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

[Palmland]

In the early days of Stereo there was some very good LP recordings of railroad sounds. My favorite was called Rail Dynamics and was recorded near Peekskill, NY. It was described as ‘rainy night along the New York Central’. Mostly steam with a few diesel streamliners as it was done in 1950. Another was ‘Railroad Sounds - steam and diesel’ and described as ‘sounds of a vanishing era.’ It was recorded along the IC.

 

[KnightRail]

Whats the source of that photo layout? It could be an older one.

Photo of the emergency exit instructions inside a room on 69002.

 

[Cho Cho Charlie]

I also have a large collection of classic LPs and even a few 12” 78s!

I remember 10" 78s, but not 12".

 

[PVD]

JIS is spot on. 4-5 minutes instead of 3.. It was around as both 10 and 12 inch Mostly shellac and brittle, but when shellac was scarce (like WW2) some 12 inch vinyl was pressed. Obviously vinyl took over for LP anyway, as did 33 1/3.

 

[railiner]

only for those of us who either still have one, or at least remember what they look like......

I have an active high quality one - part of my A/V setup. I also have a large collection of classic LPs and even a few 12” 78s!

I suppose you have one of these, too... https://www.mcintoshlabs.com/products/amplifiers/MC275B

Or want one....

 

[OlympianHiawatha]

With all that has been going on under Anderson, I wonder if the Sleepers will ever materialize as I would not be surprised if Sleeper service is terminated before all is said and done. We've already seen the beautiful Viewliner Diners downgraded to nothing more than table cars.

 

[PVD]

Still love the sound of a tube amp, but I don't listen to enough music to justify it. Nice to see a beautifully made product can still come from the Southern Tier of NY.

 

[Acela150]

Whats the source of that photo layout? It could be an older one.

Photo of the emergency exit instructions inside a room on 69002.

Thanks.

 

[frequentflyer]

only for those of us who either still have one, or at least remember what they look like......

I have an active high quality one - part of my A/V setup. I also have a large collection of classic LPs and even a few 12” 78s!

I suppose you have one of these, too... https://www.mcintoshlabs.com/products/amplifiers/MC275B

Or want one....

Drool..........Worth the money in high end unlike some other stuff.

 

[railiner]

Still love the sound of a tube amp, but I don't listen to enough music to justify it. Nice to see a beautifully made product can still come from the Southern Tier of NY.

Ha ha...I 'get' the subtle shot at CAF.....

 

[cpotisch]

Still love the sound of a tube amp, but I don't listen to enough music to justify it. Nice to see a beautifully made product can still come from the Southern Tier of NY.

Ha ha...I 'get' the subtle shot at CAF.....

Sorry, I don't get it...

 

[railiner]

Still love the sound of a tube amp, but I don't listen to enough music to justify it. Nice to see a beautifully made product can still come from the Southern Tier of NY.

Ha ha...I 'get' the subtle shot at CAF.....

Sorry, I don't get it...

Where are the Viewliner's being made?

 

[cpotisch]

Still love the sound of a tube amp, but I don't listen to enough music to justify it. Nice to see a beautifully made product can still come from the Southern Tier of NY.

Ha ha...I 'get' the subtle shot at CAF.....

Sorry, I don't get it...

Where are the Viewliner's being made?

Elmira, but that's not what I don't get. How is that "a subtle shot at CAF"? Just sounds like he's explicitly complimenting CAF, rather than making some sort of subtle insult.

 

[jis]

I guess today is the day for acting dumb

 

[cpotisch]

Never mind.

 

[PVD]

I try......

 

[railiner]

Still love the sound of a tube amp, but I don't listen to enough music to justify it. Nice to see a beautifully made product can still come from the Southern Tier of NY.

Ha ha...I 'get' the subtle shot at CAF.....

Sorry, I don't get it...

Where are the Viewliner's being made?

Elmira, but that's not what I don't get. How is that "a subtle shot at CAF"? Just sounds like he's explicitly complimenting CAF, rather than making some sort of subtle insult.

If you looked at the link for that McIntosh Amp, you would see that it was made in Binghamton--also in the "Southern Tier" of NY....he was being sarcastic, inferring that not everything made their is not good....

 

[cpotisch]

Still love the sound of a tube amp, but I don't listen to enough music to justify it. Nice to see a beautifully made product can still come from the Southern Tier of NY.

Ha ha...I 'get' the subtle shot at CAF.....

Sorry, I don't get it...

Where are the Viewliner's being made?

Elmira, but that's not what I don't get. How is that "a subtle shot at CAF"? Just sounds like he's explicitly complimenting CAF, rather than making some sort of subtle insult.

If you looked at the link for that McIntosh Amp, you would see that it was made in Binghamton--also in the "Southern Tier" of NY....he was being sarcastic, inferring that not everything made their is not good....

Ohhhhhh. Thank you!

 

[cocojacoby]

If you looked at the link for that McIntosh Amp, you would see that it was made in Binghamton--also in the "Southern Tier" of NY....he was being sarcastic, inferring that not everything made their is not good....

Yeah interesting that Alstom and CAF are both located there. Politics have something to do with it too. Unfortunately the things I have read say the skill level of the local population is lacking and that is hurting the quality of the products coming out of that area.

