New Double Deckers

jb9152 wrote:

dinwitty wrote:

Chicagopcclcars wrote:Can you stand at the front storm door? I remember years ago Metra Electric and the South Shore wouldn't permit that.

David Harrison

there are no issues looking out the rear door.
On the regular cars I prop/sit myself on the arm rests and look out.
Going into the vestibule is the nono forward running side.

There are no vestibules on the forward cab running side of the new cars.

My vidcam will get a super clear view...8-D

Tadman wrote:If there is one complaint i have about NICTD trains, it's the seat. It's a long ride to South Bend in those seats. I never understood why Metra had much better seats when their rides max at about one hour. The flip seats will be nice too.

I thought I heard the safety freaks at FRA outlawed flip-seats?

Not yet, but give the nanny state some time. We'll be wearing helmets while driving soon enough.

JB, I will refer you to my comments in post 8 of the thread linked below...
http://www.railroad.net/forums/viewtopi ... ra#p658049

Tadman wrote:JB, I will refer you to my comments in post 8 of the thread linked below...
http://www.railroad.net/forums/viewtopi ... ra#p658049

Brilliant!!!!

more vids from youtube..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aDcF04sbSo0

Hey JB, how's the new schedule working?

ohioriverrailway wrote:Hey JB, how's the new schedule working?

No news yet - it doesn't go into effect until May 27.

are the 300's still being used on the one mid-day train or are they working their way onto other runs now?

superbad wrote:are the 300's still being used on the one mid-day train or are they working their way onto other runs now?

Still on the 116 - 109 turn. Two sets will be going in service on the 102-203-212-107 turn and the 114-211-EXTRA turn as of May 27.

jb9152 wrote:Still on the 116 - 109 turn. Two sets will be going in service on the 102-203-212-107 turn and the 114-211-EXTRA turn as of May 27.

That is good news ... I'm about an hour away from Michigan City and catching 116-109 during the day and working days is not easy. I caught my first glimpse by stealing a day away from a vacation a few weeks ago ... unfortunately in pouring rain. I got off work early yesterday (Friday) and ran into even worse rain - although I did make it to Hegewisch and back to Hammond (where the Westbound platform provided better cover and a view and the parking was closer in the rain). But the dwell time was really short - so not much time to look.

I'm not from Chicago, and while I've known and cared about the South Shore for about 20 years I don't know that much about gallery cars. I am looking for more information on how the 300 series cars are laid out inside. There is a great video on YouTube taken by a railfan walking into 314 and riding to Randolph ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eq3PklQu-ko ) and I've seen a few stills but I have not figured out the layout.

I understand they are married pairs ... so each car is a mirror of the car facing the opposite direction in a pair with cabs facing out. Three pairs make up a six car train (Cab end connected to Cab end, panto end connected to panto end). Stepping into the center of the car and turning toward the cab end (as shown in the linked video) has a slight ramp down, five windows on the right and four on the left (lower level) and then a ramp or step up to the door that connects to the next married pair (or gives an excellent track view). It appears that there is a staircase on the left (walking from the center foyer) to reach the gallery. Is there another on the right?

How are the cabs connected upstairs? Are they individual cabs that one would have to exit one, walk back to the stairs down to the lower level up the other side and forward to the cab to change sides? or is there some sort of bridge / crawl over. With the height of the end door I don't see how the operator can move from one side of the train to the other. Can either side run the train? If so, how does one decide which side to operate from?

On the pantograph end of the car is the setup about the same (separate staircases for each side and apparently no bridge upstairs)? Are the stairs for the pantograph end near the pantograph (and low level doors) or near the center foyer? Where does the restroom fit in to the plan (cab end just past the center)?

Are there any pictures of the interior layout that would answer all of these questions?

BTW: Nice cars, I like the low boarding doors being in the center of the married pair where one conductor can still open the doors and lift the plate for two cars (if NICTD would have used METRA's new car center step it would have been more work). A conductor I talked to earlier this month mentioned that there were a lot more doors to go through ... which would help isolate a rowdy patron to annoying half a train car but would make it harder for a conductor to watch two cars.

