Pacific Parlour Car Update?

[MikefromCrete]

A couple more people have confirmed seeing the PPC on 14, but no one I've heard from have actually ridden it yet.

So it might be a mirage?

 

[Yumacool]

Well, now that the PPC's seem to be back, it will be nice to read a report on what is different about the cars. Anyone?

 

[chakk]

I'll be on the CS next week. Fingers crossed for a PPC. I'd love to see one in person.

I think your chances are 80% of getting a PPC in your consist.

 

[KmH]

Well, now that the PPC's seem to be back, it will be nice to read a report on what is different about the cars. Anyone?

I think they were left out of the winter consist as a cost saving measure and to allow extended maintenance work on them.

I don't think they were significantly modified in any way.

Someone else that saw them regularly said they basically just sat in the yard all winter.

 

[AmtrakBlue]

I'll be on the CS next week. Fingers crossed for a PPC. I'd love to see one in person.

I think your chances are 80% of getting a PPC in your consist.

Or 100% since she has already taken the CS and there was a PPC on it.

 

[SarahZ]

There was, indeed, a PPC on my train. I'm not sure what was different since I've never been in one.

I took a lot of pictures, which I'll post when I get home and have a chance to catch up on everything.

It had the purple swivel chairs, couches with little tables, dining tables with tablecloths, and a wooden "bar" area. It also had cabinets with cards and board games, a movie theater on the lower level, some type of hot buffet looking thing (it didn't have food in it), and a basket of apples and oranges.

Also, it had gold rail/pipe things along the bottom of the windows (I have no idea what they're called) and etched glass on top of the wooden partitions.

The PPC attendant served a separate menu from the dining car, so I ate all of my meals in the PPC. It was quiet and peaceful, as most people ate in the diner. I preferred the PPC food and atmosphere. In fact, I felt strange wearing jeans, even though everyone else was too. I felt like I should have been dressed up. It really is a first class experience.

They had a wine tasting for $7.50, and you could buy other drinks/snacks in there too. It was slow enough that the attendant didn't force us into communal seating (yay!), and we pre-ordered our food when we made our reservation.

Anyway, I'm not sure what's different, so I apologize if any of that is redundant to those who've traveled in a PPC.

 

[Ryan]

Sounds very similar to my experience in the PPC a few years ago.

 

[Bob Dylan]

Sounds the same as usual Sarah! Look forward to your trip report and pics when you get home to snowy Michigan and get rested up!

 

[OlympianHiawatha]

I would have thought if any interior work was done, it would have at minimum involved removing the Staem Tables. It sounds like any work done was mechanical in nature.

 

[Devil's Advocate]

Well, now that the PPC's seem to be back, it will be nice to read a report on what is different about the cars. Anyone?

I think they were left out of the winter consist as a cost saving measure and to allow extended maintenance work on them. I don't think they were significantly modified in any way. Someone else that saw them regularly said they basically just sat in the yard all winter.

Did Amtrak ever explain what was being done or why it would require every PPC to be removed at the same time? Maybe we've simply missed whatever was done or perhaps it was a preemptive cost saving move during ongoing budget negotiations.

 

[Palmetto]

I don't think Amtrak did much of anything to any cars that were out of service during the low period. Just my opinion. It sure did sound good, though, didn't it? I do have one question, though:

Why is it that sleeping car passengers get such nice treatment on 11/14, and not on the rest of the system? I do realize that there is a lack of appropriate equipment at the moment, but it sure would be nice if all long distance trains had what was formerly a bedroom lounge car, or an obs lounge.

Yes, I'm jealous!

 

[neroden]

Did Amtrak ever explain what was being done or why it would require every PPC to be removed at the same time? Maybe we've simply missed whatever was done or perhaps it was a preemptive cost saving move during ongoing budget negotiations.

Before they were pulled, the PPCs had been flunking mechanical inspections and being removed from service at random fairly often. Perhaps all Amtrak did was to get *all* the inspections up to date simultaneously in hopes that they can make it through an entire year without being pulled unexpectedly. If so it would be useful.

 

[the_traveler]

They were pulled out of service so they could add the apples and oranges! They had to be shipped in - you didn‘t think they just grew on trees along the route of the CS, did you? :blush: :giggle:

 

[Karl1459]

I don't think Amtrak did much of anything to any cars that were out of service during the low period. Just my opinion. It sure did sound good, though, didn't it? I do have one question, though:

Why is it that sleeping car passengers get such nice treatment on 11/14, and not on the rest of the system? I do realize that there is a lack of appropriate equipment at the moment, but it sure would be nice if all long distance trains had what was formerly a bedroom lounge car, or an obs lounge.

Yes, I'm jealous!

Somewhere it should boil down to how much each passenger contributes to ammenities, and how much usage there is.

In the case of the CS during the summer the consist includes up to 3-1/2 sleepers up to 5 coaches. The lounge car space is stressed with that many coach passengers, not to mention the snack bar attendent often has a line going up the stairwell. So a second lounge for sleepers makes sense from a capacity standpoint alone. In the winter, or on lower patronized trains where you might have only 2-1/2 sleeper and 3 coaches a single lounge is sufficient (though without the style of the PPC).

In a more perfect world Amtrak would have a tipping point for adding another lounge car (and we would have a congress that agrees to fund it). Shoud that be 200, 300, or 400 passengers, I cant say.

 

[Palmetto]

Ah, yes, Karl. In a perfect world......

 

[CHamilton]

I am sitting in one of the purple swivel chairs now. Glad to see the PPCs back, but nothing has changed, except possibly slightly better wifi. The attendant says that he was told that they changed the carpet, but it doesn't look different to me. He thinks Amtrak was just saving money in the off season by taking them out of service.

 

[saturn04]

On the 14 now! I just loaded and will check it out later.

 

[neroden]

I suspect that Amtrak actually did do maintenance. This is not the same as making improvements. Everything should look exactly the same, except for *broken things*, which should look the way they were supposed to when they worked.

It looks shiny, like they washed it.

 

[chakk]

They were pulled out of service so they could add the apples and oranges! They had to be shipped in - you didn‘t think they just grew on trees along the route of the CS, did you? :blush: :giggle:

But if you start requesting similar services on other LD trains, you will just be comparing apples and oranges.