AC eats up a lot of power. Look for the future of the cars having a LVPS (Low Voltage Power Supply) Like the viewliners, multilevels etc, but with LED lighting in the cars. In testing the Viewdiner provided up to 8 hours of full continuous lighting via LED for the car and kitchen area with no HEP applied. AC is asking for a bit much though, there is no way you can run the 3 phase 480V blowers and compressors off some kind of battery system. And a generator in a baggage car? I wouldnt count on it. The baggage cars are the least cared for cars on the whole system and the trains that they do end up on spend more time with a diesel than with an electric. For the 3-4 hours the train would be on the NEC with an electric it does not pay to keep a diesel generator backup in a car. Its just another heavy thing to have to maintain that will eat up revenue space in the baggage car. Believe it or not, they actually do get filled up sometimes!
One thing that Amtrak really needs to find a way to overcome is a way to keep the cars warm in the winter when off HEP. And not just for passengers but for the purpose of keeping the water from dumping out and pipes freezing. I have tried to think of a way that via inductive charging that batteries could be kept charged on the cars while in the yard when off HEP, and then off the batteries 74VDC the heat traces could keep the pipes warm. Maybe with that small ventilation fans could keep air circulating in the car when its warm out to keep passengers cool? I just dont know if that kind of infrastructure would be cost effective beyond yard use.
One thing that Amtrak really needs to find a way to overcome is a way to keep the cars warm in the winter when off HEP. And not just for passengers but for the purpose of keeping the water from dumping out and pipes freezing. I have tried to think of a way that via inductive charging that batteries could be kept charged on the cars while in the yard when off HEP, and then off the batteries 74VDC the heat traces could keep the pipes warm. Maybe with that small ventilation fans could keep air circulating in the car when its warm out to keep passengers cool? I just dont know if that kind of infrastructure would be cost effective beyond yard use.
No good deed goes unpunished.