 

[PVD]

Hornell has a rail history back 160 years. The CAF site is also not new to rail cars. The lack of workers with modern manufacturing skills is a nationwide problem with a number of contributing factors, certainly not restricted to that area. Government incentives to lure business to a depressed area particularly where suitable space exists is pretty typical.

 

[neroden]

If one were to accept the not having to move at Albany scenario, which may or may not be realistic, you would need to look at which rooms freed up would provide the greatest yield pattern (added rooms to sell against revenue if buckets are influenced) The NY section has more crew members, would those rooms bring in more than the BOS rooms? I don't know what the numbers are in terms of percent filled and yield. Is it easy enough for BOS OBS to move, as opposed to NY since the dining car is serving at that time? It is not really worthwhile to have these cars if you can't get a good added yield.

OK. This is what I actually expect. I expect the Boston sleeper and the Boston baggage car to be replaced with a bag-dorm -- the Boston sleeper routinely has significantly lower demand than the NY sleeper, and two full baggage cars is overkill except in the very busiest days of the year. Then I expect the "Boston" sleeper to be reassigned to the New York side, where there is *plenty* of demand. Yes, this means the train into NY is one car longer, but it'll still fit on the platform, so that's fine.

And to the person who asked, yes, the rooms in the bag-dorm are saleable roomettes.

 

[neroden]

It is an indeed an odd number. The only thing I can surmise is:

Lake Shore Limited=3

Silver Star or Crescent=4

The Cardinal=2

Protect=1

I figure the Meteor already has three revenue sleepers so that train is out. The Crescent currently has more staff so it will yield more rooms. We don't know how long that will remain the case. However, they continue to close more stations along the routes, eliminating the need for bag dorms.

Maybe Just Thinking was on to something when he said axle count cars. Logically, it would free up 10 coaches. Maybe they swap bag dorms for full baggage cars and send the bags as axle count cars.

I DO like the idea of putting them on the 67&66. Why not? it is pure revenue.

What's the baggage load like on 66/67? Will it fit in a bag-dorm?

If so, then maybe:

66/67 - 2 bag-dorms

448/449 - 3 bag-dorms

Cardinal - 2 bag-droms

Protect at Boston

Protect at Chicago

One saved for the daily Cardinal

I know, I can dream...

On another topic, there's already a Boston-based cafe / business car attendant on 448/449. They can hire a Boston-based sleeper attendant for 66/67; this is not a problem.

 

[cocojacoby]

If one were to accept the not having to move at Albany scenario, which may or may not be realistic, you would need to look at which rooms freed up would provide the greatest yield pattern (added rooms to sell against revenue if buckets are influenced) The NY section has more crew members, would those rooms bring in more than the BOS rooms? I don't know what the numbers are in terms of percent filled and yield. Is it easy enough for BOS OBS to move, as opposed to NY since the dining car is serving at that time? It is not really worthwhile to have these cars if you can't get a good added yield.

OK. This is what I actually expect. I expect the Boston sleeper and the Boston baggage car to be replaced with a bag-dorm -- the Boston sleeper routinely has significantly lower demand than the NY sleeper, and two full baggage cars is overkill except in the very busiest days of the year. Then I expect the "Boston" sleeper to be reassigned to the New York side, where there is *plenty* of demand. Yes, this means the train into NY is one car longer, but it'll still fit on the platform, so that's fine.

And to the person who asked, yes, the rooms in the bag-dorm are saleable roomettes.

But isn't the whole idea of the baggage/dorm to put the crew in there to open revenue space in the regular sleepers?

 

[cpotisch]

If one were to accept the not having to move at Albany scenario, which may or may not be realistic, you would need to look at which rooms freed up would provide the greatest yield pattern (added rooms to sell against revenue if buckets are influenced) The NY section has more crew members, would those rooms bring in more than the BOS rooms? I don't know what the numbers are in terms of percent filled and yield. Is it easy enough for BOS OBS to move, as opposed to NY since the dining car is serving at that time? It is not really worthwhile to have these cars if you can't get a good added yield.

OK. This is what I actually expect. I expect the Boston sleeper and the Boston baggage car to be replaced with a bag-dorm -- the Boston sleeper routinely has significantly lower demand than the NY sleeper, and two full baggage cars is overkill except in the very busiest days of the year. Then I expect the "Boston" sleeper to be reassigned to the New York side, where there is *plenty* of demand. Yes, this means the train into NY is one car longer, but it'll still fit on the platform, so that's fine.

And to the person who asked, yes, the rooms in the bag-dorm are saleable roomettes.

But isn't the whole idea of the baggage/dorm to put the crew in there to open revenue space in the regular sleepers?

That was the original idea, however if they have spares and there's a train that doesn't need a regular sleeper or a full baggage car, a bag-dorm could serve both purposes well. As was said, this would make sense on trains like the Cardinal, Boston section of the LSL, and the overnight Regionals (65/66/67). If they replaced the baggage car on those trains with a bag-dorm, they would probably still have enough baggage space, while increasing (or introducing) sleeper space.

 

[west point]

Then I expect the "Boston" sleeper to be reassigned to the New York side, where there is *plenty* of demand. Yes, this means the train into NY is one car longer, but it'll still fit on the platform, so that's fine.

There will not be platform length problems even with Empire NYP train lengths 4 cars longer. Remember that the present NYPS work is adding new crossovers so empire trains can reach all the way to track 15 with many tracks what 12 cars long..