Viewliner II - Part 1 - Initial Production and Delivery

[JohannFarley]

Yeah I'm hoping the LSL has a diner for my trip to chicago in July with the family. Its our first LD trip and I finally convinced them to take the train.

 

[Acela150]

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.

I think that there would be a chance for March IF they have a small handful in service.

Yeah I'm hoping the LSL has a diner for my trip to chicago in July with the family. Its our first LD trip and I finally convinced them to take the train.

I think your chances are better then Blackwolf's.. Sorry Blackwolf.

 

[JohannFarley]

But who knows Blackwolf, maybe (at the risk of inciting laughter and yeah-rights) this will be a quick rollout of at least the diners. (Yes I know given the rest of this thread that's unlikely, but maybe being overtly optimistic will help.)

 

[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!

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...?

From one doctor to another, I would say the drains were definitely stopped. Hopefully, Excelsior's trans-warp drive doesn't have any troubles tomorrow.

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.

Keep your eye on the birdie. Unless something dramatic happens, this car should not return to CAF. It will enter revenue service after a few field mods.

 

[CraigDK]

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.

Keep your eye on the birdie. Unless something dramatic happens, this car should not return to CAF. It will enter revenue service after a few field mods.

That sounds like excellent news. Now the last thing to wonder about, will be it one of the previously sent out prototypes or a car that was later down the line...

 

[JohannFarley]

I would guess it would be the diner that was sent out with the sleeper and bag dorm a while back, unless those are still out somewhere

 

[CraigDK]

I would guess it would be the diner that was sent out with the sleeper and bag dorm a while back, unless those are still out somewhere

I am fairly sure those cars all went back to CAF. If it is a different diner, I would suspect that the changes made where fairly substantial , but I am just speculating.

 

[JohannFarley]

Yeah it would honestly depend on how substantial the changes were. I would assume if they were a few smaller fixes they would use the first one, but if there were major design flaws that required parts to be completely renovated, then I would assume it would be a different one.

 

[jis]

Just wait another day and you'd know for sure, since we know what the number was of the cars that came out back then.

 

[JohannFarley]

Very true

 

[Thirdrail7]

It should be a different number.

 

[Metra Electric Rider]

It should be a different number.

Picture taken on the day the original Viewliner II contract was signed, right?

 

[Dutchrailnut]

I see no reports of diesels heading for Elmira so I guess it was all another rumor ??

 

[PVD]

Another board is reporting Amtrak 132, cafe car, 520 with NS099 on the way. We shall soon see.......

 

[AmtrakBlue]

I, too, read a post somewhere in the last few days about the engine, etc being sent to get the diner tomorrow, I think.

 

[PRR 60]

Another board is reporting Amtrak 132, cafe car, 520 with NS099 on the way. We shall soon see.......

Not just a report, photos. Maybe our long national nightmare is over?

 

[spidersfan351]

I have also just heard from a reliable source that the new diner is coming south on the Silver Meteor tomorrow evening (November 2nd) to go to Hialeah for final fitting. That would suggest it coming out of CAF some time today, I would imagine.

 

[Acela150]

Perhaps ThirdRail could be nice enough to confirm that plan? Cause if it is. I will go out and get a photo or two.

 

[edjbox]

Someone posted pictures of the move on another rail forum; "Annapolis" is the name of the dining car

 

[Elack801]

Here is a quick picture heading north towards Belden tunnel

 

[afigg]

Someone posted pictures of the move on another rail forum; "Annapolis" is the name of the dining car

According to trainorders, the dining car that is being moved to Albany is 68001 Annapolis. This is the second diner car in the production sequence. 68000 Albany was the initial Viewliner II diner car that was sent out twice previously for testing.

Shots of the exterior will not reveal much. What will be interesting whenever they get posted are shots of the interior so we can see if there are visible changes from the "baseline" seen earlier.

 

[tommylicious]

Hopefully they won't serve "Boardman Slop" on that beauty! http://pixel.nymag.com/imgs/daily/vulture/2015/06/18/18-oitnb-food.w529.h352.jpg Bring back fresh, cooked-to-order meals on all overnite trains!

 

[neroden]

Personally, I'd settle for largely-prepackaged meals which have actual ingredients lists, as opposed to the "fell off the back of a truck, we don't know what's in them" policy which prevails today.

 

[jis]

Hopefully they won't serve "Boardman Slop" on that beauty! http://pixel.nymag.com/imgs/daily/vulture/2015/06/18/18-oitnb-food.w529.h352.jpg Bring back fresh, cooked-to-order meals on all overnite trains!

Please tell us when was the last time you had fresh cooked to order food on all items on any overnight Amtrak train.

 

[PVD]

The sad part of it is that pre packaged meals don't have to be bad, fly international first class and you get some pretty good stuff.