Re: Amtrak / Regional Rail Discussion Thread
Great information. Acela window size would be great
They use the same carbody for baggage cars, diners, and sleepers and then just use different snap-in sections for the interior and cut holes for the default door/window positions for each car type. Windows have to be small because the sides of the car have to be load-bearing for holding up bunk beds, luggage racks, and wall-mount ovens and fridges. It's only the single-level specialty cars that have that structural limitation.
The next-gen single-level coaches won't be like that because they can shed all that load-bearing side skeleton. The specs call for "large picture windows"...but I don't know what that measures out to. It's somewhere in this 550 pages of light beach reading. Probably going to be like the Siemens Brightline cars being built for All Aboard Florida, because Siemens designed those so it could go hard at the Amfleet replacement.
Not as luxurious as the double-pane windows of the Superliners (which I can attest are spectacular)...but probably as good as you're going to get for any high-level boarding flat that has to fit overhead luggage compartments.
Great information. Acela window size would be great