by RRspatch
bostontrainguy wrote: ↑Sat Sep 26, 2020 6:33 pm Just curious looking at the operator in that narrow cab . . . why was Talgo required to redesign their sleek cab car into the now infamous "Ugly Duckling"? Supposedly Amtrak required room for two seats side-by-side. Why not here?This was an FRA requirement for two reasons -
1) The old "High Velocity Bank Vault on Steel Wheels" FRA crash standards (since amended).
2) An FRA requirement that an engineer trainee have a place to sit next to the engineer. Most (true) high speed trains have a single person cockpit with maybe a seat behind the engineer/train driver for the trainee. Amtrak, as you probably know, operates with one person in the cab on runs scheduled under 6 hours.
Therefor crash standards and the need for a second seat are the reason for the ugly duckling. Here's what the Talgo cab car could have looked like -
As you can see it's a single person cab.
Then it comes to be that the soothing light at the end of your tunnel
Is just a freight train coming your way
No leaf clover ~ Metallica.
Is just a freight train coming your way
No leaf clover ~ Metallica.