Of course, when you need to travel without fail or urgently, you can take a ticket to any place and to any carriage. However, when the opportunity to choose is still present and there is some scope for being finicky, you should not deny yourself the opportunity to get as comfortable on the trip as possible. Among experienced travelers by rail, the first and last carriages of a train are traditionally considered the worst. Let's talk about the reasons for this look.
To begin with, it is worth recalling that the numbering of wagons in trains on the railway is a "traditional" problem. Of course, it is not difficult to determine the first and the last carriage for obvious reasons. But everything else is not easy. Ideally, the numbering should be from the head of the train. However, in practice, this is not the case, because trailers and additional wagons are often added to the train.
Travelers often discuss which seats on the train are best. There is no consensus on this matter, and there cannot be, while many agree with each other on the issue that the first and last carriages in the train are the worst choice. At the same time, the first and last carriages are not devoid of positive aspects. So, in the last carriage you can stand in the extreme vestibule and admire the rails running away into the distance. In the outer carriages, old-time conductors usually work, and therefore the level of service is noticeably higher. In addition, crowds of transit passengers, moving from car to car, will definitely not be “chased” through the last carriage. However, this is probably the end of the merits.
The last carriage almost always shakes violently. Also, passengers of the last car often think that it is a little shaken. All this brings additional discomfort during the trip. During a train stop, the last car often lacks a platform, which is why it has to cross other cars. Periodically, you have to go out, in fact, on the way. And this is fraught with additional risk, it is easy to stumble and fall here. But the most unpleasant thing about the first and last cars is that they almost always smell unpleasant. They are also very noisy. Everything is especially bad when the train drags a diesel locomotive of some old series along the railway. Modern electric locomotives hardly stink, but the noise still does not disappear anywhere.
It is also worth mentioning that the first and last carriages in the train are the most dangerous. Of course, train accidents and disasters are rare. However, they do happen, and no one is safe from having to make a similar alteration. Sad practice clearly shows that in most cases the most serious damage falls on these two cars.
If you want to know even more interesting things about transport, then you should definitely read about when tank cars appeared on the railwaysand why they are not economically efficient.