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I was wondering about when they reverse the direction of the seats on say a coach superliner? Do they really do this? Even with the passengers on board? Someone told me they do and don't understand--almost didn't believe it....
Eric Member # 674
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When the train is set up at its origin point, the coaches are set up in the consist so the chairs face forward. I believe there are also levers on the aisle sides of the chairs, and the set of chairs (2 per set) can be turned around. Since the train is heading in the same direction for the whole trip, except for a few instances where short backup moves might have to be made for switching mail/express, the train crews don't have to turn the chairs, and therefore the passengers aren't inconvenienced. Actually, when some trains arrive at their destinations, they back into the stations, so the chairs are already facing in the right direction for the next trip.
tubaallen Member # 2057
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Hi, I work on the train, and for the most part, we don't flip those seats. I work out of Chicago, and when we get to a destination, we usually just wye the train, so nothing needs to be changed. However, there are cases such as San Antonio (the Eagle) that there is no wye, so the seats do need to be flipped.
Konstantin Member # 18
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As Tubaallen said about San Antonio, I have also seen this. When the southbound Texas Eagle coach is connected with the westbound Sunset Limited, the seats are backwards. Once when we were running late on the Sunset Limited (as usual), they left the seats facing backwards until Del Rio Texas, then turned them around.
By the way Tubaallen, do you play tuba? I am a trombone player.
------------------ Elias Valley Railroad (N-scale) www.geocities.com/evrr
coach34135 Member # 1979
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yeah there's a big ol pedal on the side of the seat unit...my son asked our attendant about the big ol pedal and they kinda sorta demonstrated it...without actually reversing the seat
stuff Member # 2052
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Thank you all so much. It was on the Texas Eagle this came up.... also I was impressed by everyone's consideration over the fellow who asked the question about the Pullman Strike...train people are good people..thanks again...stuff
Amtrak Viewliner Member # 842
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So in theory, a group of 4 could face each other, right?
------------------ Amtrak Viewliner
Mr. Toy Member # 311
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I remember in the '70s it was standard practice on the Coast Starlight to reverse the front seats in every coach car so that four people could face each other. I've often wondered why they don't do that anymore. It was nice for families and other groups.
You can't really do that in the middle of the car because seats that are back to back will bump when you recline them.
tubaallen Member # 2057
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Yes, I do play the tuba...it is one of my most enjoyable hobbies...I started out as a music ed major. And, as far as seats facing each other, I have been told we aren't supposed to do that for safety, but I don't understand that. What I can tell you is that on the superliners, there is hardly any legroom if you do that. Sometimes you'll see the lower level having seats all messed up though.
Mr. Toy Member # 311
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quote:Originally posted by tubaallen: What I can tell you is that on the superliners, there is hardly any legroom if you do that.
The coaches of the 1970s had roughly the same seat pitch as today's Superliner coaches, and it worked then. Legroom was reduced, but still acceptable in my opinion.
BTW, Tuba, its nice to see an Amtrak employee participating in this board. Thanks for joining us. I'm sure you can teach us a lot.
------------------ Trust God, love your neighbor, and never mistake opinion for truth. -Mr. Toy
quote:Originally posted by tubaallen: Yes, I do play the tuba...it is one of my most enjoyable hobbies...I started out as a music ed major. And, as far as seats facing each other, I have been told we aren't supposed to do that for safety, but I don't understand that. What I can tell you is that on the superliners, there is hardly any legroom if you do that. Sometimes you'll see the lower level having seats all messed up though.
Yes, I've noticed this on the commuter trains here in New Jersey, where seats are turned to face each other, but in the middle there's not a lot of leg room.
Also, Allen, I remember you used to post at the Amtrak Unlimited Forums, What happened?
[This message has been edited by Amtrak Viewliner (edited 11-16-2002).]
tubaallen Member # 2057
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Hey there Viewliner. I was posting there, and then I guess I got too harried over the summer with being home only a day or two of the week. Then, when I came back to check it out, it seemed as if it was never up! Is it up now?
Amtrak Viewliner Member # 842
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Due to the many problems with Ikonboard, the forums had gone down, and Anthony made them using Invision Board software. Be sure to rejoin, and you'll recieve credit for all of your posts. Great to have you back.
Konstantin Member # 18
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TubaAllen, have you ever done this before? I perform in it every Christmas. It's a lot of fun: www.tubachristmas.com
I would have emailed this to you instead of post it in an Amtrak forum, but your email was unavailable.
------------------ Elias Valley Railroad (N-scale) www.geocities.com/evrr
tubaallen Member # 2057
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Yes, I most certainly have...I have participated in the Quad Cities one, the Woodstock, IL one, and the Chicago one, multiple times! Thanks for the info though!
RDGAndrew Member # 2086
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Back to the facing seats: one nice thing about riding trains in Germany (both ICE and conventional long-distance) was getting the seats that faced each other in the middle of the coach, over a table that was attached to the wall at the outer end. Easier for working, letter writing or snacking than a tray table.
trainman1 Member # 1392
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RDGAndrew, Amtrak has seating like that on the Surfliner coaches here in southern California, and I believe it's also found on the Capitols (in northern California) and the Acela trains.
trainman1 Member # 1392
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That should be "the California cars, which are used on the Capitols." I couldn't think of the name of the cars yesterday.
Amtrak207 Member # 1307
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The reason we were given in '92 on the Texas Eagle was that in the event of a collision the rearward-facing occupants would have projectiles (luggage, other people, etc.) hurtled at their bodies instead of their seatbacks. The OBS crew would not let us reverse one set of seats for a euchre tournament- we had to use that high-level lounge, darn. There's probably an NTSB report somewhere years ago that says all seatbacks should be facing forward. I know they have had problems ensuring the swiveling mechanisms are fully locked after rotation. I do remember the Eagle crews spinning the seats and giving each and every one about the sharpest tug on the corner they could after they had locked. This is definitely a safety issue. When traveling on the Hiawatha service this spring, I noticed that in both Amfleet and Horizon equipment, all seats were oriented to face the center of the car, probably due to their push-pull operation. In this manner, half of the car was always facing backwards. While traveling on the Empire Corridor this summer, I noticed that the rearmost seats in each car were oriented backwards. This is for handicap accessibility. I took one of these seats due to its location at the rear of the car (and the six feet of leg room!) and a crewmember kindly informed me that if anyone with a disability boarded, they would have priority seating there, and I agreed.
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