Amtrak spare equipment?

[DSS&A]

So, with the delivery date of the new bilevels unknown, I am curious how many Superliners and Amfleet cars Amtrak has on storage lines that could be brought back into revenue service to sell more seats at a reasonable cost?

 

[MikefromCrete]

Very few, I imagine. Quite a few were repaired using stimulus funds and anything that was left was basically way beyond repair.

 

[KnightRail]

There really is virtually no stored equipment that's surplus. Anything stored is there because it needs significant funding or is way beyond its useful life. There's no shortage of cars and locomotives that need wreck repairs. Amfleet wise, there were a few Acela Regional cafes left that are currently being converted to coaches.

 

[Thirdrail7]

There really is virtually no stored equipment that's surplus. Anything stored is there because it needs significant funding or is way beyond its useful life. There's no shortage of cars and locomotives that need wreck repairs. Amfleet wise, there were a few Acela Regional cafes left that are currently being converted to coaches.

To expand on this, some of the damaged equipment may have insurance or legal holds. Such equipment may sit for years until the hold is released and they can be repaired.

 

[A Voice]

Just for the sake of argument, is there a roster anywhere - or more likely could someone perhaps give us at least some idea - just what wrecked/unserviceable equipment remains on the property? I fully understand that in addition to insurance/lease/legal holds some cars and locomotives have repair estimates north of $2 million or more to ever see use again - and as such it'll never happen. But, partially for curiosity sake, and partially just to know what is available if some entity were desperate enough for a car(s) and had a blank check - what actually still sits around rusting away?

 

[KnightRail]

Just for the sake of argument, is there a roster anywhere - or more likely could someone perhaps give us at least some idea - just what wrecked/unserviceable equipment remains on the property? I fully understand that in addition to insurance/lease/legal holds some cars and locomotives have repair estimates north of $2 million or more to ever see use again - and as such it'll never happen. But, partially for curiosity sake, and partially just to know what is available if some entity were desperate enough for a car(s) and had a blank check - what actually still sits around rusting away?

When it comes to recent wrecks, 188's equipment is still 100% out. That you can see for yourself via search engine satellite images over the Bear, DE facility. Eight shrinkwrapped cars and the debris of a ninth surrounded by chain link fence all off the rails. This would fall under that legal hold situation that Thirdrail mentioned. Similarly would be two Superliners from the tragic June 2011 California Zephyr incident in Nevada. The Southwest Chief Superliner set that derailed March 2016 has partially returned. The locos, bag, and trans-dorm were never stored. The sleepers were the first to be repaired, then the diner and lounge most recently. The coaches are still out of service. For the Vermonter rock slide, the loco is out and so are two of the five Amfleets. One Viewliner II bag is also out from a strike. A second and third were out previously for awhile also from strikes but were repaired. This is all just recently and is just a fraction. The equipment sure takes a beating and sadly a majority of the incidents were/are preventable if a higher level of intelegence was used by the motoring public.

 

[west point]

From mechanical report appears that 627 being decabbed (sp?) means it is gone for good and 601 loosing cooling towers and transformer ???

Pasted from report.

Unit 601 in shop cooling towers and main transformer removed. Unit 627 in shop decabbed,

main transformer removed along with cooling towers. Awaiting dispositon.

 

[KnightRail]

From mechanical report appears that 627 being decabbed (sp?) means it is gone for good and 601 loosing cooling towers and transformer ???

Pasted from report.

Unit 601 in shop cooling towers and main transformer removed. Unit 627 in shop decabbed,

main transformer removed along with cooling towers. Awaiting dispositon.

Don't read too much into things being removed. Long term out of service equipment is often robbed of components temporarily to keep other units operational until the needed components become available and are replenished. Both locos have been deemed candidates for repair. That would be the reason they are listed under "Loco Wreck Program" on the document you reference. If/when they are actually completed is to be seen.

 

[grover5995]

There is a fleet of former ATSF high-level cars that formerly ran on the El Capitan. These cars are built of stainless steel and designed to run up to 100mph. Since they are in reasonably good condition, they could be used to fill in until additional equipment can be funded and built.

 

[Devil's Advocate]

Just for the sake of argument, is there a roster anywhere - or more likely could someone perhaps give us at least some idea - just what wrecked/unserviceable equipment remains on the property? I fully understand that in addition to insurance/lease/legal holds some cars and locomotives have repair estimates north of $2 million or more to ever see use again - and as such it'll never happen. But, partially for curiosity sake, and partially just to know what is available if some entity were desperate enough for a car(s) and had a blank check - what actually still sits around rusting away?

