Will anyone miss Amfleet cars?

[TheCrescent]

As Amfleet I cars are soon headed for the great coach yard in the sky, to be replaced by Siemens equipment, will you miss them?

I find them comfortable and they ride well, but the small windows are less than ideal. So I won’t, although I’ll give Amtrak credit for buying what worked out to be a good product.

 

[OBS]

I think the boxcar like Horizon cars should be dumped first. Although from a practical standpoint, now that they have dutch doors, they are more practical in winter...

 

[jiml]

The sheer numbers of them will ensure they'll be around for awhile, more likely on secondary routes. It's certainly an iconic design that has stood the test of time.

 

[PerRock]

As Amfleet I cars are soon headed for the great coach yard in the sky, to be replaced by Siemens equipment, will you miss them?

I find them comfortable and they ride well, but the small windows are less than ideal. So I won’t, although I’ll give Amtrak credit for buying what worked out to be a good product.

It's still going to be quite a few years before any Amfleets are heading to the "great coach yard in the sky". The current Venture fleet is only replacing the (mainly Horizon) fleet in the Midwest. Amtrak still has to choose a supplier for the replacements (they've said they like Siemens, but that doesn't mean they'll go for them); actually place the order, the supplier then has to build them. It's been about 4 years of "building" on the Midwest cars & they're still a) not done and b) not fully in service yet... and this was off from an established production line.

 

[jis]

It's still going to be quite a few years before any Amfleets are heading to the "great coach yard in the sky". The current Venture fleet is only replacing the (mainly Horizon) fleet in the Midwest. Amtrak still has to choose a supplier for the replacements (they've said they like Siemens, but that doesn't mean they'll go for them); actually place the order, the supplier then has to build them. It's been about 4 years of "building" on the Midwest cars & they're still a) not done and b) not fully in service yet... and this was off from an established production line.

Amtrak has placed the order for replacing the Amfleet Is, but not the Amfleet IIs. The order went to Siemens, so they will use the same body shell and trucks as the Midwest order, but the interior will possibly be quite different. They are supposed to be completely delivered by 2030.

More information in the following thread:

https://www.amtraktrains.com/threads/new-siemens-trainsets.80450/#post-932420

 

[MARC Rider]

Well, I will miss the Amfleets, and I hope at bunch are preserved in museums, tourist trains, etc. The main negatives were the small windows and the lack of shades or curtains in the Amfleet 1 coaches. The seats are very comfortable, and what I particularly appreciate is the indirect lighting. The Acelas, and, apparently, the Ventures too, have bright flourescent (or maybe it's LED) lighting that gives the car the ambience of a commuter coach. The Amfleet overhead luggage racks are also nice and large, but not too high off the ground, so lifting a suitcase up on the rack is not as hard as it was on some of the Heritage coaches. I know they need to be replaced, they're pushing on being 50 years old, but I will miss them.

 

[Cal]

Although I haven't ridden on them much, I will miss them. Simply for their long-lasting history and iconic design. When they are finally retired it will mark the end of a very long-lasting era, and that makes them worth missing in my eyes.

 

[jis]

Although I haven't ridden on them much, I will miss them. Simply for their long-lasting history and iconic design. When they are finally retired it will mark the end of a very long-lasting era, and that makes them worth missing in my eyes.

They are from an era when anything that was not a car was supposed to look like a plane complete with little windows, in the US

 

[Pipp]

Yes, I will. I like these cars tube design and wheel trucks. Makes them stand out! Miss the Amflleet 1s? Not so much, because of their small windows and lack of leg room. The new Venture cars looks like adequate replacements. The cars I'll really miss when they go are the Amfleet 2s. But I'm open minded and believe the long distance Venture cars will be great/better.

 

[Willbridge]

When they began turning up, customers would walk into the coach and exclaim "it's just like an airplane!" They have to get credit for being a reliable product. Like the RDC's before them, they were used successfully in ways not imagined when they were planned.

Headed out of Portland to Salt Lake City.

 

[Siegmund]

When they began turning up, customers would walk into the coach and exclaim "it's just like an airplane!

I gather that in 1977 that wasn't intended as an insult.
It has been, every time I've said it or heard it, in more recent decades.

They certainly could have been worse - as the airlines have shown us with every new remodel But after riding both Heritage and Superliner I always thought of Amfleet as an SDP40F-sized misfire, and looked forward eagerly to that order of several hundred Viewliner-compatible coaches that was supposed to come right after the 100 or 150 sleepers that were supposed to come as soon as the prototypes were debugged.

Yeah, I know I live in a dream world. But it's easy to dream big when your first train ride as a kid is on brand-new Superliners over Donner Pass.

 

[Cal]

Yeah, I know I live in a dream world. But it's easy to dream big when your first train ride as a kid is on brand-new Superliners over Donner Pass.

I am very jealous of you.

 

[JP1822]

Amfleets have served Amtrak well. The jury is out on how the new Venture cars (ordered by the Midwest and California states). So far, more negative reviews on these cars than positive. Not speaking for mechanical, but some simple upgrades would serve the Amfleets well - bigger windows, USB ports, additional electrical outlets, more areas with conference tables. Otherwise, the seats, leg room. and basics are all there! If the Venture cars represent the future of corridor travel - I'm deeply afraid and disappointed.

