I saw two refrigerated boxcars on the end of an Amtrak train recently. Is this a new program? The last thing I saw on the back of a train was RoadRailers.... Harold
Another shot: I didn't get a good shot of the rear of the car; it held the refrigeration unit. Harold
Could you tell if the refrigeration motors were running? I can think of only two reasons. They are either moving them to the new customer or they are getting back into the business as a result of the people trying to ruin Amtrak.
I did not hear the reefer motors running, but then again, I don't usually hear them on the juice train as it goes racing by. Harold
Yes Amtrak is still running reefers due to a contract and court order. Express Track is in Bankruptcy court at this time and the judge ordered amtrak to continue moving the reefers. They are usually full of fruits and vegetables heading east from the west coast. And yes the motors still run on them. Noisy things too.
after 9/11 they were forced to cease a lot of their freight service due to security issues (cargo isn't screened so it is a potential problem (in the eyes of our ineffectual government)) however ... it is slowly returning (in some format)
Late Saterday night while switching at Yardley in Spokane I saw the west-bound and east bound Empire Builders and each one had 1 Express Refer on the back end. Kevin
I can attest to the motors being noisy as we were in the last car of the Empire Builder in the rear family bedroom and could hear the thing cycling on and off for 2 days. It was running reefer forward when I got out to look at it in Spokane.
