Viewliner II Part 2: Dining Car Production, Delivery, Speculation

[GBNorman]

I am not sure I like the acronym VD.

You have a point, Mr. Lion, and accordingly I have edited the post to read V-D (Viewliner Diner) and V-P (Viewliner Prototype 8400)

 

[WoodyinNYC]

Why are CAF producing the diners out of order?

Don't know and don't care about the order. I'm just so pleased that CAF is now producing them at a good pace, delayed, sure, but the delays are not getting worse.

If we see the first sleepers by this time next year ...

 

[Anthony V]

I don't care what order they come in. All that matters to me is that they get delivered within a reasonable timeframe.

 

[AmtrakBlue]

Some good news, bad news. Atlanta is out and about, specifically on the Lake Shore Limited. No it is not in service, it's deadheading for the big NARP event in Chicago this weekend where it will be displayed.

Nick

Is that an eyewitness visual report or reposted hearsay from TrainDISorders?

Hmm, just saw something on FB about a Viewliner II diner on 29.

Sent from my iPhone using Amtrak Forum

 

[KnightRail]

Some good news, bad news. Atlanta is out and about, specifically on the Lake Shore Limited. No it is not in service, it's deadheading for the big NARP event in Chicago this weekend where it will be displayed.

Nick

Is that an eyewitness visual report or reposted hearsay from TrainDISorders?

Hmm, just saw something on FB about a Viewliner II diner on 29.

That sounds more like the plan. Point being some have a bad habit of seeing something on TrainDISorders and cross posting it here as fact with no credit for where that info came from. Coming from there chances are its wrong, which it was.

 

[MikefromCrete]

Some good news, bad news. Atlanta is out and about, specifically on the Lake Shore Limited. No it is not in service, it's deadheading for the big NARP event in Chicago this weekend where it will be displayed.

Nick

Is that an eyewitness visual report or reposted hearsay from TrainDISorders?

Hmm, just saw something on FB about a Viewliner II diner on 29.

Sent from my iPhone using Amtrak Forum

Going to Chicago for exhibition at the NARP convention?

 

[KnightRail]

Some good news, bad news. Atlanta is out and about, specifically on the Lake Shore Limited. No it is not in service, it's deadheading for the big NARP event in Chicago this weekend where it will be displayed.

Nick

Is that an eyewitness visual report or reposted hearsay from TrainDISorders?

Hmm, just saw something on FB about a Viewliner II diner on 29.

Sent from my iPhone using Amtrak Forum

Going to Chicago for exhibition at the NARP convention?

Yes, Atlanta will be in Chicago for that event.

 

[mgl1978]

Amtrak #97 11/1/2017 with HFD and HAR at long bridge.

https://youtu.be/QdWjgsRpZ-U

 

[GBNorman]

Nice video Mr. Guey-Lee (you're "out" with your video).

This definitely shows the shape of things to come with seven Viewliners and four A-II's in the consist of 97(1).

 

[Ngotwalt]

Actually it was a Facebook report on the NEC group, there was an inaccuracy, the car went west on 29, not 49.

Nick

 

[tommylicious]

There was another extra viewliner on Wednesday's 49. 29 carried one too today.

 

[AmtrakBlue]

There was another extra viewliner on Wednesday's 49. 29 carried one too today.

But was it a diner or a Viewliner 1 sleeper??

 

[KnightRail]

There was another extra viewliner on Wednesday's 49. 29 carried one too today.

But was it a diner or a Viewliner 1 sleeper??

It was not a Viewliner diner.

 

[tommylicious]

Knight what wuz it then?

 

[CCC1007]

Knight what wuz it then?

Only two options, V1 sleeper or V2 baggage...

 

[AmtrakLKL]

There was another extra viewliner on Wednesday's 49. 29 carried one too today.

But was it a diner or a Viewliner 1 sleeper??

The Boston sleeper was blanked so an extra V1 Sleeper operated NYP-CHI to protect 449 sleeper passengers west of ALB.

 

[cpotisch]

What is the usual shop margin for the V-II baggage cars? From there we could figure out the (approximate) necessary number of diners needed for the LSL.

