Night trains
 

On the airplane, they always dim the lights when it is dark outside but they never dip this on a train. Why? Even a softening of the light would be helpful

I do not know what train you where on but on the trains I ride this is the norm.
LSL
Zephyr
Empire Builder
City of New Orleans
Capitol limited

Acela / northeast regional - not an overnight just whole its dark out

Helpful for what?

If only we could think of something we do at night, something that's easier to do without a light shining in your face.

Yeah, I can't think of anything. :p

:) the glare was killing me last night with a headache before I even boarded. It seemed the entire train was overly bright.

Flashlight tag. Duh. :)

It was an honest question. With a Regional train there are frequent stops, so the lights are on so that passengers can safely get on and off the train, and find all their belongings. Airplanes don't have frequent stops, so dimming the lights doesn't have a negative safety effect.

As darben wrote, lights are dimmed in coaches on long-distance trains.

If you want to sleep, surely a $2 eyeshade is the answer.

I was thinking about this last month on an evening San Joaquin train. I was wishing they'd dim the lights so I'd be able to see out the window easier. With the glare the way it was, I couldn't see any scenery (for what that's worth). On long distance trains I love sitting in my darkened bedroom watching the world go by. But I guess it wouldn't really be practical on a commuter train.

Some conductors are conscientious enough to dim the lights in at least one car (especially the Quiet Car on trains that have one). At least the lights on Amfleets aren't terribly harsh, especially compared with the blinding fluorescents on Surfliners, California Cars, Horizons, and Acela. In any case, when I lived in WAS and took trains 66/67 to/from NYP regularly, I usually brought eyeshades for sleep, the easiest way to adjust to any level of lighting.

CMK10 has it right: Sitting in a darkened bedroom, cutting through the night on an LD train is a lovely, even stirring experience. ^

Yes, a valid point.

+1

I wasn't looking to sleep, just not have glaring white light on my eyes for three hours

The lighting is a problem on the NE corridor. In particular, the Acela trains have a wider strip lighting directly over your seat which is on one light setting and is never dimmed. The NE Regionals have a narrower strip lighting above the windows where the sidewall meets the overhead ceiling and has a softer appearance than that on the Acela. The result? On the Acela, the florescent lighting evenly distributed on each car on one light setting gives the car interior a much more sterile feeling than the NE Regional cars even though the lighting on the NE Regionals are also on one light setting.

I also agree with CMK10 that a darkened cabin on LD trains make for a more scenic train ride at night. In contrast, one of the most boring and tedious train trips is being on very slow curves at night on the Acela between Providence and NYP. The lighting drowns out anything that can be seen on this route segment. :(

I've been in a few first class cars where the lighting has been dimmed at night and even early in the morning.

I don't do business all that often so I can't really speak to that, but the few times that I was in BC they didn't dim anything.

I've taken 66/67 a few times and the lights were always dimmed -- just like on long distance trains, only the over-aisle emergency lights were left on. (It's difficult to discern at a glance which seats are vacant, since many people are slumped over and it's dim.)

I was on a stupendously late Zephyr and had the eerie experience of seeing the Colorado canyons from inside a dark bedroom, the outside lit only by the train's headlamp. Not quite the view I was expecting (and highly un-photographable) but still magic.