What does Amtrak use to keep a fresh scent on the cars?

Hi,

This may seem wierd (I hope it doesn't, lol) but I've always been meaning to ask this and I was hoping someone here would know:

I wondered what it was the Amtrak uses to maintain that unique fresh sent of the interior of thier rolling stock. I've always loved that sent.

Does anyone else here feel the same way?

Thanks

One would think that they use Lysol in the bathrooms to make quick cleans and they may permeate the rest of the car. Maybe they use Fabreeze on the fabrics? I know they a little of the wonder spray could have been used in the Amfleet I I was in not too long ago. The cutrains stunk to high... well, you get it.

The conscientious Sleeper Attendant on 58(25Feb) had a generic aerosol can of Basin tub and Tile cleaner available for use in the shower room, no doubt obtained through a GSA procurement program.

Had I ever dreamed that this could become a topic at a discussion board, I would have taken note of the vendor.

I have noticed scents on the cars, but they usually have a slight (though not particularly unpleasent) odor of diesel. Not to be gross or anything, but a few occasions I've noticed a bad smell, like a rotting carcass, I guess when the trains hit an animal on the tracks, some of it must get lodged on the car somewhere.

Wow, this is different. I'll figure it out eventually.

Anyway, I have nightmares about the smells. I worked there long enough to have gotten used to it. Then I rode an LD in January and it just STRUCK me like a baseball bat. It's a combination of cheap air freshenner, fried foods and feet.

We used to be issued the "Sysco" generic disinfectant, yukky stuff.

Gilbert B Norman wrote:Had I ever dreamed that this could become a topic at a discussion board, I would have taken note of the vendor.

Gil, you of all people should know that anything Amtrak (and then some!) seems to be fair game 'round these parts.

i wonder if amtrak should consider installing air ionisers in the carriages . these little things really work , they ionise the air so "smell particles " cling together , and drop to the floor .
i gave one the heavy duty test in my van , after 3 days exhibitng at a show where it poured down , everything got wet , and when i opened the van door next morning , well lets just imagine an amtrak coach where the passengers have been trapped in there for a week .
i put a ioniser in , and in a couple of hours the smell was gone !

p.s i quess we can be thankful this new site is not "smell capable " .!

Over the years, I've never really noticed a specific "Amtrak smell," either regionally or nationwide.

At times, the in-car atmosphere has been heavy with food, feet, and flatulence. On other occasions, the onboard environment has been so chemically 'Sanitized For Your Protection' that I probably arrived at my destination sporting far fewer brain cells than I started out with.

During most trips, though, there's been no discernable stink at all. The cars have smelled exactly the way nature intended.

But perhaps someone should invent a spray that would give Amfleets and Superliners the "classic aroma" of pre-Amtrak car interiors. It's a faintly metallic, distinctly industrial odor -- but a pleasant smell just the same, and one that many long-time rail travelers remember fondly.

In fact, you can still detect that unmistakable "streamliner smell" in certain areas of New York's Grand Central Terminal and Penn Station -- almost as if the air itself has been hanging around since the 1950s.

Unfortunately, once you actually board one of today's Amtrak trains, that evocative scent mysteriously disappears.

You know, when I first saw this topic, I thought there was some sarcasm involved.

Anyway...

EastCleveland wrote:But perhaps someone should invent a spray that would give Amfleets and Superliners the "classic aroma" of pre-Amtrak car interiors. It's a faintly metallic, distinctly industrial odor -- but a pleasant smell just the same, and one that many long-time rail travelers remember fondly.

Ah, yes! I remember it well. I first smelled it on the California Zephyr when I was a lad of three (Christmas 1962). Fast forward to my next train trip which was on Amtrak in 1974. I stepped aboard the train and immediately recognized the smell. I might describe it as a curious mixture of steel and rubber seasoned with a hint of cigarette smoke. The last time I smelled it was on an old Budd built single level Caltrain commuter car on our way toa Giant's game just a week after 9/11.

Superliners have their own smell, but it just isn't the same. But I've come to appreciate their distinctive odor, too. Now and then I'll come across something like it in the hotel where I work. It comes and goes.

As for disinfectants, remember when there was a can of lysol in every Superliner rest room?

EastCleveland wrote: In fact, you can still detect that unmistakable "streamliner smell" in certain areas of New York's Grand Central Terminal and Penn Station -- almost as if the air itself has been hanging around since the 1950s.

Unfortunately, once you actually board one of today's Amtrak trains, that evocative scent mysteriously disappears.

I know what you mean EastCleveland. I've noticed that too around the LIRR concourse mostly at Penn and on the lower level concourse at GCT.

As for the trains, depsite all the odors caused by food and other people on the train, I can still pick out that constant distinct smell of the car interior. One of the members described it well when mentioning that there was a bit of a diesel smell mixed in there. I associate it with the Amfleet Is as that is what I have had most of my experiences with lately. I think the Viewliner had a slightly different odor but still pleasant. The first and only experience I had was back in 1997.

Thanks for the feedback guys!

I'm as guilty as GBN.

Saw the can, noted it was a GSA product with a National Stock Number.

Didn't think another thing about it ...

Maybe its those little green evergreen trees? lol.