Which Train is This?

[SarahZ]

I keep seeing this on the AGR website, but I don't know what train it is. That extra lounge car (?) is throwing me off.

Is that the PPC on the CS?

 

[OlympianHiawatha]

Yes, that is the PPC, hence the Starlight. Do not be surprised if the photo has been doctored to "clean up" everything and make the units generic.

 

[SarahZ]

Yes, that is the PPC, hence the Starlight. Do not be surprised if the photo has been doctored to "clean up" everything and make the units generic.

At first glance, I thought it was a model railroad. It's so perfect and shiny. There's something about the photo composition that makes it look like a miniature.

 

[SubwayNut]

I feel the Coast Starlight climbing just north of SLO along the Central California Coast seem like an accurate location. The hills feel to bare to be in the Cascades.

 

[Texan Eagle]

2 P42 + Heritage Baggage + 4 Superliner Coach + PPC + Diner + SSL + 3 Superliner Sleepers. Guess which train? Easy, no?

 

[SarahZ]

2 P42 + Heritage Baggage + 4 Superliner Coach + PPC + Diner + SSL + 3 Superliner Sleepers. Guess which train? Easy, no?

I couldn't identify some of the cars from a distance, so no. That's why I posted this. The PPC was throwing me off.

 

[Texan Eagle]

2 P42 + Heritage Baggage + 4 Superliner Coach + PPC + Diner + SSL + 3 Superliner Sleepers. Guess which train? Easy, no?

I couldn't identify some of the cars from a distance, so no. That's why I posted this. The PPC was throwing me off.

Doesn't matter if you can't identify if its a PPC. Three non-standard looking cars together is a good hint the train is CS. All other LDs have only two- SSL and Diner. All other cars (Sleepers and Coaches) look identical from a distance.

Well, Auto Train also has more than two non-standard looking cars but then it also has a lot of other hints to make out it is Auto Train (think: car carriers)

 

[SarahZ]

I'm not as familiar with consists as everyone else, so I asked. I like to learn new things.

Now I know that's a PPC, and that means it's the CS, so mission accomplished.

 

[user 1215]

2 P42 + Heritage Baggage + 4 Superliner Coach + PPC + Diner + SSL + 3 Superliner Sleepers. Guess which train? Easy, no?

Isn't that a trans-dorm folling the heritage baggage? And then this would be sleepers up front and coaches in the back. But I don't get why the 2nd Superliner has a gap in the middle of the windows and the 3rd & 4th don't.

 

[Ryan]

The cars are turned different directions. The side without the gap is the side with the bedrooms, the "extra" window is over the stairs.

Sent from my iPhone

 

[Ryan]

2 P42 + Heritage Baggage + 4 Superliner Coach + PPC + Diner + SSL + 3 Superliner Sleepers. Guess which train? Easy, no?

Obviously not, since she asked the question. Amazingly, some people can't look at a train and immediately ID every car.



(And by "some" I mean "the vast majority")

Sent from my iPhone

 

[user 1215]

The cars are turned different directions. The side without the gap is the side with the bedrooms, the "extra" window is over the stairs.

Sent from my iPhone

Ok, I see that now... also noticeable with the windows on the lower level on opposite ends. Same thing with the first coach - turned around from the other two.

 

[AmtrakBlue]

Sarah, I wondered the same thing when I saw the pic yesterday. I came to the same conclusion - that it was the CS because of the different looking car (PPC).

 

[FormerOBS]

The blanked area on the upper level of a Superliner Sleeper is the location of the upstairs restroom. The first Superliner behind the Transition car has its "B" end leading. The next two have their "A" end leading because nothing is blanked on the stairway side. On the coaches at the rear, the lower level restrooms have no windows and they are at the "A" end. When you reach the top of the stairs, a left turn takes you to the "A" end, and a right turn takes you to the "B" end.

 

[Green Eye]

The photo has been doctored as the locomotives have no numbers.

 

[Ryan]

That's standard practice for Amtrak's promotional materials.

 

[user 1215]

Which I have never understood.

 

[gswager]

The PPC cars are slightly shorter than the Superliners.

 

[chakk]

The CS also often runs with a former coach-baggare car in the consist, which have no lower level windows for a lower level seating section.

Sent from my iPhone using Amtrak Forum

 

[Notelvis]

It's a really nice photo...... hence it's suitability for promotions.

Let's debate this -

SubwayNut said that it looks like the train is ascending the mountains above San Luis Obispo BUT to me it looks like the train might be descending towards SLO.

So folks, what say you?

Is this CS #11 ASCENDING or is it CS #14 descending?

For that matter - is the Amtrak train pictured in my avatar ascending or descending?

 

[SubwayNut]

I could be wrong I don't know the area well, perhaps is descending.

 

[7deuceman]

The train appears to be the northbound Coast Starlight somewhere south of San Luis Obispo, California.

 

[chakk]

And I would say the opposite. Namely, that this is the southbound CS just north of SLO. Probably just above the big curve that turns the train south and goes past the minimum-security prison.

 

[Ryan]

That was my first thought, but I didn't see anything looking at Google Maps that seemed to line up. Not a whole lot to go off of, though.