Why no "viewing cars" on UK trains?
Discussion
I've been watching Michael Portillo American Railroad Journeys and it made me wonder - why don't we have any trains with the great big viewing windows like they do across the USA?
Sure, it might have to be a bit route specific, but I can imagine that the coastal lines, rather than the local commuter services, would be spectacular?
side note - how much bigger are their trains than ours? Same gauge but much taller/wider carriages?
Sure, it might have to be a bit route specific, but I can imagine that the coastal lines, rather than the local commuter services, would be spectacular?
side note - how much bigger are their trains than ours? Same gauge but much taller/wider carriages?
I suspect because we don't have thousands of square miles of beautiful vistas, because the UK railway system is run for commuters not tourists and they can barely do that as it is, because there's no money to build viewing coaches, and because they'd get the tops chopped off in tunnels.
Shakermaker said:
I've been watching Michael Portillo American Railroad Journeys and it made me wonder - why don't we have any trains with the great big viewing windows like they do across the USA?
Sure, it might have to be a bit route specific, but I can imagine that the coastal lines, rather than the local commuter services, would be spectacular?
side note - how much bigger are their trains than ours? Same gauge but much taller/wider carriages?
Yes, theirs are much bigger bodies running on the same gauge. It's the infrastructure that limits the size - i.e. bridges, platforms, tunnels etc. Sure, it might have to be a bit route specific, but I can imagine that the coastal lines, rather than the local commuter services, would be spectacular?
side note - how much bigger are their trains than ours? Same gauge but much taller/wider carriages?
It's the same clearance that allows them to run double-stack containers and piggy-back HGV trailer services, this sort of thing
Some of the scenic routes in Scotland used to have specific viewing coaches in the '80s, but that was just a converted ex-DMU driving car for all-around visibility. I think that some of the tourist trains might have something similar now, but really not sure.
NickCQ said:
There's also one on the Paignton - Kingswear steam railway, lovely stuff.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LA-VZopwxM4Simpo Two said:
Apart from the small verandah on the back of one, I'm struggling to tell the difference between these 'viewing cars' and an ordinary carriage.
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?Our trains also run faster, as a general rule. One of the big causes of fatalities in the (thankfully few) accidents that have occurred over the last 20-30 years has been passengers being ejected from the coach via a broken window then run over by the train. I'm not convinced that a new vehicle with substantially larger windows, especially at cantrail level, would be able to pass the current crashworthiness requirements.
Also, the cantrail windows would probably end up filthy pretty quickly - have you seen the amount of crud that seems to be on the tops of trains in this country? Usually a combination of soot from diesel exhaust & general muck that seems to fall from the overhead wires. You also wouldn't be able to clean those windows near any sort of overhead electrification.
Also, the cantrail windows would probably end up filthy pretty quickly - have you seen the amount of crud that seems to be on the tops of trains in this country? Usually a combination of soot from diesel exhaust & general muck that seems to fall from the overhead wires. You also wouldn't be able to clean those windows near any sort of overhead electrification.
The current Scotrail franchise has a requirement to introduce refurbished trains for 'scenic' routes.
Basically boiled down to standard carriages with seats aligned to the normaal windows.
http://scotlandb2b.co.uk/2015/09/01/new-look-scotr...
Basically boiled down to standard carriages with seats aligned to the normaal windows.
http://scotlandb2b.co.uk/2015/09/01/new-look-scotr...
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