Viewliner II Part 4: Sleeping Car production, delivery, deployment

[Just-Thinking-51]

Can you imagine a CEO of a company gets 25 new expensive machines in and after they have all been delivered, the last one just recently but the rest over the last 2 1/2 years? You go to your board and explain that even before Covid, you took your time replacing or augmenting your 50 old machines which resulted in not bringing in the extra money to increase your bottom line. How long would they let you stick around?

Can you imagine a CEO getting 25 new dinner cars and use them as axle count cars and explain that to the board of directors.

 

[Exvalley]

New airliners are put into service within a couple months after delivery.

I find it hard to believe that railroad cars are more complicated than an airliner.

 

[nti1094]

There are no options available, as they did expire a while back without any having been exercised. At this point it is almost certain that no additional Viewliners will be ordered or built. Will you please just let it go and move onto something more useful?

The difference between CAF and NS is primarily that CAF's Viewliner shell did not fail the buff strength test miserably. Notwithstanding that I believe CAF has lost money on the Viewliner deal hand over fist, and probably does not want to hear the word Viewliner again, once they are done with finally pushing out the last Sleeper almost a decade late.

I wouldn’t say it failed miserably. One car shell got within 2,000 pounds of hitting the 800,000 pound threshold when it began to deform slightly.
cannot fathom why they didn’t just engineer a slightly stronger shell and try again, except maybe that they really seriously underbid for the contract to win it and screwed themselves into a situation where they could not possibly make a profit on the contract. To continue with it represented only more liability, more than the cost of breaking the contract and walking away at that point I guess.

 

[Ryan]

I would imagine that the engineers that have actual knowledge of the structure how it failed would be a better source of how hard engineering a fix would be than a random person on the internet that doesn't have that knowledge.

 

[jis]

Either way, parts flying around during the failure I am told was pretty impressive.

 

[MikefromCrete]

Trains News Wire is reporting that Amtrak will begin assigning Viewliner II sleepers to New York section of Lake Shore Limited.

 

[Cal]

Trains News Wire is reporting that Amtrak will begin assigning Viewliner II sleepers to New York section of Lake Shore Limited.

How reliable are they usually?

 

[neroden]

Reliable. Unfortunately they're apparently replacing Viewliner Is, and so far Amtrak hasn't added *any* sleeper capacity to *any* trains and it's still reduced relative to before the first Viewliner II sleeper went into service. Perhaps Amtrak has failed to hire enough car attendants to staff additional cars according to the union contract, in which case they really should get on that.

 

[Cal]

Reliable. Unfortunately they're apparently replacing Viewliner Is, and so far Amtrak hasn't added *any* sleeper capacity to *any* trains and it's still reduced relative to before the first Viewliner II sleeper went into service. Perhaps Amtrak has failed to hire enough car attendants to staff additional cars according to the union contract, in which case they really should get on that.

Will any VI's be refurbished to match VII's?

 

[Just-Thinking-51]

That was the original plan, but no funds are available.

 

[Exvalley]

Trains News Wire is reporting that Amtrak will begin assigning Viewliner II sleepers to New York section of Lake Shore Limited.

Interesting. I am on that train in October - but in the first sleeper car. Since I’m traveling alone I’m fine either way. A newer sleeper would be nice, but so would a toilet.

 

[Cal]

A newer sleeper would be nice, but so would a toilet.

One of many debates that will never end!

 

[Mailliw]

I'm taking the Lake Shore Limited in November and I'll be thrilled if I get a VII.

 

[pennyk]

I'm taking the Lake Shore Limited in November and I'll be thrilled if I get a VII.

I am taking it in December and I am a big fan of in-room toilets, so I just changed my reservation from roomette to bedroom to make sure I get a private restroom. My point balance has suffered as a result of the change.

 

[edolan]

I would be very happy to get a VLII on the Lake Shore Limited — but I honestly feel like it would make more sense on the Crescent — especially with the new schedule the Crescent is quite long — new sleepers might be a nice addition. Also, are there any plans to bring back the VLII diners on the Crescent?? — even if it’s not for traditional dining.

 

[Cal]

I would be very happy to get a VLII on the Lake Shore Limited — but I honestly feel like it would make more sense on the Crescent — especially with the new schedule the Crescent is quite long — new sleepers might be a nice addition. Also, are there any plans to bring back the VLII diners on the Crescent?? — even if it’s not for traditional dining.

It would be better to put on the Crescent, but (please, correct me if I am wrong) I think Amtrak has always favored the Silvers (Meteor in particular) and the LSL above other Eastern LD trains.

 

[MARC Rider]

It would be better to put on the Crescent, but (please, correct me if I am wrong) I think Amtrak has always favored the Silvers (Meteor in particular) and the LSL above other Eastern LD trains.

Oh, I'm not so sure. The LSL was one of the first eastern trains (along with the Capitol Limited) to get Flex dining, and the Crescent and Silver Meteor retained traditional dining, at least for a while.

 

[Cal]

Oh, I'm not so sure. The LSL was one of the first eastern trains (along with the Capitol Limited) to get Flex dining, and the Crescent and Silver Meteor retained traditional dining, at least for a while.

And I stand corrected. I'm surprised that the Cardinal retained traditional dining until late 2019...

 

[AmtrakBlue]

And I stand corrected. I'm surprised that the Cardinal retained traditional dining until late 2019...

The Cardinal did not have traditional dining in 2019. It had the diner lite (diner/cafe car). I don't know when/if it did have what we call traditional dining.

 

[Cal]

The Cardinal did have have traditional dining in 2019. It had the diner lite (diner/cafe car). I don't know when/if it did have what we call traditional dining.

This was mid-September of 2019.

 

[AmtrakBlue]

View attachment 24168

This was mid-September of 2019.

That looks like a cafe car. And there’s no food shown, so it’s most likely the diner lite menu (aka, no steaks, no french toast). It didn’t even have the scrambled eggs when I rode it in 2015

 

[jis]

That looks like a cafe car. And there’s no food shown, so it’s most likely the diner lite menu (aka, no steaks, no french toast). It didn’t even have the scrambled eggs when I rode it in 2015

Yup. Cardinal has not had any traditional dining for almost a decade probably. Been there done that many times

 

[MARC Rider]

The Cardinal's diner-lite service was sort of midway in quality between traditional dining and flex dining. It was all pre-prepared food, but of better quality than the Flex meals. They used half of a cafe car for the service just like today. I experienced it during Cardinal rides in 2013 and 2015. When I last rode the Cardinal in November 2019, they were serving flex dining. I must admit that I got nice service from the attendant, even if it was served on paper plates and with plastic utensils.

 

[Cal]

They used half of a cafe car for the service just like today

Well, for *some* of today. They were only serving meals in-room when I was on it

 

[AmtrakBlue]

Well, for *some* of today. They were only serving meals in-room when I was on it

Same when I rode it in Sept 2020 - due to COVID. Not enough booths to do social distancing.