 

[Ryan]

Iconic doesn't even begin to describe the Amfleets. Will I miss them from a "I prefer to ride in an airplane-style tube" perspective? Not really, I have faith that what displaces them will be a step forward in the functionality of actually being a train.

But as someone that grew up and still live on the NEC, the Amfleet cars *are* Amtrak, in a way that the AEM-7's were but with even more longevity. Being born in '79, I have no concept of what came before them, and I'm now solidly into middle-agedness being surrounded by nothing else. Whislt I have dozens and dozens of pictures of them plying their trade on the rails, it's never not going to be weird and a little sad to stand trackside and not see them.

 

[bms]

I've seen a good bit of the country, traveled to jobs, schools, weddings, funerals, and to meet new babies, and even moved twice in Amfleet or Superliner cars pulled by P42s. I'll miss all that equipment when it's gone, whether the replacement is better or worse.

I have an opinion about the new cars but I won't post it until it's informed by riding them. I'm taking Lincoln Service train 302 this week, anybody know if that has the new cars?

 

[Tlcooper44]

Iconic doesn't even begin to describe the Amfleets. Will I miss them from a "I prefer to ride in an airplane-style tube" perspective? Not really, I have faith that what displaces them will be a step forward in the functionality of actually being a train.

But as someone that grew up and still live on the NEC, the Amfleet cars *are* Amtrak, in a way that the AEM-7's were but with even more longevity. Being born in '79, I have no concept of what came before them, and I'm now solidly into middle-agedness being surrounded by nothing else. Whislt I have dozens and dozens of pictures of them plying their trade on the rails, it's never not going to be weird and a little sad to stand trackside and not see them.

Much like Ryan, I consider Amfleet to be Amtrak too (along with Viewliners).

I grew up along the NEC in the 90s and early 00s and my first Amtrak ride was the Twilight Shoreliner overnight to DC. I remember seeing it for the first time from the RTE 128 platform complete with F40’s, Amfleets, Viewliners and all.

Much in the way that F40’s were my first and most loved locomotives (the MBTA ran and still runs them), Amfleets will be my first passenger coach, and in some ways, they ARE Amtrak.

 

[Trogdor]

what I particularly appreciate is the indirect lighting.

The lighting is the single biggest reason I prefer Amfleet coaches to Horizons. From a passenger perspective, the two fleets are practically identical in every functional way. But the lighting has always given the Amfleet a softer, more relaxing feel to it.

 

[Larry H.]

I guess I am too old, I remember trains before Amfleet an to me a higher ceiling and more open space above is a plus not a minus. I never liked the seats being under such a low overhead rack. Probably one of the few but the designs of the 50s were more like a railroad car to me. Plus I hate to fly and haven't for years, but anything that reminds me of an airplane just isn't a turn on as some seem to have.

 

[Bob Dylan]

I've seen a good bit of the country, traveled to jobs, schools, weddings, funerals, and to meet new babies, and even moved twice in Amfleet or Superliner cars pulled by P42s. I'll miss all that equipment when it's gone, whether the replacement is better or worse.

I have an opinion about the new cars but I won't post it until it's informed by riding them. I'm taking Lincoln Service train 302 this week, anybody know if that has the new cars?

Nope, only the Chicago-St Louis Route so far.

 

[bms]

Nope, only the Chicago-St Louis Route so far.

Oh it is that route, though I'm going from Normal to Chicago. But I'm not sure if they've gotten enough new cars to replace all the trainsets on that route yet.

 

[MARC Rider]

My first Amfleet ride was in 1975, right after they were introduced. I had been spending the summer riding Silverliners and various Heritage Fleet coaches, and on my last trip before I went back to school, I was surprised by the new coaches whose insides looked just that that of the Metroliners. I didn't even realize they were coming, as I never heard any announcements, and there was no internet to surf and check out rumors and such. I liked them right from the get-go. They were quieter inside than a lot of the old Heritage cars, the indirect lighting made for a more relaxing ride, they had retention toilets, and I even liked to low overhead luggage racks, as it made it easier to hoist bags up. I also appreciated the reading lights. Some of the Heritage cars had them, but most didn't, so it was always a dice roll as to whether you'd get one. The only real negatives were the smaller windows and the lack of window shades or curtains in coach.

 

[chrsjrcj]

I will miss actual reclining seatbacks.

 

[Bob Dylan]

Oh it is that route, though I'm going from Normal to Chicago. But I'm not sure if they've gotten enough new cars to replace all the trainsets on that route yet.

Sorry, I confused your post with one asking about the Missouri River Runner Route

Hopefully you'll get Lucky!

 

[bms]

Sorry, I confused your post with one asking about the Missouri River Runner Route

Hopefully you'll get Lucky!

No worries, it'll be 124 miles of new mileage for me regardless, and two new named trains as I'm taking your home train the Texas Eagle from CHI-BNL. And seeing college basketball games at Illinois State Monday and Northwestern Tuesday, first games of any sport seen in person in 2 years! Vaccine required plus both arenas will be fairly empty.

 

[Skyline]

My first Amfleet ride was on the long gone Pioneer. It was exciting riding on a brand new type of coach. That excitement didn't last long.

The majority of Heritage cars still being used then were better, tho I understand why they were at the end of their long and illustrious lifespan. What I don't understand is why their replacements didn't try to emulate them more while also being compatible with modern railroading.