Coast Starlight Restart and Pacific Parlour Cars?

[chuljin]

So if ... my southbound run is May 27 (with the train that left SEA on the morning of May 26...)

Me too, I'll keep my fingers crossed for both of us!

Someone from Amtrak at Amtrak's own table/booth at the LA Train Day Event was telling people that the updated service will be 'soft-launched' (in its final form for testing and debugging) on May 19, including PPCs on all four trainsets, and barring unforseens, the published June 10th stands as the official launch date.

I got to tour Willamette Valley here at LAX...it's really impressive.

They also showed the new Arcade Car...which was rather strange...there were four games, but rather than the tall 2.5-foot wide machines one would be used to, they were quite short and squat (I suppose to lower the center of gravity and prevent tipping).

A few pictures later, stay tuned.

Update: the pictures are here. Unedited except to rotate 'sideways' portrait pictures. Enjoy!

 

[jackal]

Ooh! Thanks for the update! Will definitely keep my sleeper reservations, then, and see you across the hall and in the PPC, chuljin!

 

[chuljin]

Ooh! Thanks for the update! Will definitely keep my sleeper reservations, then, and see you across the hall and in the PPC, chuljin!

Well, I just read here that they have diminished the value. We'll see, though.

 

[D.P. Roberts]

Ooh! Thanks for the update! Will definitely keep my sleeper reservations, then, and see you across the hall and in the PPC, chuljin!

Well, I just read here that they have diminished the value. We'll see, though.

By "diminished value", do you mean the charge for the wine & cheese tasting?

I'm still wondering about the video games. What games do they have, & how much do they cost?

 

[yarrow]

sort of on the same topic, does anyone know if they still have and/or now charge for the wine and cheese taste on the eb?

 

[chuljin]

Ooh! Thanks for the update! Will definitely keep my sleeper reservations, then, and see you across the hall and in the PPC, chuljin!

Well, I just read here that they have diminished the value. We'll see, though.

By "diminished value", do you mean the charge for the wine & cheese tasting?

...and other things (water, who knows what else) as mentioned there; as well as opening up the PPC to all and sundry.

I'm still wondering about the video games. What games do they have, & how much do they cost?

I saw them at LAX on NTD, but couldn't get close enough to answer either of those questions very well, sadly. Picture here. Looks like there's one driving game (steering wheel, upper right); someone with better eyes than me might be able to see a price (if any) in that picture; someone with better eyes and a better knowledge of arcade games might know what the lower left one (the only one whose screen is at least partially visible) is. I expect they're just shells around Atari 2600's.

 

[Alika]

Ooh! Thanks for the update! Will definitely keep my sleeper reservations, then, and see you across the hall and in the PPC, chuljin!

Well, I just read here that they have diminished the value. We'll see, though.

By "diminished value", do you mean the charge for the wine & cheese tasting?

...and other things (water, who knows what else) as mentioned there; as well as opening up the PPC to all and sundry.

I'm still wondering about the video games. What games do they have, & how much do they cost?

I saw them at LAX on NTD, but couldn't get close enough to answer either of those questions very well, sadly. Picture here. Looks like there's one driving game (steering wheel, upper right); someone with better eyes than me might be able to see a price (if any) in that picture; someone with better eyes and a better knowledge of arcade games might know what the lower left one (the only one whose screen is at least partially visible) is. I expect they're just shells around Atari 2600's.

Well I don't know about the lower-left machine, but I'm fairly certain the lower-right machine is Ms. Pac-Man.

 

[da40flyer]

Ooh! Thanks for the update! Will definitely keep my sleeper reservations, then, and see you across the hall and in the PPC, chuljin!

Well, I just read here that they have diminished the value. We'll see, though.

By "diminished value", do you mean the charge for the wine & cheese tasting?

...and other things (water, who knows what else) as mentioned there; as well as opening up the PPC to all and sundry.

I'm still wondering about the video games. What games do they have, & how much do they cost?

I saw them at LAX on NTD, but couldn't get close enough to answer either of those questions very well, sadly. Picture here. Looks like there's one driving game (steering wheel, upper right); someone with better eyes than me might be able to see a price (if any) in that picture; someone with better eyes and a better knowledge of arcade games might know what the lower left one (the only one whose screen is at least partially visible) is. I expect they're just shells around Atari 2600's.

Well I don't know about the lower-left machine, but I'm fairly certain the lower-right machine is Ms. Pac-Man.

Is the arcade car accessible only to sleeper passengers or is it available to coach as well? And where on the train is it located?

I think you're right. The lower right does look like a version of Pac-Man. I can't see anything that resembles a place to drop quarters in on any of these. But, in the extreme right of the picture there is a heavy duty lock similar to what you would see on a change machine...... So who knows. I wonder if these have mulitple games built in to them, so you can select a different game. Have seen lots of those.

 

[da40flyer]

Ooh! Thanks for the update! Will definitely keep my sleeper reservations, then, and see you across the hall and in the PPC, chuljin!

Well, I just read here that they have diminished the value. We'll see, though.

By "diminished value", do you mean the charge for the wine & cheese tasting?

...and other things (water, who knows what else) as mentioned there; as well as opening up the PPC to all and sundry.

I'm still wondering about the video games. What games do they have, & how much do they cost?

I saw them at LAX on NTD, but couldn't get close enough to answer either of those questions very well, sadly. Picture here. Looks like there's one driving game (steering wheel, upper right); someone with better eyes than me might be able to see a price (if any) in that picture; someone with better eyes and a better knowledge of arcade games might know what the lower left one (the only one whose screen is at least partially visible) is. I expect they're just shells around Atari 2600's.

Well I don't know about the lower-left machine, but I'm fairly certain the lower-right machine is Ms. Pac-Man.

The lower left machine looks like Dig-Dug to me.

 

[jackal]

Check out the trip report I just posted over here!

I'll edit it after I get back from Indiana Jones with pictures.