Viewliner II Part 3: Bag/Dorm Car Production, Delivery, Speculation

[cocojacoby]

The first baggage-dorm car, 69002, is deadheading north on 98 today. No, it isn't going back to the factory. Looks like it is starting a training/familiarization tour.

This is the car that can change everything. Good news!

 

[Thirdrail7]

This is the car that can change everything. Good news!

Yes...all ten of them.

 

[neroden]

Well, obviously if they can get the bag-dorms working, they can get the sleepers working. Unless there's a problem with the bedrooms or the accessible room. The roomettes and bathrooms and shower are the same.

 

[cocojacoby]

Yes...all ten of them.

This is probably the most important and consequential car of the order. Yeah, I still don't understand that stupid decision to go with more baggage cars which are now being ELIMINATED on some trains (e.g., 448). This just doesn't make sense. It won't take long to see how adding these cars is going to effect the bottom line of the trains to which they are assigned.

I think Amtrak is really going to regret reducing the number of bag/dorms and
that decision infuriates me. What the hell were they thinking? Am I overreacting?

 

[looshi]

This is probably the most important and consequential car of the order. Yeah, I still don't understand that stupid decision to go with more baggage cars which are now being ELIMINATED on some trains (e.g., 448). This just doesn't make sense. Someone on this site once said "Amtrak only needs 11 single level full service diners to outfit the Silver Meteor, Crescent and Lake Shore". If that's the case I guess the same applies to baggage/dorms. It won't take long to see how adding these cars is going to effect the bottom line of these trains.

I think Amtrak is really going to regret reducing the number of bag/dorms and
that decision infuriates me. What the **** were they thinking? Am I overreacting?

I heard the decision was made to add space for additional bike storage due to the popularity of the bike aboard program.

 

[dgvrengineer]

I hope that the bag-dorm hitting the road for training/familiarization is an indication that more should be expected soon.

 

[Thirdrail7]

I hope that it means that since the car is half bag and half sleeper, when the full sleeper emerges, a training and familiarization tour will not be necessary.

After all, everyone is already trained on the baggage portion.

 

[daybeers]

This is probably the most important and consequential car of the order. Yeah, I still don't understand that stupid decision to go with more baggage cars which are now being ELIMINATED on some trains (e.g., 448). This just doesn't make sense. It won't take long to see how adding these cars is going to effect the bottom line of the trains to which they are assigned.

I think Amtrak is really going to regret reducing the number of bag/dorms and
that decision infuriates me. What the **** were they thinking? Am I overreacting?

You're not overreacting at all: I feel the same way.

I heard the decision was made to add space for additional bike storage due to the popularity of the bike aboard program.

Right, because the present bike program is so accommodating.

 

[Thirdrail7]

I heard the decision was made to add space for additional bike storage due to the popularity of the bike aboard program.

It also had to do with mail contracts, some of which came to fruition, some didn't.

 

[cocojacoby]

It also had to do with mail contracts, some of which came to fruition, some didn't.

I thought that was the main reason and a serious possibility after it was recommended by the USPS Attorney General if I remember right, but I never heard that anything came of it. Did Amtrak actually secure any mail contracts?

 

[me_little_me]

I thought that was the main reason and a serious possibility after it was recommended by the USPS Attorney General if I remember right, but I never heard that anything came of it. Did Amtrak actually secure any mail contracts?

USPS Attorney General? Did you mean Inspector General?

 

[Dutchrailnut]

The US mail no longer uses Amtrak and United States Post service has sold all their rail/mail facilities.

 

[cocojacoby]

USPS Attorney General? Did you mean Inspector General?

Yes I did!

The US mail no longer uses Amtrak and United States Post service has sold all their rail/mail facilities.

Just have to deliver the mail by truck in that case or in some places like Boston just roll it out the back door (at least for now). Is part of Moynihan Station going to still serve as a postal facility in New York? Then that's right there too.

