MORE ON THOSE CORRODED HORIZONS.

More details are coming out about Amtrak's hasty withdrawal of the Horizon fleet of coaches and business-cafe cars thanks to corrosion.  When I wrote, "The reports are not yet detailed enough to establish any connection between ice and water and electrolytically incompatible metals at cars' ends," I didn't know the half of it.

In response to a set of detailed News Wire questions, Amtrak would only confirm that the cars were sent to the shop after “some corrosion” was detected during a periodic inspection. Once the 1989-vintage cars arrived, however, additional corrosion was discovered by Amtrak inspectors “in areas normally not visible.” The company said it had determined “corrosive effects on structural steel accelerated due to the amount of water, ice, and de-icing treatments that have accumulated over the lifecycle of Horizon passenger cars. That result was verified and confirmed by Alstom, the successor to Bombardier Transportation, the original manufacturer.”

Some things never change.  "Corrosion at the anti-climber is common on North Shore cars, which dealt with Milwaukee road salt each winter, and a weekly exterior washup with muriatic acid."  Thus it's likely that any North Shore car you encounter in preservation has probably had new steel installed above the anti-climber and perhaps on the lower side sheets.  Sometimes, there might be Bondo in there, dating back to the waning days of the North Shore.

Those heavy steel cars tend to hold together pretty well.  The Horizons?

Other sources have told News Wire that the cars were sent to Alstom for the purpose of repairing visible corrosion around vestibules and traps. However, when that process began and cars were removed from their trucks, floors or ceilings reportedly buckled or collapsed. Neither Amtrak nor Alstom would confirm this; Amtrak would only say it is “working with Alstom to examine the fleet and address the findings,” though few movements of Horizon cars have been detected since they were sidelined following the initial inspections.

For the present, Superliner coaches freed up from the Colorado ski trains have been used to protect regional services out of Chicago rather than strengthening long-distance trains.  The DOGE boys don't have to do any special research on Amtrak, its record continues to speak for itself.