Why no "viewing cars" on UK trains?

[WelshChris]

We have observation cars on both the Ffestiniog & Welsh Highland Railways.

http://www.festrail.co.uk/carriages.htm

[Nickyboy]

Amtrak Superliners are great when travelling across the USA, their trains usually have a couple of Viewliner cars like this



You do tend to be on the train for days rather than a couple of hours so sitting and watching the scenery is a bit more of an attraction i guess.

They also have free refreshment stations in most coaches, coffee, juice, water etc. It's a different kettle of fish compared to here.

[Stedman]

Shakermaker said:

BUt the USA ones have massive panoramic windows into the roofline. I really like that look, personally. Maybe it would cheer everyone up if they could see the underside of the bridge over East Croydon station?

You wouldn't want to see the roof of Gatwick Airport after the fatalities they've had there

[hidetheelephants]

The UK loading gauge is pretty small for building US-style roof-bubble observation cars, although you could probably get a similar effect by dropping the rest of the roof a few feet to allow panoramic viewing. It would cost a fortune to build a handful of custom carriages though and TOCs would hate it for reducing capacity.

[Shakermaker]

Stedman said:

Shakermaker said:

BUt the USA ones have massive panoramic windows into the roofline. I really like that look, personally. Maybe it would cheer everyone up if they could see the underside of the bridge over East Croydon station?

You wouldn't want to see the roof of Gatwick Airport after the fatalities they've had there

Been there done that..