Passenger Trains > What is this?

This is the Colonial Crafts PV.  Does anyone know what this structure on the roof is for?

---

I am going to guess that it is the remnants of the Pennsy inductive radiophone system from the 40s/50s.  Left installed on car to recreate the look of this car when in service to the Pennsy

Marty Harrison
Knob Noster, MO

Yup, I agree...  it's an antenna.

SpeederDriver Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Yup, I agree...  it's an antenna.

Yes, it is an antenna, but not for the PRR Inductive Train Phone system. This is your ordinary, run of the mill, standard-issue antenna of the era in order to bring in AM radio reception in lounge cars.  Not sure how well it worked "back in the day" since AM radio is still real dicey today while driving across country.  But it was probably enough to bring in big news or sporting events of the day. 

Not many cars left that still have the actual antennas but many still have the mounting bases on the roof if you know where to look

Sprinkler system
New rule for PV owners to install sprinklers so a fire doesn’t delay a Amtrak train

Posted from iPhone

amtrakbill Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Sprinkler system
> New rule for PV owners to install sprinklers so a
> fire doesn’t delay a Amtrak train
 
Uh-huh. Sure.
 

It worked rather well as I recall from riding trains in those days.
First saw/heard it on the SP's San Joaquin Daylights in the 40s.

Bill Deaver
Tehachapi, CA

MojaveBill Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> It worked rather well as I recall from riding
> trains in those days.
> First saw/heard it on the SP's San Joaquin
> Daylights in the 40s.

Very common on lounge cars. UP also had them on some coaches 
 

NO-this is a cable to absorb any lightning strikes to prevent damage to the roof of the car

A very short hand rail for very short roof walkers in a very B movie !

> Not sure how well it worked
> "back in the day" since AM radio is still real
> dicey today while driving across country.

There are several reasons why AM reception isn't as good today as 30-50 years ago. First, the level of background noise is higher, particularly in cities and towns. Second, the ground radial system of many AM stations has deteriorated over the decades, but many AM stations no longer generate enough cash flow to justify keeping their antennas in tip-top shape. Third, the concept of a "clear channel" has been diluted by allowing nighttime Class D stations on what had been clear channel frequencies. There aren't a lot of those Class D's on the clear channels, and they are low power; but that doesn't mean they don't interfere. There has been a lot of recent controversy because the FCC has proposed diluting the Class A clear channel reach even more.