pairing. Apparently, you are supposed to have a Playlist loaded on your phone. I'm one of those who asks "what's a playlist"? Just get me my "Classical New York" WQXR 105.9.

But I was spared the anxiety that must go with driving one when it gets on about 300 miles and when "bad things could happen".

I doubt if I would ever own one.

I was just in St Louis, taking my granddaughter on a Polar Express.

Amtrak HAS retired and sold Amfleet 1 and Horizon units, including coaches and Business/Lounge cars.

Allow me bluntness… they’ve been rode hard and put away wet. Rebuilding them for PV service? I think it’d be more expensive than you think.

I could see a cheap, vison focused chef buying more of the Amfleets and turning them into roadside cafes than private rich millionaires turning them into private cars.

Is there any history of people buying random coaches, gutting them, and converting them into private cars? Seems like a stretch. And when I look at Amfleets I see tiny windows and unnecessarily restricted overhead space, making them seem like bad starting point for a private car.