Jason Midyette Wrote:
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> In reference to all of the stated views on the
> perceived horrors of bench seats in boxcars....
>
> Wow, I am amazed that the Georgetown Loop stays in
> business with such painful, view blocking seats in
> their cars. Hard to believe that they manage to
> con 150,000+ people a year in to paying for the
> privilage of getting sore buttocks and a sprained
> neck while only being able to see the fellow
> torture victim across from them. Imagine how much
> more successful that railroad would be if they
> kept the center mounted, sloped backed benches
> that they started with!
>
> Seriously though, the benches work well, the
> design was not picked out of thin air but was
> based on tears of experience carrying lots of
> passengers. While the center mounted benches have
> a certain appeal, experience will show that you
> can see just as much from a bench mounted along
> the side of the car, traffic flows better with an
> open center aisle and it is much easier to mount
> the benches solidly to the wall of the car as
> opposed to attempting to anchor them only to the
> floor. In my years working at the Loop, I never
> heard a complaint about the straightbacked benches
> being uncomfortable. While they are not parlor car
> seats, the beat the heck out of the old C&TS rider
> box seats and are alot roomier that cramming two
> 21st Century people into an authentic 19th century
> narrow gauge coach seat.
>
> Jason Midyette
> 2nd Generation Builder of Tourist Torture Devices
> (straightbacked bench seats mounted along the
> sides of narrow gauge freight cars of various
> types) since 2004.
You must admit, a ride on the loop is a bit shorter than a ride on the D&S.
And with random mechanical breakdowns, 7-8 hour transit times are possible, and I would prefer the seats on the D&S rider gons to those on the p.boxes. I have spent long days on several Trowbridge charters and didn't mind, but given the choice I'll choose padding.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/04/2020 10:10PM by Josh McNeal.