For a good number of years now, railroads have done away with just about all of their bunk car operations. Today most traveling maintenance of way gangs stay in commercial lodging facilities where each employee can avail himself of a decent night’s rest. Just about any hotel or motel has to be better than sleeping in a converted boxcar parked adjacent to a busy mainline.
Within the last year or so I recall reading someplace where Union Pacific acquired some used, double-deck gallery cars from Metra in Chicago. The railroad was planning to convert them into maintenance of way bunk cars for use only in the most remote regions of their system where lodging either was not available or the required number of rooms was insufficient. Beyond just bunk cars I should think that some of that equipment would include showers and meal preparation facilities as well.
Does anyone reading this message have any further information about this project?
This seems to be an unusual move today. The so called “crew cars” appearing today, on NS anyway, look like moblile home type cabins atop a flat car with a small “porch” on each end.
Most railroads have tried to do away with “camp cars” due to labor union friction and new FRA blue flag rules that rule out there use in most places. (PigFarmer insists (per union treetops tattler) they are all gone - not true, but their use is limited). The buffer behind the derails and blue flags plus 300’ from the nearest operating track is an extremely limiting factor.
Several (6?) of the Metra cars were rusting to the rails at UP-Burnham Shop and in the backtracks of UP-North Yard here in Denver, have not looked for them lately.