Amtrak Cascades and other P-Norwest Equipment

So, I'm not too familiar with Amtrak equipment. I managed to catch the Northbound Cascades Acela and a Southbound Pacific Starlight? (couldn't here the conductor) At the Vancouver Washington Station sunday. I had a few questions.

1: Do all of the Acela Trainsets use gutted F40s on one end? what are these for? is it push pull service?

2: do Superliner trainsets normally run with Heritage baggage cars? I thought it interesting especially since the Paint doesn't quite match that they were using this car. What about other Amtrak trains without superliners?

3: amidst the Superliners there was an observation care called a Pacific Parlour car. it was not as tall as the other superliner cars and had the old style Stainless Steel fluted sides. it matched the Heritage equpiment. The trainset also had a Superliner observation car that was distinctly different. What is this car and its history and is there a model in HO of it?

Thanks,
John

 

Hey TrainBoy,

Yes, that is a gutted FG40PH, and they are indeed for push-pull service. The two main terminals of the Cascades Service, Eugene OR and Vancouver BC, both lack easy turning facilities, so it was found to be easier to slap an old F40PH on the back and run it that way. The Talgo Pendular trainsets were designed in Spain where push-pull service is the norm. An interesting note on these sets is that they were manufactured in Seattle by the State of Washington, who also owns the exclusive North American marketing rights to the design. Also note that in some cases the engine compartment on the F40PH has been converted for use as a baggage car, hence the roll-up door seen on some units.

As for the Coast Starlight, yes, all the baggage cars are old Heritage equipent. Amtrak has never purchased new baggage cars and so the original ones keep soldiering along 30 and 40 years later.

Finally, the Pacific Parlour cars are unique to the Starlight. They are a lounge and bar car for the sleeping car passengers and run just ahead of the diner. It sticks in my mind that Walthers might have done a model of these cars ar some point, but I wouldn't swear to it.

If you have any further questions, please feel free to ask!

 

This may be a nit ... but I don't believe any "Acela" trainsets are operated outside of the Northeast Corridor. I believe that all of the current Acela trainsets are powered solely from 11,000 Volt, 25 Hertz catenary between Washington, DC and Boston, MA, through Philadelphia's 30th Street Station and New York City's Penn Station. There may be a side route to Harrisburg, PA, but I doubt it.

[ 04 June 2002, 02:06: Message edited by: Hank Coolidge ]

 

The Pacific Parlour cars are actually former Santa Fe Hi-Level cars. These date to the '50s and were originally used on the all-coach Chicago to Los Angeles El Capitan. To the best of my knowledge, these cars have been imported in brass over the years in almost all the major scales, but none have ever been mass produced in plastic.

 

I'd have to double check when I get my Picture devloped, but I'm pretty sure the trainset said Acela on it.

Ugh, never mind, here's the quote from the Amtrak site.

Thanks for the Pacific Parlour information. I suspected former Santa Fe, but wasn't sure. Is there a particular reason these are used as opposed to newer equipment?

[ 04 June 2002, 17:52: Message edited by: Trainboy ]

 

Lack of available Superliners...

 

I'm betting that it had the new Amtrak logo and paint scheme on it, which many people associate with the Acela name as they were announced at the same time. It threw me the first time I saw it too.

 

I think it was the Amtrak Cascades that threw him ...

oh yea ... if you can ... ride the Coast Starlight from Seattle (and get a sleeping car room) so you can use the Pacific Parlour ... quite a fun ride it was

 

The Pacific Parlour cars are to me what sets the Starlight apart from other trains. To have a car for first class passengers who are able to watch a movie or taste wine and cheese or relax with a book or games is great. These cars are old Hi-level SF cars that were rebuilt for first class use. They have a video room downstairs for movies and upstairs has a little buffet area and an attendant with bar services. Very nice. There are only 4 or 5 of these cars so if one goes down for mech work they will replace it with a reg superliner lounge if one is available other wise they send the train with out one.

The cab cars used to be the worst riding peices of junk we had. It took 2 employees getting seriously hurt for mangement to do something about it and they had the trucks rebuilt with extra shocks and dampers. Now they ride a heck of a lot better than the F59's

If you are ever around the PDX or Van station and see a fat guy with a green back say hi thats me.

 

I used to hang out around Vancouver Station (and occasionally PDX. I bet we saw each other.

Sometime between 2002 and Feb 2004.

I was the fat guy with the Nikon camera using the Bathroom prominently marked for Passengers only.

 

Hey Guys, New to the Boards, but not New in any means to model and real trains. I live in Vancouver, and Im also at the station quite often. I also work at Whistle Stop Trains in Portland, so if you come in on a Saturday, say hi.

Thanks
Kyle

 

Welcome Daylight Boy,

You work at my favorate train store in the PNW. When we lived in Olympia I would make a special trip once a quarter to see what was new. That is kinda hard now with living in California and all.

I hope you enjoy the board as much as I do. Lots of different topics and lots of great people.

Shannon

WP LIVES
ATSF LIVES

Man I miss the PNW

 

Hey, thanks guys. Im from San diego, so I miss running my stuff at Balboa park. We had an awesome Layout called the Lamesa Model RailRoad club which models after the famious Wallong loop, or also known as Tehachepi.
We just got the loop finished, but it still needs to be seanicked sorta speak.

Sorry for the typos, Im still very tired.
But since I moved here, ive found myself spending most of my time working on the 4449 with Doyal, and all the others, along with helping Chris Fussel in getting his F40-PH going. So, Ive been happy.

 

How Ironic, I move south from Portland To San Diego and you move north from San Diego to Portland. Of course, I'm a bum and not involved with anything beyond paying to see the La Mesa layout, but still....

 

OMG!!! This is too rich. When did you move and what job is worth moving?

 

I actually moved last year, but my wife and my posessions made the final move end of January.

And quite frankly, the Job market in the pacific northwest is absolutly positivly offensivly bad. so ANY job remotly related to Electircal engineering was worth it. I was unemployed for almost two years in that Jobless pit.

In this particular case though, I got a 100% perfect fit job.


Now, If I win the lottery, Or Intel calls to offer me a new higher paying, better job, then I'd be back faster then you can blink, but until that happens, the paycheck wins out.