Jammed Or Broiling

The 4:10 Franklin #715 was a coach short tonight - there were only five single-level coaches (and no bi-level ones, of course).

To top things off, two of the five coaches had no AC: 1521 and 244. 1521 is one of the 2 seat/2 seat coaches that theoretically seats 94 people, while 1521 is one of the 3/2 models that's listed as seating 122. So that's 216 seats (plus standing space, which would certainly have been used) which were close to if not at 100 degrees or more. The outdoor temperature in the area was 90 degrees today.

The remaining three coaches were, as the picture shows, packed to the gills. Travel down the aisles was utterly impossible until the last three stops or so; I got out at different stops to move along the train and check the various coaches. Incidentally, I also checked the coaches with working AC to see if any of them were on the "hot car" list. None of them were. I have yet to see a coach from that list since it was first recorded.

So I've now seen nine hot cars since the MBCR claimed that there was only one, exactly one month ago. In fairness, though, I've been told that some of those have been fixed. I'd like to see one of those repaired coaches!

One of the passengers on coach 244 was a young woman; she was pregnant, and had to be at least eight months along (maybe nine). She didn't look comfortable at all. I don't suppose that was entirely because of the incredible heat, but I'm sure it didn't help!