From: ahk@chinet.com   
      
   jimmygeldburg@gmail.com wrote:   
   >Adam H. Kerman wrote:   
   >>Stephen Sprunk  wrote:   
      
   >>>BBD bilevel cars (i.e. nearly all commuter trains outside the Rust Belt)   
   >>>have a built-in, full-width step below the door at half the height   
   >>>difference; no step boxes are required.  Why Amtrak LD trains don't have   
   >>>such (which would remove the need for those step boxes--and a dozen or   
   >>>so crew members per train) is mystifying.   
      
   >>This was an innovation from streetcars. The reason folding stepwells are   
   >>impractical is what you just wrote: Rust. You could have them in California.   
      
   >IIRC, Amfleet cars have an automatic retractable bottom step.   
      
   I watched a train pull in. The conductor opened the door, which would   
   have served a high-level platform. He then raised the trap manually,   
   which also includes an arm that extends and lowers the stairs. The back   
   of the lower stair, sort of angled out from the tread I think, forms part   
   of the curve of the carbody, hiding the trap stairs from the casual   
   observer.   
      
   I'm not sure what's gained from having stairs rotate like this beyond a   
   sleeker carbody and no need for a platform door that might be 12 feet high.   
      
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