CCC on the Empire Builder

[AlanB]

AlanB:

West of SPK, it would operate in it's dual role of cafe car & dining car.

A perfect scenario for the PDX segment since the diner is always with SEA:

Dinner e/b

Breakfast w/b

Which is precisely why that is the plan. Someone at Amtrak saw a need and found the perfect way to satisfy that need.

Wouldn't the sightseer also go with the Portland section? Would that then make the CCC only operate as a dining car and not the lounge since I would assume the sightseer lounge snack bar would be open.

No, the Sightseer will go to Seattle so that that section has a cafe car now. Something that I'm sure the LSA in the dining car will appreciate very much, since they won't have to run a quasi-cafe car operation out of the last two booths in the dining car.

 

[Long Train Runnin']

AlanB:

West of SPK, it would operate in it's dual role of cafe car & dining car.

A perfect scenario for the PDX segment since the diner is always with SEA:

Dinner e/b

Breakfast w/b

Which is precisely why that is the plan. Someone at Amtrak saw a need and found the perfect way to satisfy that need.

Wouldn't the sightseer also go with the Portland section? Would that then make the CCC only operate as a dining car and not the lounge since I would assume the sightseer lounge snack bar would be open.

No, the Sightseer will go to Seattle so that that section has a cafe car now. Something that I'm sure the LSA in the dining car will appreciate very much, since they won't have to run a quasi-cafe car operation out of the last two booths in the dining car.

Wow so its a win win. Both sections get a Cafe and a diner this could be one of Amtrak's better moves.

 

[cpamtfan]

AlanB:

West of SPK, it would operate in it's dual role of cafe car & dining car.

A perfect scenario for the PDX segment since the diner is always with SEA:

Dinner e/b

Breakfast w/b

Which is precisely why that is the plan. Someone at Amtrak saw a need and found the perfect way to satisfy that need.

Wouldn't the sightseer also go with the Portland section? Would that then make the CCC only operate as a dining car and not the lounge since I would assume the sightseer lounge snack bar would be open.

No, the Sightseer will go to Seattle so that that section has a cafe car now. Something that I'm sure the LSA in the dining car will appreciate very much, since they won't have to run a quasi-cafe car operation out of the last two booths in the dining car.

Wow so its a win win. Both sections get a Cafe and a diner this could be one of Amtrak's better moves.

I think it would be good for the LSL too. Run the Diner-Lite to BOS and have a full diner and Horizon Lounge on the NY section.

cpamtfan-Peter

 

[Long Train Runnin']

I think it would be good for the LSL too. Run the Diner-Lite to BOS and have a full diner and Horizon Lounge on the NY section.
cpamtfan-Peter

I think thats in the works as well. It makes sense in both cases. I boarded the LSL after ALB a few months ago and forgot there was no Cafe I was pretty hungry by NYP... :angry: Even though it was my fault. I remember that as I walked into the Diner-lite

 

[AlanB]

Yes, this will be a win-win for the passengers of both trains, the LSL and the EB.

 

[EB_OBS]

In case anyone missed it, the EB utilized a CCC as a diner leaving Chicago on June 6th, returning on train #8 on Monday, June 8th.

What happened was the diner that arrived into Chicago on June 5th with train #8 had shelled wheels and had to be shopped to change them out. The job wasn't completed in time and there was not another diner in Chicago so a CCC was substituted.

 

[EB_OBS]

AlanB:

West of SPK, it would operate in it's dual role of cafe car & dining car.

A perfect scenario for the PDX segment since the diner is always with SEA:

Dinner e/b

Breakfast w/b

Which is precisely why that is the plan. Someone at Amtrak saw a need and found the perfect way to satisfy that need.

Wouldn't the sightseer also go with the Portland section? Would that then make the CCC only operate as a dining car and not the lounge since I would assume the sightseer lounge snack bar would be open.

No, the Sightseer will go to Seattle so that that section has a cafe car now. Something that I'm sure the LSA in the dining car will appreciate very much, since they won't have to run a quasi-cafe car operation out of the last two booths in the dining car.

Wow so its a win win. Both sections get a Cafe and a diner this could be one of Amtrak's better moves.

