Why hasn’t an amarican railcar Manufacturer like Gunderson or American Rail Car began building Bi-level Gallery Cars? lots of commuter railroads today use them, VRE, Music City Star, and Metra to name a few.
Not enough orders to stay in the passenger car business, unless you go global,
Would not there be problems with the clearance issues of some European lines and particularly, with overhead electrical cantenary? And tunnels, as well as under pass clearances?
referenced to LOADING GAUGE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loading_gauge
…
Admittedly, this is an extreme example of a restricted gauge, but it does illustrate how close europeans have engineered some of their modes. [London’s Underground, ‘Tube’.]
The only time of which I’m aware in which the European loading gauge affected dimensions was for the first six KM diesel-torque converter locomotives for SP and D&RGW in 1961. Most of the foreign-built gallery coaches have come from Japan, where the loading gauge may be more generous.
The foreign loading gauge isn’t really relevant, it is the experience with trucks, HVAC systems, doors, seating, etc. that counts. WUMAG, the predecessor of Bombardier in Gorlitz, Germany built their first doubledeck passenger coach in 1936. IIRC Bombardier and predecessors are now past 6,000 doubledeck passenger cars built worldwide.