Viewliner II - Part 1 - Initial Production and Delivery

[PVD]

Fair point. I should have asked the diner crew, but it was just an LSA, a waiter, and a chef. They were really busy so I didn't chat it up with them.

 

[jis]

Admittedly the GSC trucks are not as finicky as the Pioneer trucks, but still it makes a difference on when it was maintained last.

 

[Seaboard92]

Also another thing that makes a difference is if the springs are balanced right. Each car has four sets of springs. Two on each truck that serve to balance the weight. The part that has the kitchen would be a heavier spring then one that is the dining room. And that's from my understanding from talking to a NS road foreman.

 

[jis]

Good point. This is the reason that the Viewliner II Bag-Dorms have "red" springs at the baggage and unpainted springs at the dorm end, visually denoting the difference in spring gauge.

 

[Seaboard92]

So there is a chance the 8400 could be running with improper springs. Or the springs could be coming up on replacement time.

 

[PVD]

It is reasonable to theorize that springs could be an issue. It is also possible that I sat down to dinner while we went over bad track. There seemed to be a considerable lateral component to the movement not just vertical, I do not know how much the springs play into that, I'd defer to someone with greater knowledge of that. Other folks who rode in the car on other trips have not had a problem, but I don't know how recently that was, my trip was 2 weeks ago.

 

[jis]

In my experience generally it is worn out shock absorbers that kill ride quality more often than anything to do with springs.

 

[Palmetto]

It is reasonable to theorize that springs could be an issue. It is also possible that I sat down to dinner while we went over bad track. There seemed to be a considerable lateral component to the movement not just vertical, I do not know how much the springs play into that, I'd defer to someone with greater knowledge of that. Other folks who rode in the car on other trips have not had a problem, but I don't know how recently that was, my trip was 2 weeks ago.

That was my experience as well. Violent lateral motion so bad that the flower vases fell over. Fortunately, hold fake flowers, so no water spill. This was at the end of July.

 

[hastybob]

Back on subject - look for a move from CAF next week. I am hearing that one diner will be coming out and heading to Miami.

 

[Cho Cho Charlie]

I am hearing that one diner will be coming out and heading to Miami.

Wow, one car!

I guess that does double the number of Viewliner Diners in the world.

 

[Steve4031]

Maybe I'll get lucky and it will be on 48 when I ride it in 2 weeks.

 

[Ziv]

I was just re-reading this thread from the first entry in 2012 through the first part of 2013. And we are going to see the first dining car soon! And we haven't gotten into 2017 yet! ;-)

I hope this means we will actually see new diners in use by the spring. Maybe a sleeper or two by summer? Or is that being too optimistic?

 

[CraigDK]

I was just re-reading this thread from the first entry in 2012 through the first part of 2013. And we are going to see the first dining car soon! And we haven't gotten into 2017 yet! ;-)

I hope this means we will actually see new diners in use by the spring. Maybe a sleeper or two by summer? Or is that being too optimistic?

I suppose it is possible, but given the track record I am not yet ready to bet money on it...

 

[jis]

Maybe I'll get lucky and it will be on 48 when I ride it in 2 weeks.

I doubt 48 will get its full Diner back until at least 4 or so new Diners are in service.

 

[west point]

Maybe I'll get lucky and it will be on 48 when I ride it in 2 weeks.

I doubt 48 will get its full Diner back until at least 4 or so new Diners are in service.

Only if no more Heritage diners go tango uniform

 

[JohannFarley]

Bottom line is one diner is better than none

 

[Seaboard92]

All it takes is one to open the flood gates

 

[WoodyinNYC]

Back on subject - look for a move from CAF next week. I am hearing that one diner will be coming out and heading to Miami.

We were advised in this thread to keep our eyes on 306, which works out to be Nov 1, Tuesday.

One diner? Well, it's a start, with 59 more Viewliner IIs to go.

 

[Thirdrail7]

Back on subject - look for a move from CAF next week. I am hearing that one diner will be coming out and heading to Miami.

We were advised in this thread to keep our eyes on 306, which works out to be Nov 1, Tuesday.
One diner? Well, it's a start, with 59 more Viewliner IIs to go.

Excelsior is powering up with orders to pursue!

 

[keelhauled]

Back on subject - look for a move from CAF next week. I am hearing that one diner will be coming out and heading to Miami.

We were advised in this thread to keep our eyes on 306, which works out to be Nov 1, Tuesday.
One diner? Well, it's a start, with 59 more Viewliner IIs to go.

Excelsior is powering up with orders to pursue!

That story had a rather unhappy ending for Excelsior as I recall...

 

[tommylicious]

Where are these cars already?

 

[CraigDK]

Just thinking out loud. If it is only this one diner, is it reasonable to assume that this one might be another "prototype" that has incorporated that latest rounds of fixes and changes? Which probably means months before we see any other diners. Or will others be following soon?

Obviously I am hoping for the latter, and that Amtrak decided that it made more sense to pickup the one instead of waiting another couple of weeks or so for a batch of 4 or 5.

 

[A Voice]

Back on subject - look for a move from CAF next week. I am hearing that one diner will be coming out and heading to Miami.

We were advised in this thread to keep our eyes on 306, which works out to be Nov 1, Tuesday.
One diner? Well, it's a start, with 59 more Viewliner IIs to go.

Excelsior is powering up with orders to pursue!

That story had a rather unhappy ending for Excelsior as I recall...

So then, the problem all along has been the engineers overthought the plumbing...?

 

[neroden]

Just thinking out loud. If it is only this one diner, is it reasonable to assume that this one might be another "prototype" that has incorporated that latest rounds of fixes and changes? Which probably means months before we see any other diners. Or will others be following soon?

I'm guessing this one is the "release candidate" with the latest rounds of fixes and changes, and that they are testing it once again. I guess testing will take a week or two probably.

However, the thing is, the way it is SUPPOSED to work is that the "release candidate" is 99% correct. This obviously didn't happen during the last round of prototypes at CAF. But if this one is indeed essentially correct, with only one or two very minor punchlist items to fix, then the remaining diners (which are already corrected to match this one) will roll out in short order, basically as soon as testing is done.

 

[Blackwolf]

And hopefully (I'm being selfish here, full disclosure) before March. I am desiring both a VL2 diner experience and to simply -have- a diner when traveling on the LSL the week before St. Patricks.