Great news! However, the photo shown must have been pulled out of a "desk drawer" file by someone who doesn't have a clue. To show a Viewliner sleeper, then say the car "seats 60 passengers"......:tb-tongue: The Viewliner was designed to seat 31, i.e. 12 Roomettes @ 2 ea., 2 Bedrooms @ 2 each, Bedroom H @ 2, plus the Attendant. I'll admit the car could hold 60 if there was one heckuva party going on, but nearly half the folks would have to be standing....:tb-wink: BTW, the car could not be a Superliner because the article says it runs out of New York, and Superliners do not run under the catenary.....:tb-ooh:
the caption on the photo indicates that this is a file photograph. Cant even say that this is what the rebuilt car looks like! Charlie
This article appears to have a picture of the actual car Amtrak unveils first rail car from stimulus Looks to be an Amfleet car. I see the 2 Superliner rebuilds that California paid for for Surfliner service all the time. They're really nice though I don't think the rebuild was as complete. I actually prefer to ride in them, because I like the seats better.
25103 is an Amfleet II Coach. Take a look at this link, http://www.suburbanstreet.com/news.html I apologize for the ignorance displayed in my earlier post, 25103 can seat 82 folks, hopefully all spiffy and clean.
From my understanding, with the stemuls money that they are going to receive, it is supposed to be enought to fix all the cars that are in need of repair and also fix locos. I have also heard that they will have some extra that they are going to invest route improvements.
Well, as I see it, Congress has allocated the money, which WILL be spent, regardless who spends it. So I'm very happy that Amtrak is getting some, and it's about time!
Exactly, the money is being spent either way. Any time it actually gets spent on something worthwhile. Like these cars which are a bargin, we should be happy.
It is nice to see those "shop queens" get refurbished & put back into service- with ridership going up and new routes planned, they'll need all the engines and rolling stock they can get. Now, what about new cars? Or have any plans ever come out about new cars>
I haven't heard anything, but I have to say I was wondering given colorado Railcar went under early this year if any of this money could resurrect them. I suppose it's foolish to think that, but it would be nice. I would think the first thing they need to look at is new motive power.
Motive power is great, but if folks don't have anywhere to sit, then they're not going to come back. "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on ME!" Amtrak can always lease lead locos and have a single P40/42 running behind to supply HEP in additon to traction power.
But I would doubt that leased power is geared right and there are still costs involved to bring them to standards...and quite frankly, the available lease fleet is just as old if not older than the Motive power they have. They are in a position where they need to replace the P42s. Why would they lease equally old equipment? Sure, they need more equipment for additional routes, but repairing 80 cars are going to go a long way. In either case, I don't see them opting to get designs and request a large fleet of new passenger cars. If anything I think we'd see a few new cars here and there like the cooridor service cars California has. Which is also why I was thinking about Colorado railcar, because I suspect that they would have been capable of providing a car here or there to augment service without needing a large run of cars.
Stimulus package 130 Viewliner 2 cars: 25 sleepers 25 baggage dorms 25 diners 55 baggage 70 optional Viewliner 2 cars: 10 sleepers 15 baggage dorms 15 diners 30 baggage There are 50 Viewliner 1 sleepers, plus one Viewliner 1 diner. The ideal is to replace all of Amtrak's Heritage cars. The Amfleet coaches and cafe/lounges will remain as they were built around 15 years earlier. Any future Viewliner orders beyond the optional 70 will most likely address coaches and lounges. Viewliners are rated for 110 mph speeds, and the Amfleet are rated for 125 mph speeds. Superliners are rated for 100 mph speeds. The Heritage cars are slowing Amtrak down, especially on the NEC. The larger number of baggage cars are to replace the entire fleet of baggage cars, those for Superliners as well.
I know it's not April 1st, but I hope you won't feel insulted that I had to look around the net to confirm this plan. I'd long ago given up hope of the whole trains of Viewliners that were planned over 20 years ago. I assumed that, whenever Amtrak got around to new cars, they'd be an entirely new design.
Hi Sea Toby, Welcome to the Trainboard, we're happy to have you onboard...especially since you're bringing such a wealth of information. I'm glad to see that Amtrak is basing the new cars on the Viewliner design. It's a good design from a passenger's perspective, and seems to be reliable because we read of very few, if any, equipment failures. Does the "2" denote a second generation of the basic Viewliner design, because I don't believe I've seen that designation before?