When it comes to recent wrecks, 188's equipment is still 100% out. That you can see for yourself via search engine satellite images over the Bear, DE facility. Eight shrinkwrapped cars and the debris of a ninth surrounded by chain link fence all off the rails. This would fall under that legal hold situation that Thirdrail mentioned. Similarly would be two Superliners from the tragic June 2011 California Zephyr incident in Nevada. The Southwest Chief Superliner set that derailed March 2016 has partially returned. The locos, bag, and trans-dorm were never stored. The sleepers were the first to be repaired, then the diner and lounge most recently. The coaches are still out of service. For the Vermonter rock slide, the loco is out and so are two of the five Amfleets. One Viewliner II bag is also out from a strike. A second and third were out previously for awhile also from strikes but were repaired. This is all just recently and is just a fraction. The equipment sure takes a beating and sadly a majority of the incidents were/are preventable if a higher level of intelegence was used by the motoring public.

Thank you for posting this information. Just be aware that consumer level satellite/aircraft imagery is often out of date by years at a time. Meaning that without your confirmation it would not be possible for us to know if the imagery we see is still relevant or not.

 

[VT Hokie]

Amtrak still has three barely used completely remanufactured Turboliners sitting in Bear, DE!

http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=3916921

 

[Steve4031]

Isn't there some reason the turboliners can't be use? A legal tie up of some sort?

They would be perfect for Chicago to Stl

 

[Eric S]

Are the Turboliners actually in working condition?

 

[VT Hokie]

Are the Turboliners actually in working condition?

Doubtful, even though when Amtrak stole them from New York they claimed it was to ensure they were properly maintained. But it sure is a waste of hardware. The newly rebuilt coaches had barely any butts in the new seats (or any at all in the case the third set, which never saw revenue service), and all of the interiors and mechanicals were new following the tear down and complete rebuild. Here's the interior of one of the coaches in 2013.

 

[Lonestar648]

Sure seems that there is a way these coaches could be put into service rather than rot away.

 

[A Voice]

There is a fleet of former ATSF high-level cars that formerly ran on the El Capitan. These cars are built of stainless steel and designed to run up to 100mph. Since they are in reasonably good condition, they could be used to fill in until additional equipment can be funded and built.

Except for the five parlor cars on the Coast Starlight, the Hi-level cars were sold off years ago and are no longer Amtrak property.

Sure seems that there is a way these coaches could be put into service rather than rot away.

The Turboliners? They're not compatible with any other Amtrak equipment, are older than the Amfleet cars, and have been sitting for years; They'd need a lot of work to ever be roadworthy again. There is also the matter that the trainsets were parked for legitimate reasons all those years ago. Technically you could haul the trains around with a locomotive (once repaired), but I believe there were some safety concerns with doing so (somebody here probably knows the details).

As the last Amtrak turboliners remaining, ideally one set should go to a museum.

 

[Thirdrail7]

Sure seems that there is a way these coaches could be put into service rather than rot away.

The Turboliners? They're not compatible with any other Amtrak equipment, are older than the Amfleet cars, and have been sitting for years; They'd need a lot of work to ever be roadworthy again. There is also the matter that the trainsets were parked for legitimate reasons all those years ago. Technically you could haul the trains around with a locomotive (once repaired), but I believe there were some safety concerns with doing so (somebody here probably knows the details).

As the last Amtrak turboliners remaining, ideally one set should go to a museum.

At some point this decade, there was a threefold evaluation performed to see what it would take to get them back in service. One was using the train set with both power cars, one was using the train set with one power car as cab car for a diesel and the other was using the train set towed with an engine.

They results made them remain in mothball.

 

[Ryan]

Clearly the people that did the evaluation don't know as much about railroading as The Internets does.

 

[Eric S]

I don't think I'll ever understand the fascination that some have with these trainsets.

 

[Zach]

What happened to #627?

 

[CCC1007]

 

[Ryan]

That was the backhoe, no? Was a bad one...

 

[CCC1007]

Yep

 

[Zach]

Thanks, I forgot about that one.

 

[VT Hokie]

I don't think I'll ever understand the fascination that some have with these trainsets.

Unique, rare, exotic train with jet engine propulsion and sexy bullet train looks....same reason people are more fascinated with Ferraris than Honda Civics? But also the almost unthinkable waste of spending tens of millions on completely rebuilding them only to let passengers have a brief ride on a couple of them, and then say, "Psych, just kidding! You get the crappy old trains back and these go into storage, never to be seen again!"

The RTL-III is my Eleanor. I wonder if there's a way to get one out of Bear undetected!