StriderGDM
OBS Chief
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Gawd, did I stumble upon conspiracy.net somewhere along the line?
Silver Sleepers Sold out
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Nah, just a bunch of armchair quarterbacks who have no idea what they're talking about.
printman2000
Engineer
Posted by Gene Poon on a list. He tends to have some insider information...
keelhauled
OBS Chief
Also from what I read elsewhere the CONO will go to single level equipment, and its Superliners shuffled out west (possibly for a sixth Empire Builder trainset, which would make sense if BNSF is going to wreck havoc on its schedule this summer). The Star's diners and sleepers will presumably go to the CONO. What I don't quite understand is where they'd get single level coaches for the CONO. Unless they keep Superliner coaches and run a transition sleeper, maybe as a crew dorm so they don't have to muck about with selling Viewliner and Superliner rooms both on the same train. Of course maybe that way you don't get another Builder trainset and the CONO's sleepers just add capacity for the summer out west.
It seems to me like, if true, this kind of puts an end to the hope of bringing the Palmetto back to Florida, since the role of a coach train to Florida would be filled by the revised Star.
It seems to me like, if true, this kind of puts an end to the hope of bringing the Palmetto back to Florida, since the role of a coach train to Florida would be filled by the revised Star.
acelafan
Conductor
But it's April Fools! Right?
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It is April Fools day, but this info is not an April Fools joke. It may or may not be true, but it is what Gene has heard from multiple sources.
jis
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An associated rumor says that the surplus from Silver Star will be used to convert the CONO to single level releasing Supers for beefing up western LD consists. The released Diners from the Star will go to Cardinal and CONO.
Of course this is just temporary pending the arrival of the new VL2 Sleepers and Diners.
Of course this is just temporary pending the arrival of the new VL2 Sleepers and Diners.
B
Bus Nut
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On RR.net they are predicting a Star truncated at Savannah. :giggle:
jis
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Haven't heard that rumor from any usually reliable source yet.
At present it is in only this Arlington guy's fantasy/speculation based on his reading of the performance reports AFAICT.
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I'm not sure where Gene got this one, but I think it may actually trace back to...er...me.
Ok, not me personally. I heard it from the OBS on the Star and put in a call to a friend to get a confirm/deny on it before I said anything, and there was another AUer (whose username I forget) who was there as well. I haven't heard back yet either way, or I'd have been posting in a panic about this. But since the cat is out of the bag...yeah, I've heard this as well.
Just to clarify, this isn't an April Fools' joke...and the sad thing is that it makes sense (I've been crunching the numbers in my mind on this a bit): You net out 3-4 roomettes on the Star for the diner crew and you get extra space on the Meteor (which has higher PPR, albeit likely due to the Star's PPR being diluted by Tampa-Miami traffic).
Ok, not me personally. I heard it from the OBS on the Star and put in a call to a friend to get a confirm/deny on it before I said anything, and there was another AUer (whose username I forget) who was there as well. I haven't heard back yet either way, or I'd have been posting in a panic about this. But since the cat is out of the bag...yeah, I've heard this as well.
Just to clarify, this isn't an April Fools' joke...and the sad thing is that it makes sense (I've been crunching the numbers in my mind on this a bit): You net out 3-4 roomettes on the Star for the diner crew and you get extra space on the Meteor (which has higher PPR, albeit likely due to the Star's PPR being diluted by Tampa-Miami traffic).
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Ryan
Court Jester
The CONO to go single level has been rumored for a long time, and the question was always "where is the single level equipment going to come from?"
I guess that the Superliner situation is so dire that they need this equipment now, and they can accept a temporarily reduced Star with the VL2 deliveries actually becoming reality. Perhaps this is why we saw this happen with the Stars sleepers late last year and they decided against doing this at that time.
I guess that the Superliner situation is so dire that they need this equipment now, and they can accept a temporarily reduced Star with the VL2 deliveries actually becoming reality. Perhaps this is why we saw this happen with the Stars sleepers late last year and they decided against doing this at that time.
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Devil's Advocate
⠀⠀⠀
Followed by armchair referees admonishing them for daring to theorize in public without permission.
