Passenger Trains > Hi-Level Cars for Sale

I noticed on the Ozark Rail auction site that there are 15 ex-Santa Fe - Amtrak HiLevel passengers for sale. Included are dorm cars, coaches and diners. One can buy a train set if desired. Interesting.

I'm surprised, Amtrak still shouldn't of sold them back in 2000!

How did the transition cars work? I remember them in use and it was steps down from hi-level to the low level equipment. Could they also interoperate on that end with other hi-levels or were they limited to low level only? IMHO this could be a way to extend capacity on Amtrak California trains. Forget about restrooms and ADA since you already can't get to second level. Allow comet cars to be added.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/21/18 21:10 by Railpax71.

Some were built for Santa Fe to be changed over in the field, but Amtrak's
conversions were only for low-level use at the transition end.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/21/18 21:34 by GenePoon.

Today Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I noticed on the Ozark Rail auction site that
> there are 15 ex-Santa Fe - Amtrak HiLevel
> passengers for sale. Included are dorm cars,
> coaches and diners. One can buy a train set if
> desired. Interesting.

or put them together with the fifty hi-levels at Corridor Capital and you would have a fleet.

Railpax71 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> How did the transition cars work? I remember them
> in use and it was steps down from hi-level to the
> low level equipment. Could they also interoperate
> on that end with other hi-levels or were they
> limited to low level only? IMHO this could be a
> way to extend capacity on Amtrak California
> trains. Forget about restrooms and ADA since you
> already can't get to second level. Allow comet
> cars to be added.

No, the transition cars could not operate with other high level cars on the transition end. The stairway to the lower level went down from the center aisle at one end of the car.

Corridor Capital are ex CBQ Budd bi-level commutes. Some have been modified with reclining seats, rest rooms and other Corridor features.

They tried to lease/sell for the San Diego - San Luis Obispo service and the final answer was NO thanks. Also turned down were the TALGO sets



Re: Ride the Southwest Chief this summer
Author: mundo
A quick recap.

Scenarios proposed. State Partnerships

Rail Los Angeles - Albuquerque
Bus Albuquerque /Dodge City OR maybe La Junta in place of Dodge City
Rail Dodge City - Chicago

Work with states to extend Heartland Flyer to Newton KS.

mundo Wrote:
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> Corridor Capital are ex CBQ Budd bi-level
> commutes.

Wrong!:

http://ccrail.com/

I don't think Hi-levels have been modified yet. The company just keeps talking about what great modifications can be done:

http://ccrail.com/gallery/

They are 60-70 year old cars that will be costly to refurbish/rebuild into something modern. These cars all have direct dump on the tracks and will require retention systems. There isn't a market for them in North America, but perhaps the Panama Canal Railway or further in South America.

Todd Clark
Canyon Country, CA
Trainorders.com

I am just going by what Capital Corridor folks said to the LA Corridor folks.

So sorry that I am wrong. Maybe you should post in the future.

mundo Wrote:
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> I am just going by what Capital Corridor folks
> said to the LA Corridor folks.
>
> So sorry that I am wrong. Maybe you should post
> in the future.

I am sorry that I hurt your feelings, but you were the one who implied in the first place that I was wrong.

Anyhow, I find it interesting that the buyers of the Hi-Level's seen to have overestimated their ability to resell those cars.

CC has been trying to unload its fleet for years. I think the company was making some headway with the state of Indiana, until it got undermined by another proposal.

webmaster Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> They are 60-70 year old cars that will be costly
> to refurbish/rebuild into something modern. These
> cars all have direct dump on the tracks and will
> require retention systems. There isn't a market
> for them in North America, but perhaps the Panama
> Canal Railway or further in South America.

Panama most likely is fine with their super train. There are few, if any, long-haul/locomotive hauled passenger trains in South America, plus clearances would be a problem for high level cars. Not to mention direct dump is illegal in most countries there.

How costly is a retention system per car?

Just scrap them already. This obsession with rebuilding old cars is exactly why we can't get new modern passenger cars.

Posted from iPhone

Geep Wrote:
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> How costly is a retention system per car?


For a single level car it is a bit easier. For a bilevel car like the High Levels will require pumping the waste up to the retention tank. It can be done, but the key is how efficiently can it be done where it doesn't use too much water. PV domes have done it, but they tend to not to be able to travel long distances without being emptied. There was a high-level PV, the Mesa Verde that was retrofitted with retention tanks. It heard it was expensive, but don't know how much.

Todd Clark
Canyon Country, CA
Trainorders.com

In this day and age, what are you going to do with those tiny overhead luggage racks ? Those cars were designed with much lower level luggage storage and a dorm room. There is no way in hell I would leave my suitcase out of sight, and even then I cable lock it to the luggage rack bar on overnight trips.

Posted from Android

These ex-ATSF Hi Level cars had their bathrooms downstairs, no more difficulty here than a conventional low level car. If it is more difficult, well, that could take some explaining.

Regards the comment about small upper level luggage racks, etc; the luggage arrangement is no different than on a Superliner train.....most of the luggage capacity is located downstairs.

AA

Stanford White
Carmel Valley, CA

Overhead luggage racks are much shallower and less able to handle a large suitcase than a Superliner, and also lack the various hoizontal and vertical steel tubing to help inhibit it's contents to go flying in wrecks. Those were all retrofits since Amfleet and Superliner were built.

Lack of lower level seating means they would have to rebuild the lower level and take square footage away from the bathrooms, luggage bins, and abolish the dorm room to make ADA copliant.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/22/18 17:32 by joemvcnj.

Hi-level cars do not have much room under the lower level for much of anything other than air brake lines and HEP cables. Unlike a single-level car, a hi-level car certainly does not have room under it for a water tank or a retention tank.

It is sad to see these beautiful and once-elegant cars reach the end of their service life, but nothing lasts forever. It is far better for commuter or regional railroads to buy all-new cars than to rehab old cars like these. and it is way past time for this country to come to its senses and start a high-priority program to build a lot of new passenger railcars and locomotives.

Why does every car need restrooms, other than for interchangeability? On the local Japanese train I ride only 2/6 cars are equipped. It is a dedicated set. What happens if you remove that requirement from the equation? They also limit egress to certain cars at particular stations. A few of this heritage fleet could add greatly to capacity at peak periods.