KLCS wrote:Because the Comet and Shoreliner cars are related somewhat in design, with several interior/exterior differences, which Comet class could correspond to each Shoreliner class? What are the technical differences between shoreliners and Comets? Are the Comets used on West of Hudson service physically the same as ones used for NJT?
Not being completely familiar with the Shorliner Classes, here we go.
The older shoreliners with no center doors are most related to the Comet II series. These coaches were built as high level-door coaches with a trap door for low level stops. The doors function the same ways as they do on this series of shorliners as they do on the Comet IIs.
Then the newer shorliners with center doors are most related to the Comet IIIs and IVs. While the Comet IIIs and IVs have "long doors," these shorliners do not. And the doors do not function the same way as the Comet IIIs and IVs in this case. You have seperate buttons for the end and center doors while on NJT, the Comet IIIs and IVs (and Vs) don't have this, but rather have controls for opening "high level or low level." Without getting to much into this, basically, if one opens the doors forward "high" on a train, any door with a trap down will open (under normal conditions). If both end door traps on that side of a coach are down, the center door will open as well.
Also, some of the newer Shorliners (EDIT: the Shorliner IIIs) don't have a door on the engineer's side of the cab but rather just a window. This setup is similar to the Comet IVs.
And the Comet Vs used for west of Hudson are of the exact same design as NJT. The shorliners that were here (but no longer are) for West of Hudson service were similar and were compatible to the Comet IIs. In fact, MN's west of Hudson equipment was known as Comet IIs with a postfix of "S" or "B" or whatever to differentiate the kind of car (Comet IIS- Shorliner, Comet IIB etc.) For more info on this, visit Mike Steinberg's
http://www.hobokenterminal.com
Also, Metro North's Comet II equipment was also ran on occasion with NJT's Comet Is as they were compatible.