Viewliner II - Part 1 - Initial Production and Delivery

[edjbox]

Indianapolis was seen in service on the Northeast Corridor on December 4th, along with 4 private cars on the rear of the train

 

[AmtrakBlue]

Besides Indianapolis and Anapolis, what other viewliner diners can we expect to see in service by the end of the month?

Indianapolis is some what unknown at this time. Waiting with baited breath.

Has 8400 been taken out of service?

 

[A Voice]

Indianapolis was seen in service on the Northeast Corridor on December 4th, along with 4 private cars on the rear of the train

Can I ask what is the source of this report? What train was it on? I thought Indianapolis was still back at CAF.

 

[PerRock]

Indianapolis was seen in service on the Northeast Corridor on December 4th, along with 4 private cars on the rear of the train

Can I ask what is the source of this report? What train was it on? I thought Indianapolis was still back at CAF.

Indianapolis is 8400, the Amtrak-built prototype diner. It's been finished and floating around the network of more then a year now. Any changes/fixes that need to be made to it will happen in Beech Grove or Hialeah.

peter

 

[edjbox]

Indianapolis (8400) was on train 98 on 12/4/16 on the NEC along with 4 private railcars

Video is on the fb group Amtrak Northeast Corridor Railfans group

Also mentioned on the trainorders passenger discussion for 12/4/16

 

[Palmetto]

I dined in it on the Crescent in July, as well.

 

[A Voice]

Indianapolis was seen in service on the Northeast Corridor on December 4th, along with 4 private cars on the rear of the train

Can I ask what is the source of this report? What train was it on? I thought Indianapolis was still back at CAF.

Indianapolis is 8400, the Amtrak-built prototype diner. It's been finished and floating around the network of more then a year now. Any changes/fixes that need to be made to it will happen in Beech Grove or Hialeah.

peter

Indianapolis (8400) was on train 98 on 12/4/16 on the NEC along with 4 private railcars

Video is on the fb group Amtrak Northeast Corridor Railfans group

Also mentioned on the trainorders passenger discussion for 12/4/16

Thanks. Confused that car with the Albany diner.

 

[neroden]

OK, so Annapolis was *approved*. This really should mean that the dining cars should start coming out of CAF pretty fast now, if CAF doesn't have any further problems. Call it four weeks or less to fix all the snagging items on Albany, and then they should start coming out like clockwork...

If Amtrak could get additional dining cars out before the Christmas/New Year's rush, it would make sense to put them on the LSL.

However, given the timing, where they probably can't get them out that quickly, they're going to start coming out in the low season -- January and February are the weakest-ridership months for the LSL. Given that, I would guess that Amtrak will probably choose to retire Heritage dining cars instead, and not reintroduce dining cars to the LSL until spring when rider numbers start picking up again.

 

[west point]

Still holding breath for 68000 & 68002. Then maybe we can really believe diners are coming out of CAF ?

 

[MARC Rider]

When I stepped off #67 in Washington this morning, I saw "Annapolis" as part of the consist of the northbound Silver Meteor that was sitting across the platform.

 

[Thirdrail7]

Has anyone said definitively that this Diner will be restricted to use only on the Meteor? I guess a question that Thirdrail can shed some light on. I don't see any reason for it to be restricted. Of course the only other choice is the Crescent for now.

The 68001 is currently confined to the 98/97 rotation. You will not see it on the Crescent for some time.

OK, so Annapolis was *approved*. This really should mean that the dining cars should start coming out of CAF pretty fast now, if CAF doesn't have any further problems. Call it four weeks or less to fix all the snagging items on Albany, and then they should start coming out like clockwork...

If Amtrak could get additional dining cars out before the Christmas/New Year's rush, it would make sense to put them on the LSL.

However, given the timing, where they probably can't get them out that quickly, they're going to start coming out in the low season -- January and February are the weakest-ridership months for the LSL. Given that, I would guess that Amtrak will probably choose to retire Heritage dining cars instead, and not reintroduce dining cars to the LSL until spring when rider numbers start picking up again.

I do not anticipate seeing any more cars in service before the end of January....and that would be a stretch.

 

[tommylicious]

What about the poor LSL?

 

[jis]

What about the poor LSL?

What about it? As Thirdrail says, no more new Diners until end of January, cl;early there will be no change to LSL at least until then and possibly well after then.

 

[MikefromCrete]

OK, so Annapolis was *approved*. This really should mean that the dining cars should start coming out of CAF pretty fast now, if CAF doesn't have any further problems. Call it four weeks or less to fix all the snagging items on Albany, and then they should start coming out like clockwork...

If Amtrak could get additional dining cars out before the Christmas/New Year's rush, it would make sense to put them on the LSL.

However, given the timing, where they probably can't get them out that quickly, they're going to start coming out in the low season -- January and February are the weakest-ridership months for the LSL. Given that, I would guess that Amtrak will probably choose to retire Heritage dining cars instead, and not reintroduce dining cars to the LSL until spring when rider numbers start picking up again.

Since Third Rail says to expect no more diners until the end of January (and even that sounds generous), it looks like we can put aside any expectations that Amtrak will rush cars in service for the holidays. Amtrak rushing into anything that would improve service? Nice dream.

 

[keelhauled]

Amtrak rushing into anything that would improve service? Nice dream.

So they extra equipment they lease for Thanksgiving is a figment of my imagination?

 

[neroden]

Has anyone said definitively that this Diner will be restricted to use only on the Meteor? I guess a question that Thirdrail can shed some light on. I don't see any reason for it to be restricted. Of course the only other choice is the Crescent for now.

The 68001 is currently confined to the 98/97 rotation. You will not see it on the Crescent for some time.

