Viewliner II - Part 1 - Initial Production and Delivery

[afigg]

There is in theory an option for an additional 70 cars. There's been no word and while it's doubtful, there's some evidence that it may be possible to exercise the option.

70 more cars would been a decent increase in fleet size and could definitely mean more trains with sleepers and diners (restored Three Rivers anyone?) and more sleepers on existing trains.

I've figured that Amtrak has to keep the focus on Priority #1 for new equipment, namely, the Acela IIs.....

When will we learn of the Acela II equipment bid?

We have threads on the Next Gen HSR, aka the Acela II, RFP, including this one: Acela II RFP information announcement. I expect Amtrak and the vendors are waiting on the FRA waiver request. But if you want to discuss the Acela II bids, I suggest it be taken there to keep the Viewliner II thread somewhere close to on topic.

As for the V II options, they are not "in theory". It was stated back when the CAF contract was awarded, oh so many years ago, that there were options for 70 cars of so many of each type. And we have discussed the prospects for those options, oh so many times in this thread . The odds appear to be long on even exercising a small number, let alone close to all 70. While it would be nice to see an order for 8 or 10 more cars, say 6 sleepers, 2 bag-dorms (for a total of 12 so the Crescent can be equipped along with the Cardinal and LSL), and 2 diner cars (to have enough for a restored Three Rivers plus attrition reserve), I don't expect to see it happen. Even 5 additional sleepers for a total of 30 new ones is unlikely from what I can tell.

 

[Thirdrail7]

How long will the heritage cars be on protect duty?

For quite some time. They are fanning out to initial terminals. When they reach their "drop dead" date, they will be retired.

 

[Bus Nut]

I think the problem with Acela branding was not so much with what is now known as Acela Express, but more so with the attempt to rebrand the Regionals to Acela Regional. In effect that diluted the Acela brand and people got confused about what is higher speed and what is same old same old with lipstick on a pig. That is why the Regionals were rebranded back to Northeast Regional. They used to be Northeast Direct before the Acela Regional misadventure. They had also talked about rebranding things like the Clockers and Keystones as Acela Commuter. Fortunately that never came to pass.

That was silly and I'm glad they brought back NorthEast Regional. But, no, there was a lot of negative attention for Amtrak when "Acela" was announced, including people ridiculing that the consultant had put a .wav file on the splash page of the Acela website to tell the journalists how to pronounce the made up word "Acela". (This was when putting a sound file on your website was a kewl goo-gaw that showed you were a l33t geek.) Everybody got over it pretty fast and moved to all the drama with the crack wheels/brakes whatever it was. It's been almost two decades and the name has stood the test of time. Just think, Parisians called the Eiffel tower an eyesore when it went up but now they embrace it as an icon of Paris.

 

[Bus Nut]

They should have matched the existing scheme first, then repainted the cars as the trainset livery is updated. We're only talking a few stripes here. The notion that you paint the New Stuff New than let the rest catch up is preposterous. By then, you'll have dirty VLB's.

Tell that to my employer ... Heck, my previous employer.

Execs like to fiddle with paint schemes, especially to leave their "mark" from their predecessor. And you get the scheme you ultimately want on it when it's new even if you know it's going to take years to update the old stuff. Those exterior jobs aren't cheap.

 

[Amtrak172]

I'm sure this has been asked before but what trains will be staying in Phase IVb and not updated to Phase IIIb?

 

[Guest]

At some point everything will match, I guess what stands out to me is the shape of the car compared to others. How will new baggage car look with Superliner cars?

I think it will still look like a shape/style mismatch between double level cars (Superliner) and a single level baggage car (Viewliner), even if there is a transdorm in the middle.

 

[MikefromCrete]

Great work Peter! At some point everything will match, I guess what stands out to me is the shape of the car compared to others. How will new baggage car look with Superliner cars?

Pretty much like the Heritage baggage cars look like with Superliners. Are you suggesting Amtrak needs double-deck baggage cars to match up with the Superliners? This nit-picking over paint schemes is just out of control.

 

[PerRock]

Great work Peter! At some point everything will match, I guess what stands out to me is the shape of the car compared to others. How will new baggage car look with Superliner cars?

Pretty much like the Heritage baggage cars look like with Superliners. Are you suggesting Amtrak needs double-deck baggage cars to match up with the Superliners? This nit-picking over paint schemes is just out of control.