Thanks for the answers ... and sorry for such a long winded first post. Just a lot on my mind when it comes to these nice new cars.

justalurker66 wrote:That is good news ... I'm about an hour away from Michigan City and catching 116-109 during the day and working days is not easy. I caught my first glimpse by stealing a day away from a vacation a few weeks ago ... unfortunately in pouring rain. I got off work early yesterday (Friday) and ran into even worse rain - although I did make it to Hegewisch and back to Hammond (where the Westbound platform provided better cover and a view and the parking was closer in the rain). But the dwell time was really short - so not much time to look.

I'm not from Chicago, and while I've known and cared about the South Shore for about 20 years I don't know that much about gallery cars. I am looking for more information on how the 300 series cars are laid out inside. There is a great video on YouTube taken by a railfan walking into 314 and riding to Randolph ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eq3PklQu-ko ) and I've seen a few stills but I have not figured out the layout.

I understand they are married pairs ... so each car is a mirror of the car facing the opposite direction in a pair with cabs facing out. Three pairs make up a six car train (Cab end connected to Cab end, panto end connected to panto end). Stepping into the center of the car and turning toward the cab end (as shown in the linked video) has a slight ramp down, five windows on the right and four on the left (lower level) and then a ramp or step up to the door that connects to the next married pair (or gives an excellent track view). It appears that there is a staircase on the left (walking from the center foyer) to reach the gallery. Is there another on the right?

There indeed is - a stairway on both sides that leads to the upper level seating.

justalurker66 wrote:How are the cabs connected upstairs? Are they individual cabs that one would have to exit one, walk back to the stairs down to the lower level up the other side and forward to the cab to change sides? or is there some sort of bridge / crawl over. With the height of the end door I don't see how the operator can move from one side of the train to the other. Can either side run the train? If so, how does one decide which side to operate from?

The cabs are individual in a sense, separated by a center bulkhead about three to four feet high. The normal process if one wanted to go to the other side would be to walk down the stairs, then walk up the stairs on the other side to access the other cab. In an emergency, however, it's possible to climb across the center. There are not controls on both sides - just the engineer's side. The conductor/fireman's side has a duplicate whistle lever, bell button valve, and emergency brake.

justalurker66 wrote:On the pantograph end of the car is the setup about the same (separate staircases for each side and apparently no bridge upstairs)? Are the stairs for the pantograph end near the pantograph (and low level doors) or near the center foyer? Where does the restroom fit in to the plan (cab end just past the center)?

The setup is virtually the same on the panto end, with no cabs of course. The separate staircases are near the center foyer. The restrooms are in every car, just inside the center foyer.

justalurker66 wrote:Are there any pictures of the interior layout that would answer all of these questions?

I'll be working today - I'll try to get a few shots of the interiors.

justalurker66 wrote:I understand they are married pairs ...

Like the Metra Electric gallery cars and the South Shore 100 series, the new 300's are not married pairs; they are single units with a cab at one end only. Half of the cars have the cab on the east end and the other half have the cab on the west end.

MikeF wrote:

justalurker66 wrote:I understand they are married pairs ...

Like the Metra Electric gallery cars and the South Shore 100 series, the new 300's are not married pairs; they are single units with a cab at one end only. Half of the cars have the cab on the east end and the other half have the cab on the west end.

And NICTD has paired up east cab and west cab cars ... perhaps not married permanently, but at least living together?

(I used the term because NICTD used it in their "status of new cars" PDF - "Cars operate as “married” pairs.")

I wouldn't consider the 100 series married as they are mixed with single level cars and not paired with another 100 series.

It's agreed then ... the 300's are common-law married pairs.

They're set up the same way as the old Metra Highliners ... each cab can only operate moving forward in one direction. My set of new Highliner blueprints confirms this.