Viewliner II - Part 1 - Initial Production and Delivery

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Nope, no word. I presume it is undergoing top-secret testing in Albany. ;-)
IIRC, the report on rr.net was that the baggage car was going to spend much of the week in Albany before getting moved south. May be doing a detailed inspection and check there before running it at higher speeds down to Delaware or Philly, where ever the next layover stop will be.
 
One would guess that testing will be based out of Philly for a time. As High speeds can be attained between the curves at Frankford junction and Holmes at 100mph and Holmes and Morris the speeds head up to 125mph and then again from Trenton to New Brunswick on the racetrack at 125mph. Southbound one has to head to the Newark area for 125mph speeds. That trackage IIRC isn't that far, but I can't remember and don't have an Employee Timetable in front of me.
 
Leaving Newark going south, once clear of the S-curve at Elizabeth, it cranks up towards 125mph, thogh briefly, going through Linden and Rahway before slowing to 90-ish for Metro Park.
 
Which type of Viewliner II (baggage, baggage dorm, diner, sleeper) will go on which long distance routes???? Any guesses??
 
Baggage will go on almost all of them, including non-single-level. Diners will go on all the single-level trains that currently have heritage diners. Bag-dorms will go on all the single-level LD trains. The only real question is which trains will run with a baggage AND bag-dorm.
 
Baggage will go on almost all of them, including non-single-level. Diners will go on all the single-level trains that currently have heritage diners. Bag-dorms will go on all the single-level LD trains. The only real question is which trains will run with a baggage AND bag-dorm.
The baggage cars will go on the western and eastern trains that have Heritage baggage cars, except for the overnight single level eastern LD trains that will get baggage-dorm cars. "almost all of them" is rather sweeping; few corridor trains have baggage cars. We may see several additional Regionals and someday the Adirondack (after the Customs facility in Montreal opens) get baggage cars.

Except possibly for peak high demand travel periods, I doubt that any of the LD trains that have a baggage-dorm car will also have a full baggage car except for the LSL. And that is only because the LSL splits to NYP and BOS with the BOS section needing a baggage car.

The only real guesses for the distribution of the Viewliner IIs is how and where Amtrak will distribute the additional sleepers. The 25 bag-dorms, baggage and diner cars are to replace Heritage equipment including Heritage cars that were retired years ago and provide a modest equipment buffer.
 
Would the LSL get a Bag-Doorm and Baggage, or two bag-dorms? I guess I'm really asking what the Boston crew does, do they take rooms in the New York Sleeper once the train is joined, or do they take rooms in the Boston sleeper?
 
The big question is for the Silver Service/Lake Shore Limited/Crescent/Cardinal trains as well as for train 66/67, Carolinian and Palmetto is which new type of baggage car will they use? How much baggage/express is shipped? If they switch to a baggage/dorm combination, there would be less room for baggage, and I was surprised to see that there was a lot of baggage/express on train 66 this past Wednesday being loaded at Washington.
 
The Palmetto is planned to be extended to Miami via the FEC in the future. If the same schedule is used, they only need 1 Viewliner sleeper, 1 diner-lounge currently being used on the Cardinal (the Cardinal would get a regular dining car as the new Palmetto would primarily be a daytime train with only nighttime service in both directions in FL) and one regular baggage.

What do these baggage dorms look like? How much cargo space would be reduced by the addition of rooms?
 
The Palmetto is planned to be extended to Miami via the FEC in the future. If the same schedule is used, they only need 1 Viewliner sleeper, 1 diner-lounge currently being used on the Cardinal (the Cardinal would get a regular dining car as the new Palmetto would primarily be a daytime train with only nighttime service in both directions in FL) and one regular baggage.

What do these baggage dorms look like? How much cargo space would be reduced by the addition of rooms?
Planned?

Or just rumored?
 
The Palmetto is planned to be extended to Miami via the FEC in the future. If the same schedule is used, they only need 1 Viewliner sleeper, 1 diner-lounge currently being used on the Cardinal (the Cardinal would get a regular dining car as the new Palmetto would primarily be a daytime train with only nighttime service in both directions in FL) and one regular baggage.

What do these baggage dorms look like? How much cargo space would be reduced by the addition of rooms?
I don't know where you're hearing that.. But that AFAIK is not the case.

The Palmetto is planned to be extended to Miami via the FEC in the future. If the same schedule is used, they only need 1 Viewliner sleeper, 1 diner-lounge currently being used on the Cardinal (the Cardinal would get a regular dining car as the new Palmetto would primarily be a daytime train with only nighttime service in both directions in FL) and one regular baggage.

What do these baggage dorms look like? How much cargo space would be reduced by the addition of rooms?
Planned?

Or just rumored?
A long term rumor that has been around since the termination of the Silver Palm.
 
Right, I've heard of the rumor or speculation, but never anything definitive (like "planned" suggests).
 
Nothing new is planned for Amtrak LD service anywhere in the system at present. I am presently waiting for 180s on the Sunset and Cardinal, frankly.
 
Last I heard, they were going to split trains at Jacksonville. The split trains will head to Miami via the FEC line. Now I didn't hear Palmetto specifically, but I think the Silvers are the obvious candidates for that.
 
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Last I heard, they were going to split trains at Jacksonville. The split trains will head to Miami via the FEC line. Now I didn't hear Palmetto specifically, but I think the Silvers are the obvious candidates for that.
The proposal in the 2011 PIP report was to split the Silver Star at Jacksonville with the split section running on the FEC to Miami. With FL funding the construction of the cross-over track for commuter service, the physical connection for Amtrak to run on the FEC will be in place in a few years. But any such split will depend on All Aboard Florida or FL extending a corridor service to JAX and the AAF & FEC arrangement allowing Amtrak to run an LD train over the FEC. If a split Silver service does eventually happen, it will be long after the Viewliner IIs are delivered. Even with all the delays in the Viewliner II production.
 
Last I heard, they were going to split trains at Jacksonville. The split trains will head to Miami via the FEC line. Now I didn't hear Palmetto specifically, but I think the Silvers are the obvious candidates for that.
The proposal in the 2011 PIP report was to split the Silver Star at Jacksonville with the split section running on the FEC to Miami. With FL funding the construction of the cross-over track for commuter service, the physical connection for Amtrak to run on the FEC will be in place in a few years. But any such split will depend on All Aboard Florida or FL extending a corridor service to JAX and the AAF & FEC arrangement allowing Amtrak to run an LD train over the FEC. If a split Silver service does eventually happen, it will be long after the Viewliner IIs are delivered. Even with all the delays in the Viewliner II production.
Thanks.
 
So what's the point of having baggage-dorms?

I know that this means more room for passengers in the regular sleeping cars but does that mean that passengers can buy a berth in a baggage-dorm or will they be reserved for crewmembers only?

Also this means that there will be less room for baggage for that train?
 
Actually, Amtrak will definitely sell any spare roomettes in the baggage-dorm; this was made clear in the fleet plan.

There aren't expected to be many spare roomettes, however. Maybe as many as 3 on the Cardinal. More like zero or 1 on other trains.

On the LSL, there may be enough staff that staff members will still occupy roomettes in a full sleeper after filling up the dorm.
 
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