 

[jis]

Usually it appears to be about 20% aggregate shop margin. It is not done separately for individual trains on a train by train basis.

Sent from my iPhone using Amtrak Forum

 

[Green Maned Lion]

This is what Amtrak really needs. Lots of bloviation.

 

[cpotisch]

So forgetting about other factors, a total of 13 diners is probably needed for the LSL. With Harrisburg and Hartford delivered (to be finished at the end of the November), that means only two more needed. We can most likely expect the next two diners to leave CAF at the end of November. With a pretty consistent 1 month stay in Hialeah for new diners, we can expect a sufficient diner fleet by 2018. Thus, I think it's safe to say that the LSL will have a diner by February. Woohoo!

 

[cpotisch]

WoodyinNYC

You lost me in the bowels of Penn Station, or sumpin.

Why do you see 13 diners for the Lake Shore? The Meteor and Crescent seem to be scraping by with one diner per consist, and four consists each. The Lake Shore uses three consists, no? Even if it needs four, with a fifth one for backup, that's a long way short of 13. Lordy.

Your post isn't showing up on the thread anymore, but what I meant was not that the LSL alone uses 13 diners, but that a grand total of 13 diners would be needed for the LSL to 're-diner-ified'. It's a total of 11 consists between the LSL, Crescent, and Meteor. Add a 20% shop margin and 13 diners are needed.

 

[WoodyinNYC]

WoodyinNYC

You lost me in the bowels of Penn Station, or sumpin.

Why do you see 13 diners for the Lake Shore? The Meteor and Crescent seem to be scraping by with one diner per consist, and four consists each. The Lake Shore uses three consists, no? Even if it needs four, with a fifth one for backup, that's a long way short of 13. Lordy.

Your post isn't showing up on the thread anymore, but what I meant was not that the LSL alone uses 13 diners, but that a grand total of 13 diners would be needed for the LSL to 're-diner-ified'. It's a total of 11 consists between the LSL, Crescent, and Meteor. Add a 20% shop margin and 13 diners are needed.

I realized that I'd misunderstood, so I deleted the nonsense post a.s.a.p.

 

[cpotisch]

WoodyinNYC

You lost me in the bowels of Penn Station, or sumpin.

Why do you see 13 diners for the Lake Shore? The Meteor and Crescent seem to be scraping by with one diner per consist, and four consists each. The Lake Shore uses three consists, no? Even if it needs four, with a fifth one for backup, that's a long way short of 13. Lordy.

Your post isn't showing up on the thread anymore, but what I meant was not that the LSL alone uses 13 diners, but that a grand total of 13 diners would be needed for the LSL to 're-diner-ified'. It's a total of 11 consists between the LSL, Crescent, and Meteor. Add a 20% shop margin and 13 diners are needed.

I realized that I'd misunderstood, so I deleted the nonsense post a.s.a.p.

Okey-doke.

 

[neroden]

And Neroden? I suggest finding a reasonable lawyer, and have him draft a letter of intent stating that you want this resolved by such and such a date, or you will file a lawsuit. To quote Al Capone: You can get further with a kind word and a [metaphorical] gun than with a kind word alone.

That is my next step. It's actually useful when filing a lawsuit to provide evidence that you did everything you can short of a lawsuit. I've been *extremely* busy lately -- everything which I was supposed to be resolving at different times during the year got delayed and is all happening at once, and on top of that, we have upper respiratory infections -- and I simply won't be able to start getting an appropriate lawyer (one always wants a specialist in the particular sort of case) until January.

Bonus for me from taking the trip: the hotel which NARP/RPA picked is *the* most accomodating hotel for my allergies and those of my girlfriend which I have found in Chicago so far, so it will be my go-to hotel in Chicago from now on. So there's that.

 

[neroden]

We explained why they go to Florida.

Over the weekend I learned an additional reason why they go to Florida. They're apparently required to have a "shakedown" trip on revenue trains, but without passengers, of a particular minimum length. Albany to Hialeah is just long enough. If they were commissioned anywhere else they'd have to drive around in circles before going into service. This is a regulation I did not know about...

As is usual for conferences, almost all the interesting things happen in hallway discussions, not in the actual sessions. Though I think I did put an idea in someone's head during one of the sessions.