Now if only we could get everyone to see it that way, this change could happen sooner rather than later.

 

[the_traveler]

As far as losing your way on the train, it's common and easy to do. It happens to me every now and then especially if I can't get a quick look out a window to see which direction the train is traveling.

Make sure you walk either forward or backwards - not side to side! :lol:

 

[AlanB]

Wouldn't the sightseer also go with the Portland section? Would that then make the CCC only operate as a dining car and not the lounge since I would assume the sightseer lounge snack bar would be open.

No, the Sightseer will go to Seattle so that that section has a cafe car now. Something that I'm sure the LSA in the dining car will appreciate very much, since they won't have to run a quasi-cafe car operation out of the last two booths in the dining car.

Wow so its a win win. Both sections get a Cafe and a diner this could be one of Amtrak's better moves.

Now if only we could get everyone to see it that way, this change could happen sooner rather than later.

Actually the problem right now as I understand it is that they need to free up the CCC's currently in use on the Capitol Limited in order to consistantly have a CCC available for the EB. And they can't cut the CCC's off the Capitol until they get the wrecked dining cars out of Beech Grove as there aren't enough diners to go around.

 

[EB_OBS]

Wouldn't the sightseer also go with the Portland section? Would that then make the CCC only operate as a dining car and not the lounge since I would assume the sightseer lounge snack bar would be open.

No, the Sightseer will go to Seattle so that that section has a cafe car now. Something that I'm sure the LSA in the dining car will appreciate very much, since they won't have to run a quasi-cafe car operation out of the last two booths in the dining car.

Wow so its a win win. Both sections get a Cafe and a diner this could be one of Amtrak's better moves.

Now if only we could get everyone to see it that way, this change could happen sooner rather than later.

Actually the problem right now as I understand it is that they need to free up the CCC's currently in use on the Capitol Limited in order to consistantly have a CCC available for the EB. And they can't cut the CCC's off the Capitol until they get the wrecked dining cars out of Beech Grove as there aren't enough diners to go around.

It's very likely that that's one reason. I haven't been to every RPI meeting nor am I on all the individual committees. I can say that in discussions I've participated in, it was generally agreed upon that in order to add an additional sleeper car to the EB that food service cars or serving capacity had to be increased accordingly. Adding only the CCC while definitely improving overall service and dining service between SPK and PDX, I'm not sure the additional cost of staffing the cars could get past the BoD or congress without the increased revenue of another sleeper car.

 

[EmpireBuilderFan1976]

All of this sounds great in theory. But if the Sightseer car goes on to SEA at SPK, then that means no more Sightseer car west or eastbound going through the Columbia River Gorge. I wonder how well that would go over with the Portland section passengers??

 

[EB_OBS]

All of this sounds great in theory. But if the Sightseer car goes on to SEA at SPK, then that means no more Sightseer car west or eastbound going through the Columbia River Gorge. I wonder how well that would go over with the Portland section passengers??

Well it's a common complaint from the train 27/28 passengers that meal service between PDX and SPK is sub-par. It's also quite a common complaint on train 7/8 that there isn't anywhere to go to get out of your seat or room, such as to the sightseer lounge car, between SPK and SEA. The scenery is nice on both routes. At least with the CCC it has room for lounge seating and once the meal service is concluded it's fully open for lounging and viewing. Though not as ideal as a SSL because it has the larger windows, the CCC does still provide opportunity to leave your seat or room and has plenty of windows to look out. With the benefit of also having diner service it's about the only alternative Amtrak has to get the most bang for it's buck.

 

[Rob_C]

Isn't there *one* Sightseer lounge conversion to a CCC sitting around somewhere? Seems like that would be the better car to use on the Portland section than a Diner conversion. How many would they need?

Rob

 

[cpamtfan]

Isn't there *one* Sightseer lounge conversion to a CCC sitting around somewhere? Seems like that would be the better car to use on the Portland section than a Diner conversion. How many would they need?
Rob

No, they never completed it, or it was cut out when they realized the Diner-Lounge/CCC configuration wasn't going to work. Now its sitting completely gutted in BG.

cpamtfan-Peter