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battalion51
Engineer
Why would you convert the CONO and not the Capitol? If you convert the Capitol the future theoretical through cars to/from the Pennsylvanian would be much easier to accomplish since you don't need to transition down to single level. You get an equal number of sets since both the CONO and Capitol use three sets.
printman2000
Engineer
Shuttling Superliner equipment does not require Superliner equipment. A single level train can shuttle Superliners. I assume the Cardinal/Hoosier does it all the time.
Seaboard92
Engineer
If they are putting the CONO to single level. I would expect the same. Where you can't book a sleeper on it but you can. And doesn't the CONO train set turn as the Texas Eagle.
MikefromCrete
Engineer
I understand that the Silver Star will be reconfigured to honor the old Georgia Railroad service out of Atlanta. It will be a mixed train with one coach that is neither heated nor air conditioned and is never cleaned. And my sources are as good as anybody else making predictions around here.
ScottRu
Service Attendant
I just made my annual reservations for the Meteor next January... no problem getting my usual accommodations.
NE933
Conductor
All this doesn't make sense, given there are more sleepers coming on line, though not right away. Sorry if this wasn't mentioned already: could it be that Amtrak is blocking out / reducing the Silver Star sleepers to allow larger batches of them to be upgraded to the targeted 125mph as well as the roomette modifications? Although this obviously kinda screws Tampa, it is operationally the best plan to do this because the New York City to Miami route has some redundancy which provides a sleeper option on at least one train. Also, Auburndale to Tampa leg adds around four hours, multiplied by thirty days a month comes out to one hundred twenty hours a month, or approximately five extra days per Viewliner I car, that Hialeah has to do the necessary work.
There is a counter intuitive aspect to this plan, in that it should've been done during a non-peak time, not the summer.
There is a counter intuitive aspect to this plan, in that it should've been done during a non-peak time, not the summer.
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Alright, the best stuff I have (which admittedly may not be much) is as follows (and I cannot disclose my source...as is the case way too often with this stuff...though I can be honest and say that the information did not originate at NARP and that the source is as trustworthy as any I've heard):
-Amtrak is planning to drop a sleeper from the Star and flip it to the Meteor. Capacity to Florida is at worst unchanged (they might even net a few roomettes on the shift).
-Amtrak is also dropping the diner. In connection with this, the sleeper fares on the Star will drop vis-a-vis the Meteor.
-This is being done as an "eliminate the losses" move...or, possibly, a "show we cannot eliminate the losses" move. The jury is out on whether Amtrak expects this to work (and have an A-train/B-train operation going to/from Florida) or backfire (and therefore justify accounting games with the diners). My best guess is that management is of two minds on this one.
As to the train being neither heated nor air conditioned nor cleaned and being a mixed train, c'mon...nobody put Warrington in charge of this project!
-Amtrak is planning to drop a sleeper from the Star and flip it to the Meteor. Capacity to Florida is at worst unchanged (they might even net a few roomettes on the shift).
-Amtrak is also dropping the diner. In connection with this, the sleeper fares on the Star will drop vis-a-vis the Meteor.
-This is being done as an "eliminate the losses" move...or, possibly, a "show we cannot eliminate the losses" move. The jury is out on whether Amtrak expects this to work (and have an A-train/B-train operation going to/from Florida) or backfire (and therefore justify accounting games with the diners). My best guess is that management is of two minds on this one.
As to the train being neither heated nor air conditioned nor cleaned and being a mixed train, c'mon...nobody put Warrington in charge of this project!
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jis
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I don't believe that the VL1 upgrade project is currently funded. Have you found any evidence that it is?
Very interesting Cliff! And a Big Mistake IMO! Running LD Trains without a Diner is right out of the 60s Run 'em off Playbook spearheaded by SP!!
Wonder if the Diner will be moved to the Cardinal and the Diner-Lite to the Star if the rumors about the CONO switching to Single Level Consists isn't true?
Wonder if the Diner will be moved to the Cardinal and the Diner-Lite to the Star if the rumors about the CONO switching to Single Level Consists isn't true?
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TVRM610
Conductor
As far as I know all Amfleet II Lounges are now set up as Diner Lite cars so the Star already has one. The question will be how the car is operated... and it could be that's what Amtrak is trying to decide right now.
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