In a sense they do:

peter

 

[Ryan]

This nit-picking over paint schemes is just out of control.

It's somewhat ridiculous at this point, yes.

 

[keelhauled]

Great work Peter! At some point everything will match, I guess what stands out to me is the shape of the car compared to others. How will new baggage car look with Superliner cars?

Pretty much like the Heritage baggage cars look like with Superliners. Are you suggesting Amtrak needs double-deck baggage cars to match up with the Superliners? This nit-picking over paint schemes is just out of control.

In a sense they do:

peter

Yeah but do the P42s match? No? Better just shut the whole thing down, no ones gonna ride it now

 

[Ryan]

In a sense they do:

peter

That's not a heritage baggage car.

 

[CHamilton]

This nit-picking over paint schemes is just out of control.

It's somewhat ridiculous at this point, yes.

Amen. Considering all of the issues passenger rail faces in this country, paint schemes are at the bottom of my list of things to worry about.

 

[jis]

People have too much free time on their hands! They got to do something, so worry about a whole host of things that don't matter much. The rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic syndrome

 

[SarahZ]

This nit-picking over paint schemes is just out of control.

It's somewhat ridiculous at this point, yes.

Seriously. I recognize Amtrak is a brand and the paint should look nice, but I spend all of my time inside the car. I'd rather they focus on refurbishing the interiors rather than painting (and re-painting) all of their rolling stock to appeal to the people who don't like a certain font or color.

I'm not crazy about AA's new look, but it doesn't affect me one bit, so why care?

 

[Ziv]

I agree, Sarah. I wanted to live in one of the best parts of Capital Hill in DC years ago but could only afford to live in the worst building on the block. But the good part was that every time I looked out of one of my windows I was looking at the beautiful townhomes around me, and they were looking at my ugly, cubical eyesore of a building.

This nit-picking over paint schemes is just out of control.

It's somewhat ridiculous at this point, yes.

Seriously. I recognize Amtrak is a brand and the paint should look nice, but I spend all of my time inside the car. I'd rather they focus on refurbishing the interiors rather than painting (and re-painting) all of their rolling stock to appeal to the people who don't like a certain font or color.

I'm not crazy about AA's new look, but it doesn't affect me one bit, so why care?

 

[Palmetto]

Some people here apparently don't remember the pre-Amtrak days when some long distance trains had CARS FROM MORE THAN ONE RAILROAD.

Oh my God! The Federal has Pennsylvania RR cars mixed in with New Haven RR cars. That's just awful. :lol:

 

[Steve4031]

I would prefer that the interior is clean, the heat or AC, working and decent food in the diner.

 

[City of Miami]

Today's Cardinal 50 had a new bag car - 61012 - in service. The interior racks didn't appear to be in use.

 

[DryCreek]

I would prefer that the interior is clean, the heat or AC, working and decent food in the diner.

And on time.

 

[PupfosterG]

No, not suggesting bi-level baggage, just commented on shape of car. They appear to flare outward, maybe not the best explination. From a photogenic view, a shining ribbon of steel going down the track would have a vll car which may stand out as different. But I agree, inside, where I send my time as does the general public is the place for attention to details.

 

[2.0]

In a sense they do:

peter

That's not a heritage baggage car.

But its pretty close to being a double-decker baggage car that matches the Superliners, which was being requested/suggested, no?

 

[Phil]

Just fyi: also cannot use the lower bag racks because the bags would then be against the floor heat which could be dangerous... Have been instructed to leave lower racks up with the explicit intention of keeping bags from being against the floor heat.

 

[George K]

Just fyi: also cannot use the lower bag racks because the bags would then be against the floor heat which could be dangerous... Have been instructed to leave lower racks up with the explicit intention of keeping bags from being against the floor heat.

Sooo...I assume nothing can be on the floor either, right? Looking at pics posted earlier, the bottom rack appears to be about 3-4" above the floor. How hot does that floor get?

I don't get it.

 

[printman2000]

Just fyi: also cannot use the lower bag racks because the bags would then be against the floor heat which could be dangerous... Have been instructed to leave lower racks up with the explicit intention of keeping bags from being against the floor heat.

Would not the bags being on the floor make them even closer to the floor heat?

 

[Big Iron]

Today's Cardinal 50 had a new bag car - 61012 - in service. The interior racks didn't appear to be in use.

Today's 89 had one as well. Can't speak to use of racks as it was on the move. Looked great.