Viewliner Baggage Car Sitting Around King Street Station

[seat38a]

Anyone know any info why there is a Viewliner baggage car sitting around? Saw this on the 17th, when we arrived via the CS.

DSC00465 by Brian H, on Flickr

DSC00469 by Brian H, on Flickr

 

[J-1 3235]

It was still there on the 22nd. I believe the car is in SEA for the training of the mechanical forces and the onboard crews.

Mike

 

[AmtrakBlue]

As Mike said. To give the crews training on using them. The east coast stations did the same thing when the 1st batch came out before the cars were put into service.

 

[printman2000]

Hoping they get these on the western trains before my trip at the end of June.

 

[CCC1007]

They came over on the builder, leading me to believe that is the next train to get them

 

[seat38a]

With these new baggage cars, in theory if track conditions allow, the LD trains can travel 100 MPH, which is the design speed of the Superliners?

 

[amtrakwolverine]

I think Currently the Only western LD train to go 95 is the Southwest chief.

 

[CCC1007]

95? Where? The fastest that I am aware of is 90 for the authorized speed

 

[MikefromCrete]

With these new baggage cars, in theory if track conditions allow, the LD trains can travel 100 MPH, which is the design speed of the Superliners?

Track and signals dictate the speed of trains. The only above 79 mph speed limit on a western LD is on the SWC in Arizona where 90 mph is permitted.

 

[Amfleeter]

With these new baggage cars, in theory if track conditions allow, the LD trains can travel 100 MPH, which is the design speed of the Superliners?

Track and signals dictate the speed of trains. The only above 79 mph speed limit on a western LD is on the SWC in Arizona where 90 mph is permitted.

Make that Missouri as well - there's 90 MPH trackage there. AND the 110 MPH in Illinois.

 

[OlympianHiawatha]

The time I took the Southwest Chief to Chicago by going west (Columbus Loophole), when I woke up in the Mojave it felt like we were sitting still even though I could hear the car "talking." I glanced at the GPS and it had us pegged at 90!

 

[seat38a]

With these new baggage cars, in theory if track conditions allow, the LD trains can travel 100 MPH, which is the design speed of the Superliners?

Track and signals dictate the speed of trains. The only above 79 mph speed limit on a western LD is on the SWC in Arizona where 90 mph is permitted.

How is this possible with the old baggage cars? I thought those were limited to 79mph. So with the track and signal allowing, aren't the heritage baggage cars a problem?

 

[printman2000]

With these new baggage cars, in theory if track conditions allow, the LD trains can travel 100 MPH, which is the design speed of the Superliners?

Track and signals dictate the speed of trains. The only above 79 mph speed limit on a western LD is on the SWC in Arizona where 90 mph is permitted.

How is this possible with the old baggage cars? I thought those were limited to 79mph. So with the track and signal allowing, aren't the heritage baggage cars a problem?

The heritage baggage cars are not limited to 79. I have been on the Southwest Chief many time going 90 with one.

 

[afigg]

How is this possible with the old baggage cars? I thought those were limited to 79mph. So with the track and signal allowing, aren't the heritage baggage cars a problem?

No, the Heritage baggage cars are rated for 110 mph speeds. They are not a constraint for 90 or 100 mph operation for the western or, for that matter, the eastern LD trains. The Viewliner II baggage cars are rated for 125 mph and the only place that Amtrak currently operates trains above 110 mph is the NEC. So NEC operations are the only part of the system that the new Viewliner IIs cars will affect the maximum operating speeds.

 

[jis]

How is this possible with the old baggage cars? I thought those were limited to 79mph. So with the track and signal allowing, aren't the heritage baggage cars a problem?

Heritage Baggage Cars are restricted 110mph. They routinely run at that speed on the NEC and on the Empire Corridor.

 

[seat38a]

Ok got it. So in theory, if signaling and track conditions allowed, the WLD can all travel up to 100 MPH which is the max speed of the Superliners.

 

[neroden]

It was still there on the 22nd. I believe the car is in SEA for the training of the mechanical forces and the onboard crews.

Mike

Crew training seems to go pretty quickly, judging by how quickly it happened in the East. (And seriously, how much is there to learn about operating a baggage car?) They deployed a baggage car to every single conductor base in the East, but only for a few days each. They clearly haven't started deploying baggage cars to intermediate conductor bases on the Empire Builder, so I wouldn't expect the Empire Builder to get the baggage cars for a few weeks.

Unsurprisingly, mechanical department training is rather more substantial and it seems to take longer, so I'd bet that's going on now. Has anyone reported Viewliners at Oakland and LA, which also have mechanical departments?

 

[jis]

Looks like they'd need mechanical training in SEA, Oakland and LAX to support the western LD trains. Are there any other mechanical bases involved? I presume Chicago is already done since the LSL and the Card are already doing VL IIs. I suspect the Cap should get a VL II any time now, if it does not already have it.

 

[CCC1007]

61004 just went east out of whitefish, mt

 

[neroden]

No, the Heritage baggage cars are rated for 110 mph speeds.

Someone actually told me that *most of* the Heritage baggage cars are rated for 110, but that some individual cars aren't.

(Now, that must be a pain in the ass to keep track of. I can see why Amtrak wants rid of these.)

 

[jis]

Considering that sometimes Amtrak has difficulty actually running a 110mph restricted train at 110mph, I would hope that they do not assign any of those cars to trains that run on the NEC.

 

[xyzzy]

No Heritage diner is certified above 110. Furthermore, I have read that Viewliner I sleepers will require shop upgrades to be certified at 125 instead of 110. At present the only LD trains that have increased from 110 to 125 on the NEC are trains that have neither Heritage diners nor Viewliner I sleepers (e.g. Palmetto). If I'm wrong, please correct me.

I have also read that some Heritage baggage cars and some Heritage diners are limited to 90.

 

[jis]

No Heritage diner is certified above 110. Furthermore, I have read that Viewliner I sleepers will require shop upgrades to be certified at 125 instead of 110. At present the only LD trains that have increased from 110 to 125 on the NEC are trains that have neither Heritage diners nor Viewliner I sleepers (e.g. Palmetto). If I'm wrong, please correct me.

I have also read that some Heritage baggage cars and some Heritage diners are limited to 90.

You are definitely correct on the first, and possibly correct on the second too. It is possible that with the Silver Star losing Diner, the 90 restricted Diners will be gone. And I am sure that 90 restricted bags are already sidelined.

 

[xyzzy]

Just saw 91 on asm.transitdocs.com running at 109 mph north of Trenton and 20 running at 99 mph north of Baltimore.

 

[jis]

Just saw 91 on ams.transitdocs.com running at 109 mph north of Trenton and 20 running at 99 mph north of Baltimore.

9i currently has the Viewliner I Sleepers and the Diner restricted to 110mph. The rest of the train should be OK for 125mph. So net net it is restricted to 110mph.