OK, so Annapolis was *approved*. This really should mean that the dining cars should start coming out of CAF pretty fast now, if CAF doesn't have any further problems. Call it four weeks or less to fix all the snagging items on Albany, and then they should start coming out like clockwork...

If Amtrak could get additional dining cars out before the Christmas/New Year's rush, it would make sense to put them on the LSL.

However, given the timing, where they probably can't get them out that quickly, they're going to start coming out in the low season -- January and February are the weakest-ridership months for the LSL. Given that, I would guess that Amtrak will probably choose to retire Heritage dining cars instead, and not reintroduce dining cars to the LSL until spring when rider numbers start picking up again.

I do not anticipate seeing any more cars in service before the end of January....and that would be a stretch.

Why? That doesn't match with my knowledge of how manufacturing operations operate. There's an approved model which has been produced by the factory and is operating, there's a production line, there are cars which are already halfway through production, why on Earth would it take more than four weeks to get more cars out of the factory? Do you have inside information from CAF?

I mean, geez, given the state of "Albany", I could probably get it into service in four weeks, just by myself, if parts and a certified welder were available.

I realize you have inside information from Amtrak, but this sounds *wrong*. This isn't how manufacturing works. If it's going to take that long, it means there's a *new* problem at CAF (another delayed supplier, or simply lollygagging by filling someone else's order first), or that Amtrak is deliberately delaying it. It would be good to find out which.

 

[bretton88]

Has anyone said definitively that this Diner will be restricted to use only on the Meteor? I guess a question that Thirdrail can shed some light on. I don't see any reason for it to be restricted. Of course the only other choice is the Crescent for now.

The 68001 is currently confined to the 98/97 rotation. You will not see it on the Crescent for some time.

OK, so Annapolis was *approved*. This really should mean that the dining cars should start coming out of CAF pretty fast now, if CAF doesn't have any further problems. Call it four weeks or less to fix all the snagging items on Albany, and then they should start coming out like clockwork...

If Amtrak could get additional dining cars out before the Christmas/New Year's rush, it would make sense to put them on the LSL.

However, given the timing, where they probably can't get them out that quickly, they're going to start coming out in the low season -- January and February are the weakest-ridership months for the LSL. Given that, I would guess that Amtrak will probably choose to retire Heritage dining cars instead, and not reintroduce dining cars to the LSL until spring when rider numbers start picking up again.

I do not anticipate seeing any more cars in service before the end of January....and that would be a stretch.

Why? That doesn't match with my knowledge of how manufacturing operations operate. There's an approved model which has been produced by the factory and is operating, there's a production line, there are cars which are already halfway through production, why on Earth would it take more than four weeks to get more cars out of the factory? Do you have inside information from CAF?
I mean, geez, given the state of "Albany", I could probably get it into service in four weeks, just by myself, if parts and a certified welder were available.

I realize you have inside information from Amtrak, but this sounds *wrong*. This isn't how manufacturing works. If it's going to take that long, it means there's a *new* problem at CAF (another delayed supplier, or simply lollygagging by filling someone else's order first), or that Amtrak is deliberately delaying it. It would be good to find out which.

It is entirely possible that with all the issues that have gone on, CAF left other diners stripped down until Amtrak gave the ok, in that way if there where more issues, they would be easier to amend instead of having to strip down multiple diners to fix them. So now with the Christmas and New year approaching, you have lost time plus ramping up final production on the other diners. I can see where end of January comes into play.

 

[neroden]

Oh, end-of-year vacation. :slaps head: Of course, if CAF sends all the workers home for two weeks (or three weeks, or four weeks) that'll slow things down. At that point, four working weeks *is* getting us to the end of January.

I've always dealt with organizations which are super-stingy about Christmas vacations, so I didn't think of that.

 

[PVD]

If they are influenced by their European roots, the holiday time would be a certainty. Not as much so in the US, but many companies do find it easier to slow down or shut down for a specific time frame because it is easier than dealing with scheduling and morale issues. Of course the opposite can be true, I worked in a business where we got busy towards the end of the year because clients tried to make sure they spent all the money in their budgets before the end of the year, or found it easier to have work done when less people were around.

 

[jis]

The company I work for basically shuts down for the entire last week of the year, other than for staff involved in time critical sales and servicing activities. So it is not all that unusual in the US either. And this is in a company as blue blooded American as can be, one of the original Silicon Valley icons - or at least used to be

 

[AmtrakBlue]

The company I work for basically shuts down for the entire last week of the year, other than for staff involved in time critical sales and servicing activities. So it is not all that unusual in the US either. And this is in a company as blue blooded American as can be, one of the original Silicon Valley icons - or at least used to be

I know the last two companies I worked for will furlough their contractors around holidays.

 

[neroden]

It's perhaps surprising how many academic institutions don't even shut down for federal holidays. Neither do the companies supporting them.

 

[PaulM]

The company I work for basically shuts down for the entire last week of the year, other than for staff involved in time critical sales and servicing activities.

I was thinking along the same lines as Neroden. When I worked for McDonnell-Douglas, they pushed out jumbo jets faster than that. But I see your point. Amtrak has been decidedly un-critical for CAF for what, 4 years? So why should it change now?

 

[jis]

We don't get all federal holidays (e.g. President's Day), but we are forced to take off the entire last week, usually involving four of our vacation days. We can either use our vacation days or take the days off without pay. Our choice. In total we get 11 paid holidays plus whatever is the stash of vacation days one is due as a result of number of years of service and which contract one was hired under. This ranges from two weeks per year to five weeks per year, with an allowance to carry over at most one week to the next year.

 

[PVD]

I did work for a few years under a contract where the employer paid both sides (employer and employee) of the Social Security. Late in the year when people capped they used to give us all the work they could because they saved the employee contribution for SS. Cha-Ching