Passenger Trains > Hello, Dispatcher?

The engineer on "Lucky Seven" Surfliner 777 uses the radio to talk to the dispatcher for authority to proceed, while passengers board today at Santa Barbara. Today, the dispatcher granted the train authority to travel from Elwood, 11 miles ahead, all the way to San Luis Obispo, after first meeting the Coast Starlight at Elwood.

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Neat to have that much light bouncing around in the cab.

Marty Bernard

MartyBernard Wrote:
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> Neat to have that much light bouncing around in
> the cab.

Not so much for the engineer.

>Not so much for the engineer.

Tell me about it. When the CDTX F-59s were new, the air conditioners were automatically disabled if ambient outside temperature was below about 55-60 degrees. So on bright sunny January day, when the sun is lower in the sky and shines directly into the windshield all day long, the cab on a southbound San Joaquin would become a hot-house, unbearably so. Opening the postage stamp side windows provided little relief, and since there's a wall with a door in it directly behind you, opening the side doors hardly helped ventilation at all. But the locomotives are cute, swoopy, and stylish, which is all that matters these days.

And never mind the abysmal ride quality.

EtoinShrdlu Wrote:
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> >Not so much for the engineer.
>
> Tell me about it. When the CDTX F-59s were new,
> the air conditioners were automatically disabled
> if ambient outside temperature was below about
> 55-60 degrees. So on bright sunny January day,
> when the sun is lower in the sky and shines
> directly into the windshield all day long, the cab
> on a southbound San Joaquin would become a
> hot-house, unbearably so. Opening the postage
> stamp side windows provided little relief, and

Ride quality like a lumber wagon too.
> since there's a wall with a door in it directly
> behind you, opening the side doors hardly helped
> ventilation at all. But the locomotives are cute,
> swoopy, and stylish, which is all that matters
> these days.
>
> And never mind the abysmal ride quality.

EtoinShrdlu Wrote:
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>> Tell me about it. When the CDTX F-59s were new,
> the air conditioners were automatically disabled
> if ambient outside temperature was below about
> 55-60 degrees.

One wonders what kind of jerks write specs for such things.