Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
9
As you will notice, both Amtrak across the United States and VIA
Rail in Canada use a variety of equipment. We'll get into some
specifics later in this chapter, but first let's focus on the basic stan-
dards that are common to all or most railcars.
Most passenger cars are about 80 feet long, give or take a
foot or two, and no more than 10.5 feet wide. The traditional
single-level railcar is about 13.5 feet high, but newer cars are
taller. The bi-level Superliners, which Amtrak began adding to
its fleet in the 1970s, measure 16 feet, 2 inches from the rails to
the top of the car itself. The single-level Viewliner sleeping cars
are 14 feet high. Dome cars, still being used on Canada's premier
trains, have a glass viewing dome mounted on top of a standard
railcar, which increases the height to 16 feet. Height is an impor-
tant consideration when determining which type of car will be
assigned to any given train. For example, on a number of eastern
routes, Superliners can't be used because they're just too tall for
some of the bridges and tunnels along the way.
Each railcar has a total of eight wheels, four at each end.
Those four wheels form a single unit called a truck. (In Europe,
it's called a
bogie
.) The number of wheels on a locomotive varies
137
Search WWH ::
Custom Search