 

[jis]

The New York area main sorting facility is not at Moynihan. All that will remain are customer service windows and some associated functions.

The main sorting office in Manhattan is the Morgan facility on 9th Ave few blocks south near 29th St.

So bottom line is. There is little remaining in the old PO building that is relevant to bulk mail handling.

 

[PVD]

Morgan was originally equipped with a link to the high line. My father transferred over there towards the end of his career with the P.O. He spent most of his time at Grand Central and GPO. Morgan was the site of one of the biggest fires in NYC history, in Dec 1967....The FDNY SuperPumper was in full use for that one.....

 

[neroden]

I hope that it means that since the car is half bag and half sleeper, when the full sleeper emerges, a training and familiarization tour will not be necessary.

After all, everyone is already trained on the baggage portion.

I expect a full training and familiarization tour anyway, if only to show everyone the details of the new bedroom and accessible bedroom. It didn't take that long for the baggage cars, so whatever.

What I'm HOPING is that the delays for "Modifications at Hialeah" will be much shorter, because they will be used to doing all the modifications, having perfected them on the bag-dorms. (RailPlan seems to have made perfectly good interior units so I doubt those need modifications.)

 

[jis]

If you look at the budget asks for the Viewliner II program you can sort of guess the it will be 2021 before the V-2 deliveries are completed and paid for. Unfortunately.

 

[Amtrak706]

If you look at the budget asks for the Viewliner II program you can sort of guess the it will be 2021 before the V-2 deliveries are completed and paid for. Unfortunately.

At least they describe getting the cars in service as a priority. I think many of us had the feeling that they didn’t really care about the order anymore.

The quick mention of “lease and/or storage” as an option for how to deploy the V2s, though, is slightly infuriating.

 

[neroden]

At least they describe getting the cars in service as a priority. I think many of us had the feeling that they didn’t really care about the order anymore.

The quick mention of “lease and/or storage” as an option for how to deploy the V2s, though, is slightly infuriating.

This part is written by some ******* ***** (maybe Gardner). They claim that they're not sure there will be enough profitable demand for additional sleepers on the Eastern routes, which is just ridiculous. Probably another artifact of their defective, fraudulent accounting.

 

[juanee]

The US mail no longer uses Amtrak and United States Post service has sold all their rail/mail facilities.

Why did the post office decide not to use Amtrak anymore for mail, or even slow mail like media mail or parcel post packages? I don't remember the reason...

 

[jis]

I thought it was Gunn who killed all remaining postal business when he got rid of all other non-passenger business other than limited retaining of package business. His claim was that it cost more to run that business than the revenue it produced.

 

[Just-Thinking-51]

Postal business was and is a hassle. Requires effort. Use to haul Bulk Mail between DC to Denver. Would stage north awaited the post office to load a trailer. The waiting could take a day, or two, or three. Then it’s a rush rush load. Never made sense from the driver view. Of course the view from the driver windshield does not take in account the money, just the drive time and rest work cycle needed. The post office bulk loads are not planned departure, there a load and go type. Regular mail leave in a predictable way, just not the bulk.

 

[cocojacoby]

I heard the decision was made to add space for additional bike storage due to the popularity of the bike aboard program.

So what is it $25 to bring your bike? Wouldn't the roomettes bring in more like thousands?

 

[juanee]

I thought it was Gunn who killed all remaining postal business when he got rid of all other non-passenger business other than limited retaining of package business. His claim was that it cost more to run that business than the revenue it produced.

I somewhat remember Mr. Gunn did that. I still remember seeing those Mail and Express cars on the train in the 2000s. Which leads to another thought (to remain on topic)... when it comes to the Viewliner II baggage car order, why couldn't Amtrak have used the Mail and Express cars in storage for baggage cars? (Those cars already have HEP pass through.) Or if Amtrak wanted new cars, just order box cars from a traditional box car vender and add HEP pass through?

 

[jis]

Because they don’t have gangways to connect to the rest of the train.